February 28, 2007

rambling, as usual

First, for all you bloggers out there, I'm trying to comment on your blogs and blogger is being a stinker. I'm here, I'm reading, and I was even going to de-lurk. Stupid blogger. At least it's free...

INTRODUCING...
My daughter had a concert to celebrate Black History month. She was excited. She told me she "had a speaking part - you know, because I speak during the play." Bless her heart. She has enough drama for an entire drama club. And her dramatic premiere consisted of the following line:

"They did not like them. They spat at them."

She informed me that spat means spit (no, really?). However, she also informed me that "I have to say spat though because that's what the script says."

And an actor (or actress, in this case) is born.

NEW WORDS
I asked my son what was his favorite color? Here is his reply:

"Red, like the different red ones. It's kinda a illusion of red."

What? Did he just say illusion? He is THREE.YEARS.OLD! Where does he get this stuff?!

SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER
I've been watching Are You Smarter than A Fifth Grader? and it's pretty good. I feel a bit redeemed because the rest of the nation is learning what I've known this whole school year. You see, my daughter is in 5th grade and some of her homework is mind-boggling to me. I feel really dumb sometimes when I'm trying to help her with her homework. Especially math. They teach them totally differently than they did when I was a kid. You don't have to get out your toes anymore. :)

Well, that's the news in my corner of the world. Take care!

February 26, 2007

please check the box

When I go into my email and see that someone has left me a comment, I'm so excited! And when their comment comes through with an email address attached, well, that just makes my day. I love replying to comments and sending a little love back to the person who took the time to give their two cents' worth.

But lately, the emails have come through with "
noreply-comment(at)blogger.com." I couldn't figure out why some were identified and some weren't. Then I read this post the other day. (And she links to another post that has a cool little screen shot of what box to check to remedy the situation). They think it all has to do with a little box in your profile. I looked to see if mine was checked and it wasn't! I sure hope I didn't miss out on any friendliness.

Anyway, this post is just to make you aware (if you weren't already) about the possible fix to this. It sure would make my bloggy life easier and maybe yours too! :)

weekend in review

First things, first. What in the world am I still doing up at 12:51 AM? I do not know! All I know is that I will be one bleary-eyed woman tomorrow. I hope I don't put the Cars movie DVD in the toaster, thinking it's the cinnamon waffle. Or worse, the cinnamon waffle in the DVD player.

ANYWAY, here is my weekend in review snippets...

GOOD MORNING, ANDREA!
Bright and early on Saturday morning, the phone rang. I climbed through my unconsciousness and jumped up to feel for the phone. I really can't see for the first five minutes I'm awake. And I just wanted to noise to stop, seeing as how the 3 year old in our house is normally the Saturday alarm clock. By jolly, he was still asleep and it was daylight and all. Stopping the noise so he stayed asleep was imperative. But I digress...

Guess who was on the phone?! You'll never guess! My cousin, J, that's deployed in Iraq! And no, his name isn't J, as in Jay - I'm just protecting the innocent (and not-so-innocent) here. He sounded so, well, grown up and so, I don't know, responsible. In my mind, he's still this little 8 year old monkey boy. He said he was tired but that they had been given 3 days R & R. He had access to a computer and satellite phone so he was making the best of it. Did you know Iraq is 8 hours ahead of us? I was barely putting my feet on the floor for the day and he was headed to evening "chow". He told me where he was in Iraq and all I can say is pray, people, pray. He said he's seen more mud than sand. I told him to enjoy it because by the time this is over, he'll probably never look at sand the same again. He also shared some stories of his time there, and it just hit me that he is in so much danger. I mean, I knew that already but it just started to sink in. A phone call was wonderful because for that brief moment in time, you know that he's safe. You know just where he is, and he's alive, well, and safe. Tonight, who knows where he is. I just continually pray that the good Lord holds J in the palm of His hand. What else can I do, ya know? So, I'll be getting a little package together for him in the next few days. If anyone knows of things that would be good to send, please comment and let me know. I've seen the list on the military website but any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!

NO DOG LEFT BEHIND
Saturday late morning/early afternoon, we spent at my mom's house. She had quite a bit of tree damage from the recent ice storms. My husband got to use a power tool (even if it was only electric), I got to play on my mom's blog, and little man got to play outside. So, once all the tree limbs were cut up, we carried them to the curb to be taken away by the shrub/tree limb fairies tomorrow. As little man helped me collect some limbs from the back yard, the neighbor's dog was going nuts. He asked me why the dog was barking so much. I said he was curious about what we were doing. So, we take a load to the curb and come back to the back yard. Bless his little heart if he didn't go right to the edge of the yard and yell at the top of his lungs,

"WE'RE AT GRANDMA ______'S AND WE'RE PICKING UP STICKS SO WE DON'T TRIP ON THEM!"

When he first started yelling, I swung around to see what in the world he was doing. Then, I asked,

"Were you talking to the dog?"

"Yes." (Like we tell dogs our going-ons all the time; no big deal, Mom. Very inclusive, my son.)

