Posted in General Ramblings

I labored not on this Labor Day. I partied with friends instead.

One very special friend is Sister Doris from my church. (And no, she's not a nun nor my sister, although she is my sister in Christ!)

She is one very sweet, thoughtful and interesting 90-something year old woman. I always enjoy her company whenever I have the opportunity to pop in for a visit.

This past Friday, I stopped by to say hello. And guess what she likes to watch on TV on Friday nights?

WRESTLING!!!

I kid you not. Isn't that a hoot? I wonder if she was also a fan of the Von Erich's back in the old days. Back when wrestling was REAL, y'all.  :snort:

Posted in General Ramblings

Posted in General Ramblings

Posted in General Ramblings

Posted in General Ramblings

Posted in General Ramblings

Ms. Susie had a baby,
his name was Tiny Tim
She put him in the bathtub to see if he could swim

He drank up all the water,
He ate up all the soap
He tried to eat the bathtub,
but it wouldn't go down his throat!

Ms. Susie called the doctor
The doctor called the nurse
The nurse called the lady with the alligator purse!

Posted in General Ramblings

• I really hope our washing machine is fixed for real this time. Repair attempts (under warranty) have been made three times in the past month. I've been too chicken to run a load to see if it works. While laundromats are an option, they are not my favorite for several reasons-- the chiefest being that I used to work at one while I was in college. Laundry by the pound for college kids is gross.

• There are a couple of elderly widows at church that I would like to become better friends with. Not only because friendships are a blessing that runs both ways, but because old people are just fun, y'all. They have the most interesting stories and will often surprise you with a sharp and quirky sense of humor!
  

• My sister Lele is prego and due in January. Her and her husband have taken to calling the baby different names according to its growth-- names such as sesame seed, blueberry, garbanzo, and lemon. The only problem with that is that I keep picturing her having a lemon in her belly!
  
  I know that is an absolute impossibility because I've seen her ultrasound pictures.
  
  When I was prego, we simply called the baby "baby" until we came up with their name.
  
  (Try to not be in too much awe of my creativity-- I know it is simply astounding.)
  
  1.) Did you have any special names for the little peanut-chicklet-baby in your belly?
  
  2.) Do you ever speak in baby talk? Y'know, that annoyingly high pitched ridiculous voice that no baby could possibly understand? Once in a blue moon I catch myself speaking like that and must teach myself a lesson by washing my mouth out with soap.

Posted in General Ramblings

To keep the very long week from turning into a very long (and dull) post, here is a not-so-long rundown of the past week:

- This past Friday, Austin and Noah attended a very special bereavement camp for children called Camp Agape.  Not only did they have fun with all the activities (swimming, kayaking, horseback riding, archery), but they saw that they are not alone in their grief.  I might have to make a whole separate post about this camp-- it was that good.

The boys really enjoyed their time at Camp Agape and were able to work through many of their emotions concerning Christian's death.  They are also still talking about how much they enjoyed their buddies for the weekend.  So Dennis and Phil, if you happen to be reading this, THANK YOU for taking the time to care for my boys.  You have impacted them positively during a very difficult time in their lives.  I don't think they will ever forget you!

- We can take comfort that Death is Not Dying.

- This past week also marked the passing from this life into eternal life for a good friend of ours-- Zared Zajicek.  He was seriously injured when he fell through a roof.  He is survived by his sweet bride April (they were married in May), amazing parents, four sisters, one brother and many friends.  I could say so much about Zared and his family-- how they have been such a blessing to David and I over the years, how much we will miss Zared and how our hearts are heavy with sorrow for his family.  And yet I have no words.  It's like they are all somehow crammed into my heart and I can't get them to come out.  *sigh* 

You can read more about him at www.a-zupdate.com.  If you feel led, please make a contribution to help April with her living expenses until she can sort out the next step in her life. 

- The morning of Zared's funeral, my husband David woke up with a tremendous pain in his upper abdomen and chest.  He was really hurting, y'all!  I rushed home, saw that he had been vomiting since 8am, and took him to the ER. 

After an insufferable wait, ECG, ultrasound and CAT scan, they determined that it was his appendix.  It is hard to believe that they could take that out laporoscopically!  Three little incisions and that poisonous thing was removed.  The good thing about that kind of surgery is that it is not only fairly routine nowadays, but you get immediate relief from the pain.  We are so glad to be home now and very thankful for modern medicine and health insurance!

- I am so happy that my mom and dad came to visit!  I really am blessed with wonderful parents and in-law's.

I was hoping to make this witty and interesting.  Oh well.  I think just getting it all written out without falling asleep was an accomplishment in and of itself!

Posted in General Ramblings

Yup, we are schooling through the summer.  Actually, we hope to finish up the current year in, ahem, well... let's just say summer should be officially over by then!  You can read more about it on my latest post (and leave some comment luv) over at Heart of the Matter: http://heartofthematteronline.com/summer-school-isnt-so-bad/

-Look!  I'm finally in 2007 or something and enabled the RSS thingy-ma-bob where you can type in your e-mail address and get my blog in your e-mail.   Better late than never in catching up with last year's (or is it more like 3 years ago?) technology! ============>

-It's not too late to sign up for the A Woman Inspired Conference!  The current conference is about online ministry-- although it covers topics that I know many of you would be interested in (Facebook, Twitter, updating your blog, and more).

-And lastly but not leastly, Austin and Noah are currently at Jr Bible Camp until Friday morning.  I must suffer a week without them at home with my dear husband who is off of work.  I know, you're crying a tear for me. :)  I do miss the boys though.  It's kinda weird (and sad) being here without the noise, laughter and presence of my little guys.  But you can bet that I'll make the most of my hubby time!

Posted in General Ramblings

You know you've found good friends when:

+ You can sit in the same hotel room and still have a group chat going in googletalk.

+ You kinda laugh at how dorky you are for the aforementioned chat but do it anyway just because it's fun.

+ Even though you had never met "in real life" before, you will still travel from far away and be super excited about staying in the same hotel room together.

+ Gifts of matching sassy tinkerbell socks, Pringles and chocolate makes you happy.

Good friends are a blessing!  What a blast we've had so far!

And although we're not rooming together, I am SO EXCITED that I got to hang out with Eeeemommy for a little while today!  Look at how cute and very pretty she is!!!  And tall. :)

Posted in General Ramblings

I have shingles.  There's a big stabbing pain in my neck... I'm okay though.  Sure it hurts, but it's not debilitating or anything.  I wonder if I just don't have a severe case of it?  Or maybe I have a high tolerance for pain? 

Could be the high tolerance thing.  Speaking of high tolerance for pain and pains in the neck, that makes me think of my little brother Stephen (pronounced "steh-fun").  When we were little, my sisters were scared of my punk of a little brother.  Scared of him because he was weird, mean and would hit really really really hard.  But never fear, Marsha is here!  I would go up to him and fight him even though I KNEW that it would really hurt me.  It was just worth it and I learned to cope.  Now that we're older and can talk about such things, I am happy to report that I also caused him much physical pain-- hooray for me! LOL

So I guess I should thank him for training me to be tough or something.  Too bad he doesn't have a blog so I could send all of y'all there to harass him.  I am very thankful that he turned out to be a pretty cool little brother-- although that didn't happen until he was almost 18 years old!  Now he's a man and all-- husband to Terri AND father to my cutie-patootie nephew Caden (who is much fatter, rounder, noisier and busier now than he is in this picture).

You turned out pretty good for a punk of a little brother, Stephen!  I guess I should cut you some slack though for being the only boy with 4 sisters.  You can't exactly survive that and be completely "normal". 

And my daddy up there?  Yup, he is O-ficially re-tired!  Congrats, daddy!  My mom and dad have been spending their hours of free time on the Wii.  They totally *heart* Wii Golf.  So much so that my mom can use the terms par, bogey and birdy correctly!  That's just weird, y'all. 

On a final note, I have learned much and been quite encouraged from the A Woman Inspired Conference this week.  But since I am not in a serious, self-reflecting mood, I would like to pose this particular question that I have been pondering since Shelly Ballestero's talk on beauty:

How do YOU choose a shampoo?

Are you swayed by commercials?  Would you NOT buy a particular shampoo b/c the commercial or ad campaign is completely annoying a la Herbal Essences?  Do you choose one strictly for its smell/scent?  Do you still hold out hope that the claims on the packaging will be true?  What is your favorite shampoo/conditioner of all time?

I'm just wondering.

Posted in General Ramblings

Posted in General Ramblings

My baby sister Bobo (her real name is Deborah, we call her Debbie- or Bobo) is GETTING MARRIED ON SATURDAY!

Take a look at the coolest cake topper ever:

Do you see the resemblance?

Okay, so perhaps the above picture is not the most representative of Bobo and Aubrey.  But the topper does look a lot like them, don't you think?

So not only does she get a cool cake topper, she also gets an awesome new last name: Mrs. Sterling.  Yup, lucky-ducky girl she is.

What did you have on top of your wedding cake?  I had doves... with feathers! (I'll leave y'all to interpret the exclamation point to mean "I loved it!" or "What was I thinking?"- your choice).

Oh and did you do the whole smear-cake-on-the-face thing or not?  We most definitely did not.  I'm not footloose and fancyfree like that.  Besides, you don't go messing with an expensive dress and a bride's makeup, especially when it's over 100 degrees outside!

Posted in General Ramblings

+  I am sad that Irona is very underappreciated and relatively unknown to y'all. *sigh*  Ah well, it's a good thing her feelings aren't easily hurt. 
Oh please make the dorkiness stop.

+  TOSGA! TOSGA! TOSGA!  Thanks for participating, y'all.  I wish I had enough coins and castles to send to everyone.  Since I hate to play favorites, I random number thingied the comments and the winner of the ancient coins is homeskool and the winner of the castle building cards is Angela at Becoming Me.

+  I forgot to thank y'all for voting for me in the 2008 Homeschool Blog Awards.  So THANK YOU! :-) 

+  Did you know that Heart of the Matter has weekly giveaways?  This week you can win a book on the "S" word by the great folks here at The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.  And for you newbies or non-homeschoolers, the S word is socialization-- this is a family friendly blog and TOS is a family friendly mag!

+  I had a fabulous visit with my friend Leslie in Arkansas.  And the lucky-duck that I am also got to meet another bloggy friend.  You can meet Amanda too- right HERE.  I promise you'll like her, I sure did!  And next time, I'll give a little more notice so I can meet up with Chickadee too.  (Don't be jealous!)

Sorry Leslie, I have NO idea why we look so sparkly in that picture! Something happened when it uploaded to HSB.. ah well, too bad it makes us look like we have white hairs tangled in there... And Amanda, I should've put my foot down and taken a pic of you.

Well, there's nothing much to report from here.  I think my next post will have to be school related- just to remind everyone that we do actually get some learning squeezed in every now and then!  I did finally unlazy myself and update the books on my sidebar.

Posted in General Ramblings

Have you checked out Heart of the Matter Online's new look?  It has been updated before but WOW, it is looking extra schnazzy right now!!! (Is schnazzy even a word?)  So please GO CHECK IT OUT, join in the new chat feature, and leave some comments!

Tomorrow, David goes to work for a 3-day trip so the boys and I are going to be hanging out with my friend Leslie and partying like it's ummm... yeah... almost 2009.  So if you live in the Cabot/Little Rock area, e-mail me if you might want to get together for coffee or something.  It's only going to be a short visit so I can't promise, but I sure can try! :-) 

Speaking of 2009, did anyone else think that surely by the time we got this close to 2010 that we would have those cars that folded up into a briefcase a la The Jetsons?  (And didn't I most likely post about this very thing last year-- when oh when will I just get over the disappointment?!) 

Ooo... and I still want that neat-o machine that will instantly give you food... along with the one that will brush your teeth for you, change your clothes and fix your hair.  Apparently, I am very lazy.

And since you are dying to know, if given the choice, I would want to have Irona from Richie-Rich as my maid instead of Rosie from The Jetsons.  Irona was very strong and could turn into all sorts of useful contraptions.  Whereas Rosie... well, poor Rosie didn't do much did she?  What say you?

Posted in General Ramblings

+++ We're going to DisneyWorld!!!  It is a complete and total surprise for the boys. :-)  We're not telling them anything until we get there... although I imagine they might figure it out when we get on the plane to Orlando.  David and I had talked about going for a while but thought it best to wait until Christian was older.  Y'know, so he'd actually have a shot at remembering it.  *sigh*  But there's no better time than the present (and the uncrowded week before Thanksgiving) to just do it. 

Is there anything that you've been meaning to do (big or small) with your kidlets (big or small) that you might just go ahead and do NOW?

+++ Voting is going on now at the Homeschool Blog Awards!  I am truly humbled and honored that some of y'all would nominate me for a few of the categories (Best "Live-What-You-Believe" Homeschool Blog, Best Cyber Buddy Blogger and Best Encourager)-- thank you!  Voting ends at midnight on November 21.  You do not have to have to homeschool or have a blog to vote!  SO GO!

+++ Save the date of Tuesday, November 25th for the Houston Homeschool Bloggy Joe-down!!!  Get it?  Like hoe-down and cup of Joe?  Okay then... so it's really just an uber-good time at Panera with the likes of moi, Sprittibee, Rachel, Semicolon (Picture Book Preschool), Kelly (sorry, I don't know your blog addy), and anyone else in the area that wants to come.  We're thinking about meeting down in the Westheimer or Galleria area around 10am.  If you're in the neighborhood, let me know and PLEASE come join us!

+++ And last but not leastly, my friend Angela will the speaker at Heartbeat Live tomorrow at 3pm CST.  She will be speaking about hands-on learning in a LIVE, online, interactive style. 

Fine Motor Manipulatives Around the House: Hands On Learning
Do you have a child struggling with fine motor skills? Has handwriting become a chore that you both dread daily? Join Angela DeRossett as she shares ideas on how to strengthen your child’s fine motor skills with items you already have while introducing you to ways to make this type of learning more fun.

It's FREE, it's fun and I hope you'll join in-- just hop on over there to register and get your login.

Allrightythen... it's 1:41am and I need to go to bed for our flight in a few hours.  Have a wonderful week, y'all!

Love,
Marshie

PS Thank you so much, dear friends, for all the e-mails and cards and prayers regarding Christian's birthday this past Wednesday.  It was a very good family kind of day!  We only cried a little that morning when we reminded the boys about it being Christian's b-day.  Then we prayed, ate at Denny's and watched Madagascar Escape 2 Africa at the theater (a rare treat for our Netflix kind of family).  God has given us so much grace at the perfect time... without fail!  But He's like that y'know... loving, trustworthy, consistent, all-knowing, faithful...

PPS  Have any of you read that book by Randy Alcorn called "Heaven"?  I've listened to the shorter abridged audio version and found it to be encouraging and very interesting.  I'm thinking about getting the hardcopy or perhaps the unabridged audio version.  Anyone have any thoughts on that book?

Posted in General Ramblings

Posted in General Ramblings

Ten (or so) timely facts about me (ugh, makes me feel totally self-centered!):

1.  I am a Mar-sha, not a Mar-cia.  The Brady Bunch?  Yup, she was a Marcia.  I am a Marsha.  

2.  My favorite flower is a peony.

3.  My favorite dessert is creme brulee.

4.  When I was in college, I worked part-time as a laundromat attendant and as a professional notetaker (selling subscriptions to my notes for the semester).

5.  In the aforementioned college experience, my weekly treat to myself was a Happy Meal from McD's.  Yup, I was a high maintenance kind of girl. 

6.  My favorite thing from McD's when I was a kid was a Big Mac.  Maybe it was because that's what my dad always ate?  Now I have to fight the urge to get a McRib whenever they are advertised.  Those have got to be one of the nastiest sandwiches of all time... and yet they always look good on the commercials!  But this year, I will resist the McRib b/c I know it's gross... along with Grape Nuts hot, Campbell's Tomato Soup and Malt-O-Meal.  Blech!

7.  My fav drink at Starbucks is a white chocolate mocha, although the last drink I had there was a Pumpkin Spice Latte.

8.  If my hairs continue to turn white, I am seriously considering dyeing my hair a plum color.

9.  When David is gone and I go to sleep with the TV on (to mask the creepy noises), the channel will either be on Discovery Health (200lb tumor anyone?), the Weather Channel (your local on the 8s!), or the classic tv show M*A*S*H.

10.  Speaking of M*A*S*H, did anyone else really envision living in a mansion, apartment, shack or house when they were little?  Weird how you could be totally bummed when you got stuck living in the shack... like it was real or something!

11.  I wish I knew how to double-dutch jump rope.  And I wish I knew how to jump on a pogo stick.  Oh and while I'm at it, might as well learn how to ride a unicycle too.  How fun would that be?!

You can link up with your own facts right HERE.

Posted in General Ramblings

+I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading your comments on my last post!  I would like to point out that my friend Teresa practically dared us to guess her and her hubby's it's been a secret for 18 YEARS nicknames for each other.  The clues are PPB for him and BLT for her... anyone care to venture any guesses?  Maybe she calls Neal her Precious Pooky Buns and he calls her his Big Loving Tater-- because y'know, terms of endearment almost always involve food, y'all.

And then there is Amy in Peru's Chubby Chumchocks... what's a Chumchock anyway?  Yup, nothing says loving more than calling someone Chubby... and not just any old chubby but a chumchock to boot-- fo shizzle!

And SisterLisa?  I'll just be thankful for the non-creative nickname bestowed upon me by my other half-- because Round Bottom, it doesn't exactly give me a warm fuzzy feeling!

+Now it's time to play a little tag.  HomeschoolingKatt and Misty have both asked me to name 6 "unspectacular quirks" about myself.  Hmmm... isn't "quirky" the polite person's way of saying "weird"?  And unspectacular... might as well just say lame enough of an oddity to keep you in the realm of the uncool.  Nevertheless, here goes.

1.  I consider a trip to the Grand Canyon as the ultimate torture.  The mere thought of those heights and edges make me want to puke.

2.  I have been prone to ticks since I was a kid.  Not the blood sucking bug variety of ticks, but spazzy body things like tapping my teeth together, clenching and unclenching my jaw, and the current irritating flexing of my left arm and leg muscles.

