Mar. 31, 2008
Homeschooled Boy Missing and then Found Sunday night
Posted in Everyday Life
|
Last night, about 7:30 California time, our pastor's wife from Madison, WI called us. My husband talked to her and she was rather frantic because of another family from our church had called them to say their 11-year-old son was missing. They were on their way to the family's home to help search for him. Daniel, had gone out bird-watching, which wasn't unusual, but didn't come back in after an hour had gone by. When they went looking, no one could locate him. The blessing is that the police started searching for him right away. I believe they were already looking for him after only being gone for a couple of hours. It felt so strange to have this happen to good friends of ours. They have five children, homeschool, and our two oldest are good friends with two of their girls and have spent the night at their home on several occasions. My heart went out to them and I was wishing we were still in Wisconsin so we could help join the search. But I knew the Lord knew exactly where he was and we had the privilege of praying for him and his safety. Channel 15 News in Madison had the story on their website (and on TV). My mom and aunt were surprised that he was reported missing because in California, they typically wait 24 hours. I'm so glad they didn't wait that long. 24 hours, even in 43 degree weather, is still too long in my opinion. I called his mom last night at 9:40 p.m. (11:40 their time) to see if they had heard anything, but to also let them know that the description that was given on the website was incorrect. As I was talking to her, they were informed that he had been found. I quickly let her go so she could get all the details, but I was so glad to hear that he'd been found. The Lord answered our prayers quickly. |
Oct. 18, 2007
Lacy
Posted in Everyday Life
|
I've just spent 10 minutes outside at 7:15 in the morning throwing a mini pumpkin to our dog, Lacy, to fetch. How very Autumny of us! It's not raining at the moment, but the sky is gray and it's incredibly windy. Not exactly great weather for playing outside, but I seized the moment. All doggy tennis balls disappeared ages ago (okay maybe two months ago) and as Lacy was jumping off our porch to go running around our yard, she knocked off the mini pumpkin where it was perched next to a large pumpkin, a gourd and other various squash. She thought this was pretty cool and proceeded to take off with it. I was going to retrieve it, but then I realized it was getting buggy, so I figured Why Not? So that's how we ended up playing fetch with it. It only lasted five or six throws until it split, but it was fun while it lasted and got rid of some of her puppy energy. She's part Border Collie and part Spaniel and doesn't have enough to do. Once again, I'm considering sheep to help curb too much doggy energy. Why do we keep getting sheep dogs? We've had Lacy since the middle of June. It was one of those, "Hey, Hon, I saw a free puppies sign. Wanna go check it out?" moments and I've regretted that decision quite frequently since then. I think a dog the size of rat would have been a much better choice. She's only six months old, but taller than my three year old when she's on her hind legs and STRONG! She's knocked down that same three- year- old a couple of times now out of sheer puppy aggressiveness. Thankfully, that particular child loves animals and it hasn't scared her to death. Unfortunately, Lacy has already dug three or four holes in the yard (we rent) and wore a path in the grass pacing while waiting for us to get home. I keep asking myself, "why do we keep her?" but I guess the answer is because we promised the kids we wouldn't get rid of this animal. I think the Lord might be using her to stretch my character and I'm being stubborn (as usual) and not allowing Him to do it. Anyone in the Madison area of Wisconsin want to get rid of some sheep or goats? We got a dog to herd them! |
Apr. 27, 2007
Organization
Posted in Everyday Life
|
I forget how busy having a baby can be. It seems like I'm constantly changing diapers or nursing when I have a free moment. My biggest enemy is a unorganized schedule. Nothing is really set in stone and it's murder on getting anything extra done. I did have a great link emailed to me yesterday from HGTV about organization and since I desperately need more to corral all of the extra stuff that is overtaking me, I'm going attempt to do what it is suggests. It sounds manageable. I'm including the link in case anyone else wants the information. The good news is that this is all driving me closer to Jesus. I'm realizing that I can't just do the "motions" of following Him. I need to seek Him daily and lean on Him for His strength. Having been raised in a Christian home, sometimes I can get in the habit of doing the right thing, but forget about who it's all about. I don't have a whole lot of time so I'm ending here, but I hope you have a wonderful day in Him, with Him and for Him. |
