Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I love about Heather!! This is a special TT that I'm hoping others will join me on...I'm going to pass it on to Laurie and Susan and hope they will pass it onto others as well. Heather is my best friend. She's fighting cancer right now and she's going to beat it because she is the most stubborn and wonderful person I know...So this TT is especially for her...don't wait until Thursday to continue the list!!! 1. She has an amazing love for God. 2. She has an amazing love for her family. 3. She is a terrific cook and ENJOYS cooking! 4. She makes a mean cup of coffee. 5. She always shows up at the right time with coffee or diet coke in hand. 6. She makes me laugh. 7. She loves me. 8. She loves my kids. 9. She sings harmony beautifully. 10. She is kind to everyone. 11. She always finds time to make cookies for a shut in or dinner for a sick friend. 12. She's the best doula in the world!! 13. She's the most beautiful person I think I've ever met both inside and out. I am so blessed to have had her presence in my life and neighborhood for the past nine (almost) years. I look forward to a million more years of close friendship both here and in heaven!! Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Poor Little Punkin'

This was the best smile she could give me!!

 

The saga began the week after Thanksgiving. Sarah started to act like she had a cold. She would spike a fever between 99 and 103 but then it would go away and she would be fine. After a week of this we decided she needed to go to the doctor. The other kids had been sick and it cleared up in a couple of days...she just seemed to be getting worse.

The doctor looked at me like I was a lunatic for bringing her in and told me it was a virus and to keep her comfortable.

It got worse. Her fevers continued to spike up and down now as high 103.8. Then she had a day with no fever and I thought, maybe, just maybe, she had kicked the bug. I was wrong. Sunday night she woke up at 10:30 with a fever of 104.4. I nursed her through it until the next morning and then took her back to the doctor. This time they ran some tests. They did a blood draw to check her white cell count, and a urinalisis to check for a UTI. They ordered a chest x-ray to check for pneumonia. In other words, they had no living clue what my baby had and they were checking everything they could think of. This entire time, her only symptomology is the fevers and a slight head cold. So they start her on Zythromax, a heavy hitting antibiotic that, they tell me, should cover whatever she has. Tuesday night her fever spikes to 104.7, I take her back to the doctor. The run another blood test and another urine culture. For the second time in four days she has blood in her urine so they change her to an antibiotic that targets UTI. Turns out, she has Mono AND a UTI AND they organism causing the UTI is resistant to the antibiotic she is on so they need to change it again. SIGH!!! At least now we KNOW why she was so sick. She actually seems on the mend today and not too much worse for the wear...Her tired mommy, on the other hand, needs to nap for about a month to get over this ordeal!!! 

O Christmas Tree!!

This year we tweaked tradition! We added a chocolate FOUNTAIN for our fondue!! For those of you that don't know, every year when we set up and decorate our Christmas tree we also have fondue for desert. We have done this every year since I can remember, and sometimes more than once in a year because Tim's parents have done this every year for as long as I've known them. The kids love it and it really rings in the beginning of the Christmas season for us!!

Click on the top picture below to see the whole album!!

O Christmas Tree

 

Thursday Thirteen!!

Thirteen Things I am Thankful for... 1. The roof on our house is almost done. 2. good health 3. good doctors 4. free long distance 5. our neighbor's Christmas lights 6. my van is running (I killed the battery yesterday) 7. my awesome church! 8. my boss (who is understanding when I have to stay home with sick kids) 9. my friends 10. my family 11. my kids 12. my husband 13. my GREAT BIG God! I sure am blessed!! Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Grief

Have you ever felt like you had a brick in your chest?
Like you literally couldn't breathe?
I think that feeling must be grief.
I've been feeling that a lot lately.
It doesn't help that I can't sleep, even with meds.
I've slept for less than 6 hours total the past two nights and it's 3am right now so that's not looking good either.
I'm exhausted and I feel very old.

Very tired.
Very weary.
Very sad.