3.  One of my favorite snacks is dried fish, especially the sweet tasting filefish.  Eat with a side of toothpaste because it gives you some majorly nasty breath.  (Makes you want to be close to me, doesn't it?  Hey, does anyone else remember that old mouthwash commercial where the guy says Heck of a hot tub, huh Heather?  Okay, just checking.)

4.  (Amy, this ones for you.)
I was never the type of girl who had crushes on people.  But in my (much!) younger days, I had a major crush on this guy.

Let the laughter commence.

Okay, cease the laughter.

5.  I like to iron shirts.  But not the German white linen kind of shirts with the millions of pleats all over the front.

6.  Lastly and leastly, I can't for the life of me think of a number 6.  Anyone, anyone?  Beuller???

Posted in General Ramblings

Posted in General Ramblings

I don't have a lot to complain about.  It's weird though because I feel like I'm cranky, whiney, complainy and in a bad mood... at least on the inside.  But I'm not really.  I know, it makes ZERO sense, doesn't it?

I knew I was feeling out of sorts when I had a sore throat all day long.  But that in and of itself isn't too odd.  It only became wonky when I couldn't figure out if I had a sore throat because I was getting sick or if it was because I yelled at the kids.  Y'know the kind of yelling I'm talking about?  The lose your temper, scream at the kids and then just know you're going to have to apologize later because it was THAT bad kind of a yelling.

Only, I didn't think I got mad at the kids for anything today.  Did I???  I spent much of the day trying to remember if I lost my temper or yelled at any of the kids for any reason at all this morning.  But apparently I didn't.  (Hooray for me!  Hooray for them!)

I am getting sick though.  I'm one of those low-temp kind of people.  If I ever get a "normal" temp of 98.7, I'm probably coming down with something.  My throat is sore, I'm exhausted (did I mention that David has been working since this past Sunday and has been gone?), and I have a fever.  WAAAAHHH!

The good news is that after tomorrow, he'll be home until Wednesday!  As in WE GET TO SPEND SUNDAY TOGETHER!  I can't even tell you the last time that has happened.  And last Sunday, well, I just kind of lost it and cried because it is just so hard to do the whole Sunday school, church, lunch, dinner, church, bedtime thing by yourself... again... like last time... oh and the twenty million times before that...  Oh I exaggerate about that last part... but only by a little!

The End.  Not of this post.  Just of my pity party.

Hey, I finally attended my very first homeschool Conference this week... in my pj's... with coffee in hand.  It just couldn't get any better than that!  Wait, it did when I got to chat for a while with mi amiga Amy from Trujillo, Peru!!!  I had to throw in the Peru thing so she could be distinguished from the many other fabuloso Amy's that I am tremendously blessed to know. :-)

Speaking of Amy from Peru, here's a picture of us together when we had coffee together during her visit to Texas a (too long of a...) while back.

It was really hot that day.  But never too hot for a latte!  Am I right or am I right?

Anyhow, I don't know where I was going with the post.  It had been a while since I had last posted so I wanted to say howdy and let you know what was going on with the Drews clan, er... ME (especially since I didn't really mention anyone else, huh?).

Love,
Marshie

Posted in General Ramblings

My OLDER sister Coco is visiting me right now.  Isn't she purty?

By the way, that is me on the left and her on the right in case y'all thought we were twinsies.  I commented that I look older than her in this picture and instead of gracefully saying, Oh no dear sister of mine, you look so young and youthful and here I look like an old hag.  But NO!  The brat, she just smugly looked at me and said Yup. 

Okay, we are totally laughing our heads off because she is sitting right next to me as I type this.  I contemplated paying her back by photoshopping her teeth a la Hee Haw style, but then I realized that she has photoshop too.  And probably more incriminating pictures than I have in my personal posession (possession? too lazy to look it up).

I am glad that my sister Coco is visiting with my cutesie wootsy niece Emily and funny little man Benjamin.  I have no idea what we're going to do this week, but I'm sure it will involve coffee, laughing, play with the kidlets and a whole lot of relaxing!

If you get a chance, stop by Coco and my other sister Lele's etsy store where they sell handmade jewelry:  lele+coco  Speaking of my New York City living sister Lele... we could tell some funny stories about her this week.  Hmmm... Maybe we will, maybe we won't.  She doesn't read my blog (I don't think)... but I think she might be able to whoop me... so we'll see.

Love,
Marshie

Posted in General Ramblings

Apparently, my draft post stunk because it was eaten up by the mysterious computer monster and I completely lost the whole thing.  I am sure that I had written all kinds of fun and witty stuff in there too.  boo hoo.

So from the mixed up files of my bad memory, I bring you the winners of the free tickets to Heart of the Matter's Virtual Homeschool Conference. 
Congrats go to Letitia, DeeDeeUK, Amada, Christy and Cammie!  (Can you believe I had to count that three times to make sure it was 5?!  What can I say?  I. need. more. coffee.)

I finally got around to posting my assignment for Hallie's super fun Through the Lens: Digital Photography 101 group.  It's not too late if you want to join the fun!  And you don't even have to have a fancy camera... my sister Coco has joined and she has a Kodak Easyshare that takes amazing pictures!  Speaking of Coco, she is coming to visit me next week!!!  Oh and she started a blog!  Wanna go over there and say hi? :-)

It is almost midnight and I still have 2 munchkins that are wide awake.  One little 3yo in particular is counting out loud right now...

one, two, fwee, foh, fiiive, sixteen, benineteen, fowteen, nineteen
I count fo you mommy!!!

Ummm... yeah... I think it's time to start some lessons with the little man.  It's a sad day when you counted better last year than you do now!  Whew, it's a good thing we don't have preschool testing or something around here.  I'd be in big trouble!  So what would they put him in?  Remedial counting? 

I wonder if he'd get extra credit for this talent:

The rest of the fam, we can't touch our nose with our tongue.  Weirdo.  I mean, unique child of many talents!

I also realized a while back that he knows ZERO songs like Itsy Bitsy Spider or Jesus Loves Me.  And wanna know why?  No, it's not because I'm completely neglectful of poor child number 3... It's really sad for me to admit this publicly... but whenever I try (or tried!) to sing a song to him, he'd reach up with his chubby little fingers and SQUEEZE MY LIPS SHUT.  And then he'd whisper "No sing, mommy."  So lest y'all have pity on this blonde boy, just remember, it's all his fault that he doesn't know any lullabies or even how to sing the ABC song!  Hmmm... I wonder if he's ever said "No sing, daddy" ???  I'll have to ask David about that when he gets back from work tonight.

Speaking of work, I got to go to work with him yesterday!!!  And why in the world would that be even remotely exciting?  Well, the kids went to a friend's house while David I slaved away HERE for a 25 hour layover.  I know, I know... it makes you want to cry a tear for me and for him, doesn't it?  How does he endure such difficult work?  It takes a special kind of person, let me tell you!!!

And lastly but not leastly, we got a new dog...  She's a white German Shepherd puppy!

Currently, her name is Snowball.  We're not too crazy about it though... it just doesn't roll of the tongue very well.  Dash really wants to name her "Cloudy."  And he really wants her middle name to be "With a Chance of Rain".  It's time to send in her papers so we really need to decide.  What do y'all think?  I believe the choices are Snowball, Snowflake, Cloudy and Avalanche.

Posted in General Ramblings

111 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

I got this quiz from my friend Amy.  Some of the questions were hilarious... I'm sure you'll know what I'm talking about when you get to it.  It's 100 questions but a very simple check the box format that takes no time at all.

In other news, it's hot here.  As in the kids swam in the stinky pond once again kind of hot.  Blech!  It could be 100 degrees and I still wouldn't swim in that thing.  Ick!  Okay, so it was just about 100 degrees today and it was not hard to resist jumping in there.  Talking about the weather is so boring.  So I'll stop now.

Posted in General Ramblings

So I got my hair cut... it was halfway down my back and now... it's not!

  

Okay, both pictures are incredibly dorky, look like mugshots (except a jail wouldn't have orange walls) and are VERY poor quality, but I got tired of my plain hair.  I do miss the ease of the ponytail but this is nice... for now... That's the good thing about hair-- it always grows back!

So what do you think of my swing cut?  See how it's shorter in the back but longer in the front?  Kinda like a reverse mullet! LOL  Just kidding.  Anyhow, back on the ranch...  I need the longer layers in front because my face is more on the round side and this minimizes the mongo forehead plus chubby... er, round face.

I'm done procrastinating now.  I guess I better get some work done around here.  If I don't talk to y'all again, have a GREAT weekend!

Posted in General Ramblings

So I was tagged by my dear friend Amy.  Amy, you know I'm your friend when I'd actually unlazy myself long enough to answer questions like these!

***

Favorite food? Korean food!  Dwaejibulgogi (spicy pork), Ojingobokum (spicy squid), kimchi (radish, cabbage, puchu, all kinds!), bulgogi (not spicy beef)...  My mouth is watering just thinking about it all...

Quirks about you? I am double jointed in my elbows so you can twist my arm really really far.  (This has oft been my answer to this type of question-- I'm not very creative.)

Any regrets in life? Some bad choices in life, but God's grace has been sufficient!

Favorite Blog recently? Very hard to pick!  But lately, I've been loving The Pioneer Woman Cooks! and Pioneer Woman Photography.  And I have to say that I've really been enjoying Lisa's blog.  She is so funny!

Something you can’t get enough of? Coffee.  (Yes, totally lame next to your reply Amy, but I didn't want to be a copycat.)

Worst job you've ever had? Secretary for the relocation department of Ernst & Young.  Yes, I am naming that company b/c I despised that job more than anything.  I was SO miserable, mainly b/c of my boss who'd show up late and then make us stay late because she never got around to actually working!  Plus, I was waaay underpaid, overworked, my feet hurt and did I mention that I really really really disliked my boss?  That's what happens when you call your boss enough times at their house asking if they are going to come in to work that day.  It was even worse than the job at a laundromat where I washed other people's laundry.  Yes, that bad!

But I'm not bitter.  I am SO over that point in my life.  Yup, la la la la la...

What job would you pay NOT to have? I wouldn't want to be one of those guys from that Verminator show.  Ewwww!!!

If you could be a fly on the wall, where?  In the cockpit of my husband's airplane.  I wonder what they really talk about up there during those 5 hour flights...  Okay, I pretty much want to know what he says about me... he tells me, but I want more details. :-)

Favorite Bible verse right now?  Three that go well together:

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 
~James 1:5

And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.  
~Isaiah 30:21

For this God is our God for ever and ever:  he will be our guide even unto death.
~Psalm 48:14

Guilty Pleasure? Starbuck's Mint Mocha Chip Frappuccino

If you HAD to spend $1,000 on YOURSELF, how would you spend it? I have no idea!  I'm thinking family vacation... that's sounds really nice about now.

Favorite thing about your house? My dream master bathroom courtesy of a talented hubby and a useless extra master closet!  Now I have a big tub for a bubblebath... aahhhhhh...

Least favorite thing about your house? The laundry room space is very crowded... I can't even open the dryer door all the way without it banging into the wall in front of it.

One thing you are bad at? Golf... although I do have some super cute pink golf shoes!

One thing you're good at? Playing my flute.  And cooking (most of the time).

If you could change something about your circumstances, what? Absolutely nothing.  I love my life!

Who would you like to meet someday? That's a good question.  I have no idea.  I've never been one to get fixated on people.  But one day, I'll get to meet Jesus!!!

Who is your real life hero? My husband... and if he's busy, I've always got one of his sidekicks nearby...

What is the hardest part of your job?  Hard???  I've got this kid thing DOWN!  My kids came with mommy manuals... and so did my husband.  What?  You mean you didn't get manuals with yours?  Maybe you can check online for a manual... because it is SO EASY every single day.  I'm telling you, I sit on the couch and eat bon-bon's 24/7.  *snort*

When are you most relaxed? After the kids are in bed for the night... and asleep.

What stresses you out?   A messy house.

What can you not live without?  Coffee, high speed internet, my cell phone.

Why do you blog? It's an easy way to keep in touch with friends and family.  And I love that I can write about the kids and then forget about it, like a journal but faster since I can type and add pictures and video clips!

Who Am I Tagging?  If you want to participate, feel free to join in!  Let me know though because I'd l-o-v-e to read your answers.

Rules:
1. Answer the questions
2. Link back to whoever tagged you
3. Tag eight bloggers to do the same, 2 from each category.
New/ newer bloggers (since we want to share the love and send them traffic)
Bloggy friends
Bloggers you’d like to get to know better
Bloggers you don’t think will respond, but you hope will

Posted in General Ramblings

Since I still have a couple hours of Wednesday left, I thought I'd say hi to all of y'all and show you this picture.

I'm sure y'all have seen better, but to me eet ees beeeeeeautiful!!!  Look at the bokeh in that picture!  It's not twinkly or anything, but perty good for a first timer with a new camera. :-)

Well, I'm sorry I haven't been able to visit all of y'all like I've been wanting.  Things have been super-dee-duper busy around these parts...  But I expect I'll have a little more time on my hands in the coming weeks to catch up and sit a spell.

If I don't talk to y'all again, have a wonderful holiday weekend!  Eat lots of BBQ or whatever it is that you do on weekends like this!

Love,
Marshiemellow

Posted in General Ramblings

Am I the only one who understands the title?  Y'know, the aye's have it?  Okay.  Nevermind.

My dear Kodak Easyshare camera was our first venture into the digital world of photography.  No more clicking up a whole roll of film and just wishing for at least one measly picture out of the entire roll to come out good!  Then we got a teeny tiny Sony camera with more! megapixels! and it was the size of a (fat) credit! card!  But we quickly learned that more megapixels does NOT equal more bueno in the quality department.

As I anxiously await the arrival of my big bad new camera, I am waxing nostalgic over the great colors and quality of my old steady Kodak.  Seriously, it is probably my favorite point and shoot digital of all time.  Here are a few pics of my boys that are straight out of the camera.  Tres bien, no?

See the eyes?  Instead of aye's?  Oh, nevermind.

Goodbye my dear Kodak.  I shall miss you.  And yet I know you will live on in the grubby little hands of my boys... I just hope you survive more than just a few weeks.

***

PS I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but Heart of the Matter has giveaway's every week.  Check out what's going on this week!

Posted in General Ramblings

TWO ice cream cakes!!!  Yupperino, I did get me some delicioso ice cream cakes for my birthday.  A decadent chocolate one from my friend Suzanne and a yummo cookies and cream one from David and my boys.  Mmmmm....

And if that weren't enough, I got to go on another date with the hubs tonight!  We actually doubled with another couple that we're really good friends with.  So the kids had fun with a babysitter and we got to go play unlimited bowling, lazertag, pool and arcade games.  Yeeeeehaw! 

I think we might even be inspired to do date night once a month.  As in a date that does not include *gasp* Sam's Club!  It's hard to believe.  I know. 

So do y'all do date nights?  If so, where do you go and how often?

And in other news, HOTM is having another giveaway-- this time it's Preschool Activities in a Bag.  They are also still accepting nominations for their BIG Mother's Day giveaway!  So don't delay, submit today!  You may just win if you'd but play.  These bad sad rhymes just should not stay... not in this post, there is no way!  Please make it stop, it's really horrid.  If you're still reading, you must be bore-d.

Okay, I'm really stopping now... it's hard, but I am...  You can thank me later.

Or not.

I'm going to be away from the blogosphere for the rest of the week.  So if you have any special news, happenings or whatever, feel free to drop me an e-mail!  I'll check back with all of y'all next week!

Love,
Marshiemellow

Posted in General Ramblings

One of our ports of call was Cozumel, Mexico.  We had snorkeled there before and were looking forward to doing it again.  (Okay, for some odd reason that sounds kinda bad, huh?... it must be a post-midnight craziness that is taking over my brain...hehe).  Since it was very very very windy, we opted to rent a jeep and drive around the island instead.

There is really not much to the island of Cozumel.  If you drive it, you only need to do it once.  In your entire life.  But the one time that you do drive it, please remember to put on sunscreen.  If not, you will have this odd sunburn on the top half of your face.  Or if you are a crazy shirtless man, you will have a hilarious souvenir of a seatbelt tan-line to show the kids when you get home!  Too bad I don't have a picture of that.

We did make two stops on our whirlwind tour of the 28 mile wide and 10 mile long island.  First stop, the Mayan ruins of San Gervasio.  I'm such a party pooper.  I really didn't like it there.  It just couldn't compete with our visits to Tulum and Chichen-Itza on our honeymoon back in the old days!  But we made the best of it and explored.

We saw lots of iguanas.  Do you see it?

I also had my husband for entertainment.  He always makes me laugh.



After passing many an iguana, we loaded up and kept on driving.  We found this really neat rock outcropping with wicked waves.


I couldn't resist this dorky picture of us.  See how WINDY it is?!  (Aren't you impressed with the italics in that word? Pretty clever, huh?  I know you're impressed.)  That's also the face you make when you're eating hair and trying to not fall to your death.  Right past that edge is a 150 foot drop with the waves hammering against it.  Okay, I lied.  It's really only a 15 foot drop.  But the waves, they really were the kind that would totally crack your skull!

(I'm totally resisting the gone with the wind jokes here.  You can thank me later.)

So we left, returned the jeep and got back on the boat ship.  (They hate it when you call it a boat.) 
 

Posted in General Ramblings

This will be the first post of a few posts about the very recent (as in we got back on Sunday) Caribbean cruise vacation that David and I took.  Sans kidlets. 

We left on Sunday and by Tuesday we wished we would have brought the boys along.  Every part of life is just so much more FUN with them around!  So we learned our lesson that 2-3 days is enough time to refresh and reconnect with each other... any more than that and we are bored, lonely bumpkins (the details of which I shall spare you).

Okay, on to our adventures!

***

David and I were walking down a street on Grand Cayman when we saw this:

Just three steps later we saw this:



RUN, CHICKENS, RUN!!!  You SO do not want to go through that side door right there!  Although the idea of freshly fried chicken is quite appealing to me right about now...  Man, KFC's really are everywhere!

Posted in General Ramblings

Touch Typing online

I love to type.  I learned how to type without looking at the keys while I was in college.  Not on purpose, though.  It just happened after my first few last minute (literally) research papers were due.