FICKLE FRIENDS
For a few months now, my son has had an imaginary friend. This friend morphs to fit the situation. He's been a mommy (yes, HE has been a mommy), he's worked at daddy's work, he's been big, he's been little, he's slept on every piece of furniture we own. Oh, by the way, his name is Husey (WHO-see). Well, it was, until today. Husey is gone. We now have Coolpeak-a. There was talk that Husey changed his name to Coolpeak-a and is now a girl. But that would mean my son's friend is a gender changing 3 year old who is brillant because at 3 he works at an office. So, I'm thinking maybe this is a NEW friend. I'd like to request prayer for Coolpeak-a though. She's in the hospital with a refection. Which is funny, because our pastor is in the hospital with an infection too. By the way, pray for our pastor please. She is a double transplant recipient and small infections, like the sinus one she had, sometimes take off and wreak havoc on her body. She should be okay but still...

WEDDING BELLS ARE RINGING
If you remember (or if you don't), I did a post when my brother-in-law got engaged. My whole immediate family is in the wedding. Today, the bridesmaids, the mothers of the bride and groom, and the bride's aunt went wedding dress and bridesmaid dress shopping. She found THE dress, ya'll. (Yeah, I said ya'll.) And it was a good deal. The wedding angels were watching over us today. Now, if we could just get the bridesmaid dresses to come in extra long, we'd be set. And since when did bridesmaid dresses cost as much as the wedding dress?! $165! I was blown out of the water. Well, no decisions yet on that. But what a relief to have the most important dress picked out, paid for, and in hand! :)

Now it is 1:27 AM and I am truly crazy for still being awake. But I had to get this down while it was fresh in my mind and while two little boys, who shall, as always, remain nameless were not making me lose my ever-lasting mind! But, come to think of it, I think it's already gone. On that note, good night everyone. Take care of yourself and each other.

February 24, 2007

newborn

i don't know if i've mentioned this before (i probably have but my memory is SHOT right now), but i'm watching a 2 month old little girl on fridays. today was day #2. here are a few totally random recollections...

input for baby - finishing the bottle to go straight to...
output struggle for 3 yr old. - i'm going to lose my mind if he doesn't poop soon!

at one time today, i had 2 out of 3 crying at same time - not bad - maybe a mom of the year award?

i did not like to change poopy diapers, did it anyway = you do not like to nap, do it anyway. five minutes later, out cold. after two.hours.of.trying, reasoning works! can you believe it?

new baby's mom sends breast milk in little baggies that say "my mommy's milk". they are frozen. i defrost and warm it, put it in a bottle and feed her. i don't know what it is about it but if it spills a little and touches my hand, i gag. every.time. i feel so bad about that! what's the big deal? i have no idea.

watching this child rooting for more milk when i take the bottle to burp her makes me laugh. there ain't nothing there for you, sweetie. and watching her root for my 10 yr old daughter was just awkward!

stinky, hungry mess - that's me. i can't decide whether to shower or eat. if you know me at all, you realize how messed up i am by that statement. eat. always eat. so if i want a shower, something must be desperately wrong. i actually thought about what i could eat on my way to the shower. like the shower is more than a handful of steps away. like i'd have time to eat anything on the way. why am i going on and on about this? oh, what a day i've had...it's such a sad state of affairs that it all comes down to this.

***update***shower first. belly now full. and praise the good Lord, the boy finally pooped! thank you very much for asking.

February 23, 2007

friday's feast #132 (#11)

We are 17 minutes from midnight and if I hurry, I might finish my Friday Feast before Saturday! :)

Appetizer
Where on your body do you have a scar, and what caused it?

Left knee. TV tag when I was nine. Had to get stitches. The doctor said it wouldn't hurt. He lied.


Soup
What is something that has happened to you that you would consider a miracle?

The birth of my children. Just an awesome process all around. God is amazing!


Salad
Name a television personality who really gets on your nerves.

Rachel Ray. Her recipes are really good but she just annoys me for some reason!


Main Course
What was a funny word you said as a child (such as "pasketti" for "spaghetti")?

sme-gee-ta for mosquito and grape-ul for purple (like grape and purple put together)


Dessert
Fill in the blank: I have always thought ______ was ______.

I have always thought God was important. (Even when I struggled through mistakes!)

February 19, 2007

the bloggity book club


Books and blogging? Together? Oh. my. goodness. You don't know how excited I am about this. Click on the button if you'd like to join us in reading "Get Out Of That Pit" by Beth Moore. I haven't read many of Beth's books but from what I understand, she is AWESOME! I really look forward to reading this and sharing with others about it. Hope you can join us!

Oh, and Bev, THANKS again!

February 16, 2007

friday's feast #131 (#10)

Appetizer
What sound, other than the normal ringing, would you like your telephone to make?
after a day of loud kids, i'm thinking that no sound at all would be good for me.

