Camping!!

 

This past weekend we went camping with our friends Mike & Lisa and had a wonderful time!! Sarah found a "wishing flower" and was amazed when I told her it was a dandelion. (Background: she danced as a dandelion in our church play this past spring so she though it was pretty cool to see a real dandelion)

 

Abby enjoyed hanging out in the woods, looking for butterflies, and visiting the horses that were camped with their owners nearby.

 

 

 

Playing with the quads was the hit of the weekend! The kids had a blast driving the quads around the meadow where we were camping! Unfortunately, Mom got thrown off one of the quads and now has a fractured patella and crutches (which the kids think are cool!LOL!)

UPDATE as of 7/6/07 I got a final radiology report and my patella isn't fractured, apparently it's just a deep (and very painful) bruise. I am grateful because I think (hope) it will heal more quickly. Pray for me because it's still pretty painful!!

Thursday Thirteen

I haven't done a Thursday Thirteen in a long while so in honor of today's high of 111 degrees in Phoenix...Thirteen things you can do on a really hot summer day...

1. Go swimming...but wear a lot of sunscreen!!
2. Take your kids outside in the guise of washing the car and completely douse them with the hose!! (if you're going to be outside longer that a few minutes I recommend wearing lots of sunscreen!!)
3. Go to the local Waterpark...and wear a lot of sunscreen!!
4. Go to the local splash zone at the park...and, yes, wear a LOT of sunscreen!!
5. Go to the zoo that has a water zone in it...and wear a lot of sunscreen!!
6. Lure your children outside..."Hey kids, look there's a cute puppy in the yard!!"...then pummel them with water balloons!! Expect revenge....
7. Drive through the carwash with the windows open.
8. Fill a kiddie pool with water and dishwashing soap and blow some really big bubbles!
9. Go out for ice cream.
10. Stay inside and watch movies and eat popcorn all day (no sunscreen required)
11. Go to a McDonald's with a playland, buy a soda, and sit and read a good book or visit a friend for four hours (I did this today!)
12. If you have small children, go to the mall and let them play in that wierd play area that has gigantic plastic bugs, cars, or even more strange...Food!! Unfortunately, they don't usually let the bigger kids play on these for fear of them being trampling the little kids.
13. Go to California, Oregon, or anywhere that the temperature is lower than 100 degrees.

Wordless Wednesday!!

One more down....

I've finally finished one more class towards my credential and soon will be working on another one but for now I am done!! Two units and the AEPA to go. I'm exhausted...I slept most of today away. I am really looking forward to being done with all of this so I can just focus on teaching.

I know I've been fairly absent from the blogging world while I slugged out the last five chapters of my book...I should be around more now...at least until school starts again!!

Abby's been Libby Lu'd!!!!

For her eighth birthday our Abby received a gift certificate to a store called Club Libby Lu. This is a mecca of all things girly and pink! She and I went on a "date" to use her gift card and this is just a small portion of what she eventually bought (after much deliberation because she was in little girl heaven!!)



She gave into the temptation to buy a bracelet with rocks of enormous size, several charms to go on said bracelet, the lovely pink and purple hairpiece, pink glitter hairspray that smells...well....PINK!! She also got another little headband for her hair and....shhhhhh!!....picked up a birthday present for a beloved friend who is soon to turn seven. All in all, quite a day for our little princess!!

I'll post more pictures of her birthday party later. Just wanted to share my day!!

My Sunshine's Fifth Birthday!!

Here are a few pictures from the Princess' Princess Party!!


The princess needs paint!!



The princess needs cake!!



The princess needs presents!!

She had a wonderful time playing with her friends and enjoying her party!! Thanks for celebrating with us!!

An unexpected blessing....

My husband just got a new job working for the fifth largest law firm in Arizona. Do you know one of the perks of working for a really big law firm?? They have season tickets almost everywhere!! Another perk?? Most lawyers don't take clients to see Sesame Street Live!! We, on the other hand, happen to own a gaggle of giggling girls who think Sesame Street is cool!! (yes, even my 11 yr. old enjoyed it...shhhhh...don't tell her I told you!!) Now some of you might be wondering about the boy child...he bowed out (with great rejoicing) to go to a sleep over at his friend's house...and we took one of the girl's friends with us.

Season tickets for a law firm unsually include a skybox or suite...Whoo hoo!! And free drinks (soda's and water at the kid's shows, thank you very much, if you were wondering!) The kids thought it was quite exciting that they got the whole box pretty much to themselves (there was another family from Tim's work but they left at intermission) and could just get a soda out of the fridge!