I don't know how to continue on, I just put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward somehow. I feel like I'm walking through cement. Drowning in quicksand. I look to the heavens hoping to see God, to feel some relief. It has not come. I feel like all the skin has been ripped off my body and the air hurts.

I cry out with the psalmist...

How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?


Answers aren't coming, and neither is sleep.

It finally happened!!

I knew this day was coming...and yet, I dread that it has come.

And in someways rejoice at it.

My daughter, who at a mere 11 years old is in sixth grade, came running into my classroom, out of breath, with three of the girls from her class in tow. She breathlessly exclaimed, "Mom! I HAVE to talk to you, outside, RIGHT NOW!" Mind you, I was in the middle of wrapping up a lesson with my fourth graders, but she seemed quite urgent so I thought it might be an emergency. I thought it might be a medical issue not uncommon to pre-adolescent girls.

I followed the four bubbling, giggling girls out into the hall.

That's when my daughter burst out "MOM! JACKSON likes me!!"

Stunned. I was stunned. Not that my baby, my first born, my INNOCENT little eleven year old might have a crush...no, I am stunned that she would drag me out of a classroom where I am TEACHING to tell me this. Stunned and kind of honored. Not every eleven year old would want so badly to inform their MOTHER with this information.

She thinks she's in love.

It takes me back.

There will be so many. So many heartbreaks. So much joy. Giggles, and blushing, and tingling all over. There is no other time like it in a young girl's life. She will never again feel that exileration, the spinning realization that someone she likes likes HER. It's a mystery, built into all of us by God, to propigate a species. She's like a whirling spinning bubble of hormones right now...ready to explode at any moment, into the teenager that she almost is.

Enjoy the journey.

The Modern Proverbs 31 Woman!!

An interesting discussion went on between some friends of mine recently.

One of them was lost without her Scooba. She didn't own a mop. In the same week her dishwasher died and her laptop crashed. She was having a really bad week.

But the very thought of it made my mind wander to today's women and how it's even possible to be a Proverbs 31 woman in today's society. Today, it seems, we have more to do than ever. Many women work, either because they want to pursue their chosen career or because they must, to support themselves and help support a family in a day when two incomes is often necessary just for basic survival. On top of that our children are more involved than ever, with soccer games and piano recitals, dance classes and play rehearsals, boy scouts, girl scouts, track, clubs...the opportunities abound and are only limited by time and money.

So how is it possible to follow the virtues of Proverbs 31 in modern society?

Well, it seems that the Proverbs 31 woman did work outside her home. She had her own "earnings" and with those earnings she invested in real estate and planted a vineyard. She traded and wisely watched over those investments. She made garments and "sashes" and sold them to merchants.

She also had servants! Verse 15 tells us "she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls." Now, by no means does this mean that she sat around all day eating bon bons. She worked hard, was charitable, took care of her family and watched over her household. Scripture tells us she "gets up while it is still dark" and she "does not eat the bread of idleness."

Here's where I think we go wrong. We try to do it all by ourselves. She had help! She had babysitters, housecleaners, and someone to do her laundry!! I think, as women, we need to let go of the idea of being a SuperMom and make use of as much help as we have available to us.

I think a modern day Proverbs 31 woman might be sitting at her kitchen table while her children do their homework, checking her e*trade portfolio on her wireless laptop, with her washing machine running in the background. She looks over contentedly and sigh as her Roomba circled by vacuuming her carpets, while her Scooba in the other room took care of the tile. After dinner, she loads the dishes in the dishwasher and sits down at her sewing machine to hem up her son's school pants. Later, she balances her checkbook online at the touch of a button and drops an email or two to keep up with friends and family. When she receives an email telling her of a mutual friend whose husband has just lost his job and is in desperate need of some groceries, she quickly logs onto the local grocery store's website and orders a delivery for the next day. One final check of her online business and she is off to bed. It's late but it's been a productive day.