Mar. 31, 2007
Posted in Everyday Life
|
Today we're off to the retail store my husband manages to have my girls "model" Easter dresses. I drove to town west of Madison yesterday to pick up my oldest daughter's bestfriend and to drop off my son so that she could do it also and he wouldn't have to. The girls are all excited about getting to model pretty dresses and be fluffy. I'm lamenting the disaster in my house and the lack of time to clean up the last couple of days. Oh well. Maybe this afternoon. |
Mar. 22, 2007
Update
Posted in Everyday Life
|
I'm back. My husband and I had this crazy idea that we should get rid of the internet to help eliminate some bills. Within a day, we were both lamenting it's passing and finally decided to get back online again. I haven't been able to login at the library (my original plan) so I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. It was so nice to be able to blog today and see all the lovely comments. I've been missing my friends! Hi, Everyone! Our baby is getting big. The midwife came Tuesday and weighed and measured him for his one month checkup and he is now 9 lbs. 8 oz (gained a pound and a half already!) and he is 22 inches (grew an inch and a half). We're still settling into a routine, but it is getting better. We are having the baby and our next to the DD-3 dedicated on Sunday at church. Because of moves and transitions, we never had her dedicated so we thought it would be neat to do it at the same time. Well, it's feeding time again so I'm off... |
Feb. 5, 2007
Fun Name Post
Posted in Everyday Life
|
I found this at KarenW's blog and decided to do it since it is 4:00 a.m. and I'm having trouble sleeping. 1. YOUR REAL NAME: Marla - my dad must have found this when he named me. He took the Mar from Marlene and the la from Nola and got Marla. 2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first three letters of your name, plus izzle) Marizzle - if I ever (like that would happen) joined a gang and told them my name was Marizzle, they'd beat me to a bloody pulp! 3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three of your last) MSch - somehow I think this lost something in the translation. 4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal) Red Dog - Okay, once again something has been lost. As a mother of small children, this just reminds me of Clifford! I'll have to think of something a little more lithe sounding, like Crimson Panther or ... okay, I'm struggling here! 5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, Street you live on): Ann Morgan - I've always like the name Morgan, but I don't like my middle name very much. I'm with Anne of Green Gables, I prefer Anne with an E. 6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 3 letters of mom’s maiden name) Schmaeas - huh??? Maybe if all the characters were German or Jewish! Sounds more like Smeagle (Gollum) from The Lord of the Rings. "My Precious!" 7. SUPERHERO NAME: (favorite color, favorite drink) I don't have a clue what my favorite drink is. I enjoy Cranberry Juice, Lemonade, Earl Grey Tea, Chamomile Tea, Mocha Frappachinos... Hey! I'll be the Crimson Frappachino! Saving innocent bystanders from caffeine withdrawal one headache at a time! 8. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother & father’s middle name) RoseAnn Wayne – I don't think so. Anyway, on to more important things, like sleep! |
Jan. 18, 2007
Snacks and Meals for Traveling in the Car
Posted in Everyday Life
|
