Dorm Life

I just spent a week at the University of Michigan attending the World Finals competition for Odyssey of the Mind with my son. It was QUITE an experience! The accomodations were "rough", to put it nicely. The food was horrible. There was no air conditioning (which was not very fun the first three nights that it was in the 90's and humid). Then it set in and rained the last two days and went from being hot and muggy and sticky to being freezing and just plain wet. The toilets were GROSS, the water tasted like heavy metal, the bedding was scratchy and stinky and the towels they gave us were paper thin. They caught a bat up on the 6th floor (we were surviving life on the fifth). The souvenir shop sold these totally obnoxious horns to all the kids who proceeded to be totally and uncontrollably obnoxious with them. I was lucky enough to get to sit right in front of a child who had one at closing ceremonies. We had fantastic seats(NOT!) BEHIND the stage and up in the nose bleed section...so we already couldn't really see...the crowd of kids was excited and thunderously loud and I was lucky enough to have this stupid horn going off in my left ear every other minute. I was ready to shove it down that kids throat and then beat her dad upside the head with it for giving it to the kid in the first place. Not a great evening, for sure! Anyway. Home sweet home seems a bit sweeter now that we are back! Our upcoming camping trip is going to seem like staying at a five star hotel! I cannot wait! Life is SO good here in the desert with my clean house and clean toilet and soft blankets and edible food and my sweet family all around!

Blessings

We have company coming to visit us today and tomorrow. I am very excited about everyone's arrival! But before their arrival, there has been a GREAT deal of cleaning and tidying going on in this house. It has been a very busy few days (not that there are ever any really non-busy days!). Last night it was finally all clean, the kids were in bed, Chris was at the grocery store...and I had the chance to just walk around the clean house for a last inspection. What I realized, is that my house is covered up in absolutely beautiful pictures of our children. Most of those pictures taken by me! It was neat to walk through the house and really see them. I guess I take them for granted. And even though I took them, and framed them, and put them there, I think that at some point they just fade into the background of familiar home and cease to really be seen...by us. Last night...when all the worries of cleaning and whatnot were gone...and it was just me in my clean house, I was just really amazed as I walked through at what I saw and how it made me feel. I then realized that not everyone has this. There are absolutely gorgeous pictures of my kids on every wall that there can be (almost!). One day, sooner than I realize, my kids are going to be gone and this house will be clean and quiet...always. I LOVE knowing that when that happens, I will still have their precious little faces looking back at me. I love looking into those big blue eyes and seeing those crooked new little teeth coming in and their wild cowlicks...captured and preserved forever right there on my walls. I am so blown away that God would bestow this talent of photography on me. I was sure I was supposed to be a country music singer! I am so thankful that I can look and see my little blessings and their faces all around me, all the time. I realized (through my charity work) that some parents cannot physically get their child to a studio and may never have a wall full of pictures of their children...maybe not even one picture. Some can't afford to feed their children, let alone have their pictures made. I am not taking my blessings for granted any more. I am seeing my children, and their pictures in a new light today. Our family is so richly blessed that it transcends any possibility of me being able to figure it out. Blessings, blessings, blessings. Thank you God for opening my eyes so that I can really see and really appreciate the blessings that you have given in my life. Help me to be aware and recognize them daily and NOT take them for granted. And thank you for loving me enough to grant them in the first place. Thank you for giving me a talent that I can use and share, and that helps me put my blessings right in front of my face...forever.

More Picture Fun!