Now if they could only invent something that would pick up the clutter and recycle it into something useful we'd all be in good shape!!

Enjoy the Journey!

I've been tagged!!

My Friend Heather tagged me with this meme.

1. Favorite memory of your mother?
I remember being very little, sitting on my mother's lap while she taught my brother how to read. She didn't realize she was teaching me to read as well and she had to convince me that I could read even though I wasn't in Kindergarten yet.

2. Favorite memory of your father?
My father loved to sail and was always happiest out on the ocean. I inherited that from him. I love the Ocean! I love the memories we have of sailing...even when it was on our tiny little sabit (sp?).

3. What one skill would you like to wake up tomorrow and be able to do (though you'd never learned it)?
Playing piano!!

4. Which one of your dreams has come true?
Believe it or not, I am living my dream...it doesn't look exactly the way I thought it would but I've always wanted four children and I have the BEST and most BEAUTIFUL children in the world! I've always wanted to be a teacher and that I am and I enjoy it most days! I work at a GREAT school and I love the people I work with! The only part of my dream that hasn't happened yet is the fact that I always thought I would be married to a pastor, and that is my husband's dream and I would love to see him acheive that dream...not for me (I've learned the hard way that being a PW is not all it's cracked up to be) but for him!

Now I'm supposed to tag someone...I'm tagging Dave & Lori and Amy.

Sea World!!

Click on the top picture to view the entire album!!

California Sea World Trip

Sep 26, 2006 - 41 Photos

Family Camp Pictures

Click on the top picture to view the whole album!!

Family Camp

Sep 6, 2006 - 19 Photos

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I love about my KIDS!! 1. B is old enough and mature enough to babysit for short periods of time. 2. J has a love for his momma that is like no other. 3. A is always full of life. 4. S makes me laugh, especially when she asks to be "mascused" from the table. 5. B is really really smart but not in the least bit conceited about it. 6. J loves his baby sister and would do anything for her. 7. A loves to clean (and that has it's advantages if channeled correctly!) 8. S still loves to snuggle and be held. 9. B, at least for now, is totally comfortable in her own skin and really doesn't seem to care what the other kids think is "cool." 10.J loves to read so much that it sometimes gets him in trouble at school. 11.A has a heart of gold and loves to be a helper to her classmates. 12.S is learning to read and loves to "do more learning, mommy." 13.Most importantly, they all love the Lord. I sure am blessed!! Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

The Truth

There is a famous line from the movie A Few Good Men where Jack Nicholson as Colonel Jessup states rather emphatically to Lt. Kaffee "You can't handle the truth!"

There's not many among us who can handle the truth. We want to hide behind half truths and realities that feel comfortable for us. We want to run away from things that frighten us. We want to hide from things that feel like they are too much work for us to handle.

Take my house, for instance...after a 9 week school term it is a disgusting mess! It's an overwhelming task. If I look at it all as one thing, I really want to run and hide!! But let's look at TRUTH here. I've managed to avoid it for two days and it hasn't gotten any cleaner...nobody is going to come in and clean it for me...and it's not going to get any easier to face as the mess becomes worse. I might be tempted to just leave my house...run away and buy a new house, a clean house...but the mortgage would still be there so that isn't really facing the TRUTH, is it? I could burn it down...but eventually I'd get caught (they'd realize it wasn't an accident once they figured out I had saved my computer and all my scrapbooks!). So if I face the TRUTH (it must be cleaned) figure out what I can manage (one room at a time) and take a step forward, eventually my whole house will be clean.

