Excellent Oppertunity

Hey! I just wanted to make a plug for the book club that I am in. It's pretty fun and it's all done online. I don't think I've mentioned it before but there is a banner on my sidebar for it. The reason for telling you about it now is that they are changing their start up policy is changing soon! They are currently giving everyone who signs up 3 free credits when you post your first 9 books, that's pretty good, it means you get 3 books free! But they are changing it to 2 free credits when you post your first 10 books. So if you have been thinking of joining no better time than now.

Since I joined I have gotten 11 books and I have one on it's way. I have 15 books. They only cost about $2 each to sent so you only pay that much for each book you get (you get one credit for every book you send). They have books for kids and adults and there is also a rather large selection of home school books.

So, here's their form letter they have for me to email out but I thought it would be easier to just post it here and let you decide. Remember! If you are going to join use my email address as your referral because I get a free credit for every referral I give.

Do you have any used paperback books lying around? I did, and I finally found a great way to share them with other people.

It seems that a few guys were sitting around one night talking about all the paperback books that they purchased over the years when they traveled on business. Each of them had a stack of books that they had read. So they decided to set up a web site http://www.PaperBackSwap.com/ that allows all of us to swap paperback books with each other. Now it's grown to include ALL books--hardcovers and audio too!

Let me tell you how it works because it is so easy. I listed a bunch of books on the site (you have to list at least 9 books to get in the club) and I got 3 free book credits to get me started. So you can order 3 books right away - free of charge and have them mailed directly to you. No strings attached. No gimmicks. No spam mail. Nothing! You just have to love reading.

Then when another member selects one of my books that I have listed, I mail it to them. Yes, I pay for the postage. But then I get a book credit and I can select a book that I want. So another Club Member returns the favor and mails me one of their books free of charge. For every book I mail out, I get another book in return - a true shared system!

And when someone requests one of your books, all you have to do is print a two page document on regular paper from your printer, and use them to wrap the book. The wrapper includes the mailing address and the amount of postage. Then drop the package in the outbound mail. Hey, most of the time you don't even need to go to the post office!

Right now the annual club membership is FREE! Eventually the founders will ask everyone to help contribute to pay for the upkeep of the web site, but for now the annual club membership is free. The annual dues will probably be between $10 and $20 based on the number of people in the club. But again, right now you don't even have to pay any dues for one year if you become a Charter Member.

You really need to check this out! And if you do sign up, please list my email in the referral section because then I get another free book. This is a great club! http://www.PaperBackSwap.com/

I have A New Friend...

Check my sidebar.... :)

First Day of School

Well, we had a belated first day of school. With all the packing and unpacking and visiting and visits from relitives I barely have had the time to order curriculum - let alone get anything started! The majority of my time online since we got online again has been searching for and ordering what we are going to use this year. Here's what we are doing:

• Math - ACE - the same thing we used last year. The kids aren't fond of it at all but I was afraid to deviate from what we've used because I'm not sure of the level of their math skills from ACE and I didn't want to order something different and end up with learning gaps.
• Spelling - A Reason for Spelling
• Handwriting - A Reason For Handwriting

These are the three that we have and are working on right now. Next week we will be starting:

• Science - Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry Pre-Level 1
• Reading/History/Social Studies/Art/etc. - Prairie Primer with the Little House on the Prairie Series. This is an excellent unit study that we will also intagrate SD history into and visit the Laur*a Inga*lls Wil*der Homestead and Prairie Vill*age here in SD in the spring. They are both pretty close so we are really looking forward to it.

I haven't picked out English yet because I'm not sure if or how it's involved in the Prairie Primer so after we get that I will make my decision about where to go from there.

New Places, New Home, New Name!

I decided to go with a new name and a new look to go with our new home. Especially because I was tired of my not-so-original out-of-the-blue original name. I plan on trying to put in a picture of a SD sunset soon but for now my colors are as close to sunset colors as I could get them.

Somebody told me it was hard to see with all that black and bright colored font so hopefully this will be better for you...but the next time it bothers your eyes you are going to have to leave me a comment! :) LOL

Moo Part 2

Ok, ok, I know it's been way past the 10th so you all are probably thinking, "It's about darn time she gets up her new post!"

Before I forget again, the Moo a noise I hear around here freequently. Usually at night when I am puting the kids to bed we can her the cows (and occationally smell them:P) from the 2 stock yards near us - one is a block away in one direction and the other is about a mile away in the other direction. So either way the wind blows we can smell them. It's actully not so bad that you can't handle it, just a little whif to remind us that we aren't in Chicago anymore! :) Yeah!

So the big move went well. It was very draining for me, both physically and emotionally. Who would have ever thought we had so much stuff! I didn't think it was all going to fit, and we had the biggest truck from Penske! I came to the realization that my kids are no longer babies. They worked HARD! I honestly don't know what I would have done without them. They brought as many boxes each up the stairs and out to the truck as I did easily. I am so proud of them and at the same time it makes me wish for their younger years, they seem to be growing up too fast! Maybe in a couple of years we could think about another one....yeah, right!

The first night we had the truck we packed until around 8 or so. My mom had taken the kids to church to say goodbye to their friends on their last Wednesday night service so Bob and I were there alone. We had just picked everything up and closed the back of the truck when we decided to run to the gas station to get a soda. We had hurried to get everything done because the sky was looking menacing and we didn't want to get wet. The gas station isn't far, maybe a mile but by the time we were half way there we encountered rain, hail, and wind that was unbelievable! A tree fell on the other side of the street as we were driving by and when we got to the gas station we were soaked to the skin from the 10 feet between the car and the building. We had just gotten to the cases where the soda is and the electricity went out! So there we stood in the gas station freezing and wet in the dark wondering what to do. The girl at the check out said she couldn't sell anything because the register wouldn't even open for the lack of electricity so we decided to just go home and drink what was there...tap water. :P Things got even crazier as we were on our way home so I called my mom and told her to keep my kids in the church where it was safe until we could find a way home and let her know the situation. It took us almost an hour to get home because every road we turned into had trees down across them. We went by bent and twisted sign posts and puddles that were more the size of small ponds - one of which we stalled the car right in the middle of! Luckily we got it started again and finally found a street that was clear literally to the driveway. A tree from across the street had a huge branch down in the driveway so we had to drive across part of the lawn to get into the yard. Bob and I worked together to move the big branch in the driveway and soon had everyone in the neighborhood coming down the street as it was the only way in and out. The storm calmed somewhat after that and my mom brought the kids home - they were pretty excited about such a big storm and thought it was pretty cool but neither one of them were willing to sleep in the dark basement! So they ended up on the floor and the couch in the living room that night. After the storm calmed down there was still a lot of rain so Bob and John went and borrowed the generator from the church to hook up to the sump pump in the basement. It was a good thing we had it! They were out of electricity for 3 days there and the pump ran literally every minute for the first day or so! We called Penske and they graciously gave us 3 extra days on the truck because the next day we couldn't even get the thing out of the yard because of all the downed trees. They were using a snow plow to push the trees off the roads until they could get to chopping them up and hauling them away.

After all that we were a day late getting out of there but once we got on the road things went smoothly. My mom and John came along to help us unpack because we didn't have anyone here that we knew to help out. It was really nice to have them here those first couple of days. They helped out a lot!