A Perfect Day

Yesterday, which was Mother's Day could not have been any more perfect! My family was wonderful. My children were precious and sweet beyond words, and everything was just lovely. After being showered with amazing gifts, as we got in the car to go to church and were backing out of the driveway, I noticed that we were actually leaving ON TIME...at the time that I like to leave...8:45 on the dot. I was thrilled. That in and of itself could have been my Mother's Day gift right there! I HATE to run late. It is a real issue for me! So that was awesome. I was actually seated before the service got rolling...that was awesome. The sermon...that was awesome. Mark spoke on Psalm 139 and how God is with us wherever we go, wherever we try to go...we cannot be out of his sight or his touch. He read the story of the Runaway Bunny, which is a story where a little bunny tells his mama he is going to run away. And the mommy says that if he runs away she will run after him. So the little bunny says that if she runs after him, then he will turn into a fish and swim away. And the mama says that if he turns into a fish and swims away, then she will become a fisherman and catch him and bring him home. So the little bunny says that then he will become a crocus hidden in a secret garden. The mommy says that if he becomes a crocus in a garden, then she will become a gardener and find him. And so on, and so forth. The little bunny comes up with scenario after scenario as to how he will get away...and the mother has an answer for how she will be there every single time. Finally the little bunny says "Awww, shucks. I might as well just stay home with you then!" And that's how God's love for us is. No matter where we go, He will go too. No matter what the situation we face, He will be there to face it beside us. We cannot be outside of His sight, or outside of His grasp or outside of His love. This was not news to me, by any means...but it was a great illustration and is one that will stick in my mind forever. Anyway...after church we all came home and had a quick lunch...then a quick nap! Then I got a great workout in on my treadmill, jumped in the shower and was done just in time for Chris' mom and stepdad to arrive. We cooked pizza (my ALL time favorite food) and had salads and angel food cake with fruit. It was yummy and just awesome. Then to top off my very awesome day, last night was the season finale of Survivor Figi. A day cannot get much better than that! Oh...the best part of the day....I almost forgot! My kids took pictures with me! They were all so cute in their green (happened totally by chance)! My kids NEVER want to take pictures. They are DONE with that since they have been subjected to countless trial and error sessions while their mom figured out her photography stuff. Anyway....SO cooperative! And GREAT pictures resulted! It was an amazing day...I think one of my very best ever!!!

Mother's Day

It is 7:31 a.m. on Mother's Day and I have to say that it has already been just incredible. I have three amazing and sweet and wonderful children and an awesome hubby to boot! Clara tells me "I love you all the way that my heart is about to crack open". I have been showered with amazing gifts and all sorts of handmade cards with the sweetest of sentiments! My sweet children presented me this morning with an obnoxious sky blue purse that has just been CALLING to me for a while now. The purse was definitely MY choice...not theirs! I just love it. It is totally unpractical and will match nothing I wear...but I just love and adore it! When Clara handed it to me I was thrilled! But very surprised when I took it from her and felt how heavy it was! It wasn't just a purse...it was giftwrap! Looking inside I found a new cordless phone set. Recently Ben left one of ours (it was a set of two) on the tailgate of my car and I proceeded to back down the driveway and run over it! The other remaining phone has never worked right since! It's stubborn to answer and just rings forever...despite the fact that you long since pressed the answer button and have said hello a dozen times! So THAT was awesome! In addition to the phones was a new Nikon Coolpix camera...it is SO tiny...with a huge screen for viewing...AND it does both pictures AND video!!! This is awesome because now I will be able to capture Max's Odyssey competition in Michigan for Chris to be able to see....hopefully! So...goodies, goodies, goodies! My family has been way too good to me today! In addition, the boys had made cards that have "chores" in flowers that I can "pick" for them. Ben had very sensible and useful chores in his bouquet...like scooping the dog poop, and cleaning the bathroom. Max, my other dear and creative son...took a bit of a different approach. His flowers say things like "Share a Starbucks date" and "Play with Clara". It very much matches his philosophy in life...less work...more play! They are so cute...I think I will treasure them forever! Clara brought home a new plant (victim) from preschool for me! I actually have managed to keep last years plant alive for a whole year now. IF you have been in my home, you might have noticed a scraggly, weed looking thingy by the kitchen sink. That's Clara's pot from last year. It is impatients. Granted...there are no flowers on it...and haven't been for nearly a year. Clara called them marigolds...even though they are impatients...however...when she says marigolds, it comes out as "miracles"...and the fact that they are still alive in MY house under MY care truly is a miracle! LOL! I seriously have the blackest thumb possible! Anyway. I have to go and get ready for church now. I am blessed beyond anything I could ever imagine! Thank you Lord for my sweet children and they blessing they are to my life. Thank you for entrusting them to me and allowing me the journey of motherhood! Life is good here in the desert!