Isn't that how it is with life? Life can seem so overwhelming at times and we just want to run and hide from TRUTH. When things get hard and seem overwhelming we want to run and hide. But scripture tells us in John 8:31 & 32 "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

I had to go to the dentist this week. I say I "had" to because the pain has become unbearable and I can no longer control it with standard over the counter pain medicine. I've "needed" to go to the dentist for a very long time (say about 8 years). For reasons I cannot explain and don't totally understand going to the dentist completely terrifies me. It is all I can do to get in the door to take my KIDS to the dentist and sit in the waiting room for them. So my dear husband, who is willing to be my enabler in this scenario, called and made an appointment for me and made me promise to go. I got childcare. I went. I sat silently in the waiting room. I was able to give a sort of coherent explaination to the tech as to what was hurting me so they could take x-rays. The dentist saw me and gave me the standard lecture about not coming in until the problems were overwhelming. I nodded and prayed he would get it over with so I could leave...all I could think of was that I would get to leave the building soon...that is what kept the screams at bay, I kept telling myself it will be over soon, it will be over soon. But I had to go to a specialist to have (multiple) root canals. This meant walking into a whole different dentists office...hearing all those sounds, smelling all those smells, all over again. I paid my bill, took the referral and nearly ran to my car...got in and screamed...then I cried, hyperventilated, felt like I couldn't breathe and was dying and had a panic attack for nearly an hour. Somewhere in that process I had the wherewithall to call my husband (who didn't answer!) and my best friend (who came and rescued me.

The TRUTH in that scenario is that I KNEW that going to the dentist makes me nutty and I tried to go anyway without any help. The next day, armed with the TRUTH, some anti-anxiety meds and my best friend beside me I managed to make it through this consult with the specialist with only some minor trembling and sweating, but no panic attacks that took up half my day. Admitting the truth set me free (more or less).

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I did TODAY!! 1. Sat in a courtroom listening to testimony. 2. Sat in a courtroom listening to testimony. 3. Sat in a courtroom listening to testimony. 4. Sat in a courtroom listening to testimony. 5. Sat in a courtroom listening to testimony. 6. Sat in a courtroom listening to testimony. 7. Sat in a courtroom listening to testimony. 8. Sat in a courtroom listening to testimony. 9. Sat in a courtroom listening to testimony. 10.Sat in a courtroom listening to testimony. 11.Sat in a courtroom listening to testimony. 12.Sat in a courtroom listening to testimony. 13.Sat in a courtroom listening to testimony. Jury duty sucks!! Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Worship Wednesday

 
 
  

Stand in the Rain

Recently I've had a lot of time to think. I got called for Jury duty way on the other side of town and it's a 45 minute commute each way. I'm not quite sure how to fill so much no kid alone in the car time. I make phone calls to friends that I haven't talked to in awhile...I talked to my mom for 35 minutes today. But mostly I listen to the radio. You know how sometimes when you listen to the radio you keep hearing the same song over and over? Not because it's the only song playing but because your brain sort of tunes out the music except for that one song...when it comes on your brain takes notice? This song has been running around in my head for a couple of days now...I heard it for the first time a week or two ago...but I keep hearing it over and over on my commute to civil service. It's really speaking to my heart right now.

Stand in the Rain

She never slows down
She doesn't know why
But she knows that when she's all alone
It feels like it's all coming down

She won't turn around
The shadows are long
And she fears if she cries that first tear
The tears will not stop raining down

Chorus:
So stand in the rain
Stand your ground
Stand up when it's all crashing down
You stand through the pain
You won't drown
And one day what's lost can be found
You stand in the rain

She won't make a sound
Alone in this fight with herself
And the fear's whispering
If she stands, she'll fall down

She wants to be found
The only way out is through everything
She's running from
Wants to give up and lie down

Superchic[k] - Stand In The Rain
From the album Beauty From Pain 1.1

My life is so much like this right now...I never slow down, I keep busy from morning until night...partly because there is so much to be done, but partly because I'm afraid of what will happen if I stop. It's like those circus acts where someone gets plates spinning on top of small posts but if they slow down they crash to the ground...I'm spinning plates.

And it's hard, I'm exhausted...and there is no end in sight. If I give in to the pain, to the exhaustion, the frustration, if I cry that first tear...that is the end of it all, I will never be able to pull it back together...it's too hard and takes too much energy.