We got here on a Saturday morning after spending the night with Bob's brother and unpacked the truck for the rest of the day. Sunday my mom and I unpacked my kitchen (I still haven't found my salt and pepper shakers and sugar bowl that match my set, grrr...) and Bob and John took the truck back. Monday my mom and John left to go home and Bob, the kids and I went to new student orientation at school. The kids were exhausted and were amazingly pretty good - I think they were more like zombies than kids that day! They both fell asleep in the desks while Bob's instructor was telling us about the school and classes and such. It was quite funny! The other guys in the class couldn't get over how funny it was and how much they wanted to do the same thing! LOL

Tuesday morning Bob started his classes and that's pretty much where we are at.

We don't have any living room furniture because we sold it all when we moved from Michigan but we don't really have room for it yet anyway. Our living/dining room is really rather small and once we got the table and chairs, bakers rack/microwave table, china cabinet, computer desk and TV in here we don't have much for anything else. MAYBE a small couch or love seat would fit but we would have to get rid of a few boxes and rearrange some stuff a little.

We had to get rid of a lot of stuff! Bob took 2 car loads to the Sal*vation Ar*my and 1 load of books, CD's, DVD's and VHS movies to the library. And we STILL have to get rid of more stuff. There just isn't room for it! This is the smallest place we have ever lived and we've always had a garage before for storage. It's not such a bad thing because it forces us to reevaluate what we have and what we really need but it's been difficult deciding what to keep and what to get rid of - more for Bob than for me though! The way I have been looking at is that I haven't used most of it in 2 years, why do I need to keep it? Most of it is replaceable so if we need it again in the future we can get a new one. Hopefully we won't need to move so much junk when we move again!

So that's it for our moving adventure. I will post more later on what we have been up to since then.

Moo

That is the first sound that struck me our first night in our new home! More on that later...

We are getting settled slowly (Jamie! Where are you with your quick unpacking skills when I need you!:). This place is a lot smaller than we anticipated - our apartment that is - and we have had to get rid of a lot of stuff. We are still sifting through boxes of kids toys and parental junk that we constantly ask, "Do we really need that?" or "Have they outgrown this yet?" I have a huge load of stuff for good will but haven't gotten a chance to get it there because we only have one car!

Bob is enjoying his new "career" as a full time student with 20 credits! His books alone cost $500 and his tools will more than triple that for this semester. With more to come next semester! Fortunately next year will be much less because most of the books he had to get this year - only like $200 next year and tools will be covered because he won't need anymore new ones next year. Who ever knew that being an airplane mechanic was so expensive!

So, I am at the library and should go find my kids. We won't have internet until the 10th so I will give you the whole scoop then - complete with pictures!

And We're Off!

Well, the computer is being packed today and I'm not sure when I will be back online. We will be in our new house on Friday but I'm not sure when we will have internet access again...who knows how long it will take to get it there in the middle of nowhere!

Until then, happy blogging my sweet blogging friends! :)

Journey to a Cake

Our busy weekend is finally over and I am pooped! I'm ready for bed but before I go I wanted to tell about this wonderful dairy-free cake I made over the weekend. It took me 2 days to do - one to bake and one to put it together and decorate. (I also baked 2 batches of brownies from a box and a different chocolate layer cake from scratch for a cake walk at church on the same day I baked Luke's cake. Can you call me crazy please? I know I was feeling that way on Friday when I did it!) Sami even said that it didn't taste like it was dairy-free! Yes! This is the cake I have been looking for all these years! I got this awesome book for the library that I'm going to have to get from ebay called Amazing Dairy-Free Desserts by Penny Wantuck Eisenberg. Thank you Penny! I love this book and can't wait to try out the ice cream - it's one of the things that Luke has really missed since being on his dairy-free diet. There is even some great info at the beginning of the book about dairy-free products and where to find them. The "Chocolate Marshmallow Layer Cake" - I'm not sure if I can post the actual recipe because it is published so I won't - has tofu sour cream in it. It's the "secret ingredient" so to speak. Luke loved it - even better because he's the one it was for!

Amie, you have to find this book. Sammy would love you for it - not that he doesn't love you already! But you can score some pretty big cool mom points when you make him those chocolate chip cookies! Which are also great, by the way. There are some eggs in it but I'm sure you have found some pretty good egg substitutes that would work just fine!

So, without further ado, here is the birth of my pirate cake. Since I did it last minute I did have to improvise on a few things - like the drinking straw gun walls! - but I think it turned out pretty good in the end and one little - ahem, I mean big - boy thought so too, which is really all that mattered! :)

"Ahobe Der Me Pardies!"

Today Luke is 7!

Happy birthday to my strong willed child! There isn't a day that goes by that I'm not glad that he is ours! Though he's not a cuddly boy, that just makes the hugs and kisses that he does give (or take willingly!) all the more sweet. He is all boy, that's for sure. He loves dirt and bugs and tormenting his sister and not listening to his mother! Though I believe he is the reason for those 3 gray hairs I have, at least there aren't 7 - one for each of his years! His strong will will take him far in his life IF he learns to tame it and control it. He is a determined child and when he's not being cranky, he is a complete joy to be around. He's a big help and will do anything - when HE wants to! :) He thinks he's the strongest boy in the world because he can lift a mic stand and loves to quote Garfield, "It's 100% fat!" when refering to his rib cage and oh so flat belly! LOL

His favorite quote from Garfield is, "Love me, feed me, never leave me!" That, my dear son, I will pledge to you forever.

This title quote, along with the visit to the Wiggles World last week, inspired me to try this pirate ship cake for Luke's birthday today. The quote, "Ahobe der me pardies!" is Luke's 3 year old version of Captain Feather Sward's fameous quote, "Ahoy there me hardies!" He still likes pirates but he has graduated to "Pirates of the Carribean" lately and loves to tell me about "Davy Jones"!

Inch by Inch

We are STILL waiting for news for our apartment! I called yesterday to see if it was ready to move in and she wasn't sure. The office is across the state so she couldn't just go over and check but the lady who is the caretaker of the complex that we will be at was out of town until Friday. She said she was trying to get a hold of a different guy who may have a key to get in and check but apparently she didn't talk to him or he didn't have a key because she never called me back yesterday. All we are waiting for is the date we can move in so that we can get a truck and go!

Bob is pretty excited to get accepted to school! He was afraid he was going to have to take placement exams because it's been so long since he graduated from high school but they accepted his AS*VAB scores from when he went into the Air Force almost as many years ago! Now we are waiting for financial aid. I did his FA*FSA as soon as our taxes were finished last spring but now we find out that he was randomly selected by the US Office of Education for verification. So we have to fill out the verification form and send in a copy of our 2006 taxes. If there are any differences between that and his FA*FSA than things will be adjusted accordingly. I know they aren't any different because I used our 2006 taxes to fill out the application! Oh, well, just one more hoop to jump through.

Bob starts school on the 20th.

Oh, and we had a GREAT time at Gre*at America over the weekend. Luke thought it was a pretty awesome birthday present and was elated that his friends from church were there too. He wanted to go on every roller coaster there but unfortunately Mom didn't want to ride all of them so he was grounded - except for the Wh*izzer which I don't even think I had to go on with him! Jozie didn't like the roller coaster too much (she cried all the way through!) but they had a wonderful time at Hu*rricane Har*bor, the water park. It was sprinkling while we were there but that didn't stop us! We went down the lazy river and they played around Skull Island for quite some time. We didn't get to go on as many rides as we wanted to and actually didn't get through the whole park because we did a lot of waiting. We were there with a group of 12 people and wasted a lot of time trying to decide what to do. That part was a little frustrating but the kids had fun and I don't think they really realized what they missed. I went for them and as long as they had fun that's all that mattered!