Nightmares

Whenever Clara fails to get a nap in and gets herself overtired, she tends to have nightmares when she goes to sleep for the first part of the night. In addition to being overtired, a full bladder can also trigger these nightmare cycles, as can being too hot it seems. So...we put her in her bed, OUT like a light at 8:32 this evening. Today was a no nap day....along with having a friend over for several hours day, along with swimming twice this afternoon...along with an early and busy start this morning. So...it is 10:19 right now and Clara has already had three nightmare cycles. Two crying....one outright SCREAMING at the top of her lungs, disoriented, doesn't know where she is kind of cycle. This last time I finally was able to get her to wake up (this is ALWAYS a challenge with both Clara and Ben), at least a bit. I convinced her to try and go potty...and sure enough...her bladder was full. I also stripped her down out of her p.j.s as she tends to be a little heater box when she sleeps, like her daddy. I am hoping that I have eliminated now at least 2, if not three of the main causes of these nightmares...at least for tonight! I am sleepy and heading to bed and am SO hoping to be able to stay there until morning and not have to run up the stairs all night long! Life is good in the desert!

A Visitor!!!

I just got word tonight that my cousin is being sent to visit ME for her Mother's Day present this year! I cannot express how excited I am about seeing my sweet cousin! She lives in Kentucky and the two of us are just so alike...I can't imagine not having her close to my heart. Scott called today and said he was booking a flight for her. I have cleared my calendar...almost...and cannot wait until next Thursday! We talk on the phone all the time. We've laughed together, cried together, we've worn the same hideous matching outfits throughout our childhoods...we agree on child raising issues and both share a love of Christ. I have already told Chris that he need not get me anything for Mother's Day...because Wanda's gift is my own as well! I can't wait to see her and share a few days here in the desert.

On another note...my husband is just sassy. That's all I know to say about that right now. He's feeling rather entitled to things that he most certainly has not earned. I'll not elaborate further than that...however...there will be a conversation to set things straight before this night comes to an end on certain matters.

That said...life is good here in the desert.

She Reads!

I was beginning to think that Clara might be my only child out of our three that did not read at four years of age. Not that that would have been a big deal by any means. But of all of my three...Clara is WAY more verbal and advanced with her vocabulary....she just kind of gets stuff like that quickly. So I would have been surprised if she did not follow in the shoes of her two older brothers. I knew she COULD do it. She has known all of her letters and their sounds forever. She just hasn't really been interested in how they all come together. She has had some success at stringing 3 letter words together...with effort. So I had just kicked back to see what would happen. Then this week she wants to play school non-stop. So when it was my turn to play teacher, I wrote up a few simple sentences for her...just to see what she would do with them. She loved it...and within just a few minutes had sounded them all out just as easy as pie and was asking for more. She read "A fat cat had a hat." and "Sam had a bug in a jug." and "That pot is not hot." and "Pat the rat sat on a mat." and "I had a run in the sun." and "It was fun!". I was very surprised at how easy it actually was for her. Today she started the Bob books....she read the first three without effort. So quick and easy for her. Not that she doesn't need a little practice...she does...but for the most part she is NOT struggling. And the best part is that now that she realizes that she is actually reading real words and sentences...she is just THRILLED! So I am excited and proud for her. Now...she may be bored in kindegarten. Clara will actually be our first child to GO to kindegarten. With our boys we were homeschooling....which God is really dealing with me on right now....so they were home with me and working very much on their own level. I don't want to homeschool again. I DON'T. But I keep finding it laid on my heart. I will go absolutely insane if I take that on again...I KNOW that I will, and I know that I am a better mom to my kids when they go to school and work for someone else. See...the Lord...in all of His great and hilarious humor...granted me with two boys that are COMPLETE POLAR OPPOSITES of their mother. I like to get things done...the right way....in a timely manner...the first time around. My boys, on the other hand...tend to drag out assignments FOREVER and attempt to complete them with as few words and thoughts as possible. It's a frustrating road with them. Especially because I live with them and I KNOW how smart they are and I KNOW what they are actually capable of. So...we end up butting heads...more than a little bit! And if they aggravate ME the teacher in school in the morning, it tends to spill over into ME the mom after our school day is over...and I just stay grouchy with them all the time and frustrated all the time. So they HAVE to go to school. It is all so very clear in my mind. And if that is all so clear...then WHY do I keep finding this issue in my heart and in my head? WHY did I find myself in the education section and Barnes and Noble today looking at fourth grade skills? Doesn't God know I JUST started a business and it's already almost more than I can keep up with? How in the world would I school AND work? Not to mention that Chris would NOT EVEN be a little bit on board with that idea again since he knows how crazy it makes me. So...there is that. I have pretty much resolved that if I am really supposed to homeschool any of our kids again, then God is going to have to go through Chris, and Chris is going to have to come to me and say "Let's do this." with no promptimg from me. THEN...I will know it's God and that I am in no place to argue with Him! Besides...I think the boys are already smarter than me! At least Max is! So that's my life struggle for the night. And my
life triumph! I feel like I should homeschool my kids...despite the threat to my sanity...and I am busting with pride over Clara's new found reading skills. So...life is good in the desert!