Because we go to church an hour away from our home and we usually don't leave until 1:30 p.m., I've been trying to think of things to serve for lunch to avoid having to run to fast food places. Personally, I was sick of PB and J after the second time and was staring longingly at the Mexican restaurants on the way through Madison. Today, I happened to find some suggestions on FamilyFun for foods to eat on family trips in the car that looked good, creative, and appetizing. Here are the suggestions: SNACKS & NIBBLES It's not just the car that needs fuel. Here are some tide-overs contributed by parents who learned from experience. A number of folks recommended the new flat plastic insulated bags with handles (a bit like closable shopping bags) that can be found at warehouse stores like Sam's Club or Costco or supermarkets. They can be used for both hot and cold items and are very handy. 1. HEALTHY SNACKS Chex mix, without nuts, Nutri-Grain bars, crackers (Cheez-Its, Sesame Twigs, Triscuits, etc.), raisins, grapes, Sun Chips, Gorilla Munch (an organic cereal similar to Kix), celery sticks w/peanut butter and raisins for protein to combat sluggishness from riding in the car, and bananas, popcorn; cut up whole-wheat flour pita bread into pieces. Brush on olive oil, bake for about 12-15 minutes, remove and sprinkle with garlic powder and shredded cheese. Continue baking until crispy. 2. FREEZE 'EM FIRST Make mini banana-nut bread loaves, freeze, then thaw in morning and slice for snack; great with peanut butter and slice of banana on top ... Mix fruit or jam into yogurt and freeze in small, snack-sized Ziploc bags for frozen yogurt on the go. Cut a hole in the end of the bag for easy access/eating.... Make a batch of pudding and add coconut, nuts, marshmallows, crushed cookies, or sprinkles. Pour into molds. Freeze several hours until firm (stays nice as it thaws!) -- nickel76nicky 3. PITA POCKETS Stuff them with things not normally in a sandwich -- pizza-type cheese and pepperoni, thick chili and cheese, veggies, hot dogs -- and heat. Also, tortilla roll-ups may be fixed ahead and kept warm. If the fillings are messy, wrap in waxed or parchment paper. Then put them them in your warm cooler. -- BAlieceHall 4. SALAD (YES, SALAD!) I either put it in a small bowl and the kids can put dressing on it, or in a to-go cup so they have "shaker salad." I bought little Tupperware-type containers from WalMart that are square with a small round center, with its own lid. I'll put veggies and dip in one and cheese and crackers in the other. The kids really like it. -- photomomof2 5. HEARTIER FINGER FOOD Homemade sweet potato fries, chicken tenders, fish sticks, corn dogs on a wooden skewer, hashbrown patties from the store, wrapped in wax paper. A favorite: mini meatloaves stuffed with mashed potatoes -- it's not hard to do in a muffin pan. -- nickel76nicky 6. CUT-UP APPLES A little orange juice will keep them from turning brown. --mom2curty 7. DON'T FORGET THE DRINKS Take plenty of water! Fill plastic water bottles 2/3 up and freeze; then put in a small cooler instead of ice to keep foods cool. When they melt, you have nice cold water on hand. Juice boxes also freeze up well; just pack in anything that needs to stay chilled around them. -- nickel76nicky Hopefully these ideas will be good for some of you too! |
Nov. 19, 2006
Potty Training
Posted in Everyday Life
|
I just read Kendra's post
on potty training and had to laugh. I'm with her. Potty training is one
of those things I really do not enjoy when it comes to parenting. Back in the summertime while we were in California, my youngest (a little over two at the time) kept taking off her diaper, so I figured she was getting close to potty training time, but I didn't want to start it right before we headed back to Minnesota (I couldn't imagine stopping every 30 minutes just because she thought she might need to go. Aaaah!) So I waited until we were back home. Well, that didn't go well at all (no pun intended). She was quite willing to sit on the toilet and have her sisters read to her, but she didn't get the concept of "making a delivery" in the toilet. So I gave up and decided to wait. She'll be three in March and I just would like her to be potty trained before the baby arrives in February. Just recently we bought her some pull-ups and we've had some accidents and some victories. Every so often she says she has to go, and just goes on her own. I've decided not to stress about the accidents. I figure she is figuring it out and will eventually get it down. She enjoys being a big girl and enjoys the praise. She can feel when she needs to go, but has her moments when the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. The other day she said, "Momma, I have to go potty." I said, "Okay, you can go." She sat on the toilet for a couple of minutes, and then in frustration she said, "It's not WORKING!" "What's not working?" I asked. "MY BUM!" Was her reply, which struck me as being pretty funny. |
Oct. 28, 2006
The Anatomy of a Chicken
Posted in Everyday Life
|
Thursday, as I mentioned before, was the
day we went to our pastor's home to watch them slaughter 85 chickens.