The day was pleasntly not sunny and hot (we didn't get sunburned!) but it was hot and cloudy and we ended up leaving early (about 8:30) because of rain. I think the most stressful time of the whole day was getting out of the parking lot! Everyone else had the same idea as we did at the same time and we ended up in a huge traffic jam.

The kids were asleep before we pulled over for gas and food on the way home so we just went through the drive-thru and were home by about 11pm. I'm glad we didn't stay until 10 because we would have been even more exhausted than we were by the time we got home!

Yes, Jamie, I do remember going "back in the day"! What great times! I didn't get the Ameri*can Eag*le this time though! I wanted to but nobody else would go on it with me and I didn't want to go alone. :(

I didn't get many pictures because I didn't want to carry my camera after Lunch. Luke also has this obsession about ruining every picture I take of him by running or turning away so there aren't many nice ones of him! Of course Jozie is just the opposite, I can't even get a candid shot of her, she sees the camera and she HAS to pose! Go figure! Oh, and Marcus, the boy in the picture with Jozie, is only a year older than her! I think she kinda likes him! LOL :)

This is Not Very Surprising...

But a fun little quiz to take! Now it's your turn! Let me see if YOU are addicted to blogging! :)

64%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Pittsburgh Singles from Mingle²

My Temporary New Look

I was just playing around with the different colors and such and found this sort of appealing. I really wanted the background to be the same color as the banner but for some reason that wasn't one of the options. I may play around with it some more later but for now it's basic black. Hope it isn't too hard on anyones eyes! I kinda like it better than all white. It cuts down on my eye strain! :)

Sunshine, Swimming, and Surprises!

We have been busy doing a whole lot of nothing new around here and a couple of something news over the last couple of weeks so lets sum this up:

• Jozie got her glasses. I was pretty excited about it but because I was hoping it would help with her reading. She only has to wear them for reading and other close up things like her knitting or coloring or that kind of thing. We haven't tried them for reading yet because it seems like we are constantly going lately and we just don't have time to sit down and read. She looks great in them. I don't have a picture to post yet but will post when I take one!
  
• Jozie got her ears pierced. She was funny. Scared to death of the pain and we told her it was just like a little pinch. The lady was just marking where she was going to put them and you could just see the fear in her face. She didn't much like the first one and cried but she knew she had to follow through with the second one. I had to hold her on my lap but she got through. She was VERY brave. They look cute and I'm glad she got it done. My mom did it for her as her birthday present - a LATE birthday present! :) She already has this little pair of heart earrings that she picked out with my mom and she just can't wait to wear them. :) She is such a girly girl!
• I've been knitting quite a bit more (thus my lack of posts...I just can't seem to keep up with more than one hobby at a time!). I've done quite a few dishcloths since my last post. This one was pretty easy but this one (you may have to scroll down a bit to see it, it's in pink and a variegated orange called the Nine Patch Dishcloth) I've had a harder time with. I got blocks 1 to 5 just fine but got stuck at the corners. Jaclyn is on vacation so I haven't called her yet to ask for help. I just put in a place holder and went on to do a second one of the first one I mentioned. Jozie has been knitting a scarf for her brother for his birthday but she has a hard time remembering to take the stitch off the end of the needle so she just keeps on adding stitches until she does remember enough times to get to the end of the row. Her's is just a basic 9 stitch row but once I asked her now many she had and she counted and said 19! I had a hard time not laughing! LOL I had to pull out a bunch of rows to fix it. She wasn't happy but if I had just decreased to fix it it would have been skinny at the end with a big fat lump in the middle then skinny again. Hopefully she will learn from her mistakes! LOL I want to try this out because I don't have any special napkins or placemats but it may get boring after a while and I'm afraid I won't finish enough to make a whole tableful of place settings! LOL
  
• Today we spent some time with our home school friends at the pool. The kids had a blast swimming with all the other kids and it was great to be able to catch up with Jen and Janice. I wish it could have been longer but those times do have to end eventually.
• So, last and most exciting - WE GOT OUR NEW HOME! It's three bedrooms with a bath and a half and we are currently waiting for it to get new carpet and vinyl flooring. The lady wasn't sure when that was going to be finished when she called me last week so I'm calling her tomorrow or Friday to see if she has a more firm date. Bob starts school on Aug. 22 I think so we are getting down to the wire. We're very excited and packing like crazy. We are going through some of our old boxes (stuff that never got unpacked from the last time we moved) and getting rid of stuff. It's amazing what you find yourself getting rid of that you didn't really even need but thought you couldn't live without 2 and a half years ago! :)
• Oh, and the kids and I are taking a trip to Gurn*ee, IL on Sat. to go to Gre*at America. I haven't told them yet and don't plan on it until we get there. The Children's pastor at our church got tickets through his work for $26 each so hopefully it will be well worth the trip. Otherwise it would have been $55 each. Bob has to work so he's not coming. Kristin is coming with us and we are also going with the Children's pastor and his family plus my mom and John are bringing Sami home from the summer at her moms and we are meeting them there. At the moment it's a good thing that tickets are already paid for because Luke is lying on the floor throwing a fit and I really don't want to take him anywhere! (He's mad because I told him to shut his video game off for throwing a fit and banging the thing on the concrete floor!) So this is going to be part of Luke's birthday present. The children's pastor's son is bringing a friend with him and they are both pretty good friends with Luke so he will be excited. I just hope there will be plenty of rides that they can go on because they are still pretty short. I think I'm going to measure them and see what they can and can't go on so I will know when we get there and I can direct them around the ones that are too big for them.
• And since I have been so busy with my knitting and packing I haven't had much time to take pictures or work on a new photo show....We'll see if I can get at least one for my next post! :)
  

Something New and Exciting!

There's something pretty cool going on over at Rocks in my Dryer. Check it out and have fun! I'm not sure if I will be giving something away but I linked it on my sidebar and we will see if I can come up with anything!

Have fun!

Where Did This Week Go?

We haven't done anything super exciting. Same old, same old - cleaning, laundry, playing with the kids, knitting, etc.

Jozie had an eye exam on Tuesday because she's been struggling to read and things don't seem to get any better no matter how much we practice. It's been mega frustrating for both of us. Her favorite thing to say is that things are getting foggy. So we took her in and ended up having to get her eyes dilated so the dr. could get the exact prescription. We haven't gotten to getting her glasses yet because Bob's been working a ton of hours this week and I don't have a car to go look. She is only going to have to wear them for reading and he said that her eyes still have a chance for improvement because she's still young and growing. So, hopefully this will help our reading situation. If it doesn't we will have to look into more drastic measures like therapy or something.

Bob has been trying to work as many hours as possible so we can put some money away in savings for our big move. I think he's only had like 1 or 2 days off in the last week. He leaves early in the morning and doesn't usually get home until late at night or early in the morning only to get up and do it all over again with only a couple of hours of sleep. Thankfully he doesn't do long stretches of driving. He generally keeps to the Chicago area. He quit his job at the academy a couple of weeks ago because it was getting way too stressful for all of us. You know it's gotta be bad at work when it overflows when he gets home and is nothing but crabby with everyone. When he said he was thinking about quitting he didn't have to ask me twice! So now he works full time driving bus and is a much better person to be around - despite the long hours!