My sexy is missing...

So...I'm in my bodypump class on Tuesday morning (that's a weightlighting class, for all those who are just clueless on that little point) and it's a new release, so I've been getting to know all of the new music. Most of the tunes on this track though, I don't know and have never really heard. Only two I think are familiar. Anyway. It's tricep time (which....my triceps are just a whole other blog entry in and of themselves!...I'm SO mad at them!), and these triceps just happen to be a little more painful for some reason I think this time. Anyway...to distract from the pain I started focusing on the words. And this track is set to Justin Timberlake's "Get Your Sexy On"...though our instructor likes to call it "Get your sexy arms". Either way...I'm out of luck! My triceps just seem to be expereincing "Failure to Thrive" syndrome I've decided. It's the only plausible explanation. I am there...I do the exercises...they hurt...so I know it's getting to that rotten little muscle...and yet...there they are...all flappy. Sigh...honestly...and this is what I really, really think...I turned 35 in September...but I think my body is dyslexic (my eyes escaped this tragedy thank goodness!) and I think my body has made a reversal of the numbers and now thinks that it is 53. That would explain just too much. The flappy, non-responsiveness to muscle torture...the saggy situation in other unfortunate places...the middle aged spread that just seems to be happening regardless of every single effort and tactic that I try. My bones and muscles ache and holler daily...I'm telling you...body dyslexia. Now...the good news...is that IF it ever switches back...say, in my 70's...then I'll go from being like 72...to 27. I could end up being the babe of the nursing home. Oh yeah. Get myself some perky boobs, some tatoos, some piercings...maybe some roller blades? Something to look forward to. In the meantime...I continue to battle the bulge (and the flaps, and the saggies, and...well the list just goes on). But back to my original point...the new track says to "Get your sexy on." Now...what exactly does that mean? I mean really. Cuz if there's a sexy suit that you can just slip into and...Voila! Sexy mama!? Then I need one. Somehow I doubt there's one out there....so that leaves me back at wondering how the heck one puts your sexy on. Is that like...clothing? Lingerie? Bathing suits (heaven forbid!), toenail polish? Bottom line here is...I think mine is just missing. Whatever it is...I'm pretty sure I don't have one. I've given this a lot of thought...and I think I'm pretty much over it. After all...when one is wise and 53 like myself, then sexy looks a lot different than when you are young and obnoxious. I imagine that just being on my own two 50 something feet, having no woman baldness starting and having my own original set of teeth and being in relatively good health for a 53 year old is pretty darned sexy. So there, Mr. Timberlake! Hah! And so...I am off again this morning to the gym. I will work and sweat and shape and sculpt these muscles of mine (whatever good it may or may not be doing). And I will work on those nasty little triceps of mine which are just bent on being wings right now instead of sleekly sculpted triceps. Perhaps I will try to remind said triceps that God did not create me as a pteradactyl...I am not a flyer...but just a regular old girl. Hence...enough with the stupid wing want to be's! So...for all of you who have your sexy and can put it on today...well, good for you. As for me...I'm off to get pumped!