It was definitely an experience! As a child I watched my dad chop
chickens heads off with an axe on a wood block. After making the fatal
blow, the chicken would run around the yard for a couple of minutes
until is body realized there was no brain up there any more and dropped
to the ground. For an eight year old child, it was rather entertaining
(in a morbid way). I figured it would be like that, but I had no concept of what killing 85 chickens would be like or look like and the amount of time it would consume. They started around 8:00 a.m. and still had 20 left by the time we arrived at 11:00. They had a whole operation set up with multiple people involved in the process. Another family in our church usually raise about 1000 at a time and they are experts in the whole chicken thing. They had mechanized ways to remove the feathers that took seconds. There was no axe involved. They stuck four chickens at a time in these cone shaped things upside down. The chicken heads stuck out the end and the boys (ages 10 to 16) took turns slitting the throats and then letting the blood drain out. It was kind of gruesome to watch and I was cold so I headed inside where my children bestowed small gifts on the birthday girl and played various made up games. They eventually headed outside to play Indian and Veterinarian. I stayed inside and chatted with our pastor's wife and helped her set up for lunch. In anticipation of everyone coming to help, she made a huge venison stew and also homemade chicken noodle soup and homemade bread. We were really surprised and felt blessed. I was wondering if the venison was going to be gamey, but it tasted like beef! I asked them about it and they said it's because the deer around here mostly eat corn. It totally makes sense - around our house are hundreds of acres of corn and there is a buck that I have my eye on who hangs out on the edge of it. He probably would taste great! A couple of weeks ago a deer ran into the side of our van. We found out later that if you want to take it home, you have to call the sheriff who comes and tags it, and then you can take it. Unfortunately, we have NO idea how to skin a deer, cut it up, etc. and even if we did, we don't have a freezer large enough for one. But I have to tell you, after eating that meat I am considering buying DH a gun for Christmas and myself a big ol' freezer. When hunting season comes around again next year, I want to be ready! By the time we left our pastor's home, we definitely had a better idea of what it involves to raise and kill chickens, in case we get decide to do that. As we were leaving, Candy handed us four chickens to take home with us (plucked, gutted, etc.). It was such a wonderful gift and, in reality, we hardly did anything to help. It was more just observation. Yesterday I made baked chicken and my son was a little leery about eating it, knowing he had just watched it being slaughtered the day before. I had my doubts about whether or not he would make a big deal out of eating it and I decided not to push the issue. I laughed hard when later on he was eating it and alternating between telling me it was the best chicken ever and questioning me about something he thought was blood. All of my kids chowed down on it, talked about blood, asked their siblings to stop talking about blood because it was making them sick, and then asking for more. It really was delicious. Moist and tender. Ummm! We're having homemade chicken soup for dinner tonight. |
Oct. 17, 2006
Blogger Contest
Posted in Everyday Life
|
Leah
at Friends4Tea is having a contest to win a header for your blog. I
thought I'd enter it since it would be nice to have a blog that is not
a template. The drawing will be Sunday, November 5th. Blogger Questionaire: 1. How long ago did you start blogging and why did you start? I started in March of this year and I started because a friend of mine started blogging on here. I had seen a few blogs on the web, but had no idea how to get started. Homeschoolblogger.com made it very easy and I loved having such a huge network of homeschool moms to glean from. 2. How did you come up with your username/URL address? When I was a Administrative Assistant for a small church, the pastor used to call me the Office Queen. I used that for a couple of years as my username on the Internet. It doesn't fit anymore because I'm a stay-at-home-mom so I quickly came up with MarlaMom to describe who I am. I'm Marla to most people and mom to my children (of course, 3 out of 4 of them call me "Momma"). 3. What do you enjoy most about blogging? I enjoy receiving comments on my blog. It makes my day to think that people actually want to read what I write on occasion. 4. What makes one blog stand out to you from all the others? I enjoy reading blogs that have homeschooling ideas or approaches that I can use. I also enjoy recipes and humor. 5. On an average how long does it take you to write a post for your blog? It seems like it only takes a couple of minutes, but probably at least half and hour. 6. What has changed in your life since you started blogging? I don't feel so alone, when it comes to homeschooling, and life in general. I also don't feel like every other homeschool family is perfect and always up at 8 a.m. doing Latin. There are seasons for everything and even when I have an off week (or month), it doesn't mean I have to pack up the kids and send them to public school again because I think I'm a failure. 7. Does your family support you (if so how) or do they think you're a blog addict? My husband does think I'm a blog addict. When he was off from work, he saw me on the computer more than he does now. I think he resented it at first, but I think he now understands that I need the "relationships". 8. Have you ever gotten a negative comment? If so, how did you deal with it? I can't remember getting a negative comment, but I tend to be pretty mellow in my posts. I didn't have to deal with any negative comments, since I haven't received any yet. 9.How often do you check your blog for new comments? Almost everyday (unless I'm moving, traveling, staying at a motel, or unable to connect to the Internet). 10. Do you have a blogging tip you can share? I love to read about creative approaches to homeschooling and fun or unusual things you've done with your children (or parent, depending on who is posting). Coie commented on Gena's site awhile ago about how Gena and Jen taught their children about cells and it helped me to get past a mental roadblock I was having difficulty regarding teaching cells and DNA to my children. Leah says that if you answer the secret question that's here but not written out, you get entered twice! |
Oct. 4, 2006
Up and At 'Em
Posted in Everyday Life
|
Oh my word! I never thought it would be so difficult to get a phone line and DSL at the new house. Aaaaaaaah! Okay, I got that out of my system now. My hubby, bless his technical heart, finally got our phone line working and our missing DSL modem showed up today so we could get Internet access again.