After getting married and moving to the land-of-no-jobs (aka Cleveland) for a girl with a history degree and no real working experience (unless you count a laundromat attendant, flute lessons or tutoring), I had a 3 year stint as a secretary.  Hated every second of it, too.

But one thing about the most-horrid-job-ever, is that I love to type.  It's relaxing and the clickety click of the keys is somehow comforting.  I suppose it's because I can immediately see the fruits of my labor and it requires ZERO thought.  So I type and my mind wanders and I type and I think about what's for dinner or what the weather is like outside.

Take the test and let me know how you did!  And if you beat me, I will do my best to resist the very strong urge to take the test over and over again until I come out on top...

Posted in General Ramblings

Take My Quiz on QuizYourFriends.com Can you Ace my quiz? Yes! No Let's Find Out!

Posted in General Ramblings

Posted in General Ramblings

Posted in General Ramblings

It is Sunday morning.  I am looking at the clock and it says 6:23 AM.  Seriously y'all-- A.M.! 

And I have been up for an hour.  And it wasn't because of puking kids or anything like that.  Shocking, isn't it?  You know what is even more shocking?  I'm going to exercise before church this morning and also make some homemade cinnamon rolls before the kids wake up.

Oh I am totally kidding!  David had to leave really early for work today and I couldn't go back to sleep right away.

I just felt this great compulsion to proclaim to the world that *I* am up before the sunrise.  Wait, that should've had a few !!!!!!!! a the end of that sentence.  While I will not be braving the cold (read: getting out from under my covers) to actually see the sunrise, I will be resetting my alarm for another hour of sleep.  That will still leave me enough time to stick to our 2-hour rule.  This rule means that if we have to be anywhere in the morning, I have to give myself 2 hours to get myself and the 3 merry little gentlemen up and out the door in a timely manner.  Hopefully with some food in their bellies, brushed teeth and matching socks.

Anyone else have a 2 hour rule?  Trust me, I don't need all that time for personal primping (laughable idea that is!).  It is just inevitable that when you have to be somewhere, that is precisely when dawdling, fighting and/or protests of the early hour occur.  We must also plan to leave 15 minutes earlier than we think we need to leave... because we always run 15 minutes late, which then puts us right on time (hopefully).

Oi!  I better end this rambling.  My snoozetime is running out!

Posted in General Ramblings

Since it is a time to give thanks, I would like to say thank you to all of my friends-- both in the blogosphere and IRL.

And since friends try not to be party poopers (I'm sure that knocked my blog readability level down to PRE-K), here are my answers to the tag from my new friend Shannon.

8 Things I'm Passionate About (in no particular order)

- Jesus Christ!
- My husband.
- My children.
- My family.
- Homeschooling.
- Cooking.
- Reading.
- Coffee.
- Playing my flute and good music.  I almost left this one out because it sounds nerdy, but I suppose that's just what I am-- NERDY!


8 Things I Want to Do Before I Die

- Write a book about my mother's side of the family.
- I did hope to play in an orchestra again, but when I took my flute out today and practiced some difficult pieces I realized that I am old.  Or at least my fingers are-- my joints and tendons were killing me.  So much for that idea...

~Colossians 3:23:
        And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto man.

Is it bad that I can't think of anything else that I really want to do?  Sure there are places I'd like to go but I really just want to BE and SEE more than DO.  I want to BE a wife and mother (and grandmother one day!) that would be pleasing to God.  I want to SEE my children accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.  I want to SEE them walk in the Truth and give their lives completely to God.


8 Things I Often Say

- I love you!!!
- Do you need to go potty?
- Where is Dozer?
- You are not wearing your boots-- get some real shoes on!
- Okee-dokee-artichokee!
- Get a drink, brush your teeth and get in bed!
- Be quiet and GO TO SLEEP!
- Get along!

Can y'all tell that there is A! LOT! OF! LOUD! TALKING! in my house?

8 Books I've Read Recently

I suppose that depends on your definition of recently...
- The Holy Bible (King James Version-- b/c it matters to me)
- Hedge of Thorns (from Lamplighter)
- Pedro's Journal
- Lottie Moon
- Tree in the Trail
- Teddy's Button (also from Lamplighter)
- It's My Turn by Ruth Bell Graham

Yes, that was only 7 because I can't think of an eighth one right now...

8 Songs I Could Listen To Over and Over

- Any song by Selah, especially from their Greatest Hymns or Hiding Place CD
- Unbreak My Heart by Toni Braxton
- Recipe for Love by Harry Connick, Jr. (his songs make me swoon)
- Phantom of the Opera Soundtrack
- Family Harmony DVD by the Peasall Sisters
- Eden String Quartet DVD-- from Franklin Springs Media (ditto Peasall's)

8 Things That Attract Me to My Best Friend
- I'm going to skip this for now.  Too many to narrow down... you could read THIS post (among others) that explains it pretty clearly!

8 Things I've Learned This Year
- And this one will have to be a New Year's post.  Requires reflection, blog space and time-- none of which I have rightthissecond!

And YOU can consider yourself tagged!  Just let me know so I can be sure to read your answers.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, Y'ALL!!!

Posted in General Ramblings

Interesting...  While there is truth in it (I suppose), I can't figure out what oddball question triggered seduction?  Makes me sound mysterious or something, doesn't it?  As mysterious as you can be when your name is Marsh-uh...  Anyhow, that was from KarenW who found it through Kathleen.

***

It is beautifully warm and sunny outside.  Nice enough to keep the ceiling fans on and the windows open.  Rare is the day here where you don't have to have the A/C on!

Dozer is finally over his tonsilitis.  I am sooo thankful to have my LOUD, rambunctious little man back!  And a full night of uninterrupted sleep-- sleep without fear of fever was bliss.

***

On a more serious schooling note and because this IS a homeschooling blog, Jeannie Fullbright has a great set of articles out about Independent Learning-- and advice on how to achieve that goal. 

Self Learners in the Homeschool
Laying the Foundation: Moving Students from Dependence to Independence
Steps to Self Learning

Special thanks to EEEEMommy for the tip!

***

And since this IS the week of Thanksgiving, the boys and I are going to do THIS later today. 

We are going to my in-law's for Thanksgiving.  My contribution to the feast?  A pumpkin pie or two.  Yup, that's all.  My m-i-l is a great cook and plans ahead... so while my pies are a measly contribution, they are tasty!  Now I just have to decide if I want to make the traditional one by Libby or the one from Eagle Brand (condensed! not evaporated! milk!-- b/c you have to specify on all recipes for some reason...).

SO whatcha doing for Thanksgiving?  Do you have a favorite pumpkin pie recipe you'd like to share?  Because inquiring minds want to know.  I want to know!  (Is there anyone else out there that even remembers the old commercial I'm talking about? Or am I the only one and everyone is now thinking that I'm a completely goob?)

Posted in General Ramblings

Fear not, dear blog friends.  The title in no ways indicates this will be a deeply philosophical post!

I just meant that I had the greatest of intentions to actually upload and post the various pictures I've taken in the last couple of days-- including my shiny gold shoes.  I think I left the camera in the car and honestly, I'm too lazy to go outside and get it.  Besides, it's 60 degrees outside right now.  You don't expect me to go outside in that kind of weather, do you??? 

Aaaahhhhh!!!  My allergies are totally killing me right now.  My nose is completely totally and utterly stopped up-- and it's runny at the same time.  MISERY.  That is my current state.  And here you thought I lived in Texas.  (ha ha.  See what the lack of oxygen does to me?)

I could really use a hot shower right now to alleviate the misery but alas, guess what went out today in our new-to-us house?  The well pump.  No pump means no water.  As in NO water-- not a single drop!  And that, my friends, is NO BUENO.

You know why this happened, don't you?  This happened because David is at work.  I think it's a conspiracy. 

Emergency room visits?  Yup, only when he's at work. 
Heater thingy gone out in the middle of winter with one of the coldest nights of the year quickly setting in?  Yup, only when he's at work. 
Stitches?  Yup, working. 
Creepy noises coming from within the walls (at our old house)?  Working again.
Scary clattering on the back patio?  Ditto the working.  (Although this turned out to be a possum with its head completely stuck in a Dr. Pepper can with the top cut off-- of the can, that is!  We had it to catch the grease drips from the gas grill.  I called a friend to send her husband over because I couldn't see anything in the backyard.  He came over and started laughing hysterically while I was preparing to blockade myself inside the house for the imminent attack by would-be robbers.)

Bloody nose on the 2yo just now?  Yup, David's working.

Don't get me wrong, I am totally appreciative of the fact that he has a great job!  But I could do without the incidents that occur when I'm the only one on watch.

So David, if you are reading this-- FLY FAST tomorrow!

Posted in General Ramblings

How's that for a boring title?

Just wanted to let y'all know that the aforementioned tile guy did not show up yesterday... again.  So we fired him.  He had all kinds of excuses as to why he did not show up and did not even call after he said he would.  So I am feeling A LOT better now!  Whew!  Freedom from being a prisoner in my home-- hooray!

We've decided to call the young man that we originally wanted to go with but he was booked up at the time.  Apparently so was tile guy, but he lied and said he could work all week even though he had FIVE other jobs at the same time.  Uhhh... Can you say scheduling conflict?

It is a blessing that even after having paid the terrible tile guy too much money already, after we pay this young man we will still pay less than if we paid tile guy the whole amount he was charging.  

Anyhow, I refer to this new young tiler as a man and this other person as a guy because it seems he'll live up to his word (at least that is my hope) and that's just what a real man does (even though tile guy was a good 10-15 years older that this young one).

Did y'all follow all of that?  Good. :-)

***

In other non-news, have y'all tried cherry butter before?  I bought some at a semi-recent visit to Dewberry Farm.  Talk about YUMMO on a piece of toast or swirled into a bowl of oatmeal!  And surely I am not ze only one who has made the mistake of thinking that apple or pumpkin butter was some kind of flavored butter... am I?  Granted, this was years ago that I thought this...

***

Enter to win the It's Fall Y'all Giveaway by Multi-Tasking Mom's!  You can win a really cool mug-- and all you have to do is leave a comment.

***

Payless' BOGO
+
letting 3 boys choose what the second pair of shoes should be
=
THIS

Yes, that is a gold flat with a sequined bow on the toe.  But would you expect anything less from three boys?  After all, shiny and sparkly means beautiful.  At least for the under 10yo set.  I suppose it would've been too much to expect them to choose the Lela Rose Black Birchin T-Strap Pump?  Oh and it looks MUCH better on than in the picture!

***

I got my twice-yearly haircut the other day.  I get it cut by Minh at the mall.  Yup, I'm the girl that's getting her hair cut in the window where everyone can see.  But I'm telling ya, Minh is half Vietnamese and half Chinese and just knows my hair!  I also appreciate that he is honest enough to tell me that a certain haircut would look terrible on me or that my hair just won't do that-- no matter how you cut it.

I was torn between a short swing cut and just cutting off the dead ends.  I hemmed, I hawed (is that how you spell it?), I called two of my sisters.  In the end, trustworthy and reliable Minh kindly steered me towards the option that would minimize my rounded face (aka chubby).  You can tell that it's been too long since your last cut whenever "cutting the dead ends off" means cutting off ohhh... 4 inches!!!

But I'm okay with that.  It does look better and now I won't waste my time pulling my split ends apart...  PLUS I mentioned to Minh that I homeschool-- and he gave me 10% off my haircut and a free leave-in conditioner.  It was a good day, oh yes it was!

And on that note, I shall depart thence from my computer.  I have an old loaf of bread that we're going to feed the pond fishies with.  I suppose they like it and it won't kill em.  There are some big ole catfish and bass in there!  So far I haven't seen any snakes... I hope it stays that way.

Posted in General Ramblings

Just a quick note to let y'all know that we have finally gotten all the way moved in!  Since I am too exhausted to wax eloquent, ye shall find the happenings of the Drews family below in bullet point format.

• We closed on our other house yesterday afternoon.  Yeeehhaaaaaw!  We're back down to one mortgage and one set of utility payments.
  
  
• Today was an historic day in our new house.  We have a shower!!!  As in: we can clean up at home instead of having to drive elsewhere.  The entire family (including my dirty boys) are filled with glee.  Yes, GLEE.  Glee is also a byproduct of a nifty invention called a tankless hot water heater that gives you an endless supply of hot water.  So not only can we stew and steep to our heart's content, but we also have extra space in the utility room since there is no hot water tank in there anymore!
  
  
• Now we just need a working kitchen and finish up the master bath.  The tile guy said it would take him one week.  He lied.  And he knew he was lying when he lied.  We are now two weeks into the project and he has completed the tile around the tub in the boys' bathroom.  Still left to do: counters in the boys' bathroom, the entire kitchen counter, and the entire master bathroom (tub surround and separate extra large walk-in shower, including the shower pan).  *sigh*  Frustrating is an understatement, y'all. 
  
  Please pray for grace for David and I in this situation.  This guy (I hate to use the word man since he really lied... and real men don't lie IMHO) is not a Christian and we would like to be a witness to him somehow.  Who knows?  We might be the only Christians that he knows!  It has been quite difficult to not tell him what-for and all that.  We have talked to him about his work ethic (tardiness, not returning calls, etc) in a stern but not overly harsh/mean way.  We do think that God wanted us to give him another chance-- which David graciously did.  Hopefully we will have an opportunity to invite him to church or witness to him before all of this is over with.
  
  
• I will post pics of our renovations when we are actually finished with everything.  That way y'all can see true before and after pictures.  In-between is kind of boring-- and embarrassingly messy.
  
  
• On a completely different note, did you know that it is SUPERANGEL'S BIRTHDAY?!  Happy 18th B-day, Amanda!!!  And she's also this week's featured blogger-- CONGRATS!
  
  
• If you haven't been there yet, check out the MULTI-TASKING MOM'S blog.  'Tis tres bien and I even won some beautiful handmade jewelry for my entry in WeaverMom's contest.
  
  
• Hmmm... what else has been going on around here?  Did I ever mention that Tank lost his first tooth several weeks ago?  That same night he also won the Crazy Hat competition at church.  I have a picture around here somewhere that shows both his hat and his missing tooth...  I'll have to post that next time, I suppose.  Oooo, oooo... AND he scored his very first soccer goal today!  We are uber-proud of our little sport!
  
  
• One more thing, last week I got to meet my cousin Bong-guen who came all the way from Seoul, South Korea.  I have not seem him in over 25 YEARS! 
  
  I was a bit nervous but it was nervous for nothing.  What a charming and fun older cousin I have!  Fortunately, he did speak some English (which is more than I can say for my Korean).  The boys really liked him, too.  He spent a lot of time playing with them-- soccer, War, Feed the Kitty, Go Fish... which is, once again, more than I can say for myself.  I must admit that I have definitely been a mommy of the unfun variety this past month.  If you ask David or the boys or any of my friends, I'm sure they'll say the past ohhh... 3 or 4 months... but who's counting?! ;-)
  
  
  
• Monday we will start back with our lessons and try to return to some semblance of a normal life-- even without a fully working kitchen, being surrounded by a dusty maze of boxes and the tile guy coming in and out. I shall be free to move about the virtual cabin visiting my friends that I have missed so much.  And I'll also be back to my semi-regular blog posting self, Lord willing.

Posted in General Ramblings

Busy with what you ask?

1.  Starting our lessons-- week 3 of WinterPromise-- WE LOVE IT, Y'ALL! 

We're doing American Story 1 and Levels 1 and 3 of the language arts.  Scheduled out like Sonlight, but not quite as intense.  It leaves us a little wiggle room to add a foreign language AND for all of the fabulous hands-on activities that are scheduled into the program.  Not only am *I* enjoying it, but the boys are too.  I will have to gush about this program later-- maybe after 6 weeks completion?  Then I should be able to more accurately give you the pro's and con's of it. 

So far the only thing I have not been pleased with is the customer service.  I think they just need more help to answer phones and e-mail and to fill the boxes.  If I remember correctly, I placed my order at the beginning of August and I'm still waiting on one backordered book.  I've had them not answer or acknowledge my e-mail/phone messages, but I've also had the owner call me once on a separate issue.  It seems the customer service is hit and miss.

2.  Baking

3.  Soccer-- yet another stand alone post, maybe tomorrow and with pics.  And to clarify, *I* am not the one playing.  Lest ye think that I actually exercise. 

For now, let's just say we left the house at 7:00 AM for Tank's game.  Dash's game was at 12:30 PM in the blazing heat of summer and no shade.  Today was the only day that they have games on the same field.  The rest of the whole season they have games at the same time but on different fields-- that are a minimum 20 minute drive apart.  Yup.  What are the chances?

4.  Contract by our neighbor on current house, still waiting (seemingly forever) on our other house to be finished.  So there are two mortgages to pay, two electric bills to pay, two lawns to mow (1 acre and 3.5 acres)...  But it really is a blessing to be able to take care of both without drowning in debt.  I may be drowning in coffee, yes; in debt, no.

5.  I also just finished reading A Mom After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George.  It took me a while since each chapter has a lot of things that *I* really need to work on.  Definitely a good read that I would recommend to anyone.

Time for night-night folks.  Have a wonderful Lord's Day and a great week, my friends!

Love,
Marshie

Posted in General Ramblings

This blog post is dedicated to my big sister Coco.  She always gloated that she was older than I... but who's gloating now, huh old lady? ;-)

This is a pic of Coco (left) and I (right-- b/c I always am! hehe) when we were little and living in Korea.  I guess we're playing with our friend John.  Doesn't he look ecstatic?  I have NO idea why I look like that!  I bet it's because Coco is being mean to me... We were always best friends but she'd say mean things to me and then I'd beat her up.  After that, all was well in our world.

***

As I ventured out with my boys this morning, a slight breeze caused many a golden brown leaf to float to the ground. Tank looked at me and asked Is it fall, mommy?  I told him that it technically was not fall even though the leaves were falling. 

Besides, one should not sweat when it is autumn, don't you think?  It is currently almost 8pm and still 85 degrees outside with a feels like temp of 93 degrees.

That's just not right, people.

So I'm just going to make myself a cinnamon dolce latte, eat my peanut butter chocolate chunk cookie bars that are baking in the oven and pretend it's fall.  And once the coffee kicks in, I might even make a few batches of pumpkin spice bread.