Fortunately, I'm not alone in my fight. I have my wonderful husband that would cut off his right arm for me. I have some wonderful friends. And I have an AMAZING God who loves me...even when I don't feel lovable...even when I don't feel loved...even in the midst of the rain...His love is standing.

What we see...

We will see if the following quote by one of my favorite author's holds true. I was just called to sit as a juror for a criminal trial. I can't say anything until it's over but I'll let you know how it goes.

Homework...Friend or Foe?

We have been having an intriguing discussion about homework at the school where I teach.

Turns out the new administrators at our district office aren't big fans of homework.

I'm not either...but I've always assumed that was because I home schooled for so many years. I still find it amazing that the work that we accomplished at home in three or four hours takes at least seven plus some homework to accomplish in an institutional setting. But at home, I didn't have to redirect 18 students. My kids didn't have anyone to talk to besides their siblings and me so that wasn't a great distraction and they knew if they finished early they could go outside and play.

So what is the purpose of homework? I generally only send home assignments that haven't been finished in class. Most of my diligent students get it done and get to go out to play. But is that really fair? That leaves my slower students who need more help to get that help from parents that perhaps weren't helping in the first place and that's why the student is one of my slower students...plus, don't we all need time to play? I think so. But when do those students get that assignment done? If they do it in class the next day I have all of my faster students sitting bored and getting into trouble. If I let them move on, the slower kids get even further behind. It's very much a catch 22.

Many of the other teachers had other reasons they sent homework home. The main one was to force parents to be involved in their children's education. Do you really think that if a parent doesn't want to be involved in their child's education they are going to be bullied into it by a page of homework?? That seemed like odd reasoning to me. Of course, I've always been involved in my children's education so I really don't know if that would be a motivating factor or not.

Then there is the work factor. I find as a working mom, by the time I get home from work, have checked all the homework for three kids, made dinner, made lunches, done baths, hair brushing, tooth brushing, and prayers...I pretty much fall into bed exhausted only to repeat the same thing tomorrow. I have NO CLUE how parents fit in soccer, piano, dance class etc...along with that all...I just don't. Homework definitely doesn't get the attention that as a teacher I might hope it would get in all that chaos, and I understand that.

Most of us came from a generation where homework was the norm. Of course, most of us, at least among my circle of friends, had moms that stayed home, or had a neighbor's mom that stayed home, and could help us with that homework.

What do you think? Does homework serve a purpose? What is that purpose? Or is homework a thing of the past?

Wordless Wednesday

 
 
 
  

Overheard....

A friend at the church that we have decided to call home these days asked my son if he liked the church. This is what he said:

"This is our NEW church now and you know what is REALLY COOL?! You don't even have to PAY for the SNACKS here!!"

LOL!!!

Why?

I heard that question again today.

"Why?"

Not from my four year old.

From the cashier behind the counter at Sam's Club.

You see, I very often get comments regarding my "large" family. I have four children from the age of 10 years all the way down to my four year old and quite honestly, I don't think of my family as "large." Studies show that it is average these days for families to consist of three or more children. But it is not rare for me to hear things like;

"you sure have you're hands full..."
"are they ALL yours?"
"you do know how to use birth control right?" (this coming from a total stranger)

...and my all time favorite was the lady in the grocery store who yelled at my best friend, who happened to have all of my children as well as hers (a total of six) with her, "STOP THE BREEDING!!"

My conversation with the cashier at Sam's Club went something like this...
CASHIER: Wow, your girls are beautiful, you look like you've got your hands full.
ME: Not really, I have two more at home.
CASHIER: Really? You really DO have your hands full.
ME: Well, and I have 18 more fourth graders at school. I'm a teacher.
CASHIER: WHY?
ME: Well, because I happen to think children are a blessing and somebody needs to teach them.
(cashier shrugs and finishes ringing up my order.)