We are still waiting for all of the paperwork to go through for our apartment in SD. I call a couple of times a week only to find out that almost every time I call they need more paperwork. It's almost like they are trying to draw this thing out for some reason. I'm starting to get angry! Can't these people see that I just want a place to live?!!?

My Honey bought me Ph0t0 Sh0w for a belated M0ther's Day gift. I am enjoying it almost as much as if not more than scrapbooking. There is not taping cutting involved plus I can add my own music. So get used to seeing my pictures in Photo Show format! There will be plenty more to come! :)

And, last but definitely not least, I have been honing my knitting skills lately on a new dishcloth! I found the pattern online and it's very easy, I'm just not very knitting savvy yet. I had to look up all the abbreviations on this wonderful site that Jaclyn gave to me and it took a couple of tries but here's a picture of the fruits of my labor! It started out a little on the loose side thus the fatter end but I figured things out within the first couple of rows and it came out pretty cute. I won't show a picture of the finished product because I kinda got excited and ended it a little soon. It's rectanglish and I should have made it longer. I didn't get much farther before I bound off and realized I should have measured it first. Oh well. It doesn't look too bad and it's plenty big for the kids to use when they start doing the dishes in our new home - we won't have an automatic dishwasher!

Jamie - I didn't realize I made my title so close to yours...oops...the power of suggestion! LOL

Here's some pictures of our impromptu trip to Chalberg Farm. We ended up getting there just in time to feed the animals with Farmer Jack. The lamb in the pictures was bottle fed from birth so it was sort of a pet. One of the other ladies there asked what her name was and the farmer said, "She doesn't have a name, I don't name things I'm going to eat!" I thought it was funny because that's what my dad would say!

A different lady there had a 2 yr. old baby who was petting the lamb. The lady said to the little girl, "Pet the baby goat, Honey! They cut the hair off them to make cotton clothes out of it!" I almost said, "Oh, so what's the stuff they pick out of the fields down south?" John said I should have asked her if wool came from the woolly mammoth? LOL

We took the trail through the woods to the Bailey Family Cemetery and it was well worth it. Very beautiful! It was a long walk though with the kids - almost a mile and a half!

Just For the Record...

...I'm not pregnant! I couldn't be, there's no way! I had Bob fixed a year after Luke was born because I HATED taking birth control...and I wasn't very good at it! LOL So, you see, there is no way I could possibly be...pregnant! Not that I wouldn't want another baby but now is not the time for sure and like I said...it wouldn't be possible...would it? :)

But thanks for the suggestions.....

:)

My Head!

I have had this headache off and on since Saturday. I've been nauseated off and on also and all I want to do is lie in bed! I even tried getting out of the house on Sat. afternoon and that only seemed to make it worse. At least I made it through church on Sunday without any pain. Until I got home! I've been taking 2 Al*eve a day and that doesn't seem to touch it - and it usually does the trick for me!

Today I try drinking lots and lots of water...maybe that will help.

Could it be that monthly thing? If it is, it's TOTALLY out of the ordinary!

It's driving me nuts!

I'm going to bed!

I Think I'm HTML Retarded.

I was just playing with my template and somehow changed it back to classic blogger and it was my old blog and totally ugly! I freaked out, my heart was beating fast and luckily I figured out how to change it back. My blood pressure is back to normal but now my head hurts thinking about what I learned about HTML in college....obviously it was info not retained in my long term memory because I can't remember any of it.

I'm going to go and lay down now.

*Sigh...*

It Wasn't Such A Bright Idea!

We spent the 4th at some friends' house with my mom and John where they were house sitting. It was a nice relaxing afternoon with good food. We left a little early so Bob could go fishing.

That evening Bob was still gone and I was just about to put the kids to bed when he called and asked if we wanted to come down for the fireworks. I somewhat reluctantly said yes, I hate crowds and there was sure to be a huge turn out around the lake where he was. That's where they shoot them off every year. I was right. It was crowded and we had to park about a block away and walk to where Bob was. Then we waited for about an hour before it was dark enough for it to begin. The kids were pretty board by then and ready to go home before they even started! They were nice, nothing spectacular, with a bit of a lag between explosions. The kids were STILL board so we ended up going home before the grand finale - which I saw through the side mirror of the car as we drove away, all 30 seconds of it! I didn't mind. I got a few pictures and the kids did get to see the fireworks - Mom!

I suppose it hard not to be critial of the small town fireworks after you have seen the fireworks spectacular at Mount Rushmore! :)

Happy Fourth of July!

Hope you all have a safe and blessed day with your families!

Happy Birthday Bob!

Hope your day was wonderful and filled with yummy food and lots of chocolate cake!

I love you lots :*

Spiritual Playpens

Love is the way to maturity. Selfishness stunts growth and keeps us in a spiritual playpen. The world is full of emotional babies, crawling over each other, screaming, "Mine! This I want, and this I shall have, and never mind what it does to anybody else!" What a relief, what peace, when one who has reached spiritual adulthood, who by love has grown out of himself, comes along. He freely gives up his own aims and ambitions, his safety and his cherished plans, his possessions, his feelings, anything at all that will help and says my life for yours. Such a one comes as a rescuer.

To give myself up is the last thing I think of doing. It looks like weakness. In God's eyes, though, it is power.

"We who share His weakness shall by the power of God
live with Him in your service" (2 Cor 13:4 NEB).

~Elisabeth Elliot

I Couldn't Resist

I love this new Photo Show program....think I can convince Bob to buy it for me? :)

Indiana Beach

For some reason I didn't get any pictures of Jozie, my poser! I will have to ask "Aunt Jaclyn" to email some to me and then I will update this little Photo Show!

The V Dub's Were in the House!

Well, again, I have had quite a long silence! Levi and Jaclyn came to visit last week and stayed a couple of days longer than they intended. We had a wonderful time shopping, sight seeing, watching movies, and hanging out. Bob got to spent some quality "man time" with Levi at the shooting range and I spent some "lets go shopping!" time with Jaclyn.

I learned to knit! I am so excited! I am about a quarter of the way done with a poncho that I started on years ago (literally, I've had the yarn and instructions since before we moved from MI!) for Jozie for Christmas. Hopefully it will be done in time for this year! :) Jaclyn is the best teacher! Thanks Mrs. V! She also taught Jozie and Luke but they found other things more interesting (like pestering Uncle Levi) and abandoned them indefinately...maybe next winter when we are spending a lot of time indoors they will pick it back up again! :)

I got Jaclyn started on her first scrapbook. She is going to scrap her summer vacation because she is going to be doing a lot of traveling. I took her to hobby lobby and got her hooked up with a cute little book and also some stickers. Then I brought her back home and let her go through my tote of papers and stuff. She didn't take near enough! LOL

We visited the Indiana Dunes for the first time since we've lived here only to do it on the day that the beach was closed because of lightening! We sat on the beach in the swealtering heat waiting for the beach to reopen but ended up leaving the beautiful sun and sand for the cooler climate of the central air at home! Maybe next time we will actually be able to get in the water...

Jaclyn started her own blog while sitting at the dining room table here at the house! Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging! Have fun! :)

Luke with the storm behind him.

The White Bellies on the Beach! a.k.a. Jaclyn and Levi

I Heart Jones!

I submitted one of my pictures to the Jones Soda Co. to be put on one of their bottles! Jaclyn told me to submit my gnome picture so I did. I might try a few others too. Here it is if you want to check it out! Vote for me while you are there. :)

Am I the Only One?