I am SO glad to be back online. I'll update later. |
Sep. 22, 2006
We found a House!
Posted in Everyday Life
|
We just spent another three days in a
motel near the town where my husband now works. As we were leaving
town, we got a call that we didn't get the house that we were hoping
for. It was hard for me to not get emotional. We had been looking for
almost a month and I was getting discouraged. I had assured myself that
if we didn't get that house, that God had something better for us, but
at that moment it was hard to take hold of that truth. While we were over there, we decided to take a look at one of the houses that had been listed in the newspaper for almost a month. I had called about it before, but because of a flat tire we had cancelled and then decided to look elsewhere. Rick and I and the kids drove out to the house. It was another farmhouse, and not as cute on the outside, but we were pleasantly surprised by the inside. It's much larger than the house we have right now; has a large kitchen; the rent is the same as what we are paying now; I still won't have to worry about kids riding their bikes, because we are way out in the country with only one close neighbor; all of the bedrooms are upstairs (my kids like that - they didn't like having us downstairs and their bedrooms upstairs); the rooms are large; and there are two toilets! Six people and one toilet is not pretty. We told the owner that we were very interested, paid her and were able to get the keys the next day. The only references she wanted were our current landlords and Rick's manager. It was so unlike the last place we had looked at, and very much like the place that we are currently renting. God is good! |
Sep. 13, 2006
Update
Posted in Everyday Life
|
Well, Sunday was interesting. Church
was wonderful and we met some really nice people there. We arrived late
(came in on the wrong route), but were at least able to hear the
message. Because of a flat tire, we ended up cancelling three appointments to see homes for rent. One we cancelled because it was in a undesirable location (by a Gentlemen's Club - yuck!). So as far as house hunting was concerned, Sunday was a wash. We did go back Tuesday and spent the night in a nearby town. Today we looked at three house all in the same town. Two of them wouldn't work for us at all, but we really like the third one. It's within our price range, a little bigger than we have at the moment, the interior was just painted in a nice taupe, has an area that can be used for homeschooling/ mini family room upstairs, has a nice big yard, and we get cell phone coverage there so we wouldn't have to have a landline. We'll fax our application tomorrow. Pray that if this is the right house for us, that the owner will accept us as the tenants. The man who showed it to us today said that he has shown it quite a bit, so I could be a little worried, but I choose not to be. The Lord has the right place picked out already for us, and, if this one is it, then YEAH! - if not, we'll keep looking. (Hopefully not, though.) |
Sep. 9, 2006
Yeah for Moving Companies!
Posted in Everyday Life
|
Well, it's official. We talked to the
company that is contracted by Rick's company to take care of all
moving, etc. yesterday and rofessional movers will come in and pack our
stuff and then move it for us. I still can't conceive of such luxury!