One perk, however, to the perpetual summer that is Houston is that the swimming season lasts a very long time!  So our evenings are still topped off with a family swim, warm bath, snacks and bedtime.  In fact, I think we'll go swimming again tomorrow.  The water is juuuuuust riiiiiiiight.

So :-p Coco!  You can have your cool weather and low humidity and spend unsweaty nice days at the park.  *I'm* going to get wrinkly in the swimming pool and not be white as a ghost come wintertime.

Oh and Coco?  If you move waaay up north, can we come visit so we can build a snowman?  We'll never get snow down here.  OR you can move here and be close to me and get FREE latte's, babysitting and pumpkin spice bread (and for you, with cream cheese frosting... mmmm....)!!!

Love,
Marshy

Posted in General Ramblings

Posted in General Ramblings

Nope, not the kidlets.  I'm talking about moi.

Chickadee and I were discussing jean shopping and growth spurts earlier this evening.  Only for me, my problem is not jeans per se, but shoes.  As in the growth spurt in my FEET.  Weird.  I used to wear a 7.5 to 8... but now only 8.5 will do.

Could be worse though... like my belly.  Which, by the way, is known as my little pooch.  My twin.  My second sister.  My shadow.  It is always there for me and never leaves me.  It is that extra layer of insulation when the air conditioning kicks on at night.  It is a pillow for the sweaty heads of my tired children.  It lets me rest a bowl of cereal on it while I slouch on my bed pillows watching What Not To Wear and Good Eats on TV.  That is a good friend, y'all. 

It only left me one time in my whole life.  Right before I was prego with #3.  *sigh*  Honestly, I didn't miss it.  But it returned before long... not being able to stand being away from me.  I guess we belong together and will grow old together.

Too many banana crumb muffins, I suppose.  And latte's.

Posted in General Ramblings

We were planning on starting our first day of lessons tomorrow (yup, on Labor Day!).  But alas, my plans changed last minute.  Instead of starting our very first exciting day with WinterPromise, we will be spending a couple of days at a lakehouse in Grapeland, TX.  

You know how friends can be categorized or labeled?  For example, my fun friend, my organized friend, my friend with 9 biological children, my friend who's a great cook, or my friend with 35 photo albums (and she only has a 3yo and a 6yo)... You get the picture.

Well, my super-fun friend Dixie with 9 children (she really is always doing something fun!) invited us to go to the lake along with another dear friend of mine.  So I tossed our plans out the window and we'll be loading up after lunch tomorrow.  I am practicing some self-restraint, however, by returning on Wednesday morning instead of Friday (like everyone else).  Oh, and David is going with us. :-) 

So there will be 3 mommies, 1 daddy, 1 senior citizen (our associate pastor's mom who has Alzheimer's but tells tons of fun "little Eddie" stories), and 15-20 children.  The number of children depends on the number of tagalongs that Dixie brings.  She usually has an extra nephew or 3, or maybe a neighbor's kid or second cousin that she'll bring-- her motto: what's a few more kids?  SEE?  She is FUN, people!  F-U-N for all ages.

Needless to say, I will be offline for a few days.  Oh and there is no TV (sshhh...don't tell David-- he doesn't know yet).

Have a very blessed week!

Posted in General Ramblings

I am extremely overjoyed to announce that I am ze winner!  Ze proud winner of a Cuisinart Pure Indulgence ice cream maker that Hallie over at Blue Thistle Books was giving away.

Thanks, Hallie!!!  Y'all are all invited over to my house for ice cream.  And coffee.  Ooo...ice cream coffee!  Yum.

Love,
Marshiemellow

PS Tank is doing much better today.  Still not 100% but soooo much better than the other day.  Thank you for your prayers, my friends!

Posted in General Ramblings

Blah blah bloggity blah.

That's how I feel right now.  This usually means that I can't think of anything to write about even though there has been tons of goings on around here.  I just don't feel like writing it down because most likely I've already talked to my husbad husband, my parents, my sisters, my brother and a few of my friends... I hate to repeat myself.  Don't worry, you're really not missing out on much.

This leads me to some random thoughts.  I know, you are extremely thrilled and cannot wait to see what gems I might come up with.  Please note the sarcasm. 

*  I've been noticing that I like the smaller font found on some blogs.  Strange but true... I use the medium Times New Roman font because I worry about those that might have vision problems.  I'd hate for people to be straining to read what I'm writing.  Of course, this is making the great assumption that 1.) people read my blog and 2.) that anyone would bother to strain to read it.  But let's just suppose here, okay people?

* Therefore and forthwith, dost thou like the medium font or small font?

* Does the small font make me look smarter?

* Does the medium font make me look fat? (sorry, I couldn't resist that one.  But I am serious about the smaller looking smarter one...)

*  Does this make your eyeballs hurt?

* Or is this better?  Do you feel like I'm yelling at you now?

Just wondering...

*  Has anyone else not started back on their lessons/schoolyear/whateveryoucallit?  I don't want to be the only one that is fashionably late with their school year.

*  Speaking of fashion, one of my very fashionable sisters has informed me that gray will be very IN this fall.  And fuschia will be quite popular as well.  And she should know... just trust me...she is in like flynn on fashion trends.  I, however, am probably a little behind.  But you can blame one of my other sisters for that.  I like to wait for her to clean out her closet and give me her old clothes (read: last season's stuff).  So Lele, if you ever think I'm looking a bit dowdy, just clean out your closet more often!  It's a good excuse for you to do some more shopping!

*  Dozer loves fwogs.  But you already know that.  He had a complete meltdown today when we didn't let him bring his most recently acquired frog in the car.  The boy seriously carried on for 10 minutes. 
Mommy! Daddy wone wet me keep my fwaaaahhhhgggg!!!  He puh fwog in yawwwwwwdddd!!!!  (wash, rinse, repeat at least a dozen more times.)

Okay, I've run out of things to say now.  And I'm too tired to make my brain compute or create catchy comedic conversation competently.  So I shall bid thee good night, dear friends.

Tomorrow we drive to my parents' house for ze weekend.  Hope y'all have a great one!

Love,
Marsha

PS  The husbad typo in the first paragraph was real.  I left it up there because I'm wondering if my subconscious is mad at him about something...

Posted in General Ramblings

Chickadee has tagged me with a Marriage Meme.  So I'm supposed to list 8 random things about my marriage.

1.  When David and I first met, he went home and told everyone that he met the girl he was going to marry.  They thought he was nuts.  I thought for sure he was seeing other people!

2.  We were both bummed that our wedding day fell on the same day as the big air show at Carswell AFB.  The Blue Angels were scheduled to fly and we were going to miss it... because our wedding was set to start at the exact same time they were to fly.

3.  Our first date was video games and a movie at the mall.  I whooped up on him in some arcade soccer game and in Mortal Kombat.  And then we watched Pocahontas.  Yup, he knew then that I was not high maintenance!

4.  We don't buy each other birthday, anniversary, V-day or Christmas gifts.  If something catches our fancy and it happens to be near a special occasion, we might claim it as a gift.  For example, we made an offer on our new house on April 27th.  David is still trying to tell everyone that he bought me a house for my birthday! 

5.  We make cards or write a letter to each other on these special occasions.  This became a necessity when we kept asking each other Did I get you this card last year?  We also try to take a week of vacation (sans kids) for our anniversary each year.

6.  When we were dating, I was amazed at how much we had in common.  Since we've been married (11 years now!), I realize more and more how very different we are! 

• I like to sleep with complete silence, he likes the TV on.
• I love veggies, he only eats a giganto plate of meat.
• I keep a surface clean house. No stuff on the floor. He throws his things everywhere, but is big on things being scrubbed (tub, floor, etc).
• I love to read, read, read.  He will read a short magazine article and then be tired of reading for the whole day, maybe even week.  Oh, he also reads magazines backwards.  Yup, from the back cover forward.  Weirdo.  He's rubbed off on me though.  I've caught myself doing the same thing several times.  Aggghhh!

7.  David is so laid back and goofy, while I am uptight and seriously Type A.  My sisters still laugh and are so surprised that I married someone like him.  Uhhh, what?  They were picturing me marrying someone like myself?  Now THAT would not only be completely boring but we would be sure to fight fight fight all the time.

8.  David and I balance each other out very well.  And he's the only one that can make me really laugh.  Not just the I find you mildly amusing laugh, but the guffawing snorty laugh where you get tears in your eyes.  It's usually at his own personal expense and to get me out of some terrible mood that I've put myself into.  Seriously, there is no one else in the whole wide world that would put up with me, let alone make me so incredibly happy.

 ***

Okee-dokee-artichokees... iffen you want to participate, go right ahead!  Just leave me a link in ze comments so I can be nosy and read all about your marital randomness.  Whoa, that sounds like an R rated reality show, doesn't it?  Let's try to keep this family friendly, people, okay?

Posted in General Ramblings

The glorious JenIG is currently cleansing herself.  Not the soap and water kind, but the detoxing your system with some "natural" stuff kind of cleansing.  In her wild hunger induced post script delirium, she linked to a YouTube video.  Huh?  Am I the only one in the world that doesn't know what Poppin Monkey is?  Did I finally hit that rite of passage where I'm old/mature enough to actually be out of the loop with "kids nowadays"?

Well if you're familiar with YouTube and how one thing leads to another, you won't be surprised that it finally brought me to THIS video. 

As soon as Dash heard the music he ran over and said Wow, cool moves!  Methinks this is going to either lead to 1.) trouble  2.) embarrassment for me and/or him OR 3.) a lot of laughs over the next few days! 

We actually had Pachebel's Canon in D played by a string quartet at our wedding.  I think this would've been a much livelier version, don't you?

I wonder if David can show the boys some breakdancing moves without breaking his back or neck...  He is, as my siblings can attest to, the ultimate 80s man... hehehee...

***
Katie at TeamBettendorf is having a super-easy contest on her blog!

***
Hallie at BlueThistleBooks and MyCrazyLife is giving away a Cuisinart Pure Indulgence 2QT Frozen Yogurt, Sorbet and Ice Cream Maker!  So stop by her blog to say hi and then visit BlueThistleBooks and shop for some great books to add to your lessons!

***
Have you seen THIS CLOCK before?  It's a bit mesmerizing and slightly creepy and cool all at the same time.

***
My niece did end up having a transfusion last night.  She is doing much better now with improved energy and color.  UPDATE:  It's midnight and my sis just called and said they're being released!  HOORAY!  Thank you so much for your prayers.  It'll still be another week before they can travel back home, but recovery in a hotel suite is a lot easier than in a shared hospital room.

Marsha

Posted in General Ramblings

And not the cute, squishy thing that you squeeze and it makes you feel better.

I've been going back and forth this past week feeling really good to just being tired, stressed and totally hormonal.  I hate to use the dreaded PMS excuse, but it really is a contributing factor.  When did that happen anyway?  It never bothered me when I was younger and pre-kidlets.  But now?  Oi veh!  My husband and children have been putting up with quite a bit.  You know it's bad when you're getting on your own nerves.

Well, David has been working the past 6 out of 7 days.  I'm thankful that he has a great job, good overtime and all that jazz.  *sigh*  But it makes me more un-fun when he's gone.  I know this is temporary as the summer months are always the busiest (and most short-staffed) time of the year in the airline business.

Other stresses:

* My best friend has been out of town all month.  Suzanne, you need to hurry home!  I miss our coffee chats and just the normalcy of it all.
* This new house has been stressing me.  It's still messy, very undone and looks worse than when we first moved in.  Plus, we had a no-show plumber that put us a couple weeks behind and some electrical issues we weren't counting on.
* Our current house.  We've put off listing it for 2 weeks since our neighbor says she wants to buy it.  They've pretty much tried to cut our asking price in half.  Uhhhh....NO!  We'd much rather lease it out (which totally freaks them out) or even sit on it and pay 2 mortgages than to accept such a low offer.
* I hate conflict.  Which makes the house stuff not sit well with me.
* I have not been sleeping well b/c of a weird allergy problem that hits me in the middle of the night.  Not to mention my weird circulation problem in my arms.  I have to sleep with my arms straight down by my sides or my arms will completely fall asleep on me in just a couple of minutes.

BLESSINGS!!!

* Free moving boxes.  A whole house worth of boxes (used once), along with packing paper, dishpacks, mirror/picture packs, wardrobes w/bar. :-)
* We can afford the 2 mortgages for a while... courtesy of God providing us with a cheap note, cheap insurance and cheap taxes!
* It has been raining forever.  Consequently, our street has really flooded.  Putting off the listing of our house on MLS due to our neighbor's interest has probably been a good thing.  Better to see the house in good conditions than in this current state of unusual flooding.
* Our neighbor is interested in our house.  If it goes through, I don't have to worry about keeping it perfect to show.  A relative impossibility with 3 kids.
* With our neighbors dragging their feet and trying to finagle the deal, it has bought us more time to finish our other house.
* Even with the sorry initial weasle of a plumber, our new one we found was cheaper than expected and is quite a smart cookie.
* Aforementioned overtime by hubby will come in handy-dandy with the plumbing, electrical, tiling and a/c.
* The boys have really enjoyed hanging out at the new house.  While there isn't any tv or a/c, they have been having a great time riding their bikes, roller skating, catching frogs and exploring!  They are actually excited when I say we have to run to the house to unlock it, get the mail or check on something. :-)
* Oh, and the weird arm thing?  I'm very thankful for health insurance so I can see a doctor about it.  Whenever I get around to making an appointment, that is...

Okay, I feel MUCH better now.  Nothing like counting your blessings to see that God is good and merciful and very much capable of handling all of this small stuff!

Thanks for listening to my rant.  Please continue to pray for us to be wise (and not stubborn!) on this whole house selling thing.

Love,
Marsha (aka Marshie, Marshamellow, Marshy, Momma-bomma, Babe) ;-)

Posted in General Ramblings

I got this from Jimmie's blog... 

Why is it rated PG?  Because I used the words "poop" three times and "hurt" once.  Poop I kinda understand, but the word "hurt"?  I must be out of the loop on some slang or something...

***

I'm glad to be back home again from Dallas.  We're finally to the point where other people can do the work on our new house and I can get back to a semi-normal life.  I think it an impossibility to be normal when I've already packed away all my books-- schoolbooks, cookbooks, regular old fun to read books... *sigh*  I packed everything but what we need to finish our current school year.  It must've been 25-30 boxes!

What does this make me realize?

Nope, not too many books... but that I need more bookshelves in our new house!

Speaking of house, our neighbor is trying to work out financing to purchase our current house.  I would REALLY appreciate your prayers in this.  It would be such a blessing to us to not have to worry about selling with a realtor, showing the house while we're living here, plus the chance of it sitting on the market for longer than we'd like.

Okay, time for night night.  I don't know if I'll have a chance to catch up on everyone's post's anytime soon... My bloglines currently reads 490 new entries!  It might be easier to just mark all read and start over...  So if you have anything super-exciting that I must see, let me know. :-)

Marsha

PS We have been blessed with a whole house worth of moving boxes!!!  These are professional, used 1 time, very sturdy and easily stackable boxes... wardrobe boxes w/ rails, dishpacks, mirror packs, heavyweight packing paper...  God is SO good to us!  The only thing we've had to buy is tape (lots of it). 

Posted in General Ramblings

Yesterday was mine and David's 11th wedding anniversary.  (I'm sure there is a grammatical error in that phrase, but my headache forbids me to think about it) 

We celebrated this momentous occasion by hanging sheetrock at the new house sans kidlets (courtesy of my very thoughtful and very dear friend Suzanne-- the sans kids part, she did not gift me with the necessity of building a wall).  Anyhow, we worked until 5pm, came home and got cleaned up for a night on the town!

First stop, Sam's Club.  What long married couple's date night would be complete without the obligatory visit to this warehouse store?  We greatly resisted the temptation to eat a pizza dinner at Sam's and opted for Zio's instead, followed by a rousing visit to Lowe's Home Improvement.  

Please don't think this is a complaining post, it certainly isn't!  While I was quite the romantic in my teen years, I have matured into the just-glad-to-be-spending-alone-time-with-my-hubby-and-just-being-together-b/c-he-is-super-fun stage.

Perhaps some of you may be wondering what, if any, gifts were received.  Well, last week we bought a brand new DeWalt pressure washer that hubby has been drooling over for the past 5 years.  Yup, happy anniversary baby-- now go clean the outside of the house and the driveway!!!

And my gift?  Today I have been blessed with a THOROUGH housecleaning courtesy of a very sweet lady that one of David's friends recommended.  Man oh man, I cringe at the thought of actually paying someone to do something that is 1.) my responsibility and 2.) I am physically capable of doing.  I have always had a picked up house that seems clean to all who visit, but it's the other things that I don't quite have time/energy to do-- blinds, ceiling fans, baseboards, etc.

Is it worth the $150-200 for this frivolous service?  YOU BET!!!  I never thought I'd get over my pride and complete humiliation of actually "needing" this... but I have!  I think I could even get used to this.  At least once or twice a year for the deep cleaning.  

So far, the cabinets have been scrubbed, tubs scrubbed, kitchen stove cleaned (and spots that *I* could never get out-- including behind the stove!), behind and under all the furniture, wiped down all of the couch cushions... They've even taken all the books out of the bookcases, cleaned the shelves, and then replaced the books... you know how many books a typical homeschooler has?  Well, I'm sure I have twice that!  Oooo... and even the tippy-top of the refrigerator is sparkling!  *sigh*  This is one happy homemaker, let me tell you.

On a normal anniversary (as in not-prego or not-moving), we'd leave the kids with the grandparents for a week and take a vacation.  I can honestly say that I would rather have this day over a week of vacay any day! :-)

So, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!

Anyone want to visit?  My house is clean today.  I don't know about tomorrow, so you better hurry...

Posted in General Ramblings

The only thing is that I think it tells everyone they lead an exciting and challenging life...  And I'm okay with that!  

Thanks for the link, April!

You Are 96% Real

There's hardly a person on this earth more real than you are. You have no problem showing people who you are, flaws and all. For you, there couldn't be any other way. Because it's way too stressful to live an inauthentic life. You're very comfortable with yourself. And because of this, you're able to live an exciting, interesting, and challenging life.