Grrrr....My kids fight CONSTANTLY lately! If they aren't fighting they are best friends but I'd say about 75% of the time they are fighting! And not just taking toys (but that is part of it) but they are yelling at each other and even hitting each other! Calling each other names and saying mean things to each other. Jozie gets bruises and scratches from Luke about once a week. Is this common? Am I the only one? I know that some would say that they learn from their parents but Bob has NEVER hit me or do we fight that often. When we do fight is quick and over with before you know it. We do yell when we fight like most people but it's rare - like once or twice a month. When we have disagreements it's nothing like the kids fighting, that's for sure!

I don't know what to do! I have tried to separate them but they just start making faces at each other and start laughing, so there goes the discipline purpose of it. I've tried the give-your-brother (or sister)-a-hug-and-say-you-are-sorry thing but that doesn't seem to work because the one receiving the hug and apology is usually angry and not in the mood to get it. I have tried soap in their mouths but the result isn't lasting, the name calling still persists, only with different words than what the soap was for...the list goes on...I need my Lisa Whelchel book, Creative Correction, but it's packed in a box somewhere, probably in the garage, and it's unaccessible right now...Grrrrr....

Anyway, here's the chance you all have been waiting for to give it to me with both guns and tell me what I need to do to better my parenting skills! :) Because something must be wrong here and I am clueless as to how to figure it out!

Heroes

So here we are, the whole family, with Big Russ and John.

On Saturday Luke and Bob got to hang out with one of their heroes, "Big Russ". Bob was thrilled when they asked him to go to the airport to pick the team up (kinda like a little kid)... he was surprised to see that when he got there he was only about 5 hours late (not Bob's fault, luckily, it was the event coordinator who got the time wrong)! According to Bob the one thing that you do NOT want to see is a 6 foot 3 in., 310 pound man angry...but that's another story!

Originally we met Big Russ when he was with the Power Team and visiting a local church. He has a very dynamic personality and a heart to bring the lost to the Lord. Some of the kids that Bob works with in juvenile placement came to see the concerts and Bob was able to personally introduce Big Russ to them. The first thing that he asked them is if they were saved. The boys were CLEARLY intimidated by this huge man but Russ just told the kids that no matter what they did that he loved them and that God loves them too. He lead one of the boys in the sinners prayer right there with his hand on Bob's shoulder like they were old pals or something. :) Luke was there to witness it all and I'm glad to see that he not only sees Big Russ as a big, strong, fun guy to hang out with but also as a man who isn't afraid to stand up for God.

In their final performance of the night Big Russ broke a pair of hand cuffs off his arms (I didn't get any pictures this time because I was way too busy but the second picture in the above link shows him with the handcuffs on). They were real police standard black handcuffs. That is one of Luke's favorite parts of the show so Bob sneaked the broken handcuffs for him. I say sneaked because they could give anything else out as souvenirs - broken baseball bats, bent hammers, broken bricks, etc. - but they weren't supposed to let the handcuffs out because the chain link only pulled out of the housing and the bracelet part was still intact. Luckily Bob still had the key or Big Russ would have been going home with some new bracelets and that wouldn't look so good on an ex-con! :) So Luke got his second Big Russ souvenir but we can't give it to him because after Big Russ got them off, the key was lost. Knowing Luke he would decide to try them on for size, even though he knows he's not supposed to only to have to go to the police station to get them off and explain the whole thing!

OK, Where Have I Been?

That's probably the question that you have all been asking yourselves over the last couple of weeks....or at least that's what I imagine my meager "following" to be wondering. :)

The Friday before last we got a call that my grandmother was not doing well. She had just collapsed at home after a morning of running errands with my aunt (which means that she sat in the car because she had a hard time getting around - except for her hair-do of course!) and ended up being taken to the hospital by ambulance where she was put on life support until some final decisions about her could be made. On Saturday morning she was taken off life support and never took another breath. It was definitely hard for my mom and our family. She has been through so much over the last couple of years with so much time in the hospital in intensive care for this and that with her emphazema being a major problem. She fought her way back to us numerous times when we thought the end was near. I think the hardest part was that we expected some major hospital visit with another stroke or pneumonia to take her slowly and painfully. There was also a recent diagnosis of unconfirmed lung cancer. So we thought that would take her. We thought she still had some time, some fight left in her. Her last words were, "I just can't do it anymore."

Rose was a beautiful, wonderful, feisty woman who everyone loved. She will be dearly missed by numerous friends and family.

Some of my fondest memories of my time with grandma were the times we got to spend alone together. She always wanted to play cards or "shake the dice", or have her nails done but my favorite time was the afternoon we spent together canning tomatoes, just on a whim that they were out there and had to be taken car of or they would have gone to waste. We thought we would get a couple of courts but ended up with 10 or so. I wish those times with her could have been more. Most of them were when I was living near her while I was going to college. I didn't grow up with her because we lived so far away and wish I could have known her better.

I took the kids and left after church on Sunday with my mom for the 4 hour trip to MI. I spent the next few days helping out with laundry and dishes, and such around my aunts house (the aunt who was taking care of grandma for the last couple of years) while family came in and out and brought tons of delicious food. The funeral was beautiful and hard. The church was packed. We left on Thursday afternoon to head back home.

Friday we spent running around finishing some last minute details for a Christian music festival that we volunteered for that ran all day Saturday. It was unfortunately a pretty big flop (I'm not even saying the name on purpose...I don't want someone leaving me nasty or rude comments!). They were expecting something like 5000 people - it was at our local fair grounds - and probably only had about 500. To make matters worse the big name bands that were supposed to play didn't because 1 didn't show up until the last minute and didn't end up playing because of severe thunderstorms that came through in the afternoon. There was a lot of hard work put into it but unfortunately it was poorly coordinated and advertised for and probably too much money for the little known bands that we had there. Then the 2 big ones that we did have didn't get to play anyway.

We are exhausted and still recovering from our lack of sleep over the last week. Even the kids worked hard (but probably played harder!) for the music festival. I was pretty proud of them. :)

My little brother Levi and my wonderful SIL Jaclyn are coming to visit us this weekend and we were thinking of going to C*hic*ago on Saturday but I found out today that the h*m*s*x*a* pride thing (I was intentionally vague for obvious reasons! This is a family blog!) is this weekend so I'm not sure I really want to take my kids to the "big city" - as they call it - only to have to keep their eyes covered and content some how or another censored for a majority of it... grrr... we may just end up going to Mich*igan Cit*y for a little town festival they are having with music and food and a community garage sale! Plus they have an outlet mall there....very promising!!! Community garage sale and outlet mall all in one weekend...How will I ever handle all of the excitement?! LOL Either way I am going to figure out how to get her to that outlet mall....we will have 3 days!

Becca...what is C*i*ago Summer*fe*t in Lin*oln Pa*k like? Will there be any residual from the you-know-what there? Is it good for kids? Or do you know? Email me! :)

Happy Father's Day!

I am my father's child.

Remember when you are younger you swear you will never be like your mother? You won't do to your children what they did to you, you won't talk or act or walk - mostly out of teenage anger and frustration from not getting your own way! - the way they did, etc.? Well, I succeeded! Mostly...I have a tad bit of my mothers attitude in me but more than ever I find myself being, acting, teaching, and disciplining my children just like my dad. We were never really close while I was a teenager, probably mostly because he was unsure of how to deal with a teenage daughter! When I was little I remember some of my favorite times were spent with my dad.