God is good. Tomorrow we're going to Madison to check out the Calvary Chapel Church there, and then we'll take a look at four different homes that I made appointments to see. It will be a lot of traveling in one day (all four are in different towns), but hopefully we'll be able to solidify something and have a better idea of when we will actually be moving over there. We're hoping for the 1st of October, but sooner might be okay also. We'll just have to see what God opens up. I'm really looking forward to going to this church. I'm hoping that our family will be able to make friends with the people in this congregation fairly quickly. My oldest, who is very social and typically has no problem talking to people, is very concerned about having to make new friends. I would love for this church to be a good fit for us. I talked to the pastor's wife this past week. They have six kids and one of her daughters was born the same year as my oldest. I'm hoping they will "click." If you think about us, please pray that we find the right place before October 1. Our school district wants us to enroll by September 15 for Minnesota, but the cutoff date for Wisconsin for enrolling isn't until October 15. I would love to just do it once and not have the hassle of taking in all the info that MN requires. Wisconsin is just one form mailed off. I LIKE Wisconsin! |
Sep. 6, 2006
Moving to Wisconsin
Posted in Everyday Life
|
I briefly mentioned before that we are
going to be moving to Wisconsin. Currently, my husband is commuting two
hours one way and that's getting old really fast! We have had many concerns regarding our move, namely, What church should we go to? What town should we move to (it doesn't have to be the same town where he is working)? Will we be able to find other homeschoolers in that area? Nothing has fallen into place right away, but finally it seems like doors are opening up. I called about four potential rentals today and three out of the four owners were home. I called two churches and ladies from both of them called me back. The one that we would really like to attend is the Calvary Chapel in Madison. We attended a Calvary Chapel in California and loved the teaching we received there. When the pastor's wife from this church in Madison called me, I found out that it's a small church, but most of the families homeschool. The other church is in a small town not too far from the town my husband works in and they have several homeschooling families, the secretary said, and a homeschool group that meets on Fridays. I also found out yesterday that a moving company will actually move our stuff for us and I think this also includes packing for us. This seems too good to be true, so I'm not getting my hopes up too high, but what a blessing that would be (being almost four months pregnant at this moment). Pray that we are able to find a house to rent and direction as to which church to attend. The church in Madison is about 50 miles away, so it would be wonderful to find a house to rent that's in between my husband's work and the church, but so far nothing has been available that we are aware of. |
Sep. 1, 2006
Allowances and Wanting to Have a Home Based Business
Posted in Everyday Life
|
I was reading an entry on Infertilitymom's blog about homebased businesses and it reminded me that I've been meaning to ask for others' input on this subject. We used to pay our children an allowance for doing various household chores, but we found that they complained about doing the chores, but were always looking for payment on Fridays, no matter what. After Rick and I discussed it, we decided to go back to no allowances, but giving them the opportunity to earn money by doing jobs that are above and beyond the normal household chores. We want them to understand that being paid for doing a job is a privilege, not a right, since neither he nor I get paid for the things we do around the home. It's just part of being a family. All this to say that I still want to give our children the opportunity to earn money for the things that they would like buy that doesn't require me to continually figure out additional chores or deplete my wallet. I've been trying to think of home-based businesses that the older ones and I could do together to make some extra money and to help them understand the work ethic. I've seen various ideas (like baking bread), but some of them I just wouldn't know how to market. It's okay to bake bread, but if you don't have any consumers, it's pointless. Usually, I have good ideas for different industries, but they start to fall apart when it comes to the actual selling of the product. I have a hard time believing anyone would want to buy it (even if it's really cute, or very tasty, etc.) I, obviously, need to get over this nasty way of thinking if we want to actually market our product. So, if any of you have a great home-based (kid-friendly) business that you are involved in or a wonderful idea, please let me know. I'd love some input. I would also love to hear how you marketed your product. |
Aug. 28, 2006
Funny Post from Underdog
Posted in Everyday Life
|
I'm sure many of you have heard of TC and have gotten quite a few laughs from her blog, but if you haven't found Underdog yet you need to check out his entries. I found him through TC and he definitely has some amusing posts. Here's one
that gave me a good laugh. It he decides to market these bracelets,
I've already got three picked out for myself and my two youngest
children. The first one I'm ordering is IYDTTYSYAIBT (If You Do That To Your Sister, You Are In Big Trouble) - I need this for my son as a constant reminder that headlocks are not considered a form of affection for your sisters - now or ever; and Thomas the Tank Engine train tracks do not fly through the air and whack 2 year olds in the head of their own volition. For myself? I'm going to get WSIBD (What Should I Be Doing?) This is generally the fog I'm in, especially when I'm pregnant, if I don't have a list in front of me. Except I'm going to change it to WITWAID (What In the World Am I Doing?) And for my youngest I'm going to get WAYD!?(WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?) At the ripe age of 2, she has done WAY more damage than any of my other three put together. Some of her latest escapades have been: 1.) using half of a LARGE jar of Vaseline to lubricate her whole body while sitting on my bed on my nicest sheets (400 thread count) 2.) dumping half of a bottle of children's shampoo on the bathroom floor, followed by the children's body wash 3.) and buttering my iron (yes, it was off - my husband left it the kitchen counter to cool and I hadn't put it away yet). By the way, she managed to stuff a large quantity of that dairy product into the hole where you pour the water and into the steam holes on the flat side. Needless to say, I had my husband buy a new iron before coming home from work. Sigh... I think I'm going to go read Preschoolers and Peace again and look for more...productive things for her to do. |
Aug. 28, 2006
And So On...