Posted in General Ramblings

Still here.

Still tired.

STILL PEELING WALLPAPER.  

Well, we mostly finished it tonight except for a small part near the kitchen window that I noticed on my way out.  Four layers of hideous wallpaper.  Each one revealing an even more troublingly grotesque pattern underneath.  It just ain't right, my friends.

If you didn't think that ze new house was a fixer upper before, you should just see it now.  Zowie, what a pasty, dusty, dirty mess!  Especially since we had to drag the waterhose INSIDE the house to wet the walls and ceiling to remove the rest of the acoustic ceiling as well as the aforementioned horrific wallpaper.  Talk about a weird experience!

I would so be posting pics if I wasn't too tired to 1.) get my camera from downstairs so I could upload pics and 2.) renetwork the computers in this house.

So I guess y'all will just have to take my word for it at this present juncture.

It will be worth it all in the end.

The End.

Posted in General Ramblings

The familia and I walked into Denny's the other day to grab a quick lunch.  Three waitresses greeted me at the door.

Oh, three boys, huh?  Wow.  

With a sympathetic look and mutual grins with her friends, she proceeded to ask-- Disappointed that you didn't get a girl, huh?

Uhhh... no.  We might have more if we could be guaranteed boys!

There is a look of shock on all of their faces.  As one of the lady's is taking us to our table, she looks back at me and says That's probably good.  I have a 6 year old boy and an 11 year old girl.  And my girl is a real *witch*!

Talk about a shock!  Who talks like that about their own child?!  I was speechless.  But I was thinking: Hellooo?!  Do you think this happens by accident?  DO something about it!!!

Okay, in a totally unrelated incident, but still shocking to me.  We were at Home Depot tonight (no, that's not the shocking part!).  David yells for me to come over and take Dozer to the bathroom.  David's holding him funny and far out from him at arm's length. 

Take him to the bathroom and clean him up.  He's got crap on him. (pardon if that is offensive language to anyone!).

Huh?

Then I realize he is speaking the literal truth.  And it gets worse.  It's not his own poop.  It's someone else's poop!!!  AGGGHHH!!!  Talk about disgusto-busto!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dozer was playing around one of those big metal ladders that are there for the associates to reach the top shelves.  Someone had put POOP on part of the railing of the ladder!  Who does that?!

I ran him to the bathroom to try to clean it off his shirt-- I'm thankful that it was just on his shirt!  I ended up just taking his whole shirt off.  The clerk at the store was just as shocked as I was that someone would do this.  Honestly, I can't imagine a kid or adult doing something like this.  EEEWWWWW!!!

Can't really top that totally true story now, can I?

Posted in General Ramblings

• My grandma's 80th birthday party was this weekend.  It was such a blessing to get together with all of my cousins, aunts, uncles, siblings, parents and of course, my very dear G-ma.  She had five children (who had children, who had children...) so it made for a very large gathering!
  
  
• I'm sad that blueberry season is wrapping up for us down here.  We love to visit Moorehead's Blueberry Farm each year.  Not only are the blueberries delicious, but they are still only $1.50 a pound!
  
  
• Poor Dozer has strep.  Hubby stayed home with him this weekend.  If it was just strep, it wouldn't be so bad... but it came with very horrific and major wheezing.  After a shot, some breathing treatments and antiobiotics, he's doing better.  Not completely well (had 103 fever tonight), but at least littlest man can breathe well enough to sleep in his own bed instead of mine.
  
  The last time he had strep, we ALL got sick.  I take him back in on Wed for a followup appointment and will take Tank along for a quick swab.  He's congested and complaining of a sore throat.  Please pray that all goes well.  Tank is particularly prone to VERY bad wheezing when he gets a fever or a cold, let alone strep.
  
  
• My fingernails hurt.  We're trying to get the walls ready for our drywall/texture guy to start working next week.  This means peel wallpaper, which I despise!!!  Lord willing, I will never put wallpaper up-- even if it's just for the sake of future occupants not to have to go through this most aggravating and tedious and pain-in-the-bootay process!
  
  
• My super thoughtful, super sweet in-law's gave us the best housewarming present-- a car AND truck load full of TREES and other plants!  I am giddy with excitement over two particular trees-- a cherry tree and a red plum tree.  I HAVE A CHERRY TREE!!! WOOHOOO!!! This means beautiful cherry blossoms...  And the red plum tree totally reminds me of David's grandma's backyard as well as my own G-ma. 
  
  Back in the day, G-ma and Oochie-pa (don't ask about the Oochie-- I didn't come up with it!) had a farm.  I remember picking a bzillion red plums and then watching G-ma make some delicious jam.  As always, she let me hang out with her in the kitchen and didn't mind me being underfoot, talking too much and wanting to have my hands in it all. :-)  To this day, red plum jam is my most absolutest favorite jam of all time.  Yummy, yummy!
  
  
• In other news, as in not my news, hearty and heart-felt congratulations go to Gena-bena and the rest of the Suarez clan on their pregnancy!  I am SO ecstatic for them and cannot wait for all the blogworthy stories that are sure to come about being prego, having a newborn and all of their normal (well, that is a relative term...) family adventures!  CONGRATS GENA!!! :-)
  
  
• I know there were tons of other things I wanted to post about.  Especially with so much fun stuff going on with all of my fantastic friends here... but for the life of me, I can't remember a thing.  Imagine that.
  
  Well, the convicting and much needed words of Susan Bradrick from the CD 24-Hours Is All You Get is ringing in my ears-- Don't spend your time, invest it!  Since my time is limited, I better get going...
  
  God bless you all this week!
  Marsha

Posted in General Ramblings

My dear friend Suzanne has gifted me with a whole day at home alone!  Dh is working, Dash is at camp, and Suzanne just picked up Tank and Dozer-- she will drop them off at 5pm!  With all of this house craziness (we close on ze new house tomorrow morning), I am beginning to feel overwhelmed at the mere thought of packing and moving all of our STUFF.  Too much stuff-- to manage, to organize, to pick up, to wash, to look at...

I'm finishing up my first cup of coffee and then I plan on tackling the closets.  After that, I hope to have time to start in on the toys...an impossibility if my aforementioned boys were home to witness it.  Nothing like tossing a toy in the giveaway box to make it an oh-mommy-this-is-SO-special-to-me-and-I-just-really-love-it toy!  You know what I mean...

Meanwhile, back at the camp, Dash is doing great.  I have resisted visiting or calling the camp-- trying to give him some space and all.  I have heard that he's having a good time but not fond of learning new memory verses.  This surprises me since the campers were divided up into teams and you get points for saying verses.  As in CONTEST.  My Dash cannot resist a contest and being a winner!  Since it's a team event and the boys on his team are very competetive, I'm sure they have cajoled him into cooperating.  (did I use that word right?)   Anyhow, we'll see him tonight at the family cookout tonight-- hotdogs and watching skits from the campers, although we can't bring him home until tomorrow.  Good thing it is only 20 minutes away-- and maybe 5 minutes away from our new house (which we close on tomorrow at 8:30am)!

Well, this has been enough dillydallying for today.

Marsha

Posted in General Ramblings

Posted in General Ramblings

Posted in General Ramblings

The fruit fly trap worked okay.  I caught several flies but there are still some that remain.  I think the problem is that I can't seem to forgo the fruit!  I did toss the bananas but then we've been eating watermelon and cantaloupe all week. 

Melons + boys = sticky fruit droplets!

Maybe I'll make my own sticky trap... Hmmm...or maybe I'll see if my boys can invent something that we can put out while we're gone next week. 

***

In other news, we left our digital camera in the new house.  We don't close on it for another 2 weeks but went to visit to take some measurements and meet with contractors to get estimates.  I hope the camera is there and that we get it back okay!  The owner is a truck driver and seems to have already moved out.  On that camera are not only pics of the new house, but our California trip, funny toddler moments and Tank's Kindergarten graduation pics/video!

Speaking of which, graduating from Kindergarten is an interesting concept don't ya think?  I never graduated from Kindergarten.  Our parents didn't even go to Kindergarten!  I think you started off in first grade back then? 

And yet we witnessed the most adorable parade of twenty-two 5 and 6 year old's... decked out in blue caps and gowns with white little 2007 tassles.  They marched up the steps when their name was called and a few lines of accomplishment were read aloud.  Tank's dealt with his skill in math, writing and reading.  Also mentioned was his love of bike riding, swimming, making up his own science experiments.  While some received their "diplomas" from our support group President, others (including Tank) were handed their diplomas from their father.  A quick pose for pictures and then they returned to their seats.  It was priceless!!!  I'll post pics just as soon as we get the camera back-- hopefully soon.

I didn't really hit me until the end when my friend Nancy presented to us the Class of 2019!  Kindergarten graduates of 2007 is one thing...but graduating class of 2019... that sounds really sci fi, doesn't it?

Growing up, I thought for sure that by this time we'd at least have invented those cool Jetson cars that folded up into a briefcase!  I guess that's not going to be happening anytime soon, huh?

***

David and the boys are working on their Pinewood Derby cars for Masters Club.  Dash has opted to make an XBOX360 controller and Tank has decided upon an airplane.  I'm glad that they're more into fun than into speed.  Sure we'd love for them to win a few heats, but if you want a super fast car that follows the rules and wins all the races, it really doesn't look like a car anymore.  It's amazing what some people do to win-- special axles, wheels, weights, graphite...

I was surprised to find such a large selection of tools and accessories for these cars at Hobby Lobby.  They even had quite the selection of precut cars and trucks!  I hope no one uses these at the race-- it seems like cheating to me if you don't actually make it yourself.

The race is not until next Friday, but we're heading out of town on Memorial Day for the week to fix up my baby sister's house.  Please pray for us!   Not only for safe travels but God's blessings in getting all this done in the few short days that we have.  It is a necessary undertaking but with the new house and David's work schedule, those few days are all we'll have.

***

Well, I guess that's it for now.  Hope y'all have a fantastic rest of the week!

Marsha

Posted in General Ramblings

It's time for the Love Without Boundaries Art Auction!!!  I've already got my eye on a very cool quilt and a breathtaking painting.  Check it out-- it's for a good cause!  100% of proceeds benefits orphans in China in need of heart surgery.

***

Jennifer-  Regarding what convinced me to try to teach Latin, it was a post by 3boyz-- I'm always learning stuff from her!  I left a link in the comments section of my last post.

Jen (heartmatters)- Giant cardboard building blocks can be found at Toys R Us, but I like the ones you can order online better.  I think one brand is ImagiPLAY.  But you can google and search for them.

***

We're still a go on the fixer upper.  I hope to post some pics of that, my niece's first b-day and our vacay later!  It has been forever since my last post, but we've actually been getting back in the groove of lessons.  We're currently learning about the Greeks & Persians in history and rockets/space in science.  I am SO glad!  I was getting really tired of talking about the earth's crust, blah blah blah...  We also just finished Little Pear by Eleanor F. Lattimore.  It was a perfect read while we were studying ancient China!

More later, I promise!

Marsha

Posted in General Ramblings

That's what I am right now...jumbly minded.  I can't seem to remember what happened yesterday or even an hour ago!  Oh well.  Such is life...at least since we got back from vacay in California.  (More on that in a different post on a different day).

Yesterday's house inspection was interesting.  I think we need to have it reinspected to find out what ISN'T in need of replacement!  I wish I was kidding, but it all truly needs to be redone-- floors, lights, sinks, faucets, appliances, a/c, furnace, some wiring, roof...

And yet we push forward.  It really is a nice piece of property and the house has SO much potential.  While we hope it doesn't turn into a money pit, it really is perfect for us.  Acreage, pond, trees, single-story, large rooms, and not very far away from the airport. *sigh*

The good thing about everything being so bad in that house, is that there is absolutely no question that it needs to be redone!  Good: picking out exactly what you've always wanted.  Bad: picking out exactly what you've always wanted... without going completely broke and losing your mind because it is just too many decisions, and the poor kids are barely dragging behind you and pleading Nooooo! Didn't we already look at ______?!  No wait, that was me saying that, not the kids.

Tomorrow, we're off to The Great Indoors.  I hope that it will help us decide exactly what we want things to look like in the kitchen and master bath.

Speaking of inspiration, Keri has a very cool post that you just have to check out.  It's just beautiful and fun.

We have a new homeschool store that is just 15 minutes away from me.  I can't believe that I don't have to drive 45 minutes to an hour anymore!  They had just about every single curriculum or book that I've been wanting to look through.  AND they bought all of my used homeschooling books and gave me a great price for it.  You will be proud to know that I only walked out of there spending $4.  I do have to go back and pick up a Latin course that I ordered.  Have any of you ever used Prima Latina?

I can't remember who recently posted their reasons for teaching Latin, but it convinced me.  I can't believe it convinced me, but it did.  David took Latin when he was in high school because "that's what all the chicks took."  He remembers zero.  I'm hoping that we can all learn Latin together as a FAMILY.  Wouldn't that be FUN?!  (I know, I'm seriously showing my nerdiness by saying that, aren't I?)

If anyone still wants to try a Stetro pencil grip, e-mail me with your name, address and "HSB pencil grip" in the subject line and I'll send you a couple.  I will even try to accomodate favorite colors! :-)

Let's see...I think that's all the rambling I can come up with at this late hour.  I hope to catch up a little on my blog reading this week-- I currently have 269 new items in my bloglines notification.  Y'all have been busy posting while I've been gone.  And to think...the world doesn't stop when I'm on vacation???

Have a very blessed Wednesday, my friends!
Marsha

Posted in General Ramblings

...You smell like a monkey, aaaaand you look like one too!  My boys love to sing that song for absolutely no reason.  Yesterday, however, it was finally applicable to my life-- it was MY BIRTHDAY!  And it was an absolutely LOVELY day at that! 

While David and I are generally not givers of trinkets or presents to each other (not for b-days, anniversary, Christmas, anything!), we do DO things together.

My dear husband actually arranged babysitting for us yesterday just so we could spend the day together.  In fact, our wonderful sitter was at home with the kidlets for 14 hours!  Yup, a whole entire day together!

How did we spend our day?

We met with our realtor to put an offer on a house (a story for another day).
Lunch at Fogo de Chao.
Looked at kitchen stuff at Lowe's (the house we want is a major fixer-upper...so we were dreaming!)
Quick stop at home (dear babysitter had been playing games with the boys all day, colored some eggs-- yes, after Easter, and even had 3 egg hunts with them).
Had a game night with a bunch of friends...at their house...sans kids.

All in all, a GREAT birthday.  So far, I actually like getting older!

Tomorrow we have church and then we will be heading to California to visit my brother and s-i-l... and Knott's Berry Farm, Legoland, and whatever other places suit our fancy.  I can't really think about enjoying it until after I'm done with laundry and packing and am actually sitting on the airplane, kwim?

Anyhow, I shall miss y'all and will do my best to catch up when I'm back in town.  In the meantime, please pray for safe travels for us and for God's Will to be done in the purchase of this new house.  (3+ acres, fully fenced, stocked pond-- with an island in the middle!, ONE story house, large rooms, beautiful old trees, decent street, not too far away from our current location, affordable fixer-upper...just what we're looking for...)  *sigh*  I'm so excited!

Before you bail, check out THIS interesting read from Suzanne's blog.  Similar to an article I linked to in my sidebar...but still very good. :-)  That is, if you are of the same educational persuasion as myself...

Posted in General Ramblings

While reading TC's blog, I couldn't resist finding out what my inner haircolor should be.  Sorry about the...uhhh...undergarments this cartoony person is wearing.  It's not ME!  And if for some reason my hair is ever purple, I promise to keep clothed.

Your Hair Should Be Purple

Intense, thoughtful, and unconventional. You're always philosophizing and inspiring others with your insights.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

Then I just couldn't resist finding out what kind of soda I am:

You Are Coke

A true original and classic, you represent the best of everything you can offer. Just the right amount of sweet, just the right amount of energy... you're the life of the party. Your best soda match: Mountain Dew Stay away from:Dr Pepper

That's a bit problematic though.  I'm married to Mr. Dr Pepper!  I actually used to like DP, but after 10+ years of heavy DP usage by hubby, I cannot stand to even take a sip of it.  Even one sip makes me want to blech! (and that's not belch).

Oi veh, these blogthings are starting to get out of control...

The only thing I have to say about this one is DUH!  Anyone who knows me personally could tell you this.  But I like to look at it as more of a Type A+ Personality. :-)

Apparently, I am also an espresso, will live until I'm 82, am more mild than wild, and am only 47% Taurus (even though my b-day is in April).  And if I could get the settings right on my laptop, these would all be linked to the appropriate quiz.  But I am resisting the Type A personality in me that would normally save this as a draft, go to a different computer and then redo all the above quizzes to get the links just right.  Such amazing self-restraint as this is what gives me that "plus" in A+!

Don't even ask how long I've been doing this tonight...  I'm tired, need sleep, and would still love to have a cup of coffee.

Do y'all have anything interesting to share???

Posted in General Ramblings

While I shall miss the pic of hubby and I at the Great Wall, this new avatar is nice.  It's a pic of David and I from my mom's b-day par-tay.  Thanks, Coco, for fixing it for me...it looks much less washed out than the color version!  So no more gangsta look for us.  You likeeeeeee? 

I've gotten into the very very very bad habit of staying up late.  It is 1am and I'm tired, but not as tired as I should be.  There is something about the peace and quiet in the house after the kids are in bed. 

Of course, I greatly regret my choice when morning comes and my head is pounding as Dozer climbs in my bed and says Come ooooooonnnnn mommmmyyyyy!!!!!  He's most likely eaten breakfast already (dry cereal that he can get out of the cabinet)...so I think he just gets bored.  His choice of playmate is an unfortunate by-product of too much spoiling by yours truly...  Did I mention that he's cute though?  And it's hard to resist his charms?  It's bad enough when I fall off the child training wagon, let alone the SELF-training wagon!

Well, I guess I should go.  Please pray for dh's uncle.  Aunt Lena died last night after a lengthy battle with cancer.  I am unsure of her salvation.  She was a very "good" person...nice, funny, FUN.  But the Bible says that there is only ONE way to heaven...through Jesus Christ.  Not of ourselves.  Not of our works.  Not of our personality.  Only through CHRIST! 