In the years since I have grown into my own person I have seen us both change. He has really become more of a friend and I could talk to him everyday!

I'm proud to say that I am my father's child.

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

I also want to honor my Father-in-law today. Thanks, Dad, for such a wonderful husband. Thank you for being the father to him that you were, and still are, because of that he is the man he is today. And I know you will be reading this eventually...you are one of my lurkers! :)

John, you have take care of me at times like I was your own. I couldn't be more greatful for those times.

And last but not least! Happy Father's day to my husband! :) I love you! Thank you for being such a hard working dad for our kids and providing everything that we need. :)

Belle's Big Day

Today Jozie followed in her cousin's footsteps. She got her hair cut and is donating it to Locks of Love! Ever since she saw that her cousin did it, she has wanted to do it and I keep saying that we'll do it next week. Today "next week" finally came because I had cash in my purse and decided this was the best use for it. It's summer and all that long hair is hard to keep up plus it's ho*t and he*avy on her head. Hopefully this will make for a cooler summer for her this year!

She looks like she could be Amie's more than ever now!

PS I am not doing this in a slide so Rebecca can see the pictures too! :)

Just a Little Update

I just have to tell you that the aprons that are being shown at Apronpalooza are amazing. I am being inspired and excited and now I want to get myself a new apron! If you haven't checked it out do so now! Don't delay! Run, don't walk! You will be missing out! There are 3 contests a day and most of them have 2 winners.

But, I guess if you don't go, than I will have a better chance of winning!

Voice Of Truth

Oh,what I would do
To have the kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown
Where Jesus is,
And he's holding out his hand

But the waves are calling out my name
and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
time and time again
"Boy, you'll never win,
you'll never win."

But the Voice of Truth
tells me a different story
and the Voice of Truth
says "Do no be afraid."
and the Voice of Truth
says "This is the for my glory."
out of all the voices calling out to me
i will choose to listen and believe
the Voice of Truth.

Oh, what I would do
to have the kind of strength it takes
To stand before a giant
with just a sling and stone
Surrounded by the sound
of a thousand warriors
shaking in their armour
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out
my name and he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
time and time again
"Boy you'll never win,
you'll never win."

But the Voice of Truth
tells me a different story
and the Voice of Truth
says "Do no be afraid."
and the Voice of Truth
says "This is the for my glory."
out of all the voices calling out to me
i will choose to listen and believe
the Voice of Truth.

But the stone was just the right size
to take the giant down
And the waves don't seem so high
when I'm standing on top of them looking down
And I'd soar with the wings of eagles
if I could just ignore the sound
Of the waves and the giants,
the waves and the giants in my mind

Lord, you've not given me a spirit of fear
But of power and of love,
and of a sound mind
So from now on,
I won't let the tempter's lies
turn my eyes away from the prize

That you have set before me.

That you have set before me.

------Casting Crowns

Neighborhood Garage Sales Rock!

On Sat. morning I woke Bob up early (8:30 really is early for him!) and we the morning WITHOUT children (well, at least for one. Jozie came with us to the second one) at 2 different neighborhood garage sales. I spent $10 on some adorable clothes for the kids and books for them plus 2 small purses for me.

I also found a bike for Luke, a Schwin, that he badly needed, but that didn't fall in the under $10 catagory. I probably spent too much on it but it was a near perfect condition Schwin and it was the only bike in 2 neighborhoods that I found! Period! I was desperate and it was on my list so I got it. I should have passed it up but I couldn't. I knew how excited he would be about it. I was right. After he rode it around the house a few times he immediately went over and rang the neighbors doorbell to tell her about it. She had company at the time but when they were gone he spent a good 10 minutes talking to her about his bike! I didn't know he had such a connection with this neighbor. She is the mother of one of his children's church teachers so we kind of know her but I didn't expect him to run right over to show her. I guess he was so excited he just had to show someone! My dear girl didn't say a word about not getting something big like Luke got. I got her a couple of books but she could have cared less, she isn't that excited about reading! She was just as excited as he was because she "helped" me pick it out. She's a good girl. :) If I were her I would have bee mad because I didn't get one too!

Apronpalooza

Looks like fun! Check it out!

My Life In Macro

I went a little macro crazy today with my camera. Luke wouldn't sit still for me to take his picture - what's new? - so I took pictures of veggies in the grocery store in honor of him and one of his cars. It was fun!

BTW, all pictures were taken in our yard - except for the food, of course! Our garden didn't grow that fast!

Swimming Pool Garden

Here is our Swimming Pool Garden. Definition: it used to be a swimming pool but now it's a garden. It was in extremely poor shape when we moved here. It would have had to be completely redone in order to actually swim in it - there were trees and brush growing out of the middle of it. So we had it filled in and now it's our garden. Not as big as we'd like but all the same, a garden. This picture was taken this morning with my clothes hanging out on the clothes line in the back ground. Our garden is shamefully bare. Not a seed or plant in it yet...that's to come tomorrow.

Till Death Do Us Part?!

Today, while riding in the car on the way to the dollar store, my son asked me a question. And me, being the oh-so-good-listening-Mom that I am, just answer, "Yah, sure Bubba," without much of a thought. He was in one of those talking moods that he gets in where the verbage flowing out of his mouth just doesn't seem to end. So I will admit, I went on auto pilot while my mind went elsewhere and my ears listened to the sound of a question. Not until Kristin gave me a funny eyebrow-raised look that I snapped out of my reverie and asked, "What?"

"Do you have any idea what your son just asked you?", she said.

"Sure, what was it?", I asked.

"He just said, 'Mom, when you die can I bury you in my back yard?' and you just said, "Yah, sure Bubba!'"!

I guess I had better make a plan for when I die (I know it's called something, I just can't remember what right now) so I don't end up si*x feet un*der - next to the dog house!

School Update

So we aren't quite done with school yet. Jozie has been done since about the first week of May. I have been working with her reading through SRA Reading Laboratory (I have an old edition from 1990 that a fellow home educator gave me) and some extra math too with Saxon Math (again, the same fellow home educator gave these to me - her husband works with the public schools and gets a lot of old curriculum that the schools are getting rid of), grade 2 worksheets that I have. She doesn't seem to mind too much. I also have an art/etiquette called Little Annie's Art Book of Etiquette and Good Manners that she really likes. I'm suprised that she hasn't complained about doing extra work since she knows that she finished her PACES (we are currently using Acclerated Christian Education) so long ago. Thankfully she finished before Luke because if he had finished first than I never would have gotten him to do extra work until she was done.

Luke is a little behind because he finished first grade at the beginning of the year and didn't start second grade until after Thanksgiving. We also took more time off for Christmas than I intended and almost 2 weeks for spring break when we were sick for a week and then had a break for the second week. Plus the here and there days that we did other things like field trips and such. I could just let him finish second grade next year but with us not really sure about next year I want him to be ready to start third grade if we have to put them in public school. He actually seems to understand and hasn't complained or throw any more fits than normal! LOL

Last night Luke asked if he could watch cartoons for a little while before bed when his sister was in the shower and I said no because I hate having to have them watch TV so I told him to find something else to do. There wasn't enough time for him to watch a whole program anyway. So he asked - ASKED - if he could work on school work and get some extra done! I was FLABBERGASTED!!! STUNNED!!! Is this really my son? My child who HATES doing his PACES when he has to, let alone the mention of extra work usually throws him off for AT LEAST a half an hour?! Well, I didn't react at all for a moment then, to cover my true emotions, I said, "Sure, if that's what floats your boat." Just like if he asked me to play with his legos - which he doesn't have to ask to do. I was afraid if I got excited he would change his mind! So he went straight to the table and promptly FINISHED the math PACE that he was working on! Test and all without even asking for help with instructions. I was a pretty proud mom and teacher. This is what it's all about.