When did children become a burden instead of a blessing? I love my kids. I love being with them. I love teaching them. I love my biological children and I love my students. I like some of them more than others but I love them all. I am proud of them when they succeed and I feel like I have failed them when they fail. Then I work with them until they can succeed to the best of their ability. Do they drive me crazy sometimes? Sure! Do I yell more often than I would like to admit? Yep. I wouldn't give them up for all the world.

Jesus said in Matthew 19:14 "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

That's a maxim I try to live by.

Be blessed.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

It is with great sadness that we bid goodbye to all Krispy Kreme franchises in Arizona...we hope that they reorganize and re-open!! Soon!!

  

Do the little things bug you?

I've had a couple of rough weeks. I had a parent keep me after work for 45 minutes arguing over something that so TRULY didn't matter. I got a speeding ticket. I got a jury summons. I got an email from a mom who felt I wasn't being fair to her child. I had to send a kid for a referral to special ed. I had an asthma attack while hiking today. My son told our best babysitter that he hated her, made her cry, and she said she was never coming back (this did get rectified and he did apologize but still!!!) Some of these things were my fault (the ticket) or my responsibility because of my job as both a teacher and a parent...but I have just started to feel like I am walking around with a big red target on my back!!! Any single one of these things would not be a huge deal but to have it all (and more that I didn't go into) happen in the course of about a week and a half is just more than this mommy/teacher/target can handle!

When we were driving home tonight from a wonderful date to celebrate our 14th anniversary (there were some bright spots this week too!) God gave me a picture of my life right now. We drove (and drove and drove it seemed) through this swarm of bugs...This is how my front bumper looked when we got home....

 

You know what my wonderful husband did right after we got home??? He washed the bugs off!! Now my car is clean again (well, at least on the outside!) and bug free.

It made me think.

Our God is a wonderful redeemer. HE can wash the bugs off of our lives and give us a clean start.

But we have to let him. So starting right now (okay, maybe tomorrow because right now I'm going to bed!) I'm going to face the day as a new day...and stop looking over my shoulder feeling like there's a target on my back.

At least I'm going to try!!

Here's a few more pictures from our date!! We went hiking at Lake Pleasant and saw Wild Burro's!!!

 


  

Aren't the clouds magnificent?!?! We had a whopper rainstorm last night!!

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things that drive meBATTY!! 1. Negative people 2. Critical people 3. Unhelpful people 4. Unorganized people 5. Irresponsible people 6. The fact that sometimes I am those above people 7. Speed limits under 45 8. Not getting through all of my teaching material in the timeframe *I* wanted to 9. Jury summons (that couldn't have come in the middle of summer when I wasn't working of course) 10.Children who don't do their homework 11.Children that do their homework, don't bring it to school, and still expect me to give them full credit since they did do it, of course, pinky promise 12.Emergencies that land 43 children in my teeny tiny classroom. 13.Days that zip by leaving me feeling like my children are growing up too fast and I'm missing all of it. Wednesday, August 02, 2006 Wordless Wednesday Sometimes there's too much fun to be had to actually MAKE it up to bed!!    Have you ever met... a person who just bugs the tar out of you? Someone who is extremely arguementative, or critical, or negative, or all of the above? I've had the unfortunate opportunity to have met many such people in my life! Today was just another one of those days. I've actually known this person for awhile...but today this person had me so angry I was just steaming for about an hour!! I just couldn't shake it!! Then to make matters worse there was this driver on the road on my way home from work that decided to pull into my lane about an inch from my bumper, flashed her brights at me like I should then get out of her way?!?!? Then she pulled into the lane next to me and pulled in front of me JUST barely missing my car...I honked at her and she flipped the bird at me. That extended the steam for awhile!! Why is it that we are so vulnerable to other people? How come, at least for me, another person has the power to make me so angry I want to spit or so mad I want to cry? I'm always telling my kids that they "choose" to let others affect them, and that they need to not give the other person (usually a sibling) so much power over their emotions. I really tried not to let these people affect me. I tried to not give them the power. I did something positive to redirect my mind (drove through the Coffee Bean and got an Ice Blended, sugar-free of course!). I prayed. I was still angry. Really angry...wanted to hunt down that car and smash the window with a baseball bat angry... It's got me thinking...WHY?? Why can't I just blow off the negative comments and let it go? I heard a great sermon a couple of weeks ago. Here's the gist of it: Proverbs 18:21 The tongue has the power of life and death, There's 50 some other verses to back it up...Words... Words have the power of life and death... I'll tell you, it has me thinking harder about the words that come out of my mouth. That sarcastic comment aimed at my husband, the complaint voiced to my children, the gossip spoken to a friend. Every word has the power to build up or tear down. Actions speak louder than words. I was on the receiving end of some of those negative words and actions today. I didn't much like it? Do you? It certainly has made me stop and think about the things I do and say and how it affects other people. Food for thought. Friday, July 21, 2006 Thursday Thirteen!! Thirteen Things about a new school year !! 1. I love buying school supplies! 2. I hate moving my classroom...again...after being told I wouldn't have to...sigh... 3. I love being with my teacher friends. 4. I hate writing out lesson plans (but I do it) 5. I love how tidy a room with no children in it can be. 6. I hate how deathly quiet that same room is sometimes. 7. I love grammar (yes, I know that I am considered very wierd by even a majority of my co-workers) 8. I hate grading papers. 9. I love that 3 out 4 of my children go to school where I work. 10.I hate that one of them doesn't. 11.I love when my students bring me Starbucks in the morning. 12.I hate that I have to spend half my first paycheck getting my room up to par. 13.I love that I can earn a living doing what I love, teaching children to love learning, and watching them grow. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