*sigh* 

One of the greatest gifts you can leave your children and family is the absolute knowledge that you have given your life to Jesus Christ.  If I were to die right this very moment, could you be sad for me if you KNEW without a doubt that I was in heaven and in the presence of Almighty God?

Where will you spend eternity?  Have you done all that you can to show your children the way?

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
~Ephesians 2:8,9

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
~Romans 10:9,10

Besides The Holy Bible (KJV), I have found this resource to be very helpful with my children...as well as my Wednesday night Masters Club class.

Posted in General Ramblings

Early Monday morning, as President Bush got out of the helicopter in front of the White House, he was carrying a baby piglet under each arm.

The always-squared-away Marine guard snapped to attention, saluted, and said, "Nice pigs, sir."

The President replied, "These aren't just pigs.  They're authentic Arkansas Razorback Hogs.  I got one for Senator Hillary Clinton and I got one for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi."

The Marine, still at attention, said, "Excellent trade, sir!"  

Posted in General Ramblings

I am very blessed to have some very thoughtful (and patient and kind) in-law's!  Seriously.

They had agreed to take the boys to their house tomorrow and we'd pick them up on Tuesday (they live 2 hours away).  Well, they just left tonight with them and asked if they could bring the boys back on Wednesday!!! 

So not only do I have TWO extra nights alone with hubby, but we also do not have to go pick them up.  Oh, and dh is actually off of work until THURSDAY.  Could it get any better?!

YEEEEHHAAAAWWWWWW!  (not a word I use IRL, but it seems to fit this auspicious occasion, don't ya think?).

Okay, I'm going now.  BUH-BYE!!!

Posted in General Ramblings

Okay, I realize that almost 32 is not very old, but I think you jump to Old-dom when you get WHITE HAIRS! 

Actually, my older sister takes great delight (a little too much if you ask me) in finding and plucking these scraggly-straggly-wirey-completely-white-from-root-to-tip hairs from my head.

It's one thing for my big sis to notice these things, but it was bad today when my dear sweet blind-to-all-things-that-require-attention-to-detail husband suddenly blurted out to me: "OH MY GOODNESS!  What is that?!" 

Huh?  What?!  Is there a spider on me?  Did you finally find that set of extra eyes in the back of my head?!  Am I going bald?!!!

Nope, he noticed (apparently was shocked actually) that I have WHITE HAIRS!  Aggghhh!  It was noticeable enough for HIM to notice???

That's just not cool.  And on Valentine's Day Eve...  (just kidding...I'm with the dancing queen on that one).

Several questions now BEG to be answered:

1.  Will I end up with completely white hair like a Q-tip?  Or will I end up looking like Pepe Le Peeeuw?

2.  Should I color my hair?

3.  If so, should I go really dark?  I like mamaduso's black hair.  We're sisters, ya know...well, not biologically but we're both halvsies! 

4.  Or should I go that crazy asian red color?  Or I could stick with my boring doo-doo-brown color...

5.  Do YOU color your hair? 

I am completely UNtalented in the hair department.  I'm lucky to get a plain old ponytail done without lumps!  I might get it colored professionally the first time (and ask for LOTS of advice) and then do it myself after that.  Tis waaay to expensivo for me to visit a salon more than say...twice a year (which is currently how often I squeeze in a regular old haircut!).

I imagine that it will take me a loooong time to actually do something about the aforementioned white hairs that have attacked my head.  There are just too many other pressing needs... Like the little booger boys that probably gave said white hairs to me in the first place! :-)

But to look on the bright side, at least my darling hubby noticed white hairs on my head and not coming out of my ears and nostrils.  Now that would've really been depressing!

Posted in General Ramblings

It has been the longest day in history for me today...  My poor Tank woke up with a fever this morning, but it was manageable at only 102 or so.  Then dh was sick for a while. 

At the same time, I had one really bored 7yo constantly asking what there was for him to do and a 2yo that could NOT stay out of trouble.  The little blonde-headed booger boy was in the cabinets (literally), hanging on my leg, begging for waffles, begging for popcorn (after we ate a big breakfast mind you), getting mad and heaving the wooden computer stool all the way across the room at a rather surprised big brother (thankfully he missed his target!), blah blah blah blah blah.  *sigh*

Bad news was that dh has now left for work and won't be home until Tuesday.  More bad news came when poor Tank's fever topped 105 and I could not for the life of me find a single drop of Tylenol in the house...I had already given him Motrin.

So what else could I do but cry some and PRAY?  Actually, I did one better...we called family and friends and had them pray too-- IT WORKED!  We prayed, got some Tylenol from a friend, prayed some more, and gave some hefty doses of cool rags, ginger ale and a red-white-and-blue-Firecracker popsicle! :-)

I just love it when my boys get to see God answer our prayers so quickly!!!

Although I was ready for the day to be over around 10am this morning, the day that just wouldn't end has finally come to a close.  Not easily mind you, but close it finally did.   HOORAY!

By the way, here is Tank in better days (but still with a goofy expression:

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

1. Beaumont to El Paso : 742 miles

2. Beaumont to Chicago : 770 miles

3. El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas

4. World's first rodeo was in Pecos , July 4, 1883.

5. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America built over water.

6. The Heisman Trophy was named after John William Heisman who was the first full-time coach for Rice University in Houston .

7. Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America ...

8. Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America 's only remaining flock of whooping cranes.

9. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978.

10. The worst natural disaster in U. S. history was in 1900 caused by a hurricane in which over 8000 lives were lost on Galveston Island .

11. The first word spoken from the moon, July 20,1969, was " Houston ." 

12. King R anch in South Texas is larger than Rhode Island .

13. Tropical Storm Claudette brought a US . rainfall record of 43" in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July 1979.

14. Texas is the only state to enter the U. S. by TREATY, (known as Constitution of 1845 by Republic of Texas to enter the union) instead of by annexation. This allows the Texas flag to fly at the same height as the US flag, and may divide into 5 States.

15. A Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1500 years old.

16. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.

17. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period after Dr in Dr Pepper.

18. Texas has had six capital cities:
Washington-on-the-Brazos
Harrisburg
Galveston
Velasco
West Columbia
Austin

19. The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the U. S which is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington D! .C. (by 7 feet). 

20. The name Texas comes from the Hasini Indian word "tejas" meaning friends. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas .

21. The State animal is the Armadillo. (An interesting bit of trivia about the armadillo is they always have four babies! They have one egg, which splits into four, and they either have four males or four females. Well, I thought it was interesting anyway!)

22. The first domed stadium in the U. S. was the Astrodome in Houston .

Posted in General Ramblings

I am one wild and crazy kind of girl.

I am literally feeling a bit queasy to my stomach right now for all the activity of this evening.  Seriously.  I just spent an exciting, action-packed half hour watching my new gizmo...  My brand new fancy-schmancy-more-bang-for-yer-buck-than- JenIG's-butternut-squash Cabrio Washing Machine.  Yes, I capitalized it because it is that cool.  I may not be cool for spending my Friday night watching it spin for so long, but IT is still cool.

Not only does it boast energy efficiency, but it requires that new fangled low sudsing detergent and it does not have an agitator.  No more twisted up clothes for me!  You want to know the neatest part?  It is top loading AND it has a completely clear lid!  Oh and I don't want to neglect mentioning that it has a whopping 4.5 cubic feet of space-- that's A LOT of room to shove clothes in!

So Dash and I spent some quality time together...standing there watching the clothes spin...a dash of water being added, and then it stopping and doing other stuff...wondering, actually, how in the world that would actually get the clothes clean. 

*sigh*  My poor kids don't stand a chance.  They are doomed for dorkdom.  But they will enter into dorkternity with clean clothes that required a fraction of the water that is normally required by other washing machines.

So what are y'all doing tonight???

Love,
Marshie

Posted in General Ramblings

I got this from Cammie's blog (www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping).  BTW, my hyperlink's aren't working-- is anyone else having this same problem?

1. YOUR REAL NAME:
Marsha

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first three letters of your name, plus izzle)
Marizzle

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three of your last)
Mdre

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal)
Red Chicken

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, Street you live on):
Ann Andrew (I know, I'll never make it in Hollywood!)

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)
Dremakim

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (favorite color, favorite drink)
Red Coffee

10. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother & father’s middle name)
Hye Dell (Ummm...I thought the point was to not draw attention to yourself!)

You should try this it is fun!  And check out my boys wrastlin' in my previous post, okay?  In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the clickety-click of the keyboard, the ticking of the clock and the absolute peace that currently reigns in my house...at least for the next 10 hours or so...

Hey Cammie, what ever happened to numbers 8 and 9?  And no, I did NOT just notice that...after...ummm...an undisclosed amount of time passing...

Posted in General Ramblings

...by actually remembering to exchange Dash's second tooth for a dollar last night!  I have redeemed myself!  mwhahahahaaa...

Actually, I must confess.  Dash sleeps on the top of an L shaped bunkbed and I just couldn't quiiiite reach all the way to his pillow.  So I enlisted dh to do the dental duty. :-)  

He came back downstairs with this ziploc bag with a tiny itty-bitty tooth in it.  *sigh*  Now we just wait for the awkwardly large teeth to come all the way in.  Is it just me, or do y'all feel sorry for the poor kidlets who have to grow into their gargantuan teeth?  Kinda like TOUS's.  Teeth of Unusual Size.  Usually the front two.

This morning, Dash and I talked about the tooth fairy.  I was surprised that he actually thought (at least a little) that there really was one.  He honestly didn't care when I told him there wasn't... I just said that like Santa and the Easter Bunny, some parents like to pretend with their kids.  But since we've always been truthful about these things, we wanted to make sure he understood that mommy and daddy are the ones who exchange his fallen tooth for a dollar.  I told him that it's fun for us to try to sneak in there when he's sleeping and get it without waking him up... Like super-spy's!

Speaking of teeth, this reminds me of the Dental Health Pack from HandsOfAChild (http://www.handsofachild.com/shop/index.cfm?action=ViewDetails&ItemID=11) Bear with me on the link, I've not been able to do hyperlink's lately...even with my pop-up blocker disabled...  Anyhow, this was a pretty neat unit study we had started last year but were not able to finish.  I think we'll try again very soon since we have a sincere interest in all things teethy right now!

I guess before I sign off I should say something New Years-y.  HAPPY 2007!  We had a great day at church yesterday, fellowship dinner last night and then over to a friend's house for hot chocolate and fireworks.  We headed home about 11pm in anticipation of all the drunks that would be on the road right after midnight.  Actually, they were out before dark!  Scary.  There are a lot of bars between our house and our church. 

I am thankful that we got home safely and were able to tuck our children into bed before midnight!  Before long, they'll be able to handle staying up and playing board games until the wee hours of the morning.  I can't wait for that!  It will be such fun to play some of the more interesting and difficult games-- a momma can only take so much of Chutes & Ladders and Candyland!  Although I do really like Hungry Hungry Hippos...

So what did y'all do last night???

Posted in General Ramblings

I'm just sitting here wondering what I should blog about.  I guess I'm just feeling very blah right now.  Okay, so I'm tired and feeling lazy and just a tad bored.  Not that I don't have a gzillion things to do!  The kids are napping and I just really don't feel like getting up off the couch.

So I guess this will be one of those random thoughts postings where you'll see the true weirdness of who I am and all the craziness that muddles around my brain...

• I'm sad that my favorite font "palatino" is not available anymore. *sigh*  Have you ever gotten attached to a font before?  Talk about silly.  But I will miss my palatino very dearly.
  
• If a friend requests peanut butter fudge, is it still really fudge if it doesn't have chocolate in it???  The recipe does call for white chocolate, but I just can't call that stuff real chocolate, know what I mean?  Maybe she meant regular fudge with peanut butter swirled through it...
  
• What is a good gift for a 90-something year old gentleman?  Surely this sweet man doesn't need a scarf or another pair of slippers!  Any ideas?
  
• I really like old-fashioned donuts.  They are sometimes called buttermilk donuts as well.  Mmmmm...  Unlike my husband and kids, I do not like sprinkles!  The tasteless crunch just gets in the way of the flavor and texture that is donuts.
  
• Do you wear camo?  As in camouflage?  I kinda cringe when I see it in stores, especially for women.  Seriously.  My boys have what they call "army man" pants, but I would feel like an impostor if I wore that print.  I have never served in the military (I wish I had, but I haven't).  I don't have a problem with other people wearing it, but I would personally feel like a big faker (is that a word?).
  
• I like my coffee like dessert-- with tons of sugar and cream.  The only problem with such a delicious drink is that I have to fight my 2yo in order get my cup back...he'll swipe it from right behind my back...and drink it ALL.  Little stinker.  At least I know who will be my coffee-drinking buddy when I'm old.

Which reminds me, time to make another pot, I mean...cup...yeah, cup...

Posted in General Ramblings

We just got back this week from being gone for a week and a half-- that is just too long for me (a week at a time really is my max)!  But we had a great time visiting dear friends in Missouri and then heading to Fort Worth to see my parents and siblings.  I am now looking forward to spending, Lord willing, almost the entire month of December at home!

Those really are the best days, aren't they?  The normal, everyday stuff that goes on...sleeping in your own bed, the kids playing in the yard, eating breakfast in "your" chair at the table...  When I think about Lorrie Gnos' family, I'm sure it will be in these little things that they will be most reminded of their dear Lorrie.  This should also be a reminder to us to cherish those small moments that seem so insignificant at the time.

Current mood outside: 69 degrees, windy and temps dropping very quickly.

Current mood inside:  All the boys still in their pj's and rummaging around the attic looking for the Christmas tree and decorations.

Yup, we are having a crazy, fun and seemingly insignificant moment right NOW!  I just LOVE it!

In honor of this moment, I am having my first contest ever here on HSB.  I know, tis a sad thing to have blogged for over a year and entered many a contest (even winning a couple) and never having hosted one myself.

So I have FIVE of these really cool magnets from AFA to give away. 

They are currently sold out...  Does that make you want to enter my contest even more???

Just leave me a comment answering these questions and then we'll do a random pick of the lot.   I know, I know...then why bother answering the questions if it's going to be random?-- because it's FUN, that's why! :-)

Here are the questions:

1. Christmas food tradition

2. Most memorable present as a child

3. Do you and your spouse exchange Christmas gifts?

My answers:

1. At my parents' house, we ordered pizza on Christmas Eve.  At dh's parents', we do a traditional turkey/ham dinner.  Mmmmm to both!

2. When I was 4yo, I got a super-cool bicycle with a backseat to drive my little sister around.

3. No.  We usually have a house thing to get together-- piece of furniture or project (like a patio).

Okay, waiting for your answers!  Would you also be so kind as to spread the word about my little ole long-time-in-coming contest???

Posted in General Ramblings

Well, we finally got the truck loaded up with all the gear required for a 5 day campout with a bzillion kids.  And then I stayed up late doing laundry and packing clothes for all of us... Of course, it would've been faster to just have pulled them out of the dirty laundry basket since we're going to get them dirty again anyway!

After all that work, we woke up this morning to RAIN.  Lots of rain.  Like 3-5 inches of dumping rain.  So we have postponed our departure until tomorrow.  The weather should be quite warm with temps in the upper 70s and low's in the upper 50s or low 60s.  While I prefer COLD when I go camping, I can't complain too much so long as the skies are clear.  The only thing about the warm weather that I am absoluting dreading, my dear friends, is...MOSQUITOES!

In preparation for the expected invasion from these blood-sucking beasts, my family and I are downing complex B vitamins (which are supposed to keep them from biting...we'll see), have skeeter sprayed our gear, are bringing slow absorption DEET lotion (hate it but it's necessary-- don't worry, I brought stuff to clean it off before bed), and citronella oil to spray around the campsite.

All that's left to do now is to find a way to occupy three disappointed boys while it's raining outside!  Right now, though, it's time for lunch and one fussy boy to take a nap.

I guess I'll talk to y'all next week when I get back.

Have a great week!

Marsha

Posted in General Ramblings

Our house has been a-buzz with excitement this week.  We are preparing and planning for a 5 day camping trip next week.  Some of my old friends here might remember my camping trip earlier this year.  Same friends as last time, just a different campsite.

I am SO excited!  So far there will be three of us mommies and only 16 (or so) kids that will be there the full five days.  We will have some dad's, friends, pastor's wife (maybe) and some others stop by for a night, a day or just a few hours.  Campfires, s'mores, bike riding, flashlight tag, fishing and talking late into the night-- it is going to be a blast!  And yes, they do have showers so I will try to shower at least once in the 5 days. :-)

Camping is a lot more fun when you have friends to share in the "work" of it all-- planning, cooking, setting up, making sure the kids don't disappear or get mortally wounded... 

Any favorite campfire recipes you'd like to share?  My friend found a recipe that calls for a slice of bacon, an egg and some shredded hashbrowns to be sealed in a brown paper bag (lunch sack, I guess) and cooked on the grate/fire.  We're going to try it but it seems that the paper bag would just burn up or something...  I guess we'll just have to wait and see. 

Please pray for us-- for safety, no mosquitoes, no rain and pleasant weather.

Thanks for letting me share my excitement!

G'night y'all!

Marsha

Posted in General Ramblings

I went shopping tonight.  I left the boys home with dh and ran off to a scary part of town...we even got egg-ed on the way back!  Our fav line of thrift stores-- Family Thrift-- has an OUTLET.  Can you believe it?!  Isn't it odd for a thrift store chain to have an outlet center where things are discounted even more?

Anyhow, they apparently restock the store every Wednesday night.  When they open on Thursday, EVERYTHING is 1.75.  We're talking good stuff here-- Gymboree, GAP, Abercombie, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic-- many still with tags!  So Thursday is too crazy full and packed with people for me.  On Friday, everything is 1.50, Saturday is 1.25, Sunday 1.00, Monday .75 and today (Tuesday) every item was only .50 cents!!!  Tomorrow should be crazy too as all items are only .25 cents a piece.  Ridiculously cheap, huh? :-)

I got a fantastic skirt and top for myself, an O'Neill wetsuit for Tank, and a Gymboree button-up checkered shirt (with the little nutcracker soldier guy on it) for Dozer.   And I only spent $3!