Over the last couple of weeks with Jozie working on her reading I have seen great improvement. She has gone from sounding out most of her words - even ones that I know she knows much to my frustration - to sight reading almost everything only to have to sound out new words. She still could use some help with math, it doesn't seem to be her strong point, she must get that from her mother! All in all I am pleased with her progress and am confident she will make a great third grader.

Luke is also a wonderful second grader. There isn't much that gets by him and he really only needs instructions once for most everything. He has gone to reading most of his science quietly to himself and only asking if he needs help with sounding out a word. He hates the repetition of math because once he understands a concept he has it down and doesn't need to or want to waste time doing things over and over again. He's a boy, he has better things to do! LOL I think the only thing that he has problems with is maybe spelling. But again it's the repetition thing. Our Word Building is pretty easy and straight forward but when the introduce a new word they have to write it six times and then usually write several words that have the same ending sound as the one they just wrote. His problem tends to be that he just copies the word as letters and doesn't bother committing it to memory as a word. He found out the hard way that he has to pay more attention to what he is writing because he ended up having to erase and redo a whole PACE - which is 6 school days worth of work - because he only got like a 40% on the spelling test. He is doing better but still needs constant reminding! :)

So, before the end of June, both of my kids will be prepared for third grade. Luke needs to work on his attitude and fits and Jozie still needs work in math. I PLAN on continued reading and flash card work through the summer but those kinds of plans don't usually work out...I guess we'll see!

Corn, Clothes, and the Swimming Pool Garden

This week has been busy so here it is in bullets...lets see if I can keep it short! :)

• Luke loves corn on the cob. I made a dozen ears on the grill last night for supper along with hamburgers and hotdogs. Luke is always the first one with corn on his plate, finished with corn before anything else touches his plate, and has it all over his face - literally from his forehead to his chin - which isn't uncommon for him when he eats corn on the cob. Jozie was sitting next to him and noticed and said as she picked up his napkin and wiped his face, "Oh, Bubba, you have a mess all over your face! Here, let me help you." It was so funny just the way it came out, I had to laugh. She is such a mother!

• I finally got approval for a clothes line! Yeah! My mom's dryer doesn't work the greatest so it takes an average of 2 hours to dry a load of clothes in the dryer! I can hang them and get them done SO much quicker it's unbelievable! I'm just excited to have sunshine fresh clothes again! Did I already say, Yeah! :)

• We are late getting our garden in again this year. Today we finally got it tilled. We have a Man*tis tiller and it's kind of a pain. It's ok for small jobs or in little areas but it takes SO long to do it in our swimming pool garden. I only did about a quarter of it and my hands are KILLING me. They are so swolen from the vibration that I am having a hard time even typing!

I will have to post pictures of my clothes line and the swimming pool garden when I get them. It probably won't be tomorrow though, it's supposed to rain.

To Those Who Died For Our Freedom:

Thank You.

Happy Memorial Day

Another FREE Concert - Thanks Shine.fm!

Yesterday Luke and I spent the afternoon together taking in some FREE music. It was sponsered by a local church and it was an outdoor outreach event. They were raising money for their new church building on the sight of the event.

Luke and I went to see Skillet! (I have been listening to them since I was in high school so I am considered one of their "old" fans! LOL) It was nice to spend some time with my son one on one where I only had to talk to and listen to and play with him. We had a great time. He got a poster for them to sigh and we waited in line for them to sign it and to give them high fives for almost an hour. He was too shy to tell them that his daddy used to drive their bus though! :) The music was awesome, as always with them. I had to put Luke on my shoulder so he could see over the crowd so I'm a bit sore today but not as bad as I thought I was going to be! He loved the loud music and the fact that he got to stay up way past his bedtime!

After the concert he convinced me to take him to Pizza Hut with some of the kids from our youth group that were there so it was after 11:30 when he finally got to bed! Bob got home just as he was getting into bed so he had to show Daddy his poster and tell him all about seeing Skillet and Jarius Cry. He was disappointed that he didn't get to meet the guys of Jarius Cry - he thought they would be with Skillet to sigh autographs - but Papa John promised him that when they come here this summer him and Luke would out for dinner with them and even play with their kids if they bring them. That seemed to please Luke and he asked for clarification several times just so he had all the details. :)

I even let him drink Mount*ain D*ew and have a Bo*mb Po*p from the ice cream truck, two things that NEVER happen in our house, he thought he was pretty special...and he was right! :) He is a very enjoyable child to have, when he wants to be! :) I love him and I wouldn't trade him for the world! :)

Morning Drive

This morning we decided to go for a drive wit the kids just to get them out of the house - they are DRIVING ME CRAZY!!! Here are some things we found along the way:





If you notice there are no pictures of me. There is a simple explanation for that...I AM SO FAT I AM EMBARRASSED TO PUT UP ANY PICTURES OF ME! I should just find a picture of a cow or a pig or maybe one of those advertisements for fat pills to put in for me. I knew I was fat but when I see pictures of myself I think it makes it that much more obvious....I almost cried.

I am going to go and throw up this ice cream I have and quit eating now.

Baby Sadie! - Sorta.

We checked out the pictures of new baby Sadie yesterday morning and when Luke saw how tiny she was he wanted to know how it would feel to hold a baby. So for comparison sake I got out a 5 lb bag of sugar. I showed him how to hold the "baby" in his arms and he thought it was pretty easy, "she" was a little baby. But after a few seconds he got tired of it and said, "Here, you take her mom, she's drooling!" And handed "her" back to me! What a boy! He even did it gently, like he had a real baby in his arms!

Free Concert! Woo Hoo!

Last night Kristin and I took Sami to see Bui*lding 429 (my space) and Jacks*n Waters (my space) in a free, yes I said FREE, concert! It was awesome. We were the first ones in the doors and got second row seats. We were about 5 feet from the hugemungus speakers on the stage. I didn't take the kids because Bob just wanted to stay home but I almost wish I would have brought them anyway. There were a lot of other kids there and I'm sure they would have liked it - but I was afraid Jozie wouldn't like the loudness of it so I left them at home. When we went to see the Pow*er Te*am last summer she complained about it then and we were in the BACK row!

I liked the music for JW - they opened for B429 - but I had a hard time hearing the words because the music was so loud. The drummer was great! He was very animated with his facial expressions and you could tell he loved doing what he does best just by the way he did it.

Buildi*g 429 - which stands for Ephesians 4:29 "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." - was better than I was expecting. I was expecting a concert, that it would be entertainment and good music but that's not what it was. I was excited to find that it was a worship service. They didn't come to bring glory to themselves but to God. The whole purpose of their newest album was that the people who come to their concerts and be able to sing the words to the songs with them. They did a couple of the songs that they have had on the radio and some new ones too.

I GOT A FREE T-SHIRT!!! They were throwing out t-shirts and I caught one. It wasn't what I expected but it was free! :)

Meet William!

Goodbye Buster, Hello Bugs!