VBS and all that!!

Whew!! We just finished an amazing and crazy week of VBS at our church and it was a whirlwind!!

We had 15 registered...almost 30 showed up!! For our little church we were so excited!!

We played games, we made crafts, we learned about Jesus and how He is our Friend, our Savior, our Leader, our Helper, Viva!

For me, the highlight was hearing my niece tell my god-daughter that she loved Jesus because He takes care of her! Lord, I pray that is a truth she will never forget and that someday she will come to a lasting and living relationship with you!!


 
 
 
  

Snow in JUNE!!

Sorry I've been remiss with keeping up with the blog...I've been busy playing in the snow with my family! Can you believe there is still snow on top of Mammoth Mountain in JUNE!! The LAST day of June to be exact!! Amazing! The kids thought it was great, albeit very bright!!

I'll catch up with y'all later!!


  

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things that I LOVE!! 1. I love God. 2. I love my family. 3. I love my friends. 4. I love getting hugs from my kids everyday at work. 5. I love Starbucks coffee. 6. I love Ice Blended from Coffee Bean even more. 7. I love bookstores. 8. I love rain. 9. I love the beach. 10. I love sleeping in. 11. I love sitting on the beach, in the rain, drinking coffee, and reading a good book. 12. I love back rubs. 13. I love the 'ah ha' moments of teaching when they actually get it. Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Wordless Wednesday

Or "The Toothless Twins Strike Again!" (to her credit Abby's almost got those two front teeth in)

  

Happy Father's Day

Today was Dad's Day and our Dad got adequately spoiled.

He wanted a stereo for our living room. He got it even though I didn't want any more noise in my house.

The kids wanted to take him fishing. That was a little tougher to pull off. While I am fairly proficient with a fishing pole, I had no idea where all of our gear was much less where we could go fishing with the two hour time frame that we had today to get it done.

So I spilled the beans to my husband (the kids had wanted to surprise him). Well, his face lit up and he was off. He spent a good hour happily tooling around in the livingroom putting line on poles and whatever else it is that you need to do to "prepare" to go fishing. He asked me if I could pull together a picnic dinner (whew...as long as I don't have to gut or clean a fish I'm good on the food end!) and away we went.