I've gotta go anti-bacterial myself now.  But whoohooo what a deal!  Just don't tell anyone that lives around Houston about this, okay?  I don't want them to get the good stuff before I get to it. ;-)

Posted in General Ramblings

Our local library is dark, cramped and has drippy ceilings.  Seriously.  It's a dungeon!  How sad is it when more than half the children’s section is blocked off due to excessive drips from the ceiling?  If it weren’t for the plethora of trashcans and buckets catching the drips, I’m sure the whole place would’ve floated away long ago.

Good news, though!  The other day, one of the volunteers told me that they had to have all of their personal belongings out by this weekend.  The NEW library is scheduled to open NEXT MONTH!  Whoohooo!!!  I am going to be in book heaven!  Just thinking about it makes my stomach get those fun butterflies—shhhh…don’t tell dh I said that…

Yup, I am a certified bookaholic.  I practice great restraint when I go to a bookstore…well, it doesn’t take too much restraint when there is an actual limit on my Visa.

I know that our library has turned down donations in the past due to lack of shelf space.  Plus, they had boxes of books in the back with no place to call home.  But no more!  This is going to be one huge, fancy-schmancy library.  I’m already pleased with their online catalog and request system—you can even see inside some of the books.  AND there will actually be a self-checkout line as well with all of the held items in the front.  So I can be in and out in no time…assuming it’s not one of those visits where I actually want to lounge in the library for hours on end...

I think I’m going to celebrate their grand opening with a TOS GIFT SUBSCRIPTION FOR MY LIBRARY!  Did you know that you can actually gift a subscription to your local library?  I’m telling ya, Paul, Gena and the TOS team are pretty smart cookies—they think of everything!

Posted in General Ramblings

I know I've been scarce around these parts lately!  Here's what's been happening over here:

1. We celebrated my husband's 34th birthday last weekend.

2. We had a fantastic Missions Conference at our church last week.  I was part of the Spain team.  We spent the week before building a rendition of a Spanish galleon (out of styrofoam!) and even had a wooden dock (courtesy of my handy-dandy dh).  We decorated the tables in an old world style-- spanish moss, wooden crates, compass, spyglass, globes and old maps.  On the final day of the conference, we had our Supper from Around the World-- I made an extra yummy paella (if I do say so myself!).  It was great fun and the missionaries were a complete and total blessing to us!

3.  It rained a TON here in Houston!  I actually missed a night of the conference due to being stranded at home.  Our streets were under water but we're thankful that none got in our house (and that we had plenty of groceries and such).  The cool thing about all the rain is all the giant turtles that we find!

4.  My in-law's spent a few funtastic days with us during that time as well.

5.  And finally, as soon as we got done cleaning up from the Misisons Conference, my sister and b-i-l from New York flew in for a visit.  The next day my sister and niece and nephew from Oklahoma City came in, as did my brother and s-i-l from LA. 

So all of my sibs were here this weekend!  Too bad my parents couldn't make it though.  We had a great time visiting, eating, shopping, going to church together and sitting around a fire (it was finally cold here at night!) eating s'mores.  It was a complete blast!!!  *sigh*  But alas, all good things must come to an end and they all left today.

6.  I'm tired.  But tomorrow we're leaving at 7:15am to go to the Renaissance Festival.  I'm really excited because it is Elementary day tomorrow-- which means that the shows and such will be geared towards young children and there won't be as much bawdiness (sp?) as a normal festival would be.

Then on Thursday, the big boys and dh are going to a Father-Son campout with our church.  We have definitely been playing A LOT around here, huh?  We'll do "school" eventually, I suppose. :-)

Okay, that's all for now.  Hope everyone is doing well!  I know I have A LOT of catching up to do with my friends!  But that will have to wait for another day.

Have a great night, y'all!

Love,

Marshie

Posted in General Ramblings

I got this from Christine's (youngmommy) blog.  I did tweak it a little though.  You can cut and paste it onto your blog and bold what you've done.  Just leave me a comment so I can take a peek!

(ignore the odd spaces on my list...I can't figure out how to get rid of them and I'm really tired right now...could be because it's almost 4am...I'm really going to regret this tomorrow...)

HAVE YOU EVER...

Posted in General Ramblings

SteveWalden's recent post about something technical about a reader (not the book kind-- but internet-y) led to a fun discussion of ancient video game devices.

I grew up with the Intellivision System III.  We played games like Space Armada, Night Stalker and the family favorite of Burgertime.   The IntvIII didn't have a joystick like Atari (which I SO wish we had back then!), but had this disc that you use to move the characters.  We'd play until our thumbs were numb!   Ahhhh...the old days...good times, good times.

So did y'all grow up with any of this stuff?  A lot of people had an Atari and had never heard of an IntvIII or, if you're old...er, my elder... like Steve, that thing with the pong cable.

Come on, 'fess up so we can all know how old or how Stone Age you were!  hehehee...

Posted in General Ramblings

Here is my response to Anonymous' comment to my post about the Photo ID bill that passed the House the other day.

And dear Anonymous commenter, the written word does not always clearly express a point of view in the manner it was intended.  Especially if it's ME writing it!  So please do not think my words harsh, I am in no way attacking you personally.  Although I do firmly and passionately believe that this is VERY IMPORTANT no matter how inconvenient it may be to some people.

With that said, here is MY RESPONSE that I posted below.

Posted in General Ramblings

Not only is THIS an issue of self control, but it is also just one more reason that we as mothers should encourage our children (and husband's!) to NOT be picky eaters.  heehee....

Maybe I should print this out and hang it by the dinner table... Does this mean that I can threaten jail time to my children if they don't eat all their veggies and not technically be lying about it???

Posted in General Ramblings

In attempts to curb voter fraud, the House passed a bill that would require voters to represent a Photo ID by 2008 and proof of citizenship by 2010. 

I have no idea why the Democrats totally voted NO on this bill!  They say that it's a violation of rights and "compared the bill to segregation-era measures aimed at disenfranchising Southern blacks."  PUH-LEEEEEASE! 

This line of NONTHINKING is precisely why I am a Republican and proud of it!  Someone in this country has to have some COMMON SENSE... And it's certainly not the party that also has a problem with racial profiling at the airport or has a problem with the idea of actually fencing our borders! 

What about this argument?

"But Democrats, siding with groups that work on behalf of minorities and illegal aliens, called the bill a "modern-day poll tax" and said it would place an insurmountable burden on voters and infringe upon their voting rights."

Oh wait!  Let me change my mind really quick.  Yes, it IS such a HUGE burden for me to pull out my valid TX Driver's License when I go vote.  I may actually have to sue the government for my pulled neck muscle from getting my ID out of my back pocket.  Hey, do you think I can use my wallet and purse as a tax deduction since it was required to hold the aforementioned ID???

And one final idiotic comment I must point out in my vent:

Rep. Alcee L. Hastings, Florida Democrat, said he's more concerned about discouraging voters than he is about illegals voting.
    "Nonparticipation in the election process is more of a problem in this country than noncitizens trying to vote," Mr. Hastings said.

Trust me, if people are TOO LAZY to bring a Photo ID with them, then they are TOO LAZY to have ever come out to vote in the first place!!!  Unless, of course, they are illegal aliens that shouldn't be voting in the first place!  And that's a whole other story...for another day. 

Okay, that's enough political venting for this morning.  We will return to my usual non-conflict, easy-going, fluffy blog in my next post.

I will be more than happy to bring my Photo ID to the polls-- *I* have absolutely nothing to hide!  And my Grand Old Party is not threatened by this Voter ID Bill because we don't rely on the VOTER FRAUD to win certain elections.  Wait, did I say that out loud???  Good.

Posted in General Ramblings

It's a quiet afternoon at our house.  Well, it's mostly quiet.  The peaceful air of the house is occasionally punctuated by the loud and incessant screaming of an almost 2-year-old boy who has issues with controlling his temper and his volume.  I have no idea where he gets that from! (note the sarcastic tone of the italics...)

It was actually a cool 65 degrees this morning so we started the day with yard golf (we are so hillbilly!) and pulling weeds.  I just love it when we can be outside and not drip with sweat!  As all good things must come to an end, it did start getting rather warm and the skeeters were waking up...so we went inside for our lessons.

After our lessons, the kids played for an hour with a giant ball of multi-colored yarn.  They like to string it across their room and tie it to the doorknobs, drawer pulls and anything else they can find.  They call it making "traps" or "machines"... :-)  Silly, but very imaginative!

Despite all of the artery clogging recipes I've posted, we did have a healthy lunch of turkey burgers on whole wheat buns!  So that always makes me feel good...at least it will cancel out all the pizza we had for lunch yesterday, right?

The two big boys are now quietly playing checkers.  I think it's Chinese checkers right now...what really cracks me up is when they decide to play chess-- especially since they always forget what player can move which way!  Then they start to "reason" with each other...hehehee...

Speaking of weeding (see second paragraph if you doubt me on this), I did purchase a mighty fine Satsuma Orange Tree for our front yard.  I really, really, really hope it does well!   In the spring, we're hoping to plant an apple or plum tree in the front yard.  Grapefruit does extremely well in Houston, but since we all hate to eat it, it would a waste, dontcha think?  I don't know why they don't get real fruit-bearing trees in until the Spring... Probably just to make me wait... It's a conspiracy.  Anyhow, the thought of actually growing FOOD gives me a little bit of peace.  If it's the end of the world as we know it, at least we won't completely starve!  (Assuming it's the right season and the neighbors don't steal it).  And a tree is easier to take care of than real crops or something...I'm a little lazy right now to actually tend a garden.  Maybe next year...

On another note that doesn't make sense, a dear friend got me a Vitamix!  So far I have enjoyed an odd honeydew concoction that the kids loved and an extra delicious best ever in the world (according to Tank) strawberry ice cream.  Seriously, it was GOOD!  And it took less than a minute to make...  Frozen strawberries, lite nondairy creamer, a little sweetener and a dash of vanilla.  Mmmmmm... Next up on my Vitamix menu is cashew butter.  I hope the roasted cashews that I bought last long enough to actually make the butter!

Well, I think that's all the non-happenings around here.  What's going on at your house???

Posted in General Ramblings

Okay, so it is almost 2am and I am finally almost done packing for our trip!  Oi veh!  All the new TSA rules about no gel or lotiony things has really gotten me messed up.  No deodorant, toothpaste, lotions, lip gloss, etc. allowed in carry-on luggage.  *sigh*  Oh well, at least I can bring my cell phone, laptop (for movies...I know, I'm a brat), and chocolate!

Dozer is off with my wonderful in-law's.  He cried for all of two seconds, the little traitor.  He is going to love being the center of attention all week while dh, the big boys and I are on our cruise.  Yeeeeeehaw!  We are heading out to Miami tomorrow and our ship leaves for the Bahamas on Monday evening.  Relaxing, eating, relaxing, playing, relaxing, and stuffing my gut...sounds perfect...

I'm curious to see if there will be many or any kids on board...after all, school is in session, right?!  Man oh man, I just love the flexibility of homeschooling!  And I'm sure we'll get a little learning done this week...lots of PE...geography...tasting different types of food (aka fancy cuisine that mommy doesn't cook)...  I made a deal with the kids and told them they are not allowed to order from the kids' menu at dinner.  They have to try something new each night.  If they don't like it, we can get pizza afterwards and an extra dessert.  Cool, huh?

Anyhow, just wanted to say adios and all that.  I had planned to post pics of Dozer's boo-boo progression (now a faded gray/yellow shadow), but there is no way. 

Oh and Heather and Cricket313, I did answer your tag questions the other day but lost it all when we had those HSB site problems.  Sorry!  I just can't bring myself to redo it right now.  I am too tired.

Let's see...what else???  If y'all haven't done so, check out Jen's Math Maze Contest and be sure to take the time to read all the randomness in the comments section.  There are some crazy fun tidbits in there!  Amber, that would make for some interesting friend quiz material, don't ya think?!

Okay, I really gotta go now.  I will miss you, my friends, but will catch up with y'all in a week or so. 

Love,

Marshie-- who thinks that vacation's are waaaay too much work for the mommy/wifey...but somehow I'll manage!

Posted in General Ramblings

WARNING: Very random ramblings!

Oi veh!  When will the INSANITY stop?!  If you haven't checked out Gena's blog lately, you've been missing out.  There's lots of other stuff in there too so keep reading!

Also, check out DanielleW's entry into GAhomeschoolmom's contest.  All you have to do is post a pic of your kid learning... I haven't seen any other entries yet but that last one Danielle posted is perfect!  I love it!

So I was checking out my statcounter the other day to see from where in the world people are checking out my blog.  Guess what?!  There was someone from Beijing that stopped by.  Yup.  China.  Now since I have not run into any homeschoolers from that neck of the woods yet, I can only assume that they are now keeping tabs on me since I visited.  Kinda creepy, huh?  Do you think they're taking notes and the next time I visit there will be this "notation" that pops up on the screen when they scan my passport???  Will they let me in but mysteriously not let me out?  Of course, this might all be my imaginings.  And dear Beijing homeschooler, please forgive me if you are indeed out there and stopping by sometimes.  I hope you visit again!  And maybe stop by and say hi? :-)

Finally, I have nothing else to report.  I may come up with some great blog fodder after I've had my first cup of coffee.  I know.  You're on the edge of your seat and will hit refresh over and over until then.  Stop.  You're being waaay too kind.

Love,

Marsha (who likes real sushi but for those who don't, check out this very kid-and-mommy friendly mock sushi)

Posted in General Ramblings

I feel like I haven't been around here in a super long time!  But I guess it's only been a few days...several days?  Mommy, how long is a few?  How long is several?  How many more days is that?  Man, oh man, I've got munchkins on the brain. There has to be some medication for that.

Let's see, Dozer's eye is healing up very well.  We now have yellowish bruised racoon eyes instead of that one big, black wowzer of one.  We spent the weekend with my in-law's and this really old lady at their church said, Whoa! I'd hate to see the other guy!  I couldn't help but crack up at that clever remark!  I have about 15 pics of his boo boo (am I weird or what?!) and will try to post them tomorrow.   Hopefully...

We are still in the midst of non-school craziness.  But there has been some very positive developments over the past week regarding my overly-busy-over-committed-schedule for the fall (aka The Usual).

First, my darling husband has agreed to NOT do soccer this fall!!!  HOORAY!!!  Dash likes soccer, but chasing a not-quite-2-year-old around a giant field in 100 degree heat with fireants and no shade is not my idea of a good time.  We have agreed to enroll him in the spring and revisit the fall soccer idea again next year.  So that saves me the loading of the kids for at least one practice and one game a week for the next 10 weeks. 

Oh, and I'm relieved of the burden of being one of those chit-chatty-soccer mom's.  Yes, I am a chatty person by nature but it can be irritating to always have to try so hard to get along with mom's who (at least in our area) don't discipline their kids, think it's cute for the team to be called The Cheetah Girls, and can't imaaaaaagine spending ALL day with the kids-- the first day of school is the BEST day ever!  Besides, it's rare that anyone else gets up and cheers their kid on...I'm the crazy mom on the sidelines yelling at her kid to Go get it!  Good shot!  Good try!

Another blessing in a weird kind of way is that my Wednesday night class has been cancelled...sort of.  Our church does a program similar to AWANA but it's called Masters Club.  Last year, I taught a room full of 3 year olds...an interesting and fun challenge to say the least!  This year, I was starting to stress out about having to prepare for this every week...oh and they had decided to give me not only the 3 year old's but the 2 year old's as well!  Yikes!  Thankfully, the 2 year old's will stay in the nursery and there was only one three year old this fall.  She will be moved up to the 4 and 5yo class (she'll be 4 towards the end of the year) and I will assist in that class!

Ahhhh....now I feel like I can breathe a little.  Which is good since we have our church missions conference in October, Thanksgiving Banquet in November and then the usual holiday craziness.  But that will be fun so long as I get my boo-tay in gear here at home first!

And that is exactly what I hope to accomplish this week.  Clean out closets and dressers.  Declutter paperwork and toys.  Thorough cleaning of the house.  And get ready for our vacation next week.  :-)  We're going on a 4 night cruise to the Bahamas on Monday!  How's that for motivation?!  It was a super-cheap deal...and we're taking the two big boys with us this time.  We're going out of Miami so I hope that there won't be any hurricanes or tropical storms looming on the horizon...that would really double-triple-stinkola!

Okay, I think that's long enough of a post about absolutely nothing.  Weird to say it, but I sorta can't wait to get our vacation over with so we can get back into the routine of our lessons and our "normal" family life.  Yes, I am looking forward to the absolute fun that we will have...but getting ready for vacation and the post-vacation process can be quite a lot of work.  Shhhh...don't tell my husband I said that.

So, have I missed anything with y'all since I've been gone???

Posted in General Ramblings

I am currently eating some leftover artichoke spinach pasta with chicken (basically pasta with the dip mixed in), drinking a cup of coffee (with chocolate caramel creamer) and relishing the QUIET of my house!

David was kind enough to take all of us (the kidlets and I) to breakfast at IHOP this morning.  Then he whisked the boys away for the entire day so I could get our schoolroom cleaned, organized and ready for the new year.  They are still gone!  He called an hour ago and said it would be a while before they returned and that he'd stay gone for as long as possible.  He is such a great daddy and husband.  I'm sure the boys have feasted on pizza and are having a blast doing who knows what with him!

It has been a great day! 

By the way, Dozer is doing very well and we did not need to follow up with the pediatrician.  After all, there's not much they can do for a black eye!  He can now open that eye about halfway...so the lid is not as swollen as it was before but the blood has drained to the area around his eye now.  Talk about a shiner!  I've been tempted to put some boxing gloves on him and have his portrait taken!  We've been documenting the progression of said black eye via photographs.  I'll try to post them in a couple of days.  Very interesting...the whole healing process and how it went from a blackish purple puffy lid to a true ringer of a black eye.  I know, I'm being such a nerd about his injuries!  Kids, let's look up the science behind your brother's injuries...there will be a quiz tomorrow...

So, is anyone else having a good day today?  I already know JenIg is with her pre-anniversary date and all.

Okay, I'm off to more cleaning and organizing and throwing junk away...