It was a whole lot of fun seeing how the "other" side lives!! I'll never get my kids to stay seated in "normal" seats again!! LOL!!

My Interview with Amy Wallace

Recently I had the distinct priviledge of spending the weekend with Amy and her family and joining them for her book signing Together we celebrated the release of her first book Ransomed Dreams . The book is awesome and I had a blast!! Read on for the interview and at the end I'll post some pictures of the book launch party!

Hi Amy! Thanks for Blog touring on my site!

When did you first know that you wanted to write professionally?

When I first started typing Ransomed Dreams, I knew I wanted to be a "real
writer." Little did I understand then that real writers are the people who
write because they love writing and God has given them a passion and calling
to do so. A publishing contract doesn't validate that calling or passion.


How do you handle the pressures of being a “working mom”?

Pray and get used to not sleeping as much as I'd like to. ;-) I think the
hardest part is when I hang out with other women who don't work (outside the home) and I feel like a lesser Christian or that my stresses are "my fault" for trying to do too much. But God continues to remind me that He's called me and He will
equip me. I rise and fall to Him alone and not the opinions of others. That
helps. I'm still working on the sleep issue.


What made you decide to write “crime scene” novels?

I often ask myself and God this very same question. ;-) The best explanation
I can come up with is this: when my best friend and I go shopping, she looks
for shoes and I monitor the exits. I guess it's just how my mind works and
processes the world. There was a time in college that I wanted to be an FBI
profiler, but that job was far too heavy for my amateur psychology and
sleuthing mind. So now I get to explore law enforcement and criminal minds
without the threat of gunshots or too many crime scene photos.


What is your favorite scene from Ransomed Dreams?

Hands down my favorite scene is the very last one. I had a total blast
writing that one and smiling all the way through. But I also loved the
scenes where Clint and Steven ribbed each other. Besides Gracie and Steven,
my favorite characters to hang out with in a scene were Steven and Clint
together.


If Ransomed Dreams was made into a movie who would you cast as the main
characters??

I really don't know who I'd pick. I'm open to hearing what readers think,
though! In fact, I love hearing opinions on who readers see when they read
Ransomed Dreams. My husband's picks are David James Elliott for Steven and
Ashley Judd for Gracie.

What kind of research did you have to do to “get” the FBI scenes to be
accurate?

God really amazed me with putting me in contact with a Christian federal
agent. My advisor helped me in huge ways with Ransomed Dreams and he
continues to provide great email support for those hard to find answers. I
also spend lots of time on the FBI website reading law enforcement bulletins
and delving into FBI biographies.

What is your favorite “crime scene” TV show?

I loved watching NCIS, but it got too gruesome and made my imagination go
haywire to the point I'd wake my husband with any noise, terrified someone
was in our house. I did a lot of praying and realized my fear and struggle
with why bad things happen (like on TV and the news) were leading me to
doubt God's goodness. No TV show is worth indulging that temptation. So now
I watch Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? And no, I'm usually not! ;-)

What would be the perfect day for you?

My perfect day would include the beach, chocolate, good books, and good
friends. It'd start after 10 AM and keep going until around 1 AM when I'd
finally need to get some sleep. (personal aside: it was more like 2 or 3 AM when we finally gave up the ghost and went to sleep!!)


Thank you for letting me pry into your life a little!! Good luck on Book
Three!!

Thanks so much for having me over on your blog! And thanks for your prayers
as I continue working on book 3 too. That's such a gift and encouragement!

Check out Amy’s website at www.amywallace.com

Ransomed Dreams is available at www.amazon.com, www.cbd.com, and at your
local Christian bookstore!

FABULOUS FIVE!!

I can't believe my BABY is five today!!



We took her out to her family dinner last night at Famous Dave's BBQ...where she had ice cream with SPARKLERS on top!!



Then, today on her ACTUAL birthday she had cupcakes at preschool...Mommy brought her lunch AND she got to pick dinner and desert at Walmart where she told every living soul she saw.."It's my Birthday! I'm five!" She chose to make her own brownies for desert...the option of picking her own decorations were the important ingredient!!



After we got home we discovered presents in the mailbox from the Nations in Florida!



All in all I think it's been a pretty wonderful day for my little angel!! This mommy is pretty proud of her growing little girl!! Happy Birthday Sweetie!!

Welcome to a New Blogger!!!

Friends, please help me welcome my brother-in-law to the world of blogging!! He has been writing these really awesome devotionals for years and emailing them to friends and family and I convinced him to publish them to a blog for all to enjoy!! Please help me encourage him by visiting his website and leaving him a comment!!

Mike's blog:
www.iabide.blogspot.com

Thanks!! A blessed Easter to you all!!