Fishing is big sport in the lovely (albeit HOT) state of Arizona and they have something called an Urban Fishing Program. That means that they put lakes in public parks and then they stock those lakes with fish!! Right on! It's not exactly a trip to the great wilderness but it only took us 10 minutes to get to a nice grassy area with lighting and bathrooms (not to mention a splash park and playground!!) where we could "take Daddy fishing!"

So, picnic packed, fishing gear in tow, a trip back to the house for chairs and a blanket to sit on and we were on our way! We had a great time and what's better the kids caught fish! They were three inch Redear Sunfish and we threw them all back but they CAUGHT something!

Now they are so psyched to go to Mammoth next week I'm not sure I'll be able to scrape them off the ceiling until we put them in the car.

It was a good day.

I hope you got to spend today building some memories with someone. Life is too short not to.

Happy Father's Day!

Umm...Mom? There's a problem...

These were the words I heard...but let me back up a bit.

It was right after school, with only a few days left in the school year I was exhausted with end of the year parties and preparation. I was home with only my two youngest...ages four and seven. I did what all good working moms do when they need a break...

I set them in front of the television so I could find a few minutes of peace and quite while I looked through my mail in my bedroom.

That's when it happened...My seven year old came into my room with a slightly panicked look on her face. "Umm...Mom? There's a problem. There's smoke all over the kitchen!"

Needless to say I ran to the kitchen and boy, was she ever right!! There were also flames in the microwave!! I yelled for her to grab her little sister and go out the front door and wait for me. Amazingly, under pressure, she obeyed immediately. I opened up the microwave door and the flames went out, to see three very charred pancakes on one very melted plastic plate!! I grabbed a towel and then grabbed the plate and took it outside and threw it on our b-b-que...and went in to open up all the windows and doors and turn on every fan in the house. Do you know how aweful smoke from melting plastic smells? No? Then come on over because I'm not sure I will EVER get that smell out of my house!!

Turns out the four year old was trying to warm up pancakes (left over from my end of the year pajama party at school) and she punched in what she thought was 10 second and turned out to be 10 minutes!! I am NOT...for those of you wondering...in the habit of letting a four year old use the microwave alone! I DO let her push the buttons when I use it so she thought she had it handled...and I did, after all, tell them not to come bug me until their show was over unless it was an emergency...pancakes are apparently not and emergency until they are burning!! LOL!!

All's well that ends well I suppose but boy, oh boy, that was an adrenaline rush for the day. If anyone has any thoughts on getting the smell out of my house let me know!!

  

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Places I have lived in my Lifetime!! 1. West Allis, Wisconsin. 2. Tujunga, California. 3. The OC (Orange County, California). 4. La Mirada, CA. 5. The OC, CA (different location). 6. Wynnewood, PA. 7. Bellflower, CA. 8. Santa Ana, CA. 9. Julian, CA. 10. Bellflower, CA (again). 11. San Clemente, CA. 12. Phoenix, AZ (in two different locations). 13. Peoria, AZ. Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Ever Wonder What a Dust Storm looks like?

Well, here it is!! This is the WALL of dust that entered the Valley this evening causing havok for drivers and leaving a mess everywhere! It's very unusual for us to have these kinds of storms this time of year...they are more typical in late summer or early fall.

  

The Myth of the Exploding Pop Can!!

Definitely NOT BUSTED!!

 

Here in Arizona we like to welcome summer with temperatures nearing 110 (it gets hotter...this is just the beginning!!) Well, there are several things you just don't leave in your car on a hot not quite summer day...soda is one of them. This can was in an unopened 12 pk box of soda...it became a ROCKET! It was upside down in the box and it ripped open the box and hit the roof of my car with a noise loud enough we thought it was a gunshot!! My kids being the avid Mythbusters fans that they are, wanted to write to them and tell them it's NOT BUSTED, as they claimed...They also wanted to reproduce the entire experiment for their Science Project next year...we'll see, maybe if we use DADDY'S CAR!!!