Posted in Everyday Life
|
Well, whatever virus my son had, he
generously passed along to the rest of the family. My youngest started
throwing up Tuesday night (so I was up and down until 3 a.m. I gave up
and never went back to bed after that.) Wednesday I started feeling
pretty yucky and my second oldest started complaining that her stomach
hurt. That night she and my oldest both got sick and were throwing up.
Thankfully, my oldest only threw up a couple of times, but the second
one continually vomited. Needless to say, I didn't get a whole lot of sleep those two nights and was exhausted and near tears by Thursday morning. We only did school work a couple of days this week, but at least we got something done. We also decided not to go to church this weekend, just in case we were still contagious. I figured my son probably picked it up at church last week and we didn't want to spread that joy any further. I hated to miss it though. |
Aug. 15, 2006
"Sparkle" Anniversary
Posted in Everyday Life
|
The night Rick and I got married, we
went to a Mexican restaurant in Jamestown, CA for dinner. So on
Saturday, the kids and I decorated our kitchen to look like a Mexican
restaurant. We didn't a lot of decorating, but we enjoyed what we were
able to do. The kids were so excited about being part of our
anniversary. For dinner I made chicken fajitas (yummy), pico de gallo (fresh chopped tomatoes, cilantro, green onions, jalapenos, salt, and lime juice), guacamole, beans, and corn on the cob. It was very tasty. Recently we had been talking about golden birthdays because my son just had his. If you turn five and your birthday is on the fifth, then it's your golden birthday. My birthday is on the 21st, so my 21st birthday was my golden one. As we were sitting at the table enjoying the meal, my oldest DD, who is almost 8, said, "This is your Sparkle Anniversary." "What do you mean Sparkle Anniversary?" I said. "Well, it can't be your Golden Anniversary because that's your 50th. So because you're having your 12th Anniversary on the 12th, it's your Sparkle Anniversary." I thought it was clever and funny. I love seeing our kids develop their own personalities and the fact that she had thought it all out and came up with a term for it impressed me. |
Aug. 12, 2006
12 Years Ago Today...
Posted in Everyday Life
|
12 years ago today, my husband and I
were married in California. We've never been known to do the "normal"
thing and that day was no exception. We planned our wedding for August
27th (after only dating for a few months), but because we started
dating on May 12th, we decided we wanted to get married on August 12th
(also Rick wanted a small wedding). So, on my lunch break, Rick picked
me up and we drove over to the Justice of the Peace and did it. We
didn't even bring a witness, so the secretary filled in. When we walked
out, we looked at each other and I thought, "That's it?" When we climbed into the car, be bowed our heads and prayed together over our marriage. 15 days later we got married at my church. It was a large wedding - almost 400 people. It was a lot of work, but I have a big, wonderful family and good friends and they all helped make it very special. I think everyone was exhausted after it was all over, but it was beautiful and we hardly spent anything on it(compared to other weddings). I'm so glad we didn't do just the one, small wedding. The last 12 years have had there ups and downs, but I would definitely marry Rick again. I love him with all my heart and he's the perfect balance for me. Happy Anniversary, Rick! |