Soup
Describe your usual disposition in meteorological terms (partly cloudy, sunny, stormy, etc.).
light rain with a chance of fog

Salad
What specific subject do you feel you know better than any other subjects?
school subjects: psychology or once upon a time, french
other than school subjects: mommy stuff, and sadly, people magazine news

Main Course
Imagine you were given the ability to remember everything you read for one entire day. Which books/magazines/newspapers would you choose to read?
hands down, the Bible

Dessert
If a popular candy maker contacted you to create their next confection, what would it be like and what would you name it?
some mix of caramel and cinnamon with a touch of graham cracker flavor and i haved no idea what i would call it. any ideas?

February 14, 2007

been i?

For one reason or another, my son refused to take a nap yesterday. School was cancelled because of the snow so we had big sister here too. Maybe that was why. All I know is by the end of the day I was ready to pull my hair out. The new thing is to double check everything with Mommy.

E.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.

Daddy asked little man if he had been a good boy today. He came running in to me and asked,

"Been I a good boy? Mommy, been I?"

Ah, the joy of a 3 year old's mastery of the English language.


February 13, 2007

template to layout

I switched to the new blogger a few days ago and spent hours labeling all my posts. I am so giddy about the labels!! But then I wanted to add the labels to my sidebar and ran into a little problem. I couldn't figure out how to write the html code for it. In order to easily add them in the new drag-and-drop template, I had to convert my template to a layout. Whatever that means to the blogger powers that be. There were warnings all over the place about how this was going to remove a lot of the customizations that I had added. Hours and hours of work, gone. And they were right! So, I had to spend time adding some things back in. Of course, once I got started, I kept adjusting things that didn't even change when I switched. You know how addicting this tweaking can be. I also very easily added the labels to my sidebar. From now on, I should be able to easily change things since I switched.

I hope.

February 12, 2007

clothe yourselves

**I've been starting a group blog with some of my friends and I posted this a few weeks ago. I'm thinking that everyone can relate to this so I thought I'd post it here too. Plus, I'm curious to hear what other things you think we can do to clothe ourselves.***

So, I ran across this Bible verse the other day and I have to share...


"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience." Colossians 3:12 (NIV)

Okay, how many of us struggle with these character traits? I bet all of us do. I know I sure do! But God still loves us. In fact, we are "dearly loved". He knows we struggle with this or he wouldn't have sent the message that we need to act this way. You don't have to tell someone to do something they are already doing, right?

If you are anything like me, I need to break these traits down to actual actions that I can do. In the heat of the moment, if I don't have in my mind what I'm going to do, I'm sunk. So here are some of my ideas for how to put this scripture into action. Remember these are just my brainstorming ideas - I haven't done most of them yet!

Compassion - send a card to someone I know that's having a rough time, giving an encouraging word to people that come in my path, be less quick to judge someone who treats me unkindly

Kindness - put the paper from the driveway to the front porch of our elderly neighbor, pay for the meal of the person behind me at the drive-thru, look for opportunities to help people in the store, at work, etc.

Humility - hold my tongue when arguing with my husband (AKA I don't always have to be right), give all praise and honor to God when I do something well, remind myself that it's okay if someone else gets the credit for something at work

Gentleness - give more hugs to my children, make sure my tone of voice is one of love when disciplining my kids

Patience - listen to my daughter's unending chatter, sit with my son while he is on the potty instead of rushing off to do something else, count to 10 when my husband says something that really frustrates me so I don't respond in anger

Well, I think you get the idea. If you have any ideas, please share them!! And if you have any successes as to how you clothed yourself, please share that too! Let's all try to do at least three things to clothe ourselves this week. Every little thing counts! Good luck!

Lord, we come before you knowing we have sinned against you; knowing we can't clothe ourselves without your help. All that we are comes from you. Help us this week to be more like you. In Jesus' name, Amen.

February 10, 2007

helping her say good-bye

six inches of snow
on wednesday
and a phone call
saying he was gone

no more suffering
fully at rest
how do i begin to comfort
his great-grandaughter

last she heard
he was sitting up
and doing better
oxygen turned down

i guess it was the rally
before his journey home

no she cried
as she threw herself
onto her bed
and began to weep

my words were inadequate
i had no idea what to say
trying to gauge
drama or grief

the hardest part for me
and really this is all about her
was packing her up
to go be with the family

letting her go
knowing she was hurting
and i couldn't be there
to comfort her

this laid on my heart
so heavy
for the past few days
aching to ease her pain

such a weird situation
i know all the people
he was always so kind to me
but i have no part in this drama

i gave my condolances
to her father
and asked that they be passed along
it's all i can do

except pray
that my daughter's heart
will be protected
in the way that only Jesus can

February 5, 2007

look at me!

Okay, let me just confess that I LOVE M & M's. I don't like chocolate so much but something about that candy coating and a peanut or peanut butter inside with just the right amount of chocolate. Well, it's just divine! I stumbled across this website and I thought you might have fun with it. I've become an M & M!!


February 3, 2007

ultimate blog party

The thing I like best about blogging are all the nice bloggers out there. It really is a community of support. There is this cool thing going on that will help more people connect with one another. Click on the button below to find out more. Come join the party!


Ultimate Blog Party

 
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