No, we didn't get Buster back or anything crazy like that, but my mom talked to the guy she gave him to at work today and things aren't going as planned with him. He said that Buster had been doing great for the last few weeks - he was obeying commands really well and not having any problems with his anger issues - but then he got home from work on Friday afternoon to find him sullen and cranky. Buster snarled and snapped at him 2 times that afternoon for no apparent reason so when his kids came he wouldn't let them play with him. He got excited and wagged his tail when the kids got their but the guy didn't want to trust the dog with his kids - I don't blame him. So, he is going to have to put Buster down. It's a sad and hard thing to do but we all agreed that it would be for the best before he bites someone, especially the kids. It would even be hard to give him away to someone else for fear that they would turn around and sue you the moment that he bit someone. But what else can you do with a dog that can't be trusted?

And no, we didn't get bugs now that the dog is gone either! :) This summer is the summer of the 17 year cicada and my kids are extremely excited. They are suppose to come out in some great number here in our area so the local paper has been having stories about them almost weekly. I got this link to an interesting and disturbing video of them in my email today and thought I would share it with you guys. I HATE these bugs, they are ugly, huge, and noisy so the moment I see them on the move, you can guarantee that I will be on the move too - straight back into the house! Though they are harmless, I just can't stand them! Yuck! So, check this out and see what we get to experience in just a few short weeks!

http://www.bio.indiana.edu/~hangarterlab/broodx/broodxmovies/NSFmovie.htm

Don't say I didn't warn you though! :P

Happy Mother's Day!

I got this cute little story via email the other day and figured it would make a great Mother's Day post!

Hope you all have a wonderful and memorable Mother's Day!


So, we had this great 10 year old cat named Jack who just recently died.

Jack was a great cat and the kids would carry him around and sit on him and nothing ever bothered him. He used to hang out and nap all day long on this mat in our bathroom.

Well, we have 3 kids and at the time of this story they were 4 years old, 3 years old and 1 year old. The middle one is Eli. Eli really loves chapstick. LOVES IT. He kept asking to use my chapstick and then losing it. So finally one day I showed him where in the bathroom I keep my chapstick and how he could use it whenever he wanted to but he needed to put it right back in the drawer when he was done.

Last year on Mother's Day, we were having the typical rush around and try to get ready for Church with everyone crying and carrying on. My two boys are fighting over the toy in the cereal box. I am trying to nurse my little one at the same time I am putting on my make-up. Everything is a mess and everyone has long forgotten that this is a wonderful day to honor me and the amazing job that is motherhood.

We finally have the older one and the baby loaded in the car and I am looking for Eli. I have searched everywhere and I finally round the corner to go into the bathroom. And there was Eli. He was applying my chapstick very carefully to Jack's . . . rear end. Eli looked right into my eyes and said "chapped." Now if you have a cat, you know that he is right--their little butts do look pretty chapped.

And, frankly, Jack didn't seem to mind.

And the only question to really ask at that point was whether it was the FIRST time Eli had done that to the cat's behind or the hundredth.

And THAT is my favorite Mother's Day moment ever because it reminds us that no matter how hard we try to civilize these glorious little creatures, there will always be that day when you realize they've been using your chapstick on the cat's butt.

UP Pictures...Finally!

Trip Details....

We had a great trip to the UP last week. We just happened to be up there the same time that my dad was so we got to stay with him at the farm. If you don't know he doesn't live up there anymore, he lives in Fli*nt now where he works driving truck. He still owns the farm but only gets up there once every couple of months.

The kids had a blast at the farm. They found out quickly that if they ventured too far off the cut grass into the tall dead grass in the fields than they got a good dose of wood ticks...we hate those little creepy crawly things and I was really hoping we would get there before they arrived for the summer! :P I was sorely disappointed! Luke figured he could outsmart them or something by running fast through it but still failed...he couldn't figure out how he kept getting them because he had to be running at least 50 mph! LOL

My dad has a road that goes out behind the old chicken coop to the woods and the kids loved running back there with Ginger and seeing who could do it the fastest. It was wonderful to spend almost a whole week outdoors without even worrying about the TV and when they were going to watch cartoons! :) I tend to say no to that more often than not at home but they didn't even ask the whole time we were there! Miracles never cease! :)

I think Luke's highlight was getting to shoot Papa's .22 and pellet gun. Both kids got in quite a bit of target practice out behind the woodshed and also some gun safety. Luke mad the mistake of getting too close to the scope and luckily only got a small cut in the middle of his head when he was shooting the pellet gun. It was almost funny if he hadn't actually gotten hurt! He tried to hide the pain at first but then he saw the blood and it was all over. He cried and it was worse because he did it in front of Papa! Jozie didn't really care too much for the target practice but she turned out to be a pretty good shot when she took her time and aimed! I even got in on the fun and the kids were amazed at how good their mother was. I was in the shooting club in 4-H when I was in Junior High and took hunters safety when I was 12. So I have handled a few guns in my day! I think my dad was surprised to see that I still had it in me. :)

We spent a day at my grandparents house and I found them - with a bit of relief - pretty much the same. I was a little bit worried that I would find them old and decrepit and on their death beds for some reason...maybe because I haven't seen them for a couple of years. I pretty much grew up with them only miles away so it was strange to go so long and not see them. It felt good still have grandma still want to baby me after all these years and be able to baby her a little instead! :) I did end up needing her sewing expertise though because I started a project that I couldn't finish myself! I am a little embarrassed but I found what I thought looked to be an easy pattern for an apron for Jozie for her birthday. I cut it out and had my sewing machine out and ready to only take one look at the directions and dew a complete blank. So I luckily was taking this trip up north and decided to take it to Grandma. She did it. It took her most of the afternoon and into the evening but she said that I never would have gotten it on my own and she has never seen a pattern for an apron that hard! So much for my big head when it comes to sewing....I guess I need a little more practice! I will also have to take a picture of Jozie in it so you can see the final product. It is so cute! Grandma even put a little tag on it that says "Made with Love by Grandma". She's the best!

We didn't get to spend enough time with A. Darlene but that was my fault. We weren't sure we were going to end up going because of my other grandmas health so I didn't call her and let her know we were going to be there. She did stop by at my grandparents house on her way home from work but she was sick with a nasty cold and didn't want to stay long and spread it around. She stayed long enough to talk and play checkers with the kids. She beat Jozie (she's not the best checker player around) but I think Luke took her down. :) It was wonderful to see her even for a short time. :)

So that's my trip. It was hard to come back to the business of suburban life but we managed. Even Jozie noticed how quite things were while we were driving through the UP without even being prompted that we don't live in such a nice quite place now. It must be pretty bad if an 8-year-old notices!

I will post pictures tomorrow. Our Internet was down for most of the day here so I didn't have time to upload any pictures. I'm going to bed now! Goodnight! :)

**Thanks for the tip Jodie! I noticed the Edit Html tab and the compose tab before but never looked at them both so I didn't think to check and see if there was a difference...Duh, I feel really cool!!! 8)**

What's up With That?!?

We got back from our trip yesterday afternoon. We only had 2 close calls with the wilds of WI - one with THREE deer and one with a turkey who wanted to see our dinner table but never made it...

But, while traveling through Milwauke*e, WI we came across this billboard that made absolutely no sense...I guess it's like a tease and reveal technique of advertisement where some off the wall thing is put up to get attention and then the real ad is put up a couple of weeks later so it gets more attention...who knows. I just don't understand. Do you?

More to come about our trip and pics...I've got a headache tonight though and the ghetto Wa*lMart didn't have my brand of headache pills stocked...no surprise there...so I'm headed to bed early tonight to try and sleep it off. I will post more soon!