ONE MORE THING:

Join me in A Clean Heart's Book Talk as we discuss Taking Care of the Me in Mommy by Lisa Whelchel.  It's ongoing so you can jump right in whenever you want!

Posted in General Ramblings

It's hot.  It's 10pm and still over 80 degrees outside.  I think the heat is frying my brain.  No amount of swimming or other cool leisurely pursuits is helping.

Do you ever have one of those sleepy, blah, feeling icky like you just want to go to bed and SLEEP for a week straight kind of days?  Well, that was my day today.

I was supposed to go to a birthday party today and bring my chocolate fountain (that we have yet to use).  But I called my friend at the last minute to take my boys so I could stay home.  I had the fountain in the car to take with me...but since I didn't drive, I forgot to send it along.  I'm not sure how much disappointment there was, but I'm sure there was a little...and I feel terrible about it.  Hmmm...I'll have to make it up to the little guy...and nothing like chocolate to do it!  *sigh*  But I still feel bad and it's too late to actually call about it.  I hate feeling guilty but I sure do bring it on myself a lot, especially at night.  Anyone else do this to yourself???

Dozer is the third boy.  Poor third boy gets no baby bed but has always slept in one of those pack and play's.  I mean, why bother especially since I already gave the crib to my sister and the playpen is portable and takes us MUCH less room!  But the little guy who climbs walls, dressers and banisters has figured out how to flop himself out of it.   Well, he is almost 2 years old and I guess it's high time for that. 

So we've resorted to making a palette of blankets on the floor for him.  That's where he'd end up anyway, so we might as well make him comfortable.  We're in the training stage right now of laying him down (with blankie, kiss, pillow and doggie) and then just leaving and shutting the door.  He scrunches himself right up to the door to try to look under it until he falls asleep.  I am currently listening to him cry a little and then wait and now he's shoved his little sock under the crack in the door!  Silly boy.  The big boys are being a little goofy and keeping him up (their rooms are next to each other).  Eventually, he'll learn to not bother and just lay himself back down on his pillow...I think it'll take another week.  Not too bad, though...especially since he doesn't "carry on" about it...just does funny things like shoving his sock out the bottom like some lonely little prisoner in solitary or something...and that makes me laugh...which makes me want to go in there and tickle and kiss him...which would completely undo the training we've been doing all week!

I don't know what all that has to do with anything but that's just what's going on in my house right now.  David is working and will be back tomorrow...so I'll stay up too late tonight either on the computer or watching SciFi.  Am I a nerd, or what?! :-)

Well, that's enough dawdling for now.  Have a great night, my friends!!!

Love,

Marshiemellow

Posted in General Ramblings

While this may have made the rounds before, it is still funny!  Thanks, Coco!

Pastor's Business Card

A new pastor was visiting the homes of his parishioners.  At one house it seemed obvious someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door.  Therefore, he took out a business card and wrote "Revelation 3:20" on the back and stuck it in the door.

When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message, "Genesis 3:10."   Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter.

Revelation 3:20 begins "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." 

Genesis 3:10 reads, "I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid for I was naked."

And who hasn't experience some version of this at one time or another?  Might not be nekkid but at least not quite decent (or beat the heat attire a la Ladyhawk82158) ...and it might not be the pastor but neighbor, friend, UPS person!  You get the picture! hehehee...

Remember when the funniest jokes were the clean ones? They still are!

 "A cheerful heart is good medicine" (Prov. 17:22).

Posted in General Ramblings

My sister Bobo is visiting right now.  She's so fun.  I wish she would live down here.  She's playing a board game with Dash, Tank is at the church gym with dh, and Dozer is currently watching Barney and dancing in a big puddle of popcorn (really).  I guess I should get up and do something about it...and put him to bed.  Okay, maybe a little later.

Have I mentioned that we canceled the birthday party?  Well, it had been dumping rain and flooding the street on Wednesday.  The forecast for Thursday was more flooding with still a 30% chance of rain on Friday.  Soooo, we canceled the party.  The idea of all those people IN my house or sloshing through backyard mud was kinda freaking me out.  Wouldn't you know it?  Friday was absolutely sunny all day with all the yard puddles drying up.  I felt a little dumb but I'm used to that so it's not a big deal.  I'm hoping to reschedule a downsized version of the party (as in no daddy's) sometime on a weekday afternoon.

I can't remember who it was...Tia maybe (aka Sagerats) who mentioned a chocolate fountain.  So we opted for that instead of the moonwalk. :-)  Cheaper and I can use it over and over again!  Of course, we kept it even without having a party.  The boys both have grand plans of sticking their entire heads in the streaming chocolate at the end of the party!  I'm sure we can assist them with that. hehehee...

What else?  We got our Sonlight box the other day.  I guess we need to finish up last year's Sonlight first, huh?  Actually, we'll be done in a couple of weeks.  It has been such fun and we've read a ton of great books!  If anyone is looking for a solid, pre-scheduled, literature-rich program, then Sonlight might be exactly what you're looking for.

Blah, blah, la dee daaaa...

I think I'm going to make me a pot of decaf, clean up the popcorn confetti on the floor and read a mindless magazine for a little while.  What are y'all doing tonight?  I've got a ton of "good, productive" things to do...but there's always tomorrow right?

Other stuff wandering around in my head:

• My boys make me laugh.  They are so silly and dorky and just plain fun.  And they are in that laughing hysterically at their own jokes that are completely nonsensical stage right now.
• I'm addicted to coffee.  Even decaf.  It's the process of drinking that I like...and the taste...mmmm.... with lots of real cream and sugar. 
• I like shoes.  I wore some pink peep-toe heels today.  They made me happy.  I'm currently on the hunt for some nice red flats.
• I'm distressed that the "fashions" of the '80s are back.  Leggings, ankle boots, vests, blech!  When will the insanity stop?!  The HORROR!
• I'm blessed with some good friends.  It's nice to almost have too many friends. :-)  Most are all from my church, so we are like-minded as well (but very different!) so it's always fun.  And I like their kids which makes it even better.
• Baseball is boring.  I'd rather just watch the highlights on ESPN.
• It's hot and humid outside.  I wish I could say it makes my hair curly or something cool like that, but it's still flat, oily and sticks to my head.
• I don't floss regularly.  I should but I don't.

Okay, that's it for now.  I'll check back with y'all tomorrow.

Love,

Marshiemellow

Posted in General Ramblings

I just had a huge DUH! moment.

Last night before bed, I had a nice hot cup of my deeeelicious Gano Excel Decaf "Healthy" Coffee.  It's supposed to have even less caffeine than regular decaf.

Well, last night I was so proud of myself for getting IN bed by 10:00pm (for the second night in a row!).  This was a huge accomplishment for me as I had been in the terrible habit of staying up until midnight to 2am for the past month.  Anyway, I could not for the life of me go to sleep.  I was tired.  But my body just would not sleep...

I last remember looking at the clock at 1am.  Drat.  Double drat!  Why couldn't I go to sleep?

Well, this morning I figured out why.  I went to dump the hot water out of my stainless steel thermal insulated carafe...and it came out brown!  Zoiks.  And then the DUH dawned on me.

I forgot to take the old, used coffee filter (with regular coffee grounds in it) out before I ran the fresh pot of hot water.

I had added regular coffee to my mix of instant decaf without realizing it.  This was a huge DUH moment for me.  Might seem small to others but when it has to do with my sleep or my coffee, it IS a BIG deal...and this, unfortunately, messed up both!

I asked Napoleon if I had a brain and he said No.

Posted in General Ramblings

Here is my entry to Michelle's Mug Shot Contest:

My dh gave me this coffee mug and a coffee maker as a gift for our first Christmas together.  We had just gotten engaged a couple of months before, so the message on the back of this mug was EXTRA special to me! 

It is chipped and faded from much repeated use...so much so, that I only drink from it on special occasions. :-)  I love this mug...and the mug who gave it to me (ridiculously awful pun intended).   And this from my man that can't even stand the smell of coffee, let alone the taste of it!

Posted in General Ramblings

Okay, so here is my entry in JocelynDixon's contest.

I know I have pictures that are even worse than this...but I don't want to win that badly!!!

Posted in General Ramblings

I like contests.  They're just super-dee-duper-fun, don't ya think?

Amber's Heart of Art is having a free graphics contest.  All you have to do is take a little poll.  She is quite talented and you will LOVE her work!

And Michelle is having a muy bueno MUG SHOT contest-- you can win COFFEE!  Did I mention that you can win my most favorite beverage of all time?  Coffee!  Coffee!  Coffee!

That JocelynDixon, though...she takes the cake with her clever contest.  How come no one else came up with this idea before?  It is HIlarious!   All you have to do is post the worst picture of yourself and then leave her a link.  She'll pick the worst picture and the winner gets some neat-o Creative Memories scrapbooking supplies (stickers, paper, journaling boxes, etc).

I think I will have a hard time entering this contest-- although I will do my best to find one.  It's not that I don't take any bad pictures, it's just that once I do, the really ugly ones are dutifully deleted!

Posted in General Ramblings

I was visiting Nancy's blog and she directed me to a quiz that she found through Janne.  I would say that it pegged me pretty well!

Your type is: ISTJ  —The “Responsibility” Mother

“I have a serious love affair with to-do lists. I could sit for hours reading, organizing, and rearranging my weekly calendar.”

• The ISTJ mother has a highly developed sense of responsibility: for work, home, family ... particularly her children. Whether she’s overseeing daily baths or insisting on a 10 p.m. curfew, her efforts are largely focused on providing her children with order and routine. She wants them, regardless of age, to be able to count on her and the structure she provides.
  
• In carrying out her commitment to her responsibilities, the ISTJ mother is organized, industrious, and detail-oriented. Because her focus is the day-to-day realities of life, her children are likely to feel secure and well provided for.
  
• The ISTJ mother also sets a good example and provides her children with practical guidance on being a productive, responsible individual. Still, with all her seriousness, she may delight family members with her quick wit and observations about the details of life.

If y'all take the quiz, let me know what it says about you and whether or not you think it's accurate.

Have a great Saturday!

Love,

Marsha

Posted in General Ramblings

Why is it that when there is more than usual to do, the more I want to just sit here and waste time on this computer?  I think I can actually answer this question (for once!).   Let's see...the kids are all asleep, I've got peaceful music on the radio, the couch is comfy, I've been without internet all day long, dh will be home from work in another 1.5 hours, and I really don't feel like folding more laundry and mopping the floor.

So here I sit visiting my friends.

And if you are procrastinating and sitting comfortably, head on over to read HomeschoolCPA's latest fabulous entry.  Carol discusses Money Myth #4: Homeschooling is Expensive...this is the fourth of five articles she writes about money myths that trip up homeschoolers.

SteveWalden talks about the new-fangled vitamins for kids.  I still remember when my brother ate a whole bottle of Pac-Man vitamins...totally freaked my mom out.  Funny how we do the dumbest things when we're kids and still somehow manage to survive to adulthood!

On a more serious note, please pray for Julie's mom.  She's in the hospital and they believe she has had a stroke.  Julie posted a beautiful pic of her former-homecoming-queen mom-- talk about a beautiful, classy looking lady!

Well, it's been a long day.  My sister Coco has still not had her baby.  Please pray for her as she is having contractions (although not consistent) and is quite uncomfortable (I'm sure y'all can relate!).  Dh has been at work and will be back later tonight.  Dozer had a fever yesterday and is a little better today, although we couldn't go to church since fever is a no-no in the nursery.  And Dash scored another goal in the last soccer game for this season (hooray!!!-- on both the goal and the last game...hehehee).  They also finally won their first game 8 to 6.  While it is non-competetive at this age, they always seem to keep score in their heads.  Not bad...especially when it was a bzillion degrees outside!

Okay, nothing else going on here.  Just kinda procrastinatingly bored.  Anything fun in your neck of the woods?

Love,

Marsha (who is planning on getting offline right after I submit this entry, unless Coco shows up on my Messenger friends list...or I decide to waste even more time surfing the net)

Posted in General Ramblings

Since I'm pretty stressed out right now with all of my current obligations/happenings/life in general, I thought I'd relax with my laptop and my fun HSB friends.  Here are some interesting things that my friends are doing:

• Carol (aka HomeschoolCPA) has a great post about Money Myths That Trip Up Homeschoolers (Part 1 of 5)  I can't wait to see what numbers 2-5 are! 
• Jennie von Eggers (aka CreativeHomeschooling) showed some true pioneer spirit with her sewing project that won grand prize in a parade.  She is so creative and it encourages us all to think outside the box!
• Check out what is going on with the Clean Heart, Clean Home Challenge that Amy (aka DandelionSeeds) is hosting.  It just started this week (and you can start ANY time!) and they are currently tackling the Front Yard.  I haven't joined the challenge yet but hope to in the next week or two when the craziness at my house slows down.
• Check out eyecorn's latest contest!!!  You can win some awesome soap just for sending in a pic of you doing your fav chore-- all in honor of April 7th.  What?!  You don't know what April 7th is???  Why, it is NO HOUSEWORK DAY!  For real.  Seriously.  I think it should be a national holiday.

Okay, I'm feeling a lot more relaxed now...not quite as good as Calgon but not bad at all.

Posted in General Ramblings

While I question what exactly is meant by "Liberal" ethics, this was still fun.  Not to be too snarky or anything, but how can you even have "liberal" and "ethics" in the same sentence without having "lack of" in there as well???

Your Political Profile

Overall: 85% Conservative, 15% Liberal

Social Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Ethics: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Posted in General Ramblings

In light of JenIG's wackily-wacko-with-the-comments contest where the prize was an ultra cool $225 KNEX set, I'd thought I'd post a few happenings to make sure y'all didn't miss out on anything else.

Be sure to check out Chickadee's very cool fun and fit contest!  There are some great (and hilarious!) entries so far and the deadline is Friday (TODAY!!!).   Although I'm not very good at being fit, fun, fittingly funny, or funnily fitting...here's my entry that dh took this morning.  BTW, Dozer and Dash are VERY heavy!!!

DandelionSeeds has a Clean Heart, Clean Home Challenge that will be starting soon.  She is almost 33 weeks prego so we will be riding the nesting, hormonal and very fun roller-coaster with her!  Besides, who can resist the lure of winning a magnet? (asgdj;'ladsgjkl;'agdfsj'klfahgasjk;laglkjagjklag;)

When not being stalked, Gena-bena is giving away a PILGRIM'S PROGRESS curriculum!

Oooo, and Jaybird just came up with a brilliant new contest where all you have to do is leave a comment-- and you can with legos!

asdgjkhdgasdasgjklhagsdjkl;ahklj;dgl;j'dal';sjg

Okay, that's all I can remember in my very limited gray-matter.  If y'all are aware of any more, let me know and I'll revise this list.

Now get busy-- it's time to win some free stuff!!!

One more thing, be sure to stop by Donna's blog and congratulate her on her BIG DAY!!! 

Love,

Marshie

PS  Since it's tax time, check out HomeschoolCPA Carol's blog.

Posted in General Ramblings

Body Worlds 3 is a current exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.  Are you kidding me?!  Why would I want to pay a whopping $22 to see an exhibit made out of real human bodies?  I think that is totally and completely gross.  Plasticized or not, just know those are real folk in there is just plain creepy.

So, have any of y'all actually seen this before?  I have no idea why it's at the Museum of Natural Science.  There is just nothing natural about a prego lady lounging on a couch with her baby in the womb-- with their skin peeled off like in a horror movie!  Y-U-C-K-Y !!!  I would've thought that this would have been showing at some weird art museum...you know, the ones that have gross or just plain ugly stuff that they pass off as "art."

Perhaps I'm overreacting...ummm...Nope...I think everyone else around here is underreacting.

Have I mentioned how gross I think this whole thing is? 

Good... I didn't want to give the impression that I actually like this sort of thing.  I have a few weirdo friends, however, who have differing opinions...but I'll forgive them this time.  After all, everyone's entitled to a few oddities (or in Gena's case, many oddities!). hehehe...

Posted in General Ramblings

...but that shouldn't surprise y'all.  I'm too lazy to repost the pics into a blog entry.  Yup...click, click, click of the mouse is just asking too much of me.  So if you'd like to see pics, just click on the picture-y part (ahem, JenIg) of my flickr badge on my sidebar.  Be proud of me...I did write titles to the pics so you know where the pic was taken.  Besides, it's a bit embarrassing to look at (once again) all of the pics of David and me.   I think we kinda took away from some of the beautiful scenery...well, at least at the Great Wall.

I do, however, want to mention that it was very, very cold.  And windy.  And smoggy.  But the people were great, hubby and I spent lots of time together (sans kids!), the fish that you see on that platter (head and all) was deeeelicious, shopping was an adventure, and the Great Wall was truly breathtaking.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Oh wait, in case you think I jest about the Starbucks-- they really are everywhere-- even in communist China (it's not just for McD's anymore)!

 Hmmm...I can get a combo meal at McD's for less than $2US, but Starbucks still costs a little less than 32RMB ($4US)...That's relatively the same price we paid for David's new "Armani" wallet at the Silk Market!

Tomorrow I might write all about my day at the museum, zoo and my opinion of BodyWorld3 (I haven't seen it but why would I want to see it?-- blech!).   Until then, I hope y'all have a great night!

Posted in General Ramblings

This is our last day in Beijing.  While I completely and totally miss my kids, I will miss this amazing experience...it really is a whole other world.

Just a few more thoughts on Beijing:

1.  It is a smoker's paradise here.  *cough*  *choke*  I was really surprised at how many people smoke and how it is acceptable in every restaurant and building.  I guess I'm used to the non-smoking atmosphere in the US.

2.  Everyone here thinks I'm Chinese and will start talking to me in Chinese.  They are surprised that I'm not and that I am married and have children.  Funny how Koreans don't think I'm Korean, but people here definitely think I'm Chinese...maybe I'm adopted???

3.  A very picky white boy from Texas will NOT die of starvation in China.  So far we've hit KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Starbucks and Subway.  But to dh's credit, we have eaten 3 authentic Chinese meals including Peking Duck.  Like $3 knock-off Polo shirts, there are also knock-off restaurant's here.  Dh walked into what he thought was a KFC...same paint, color and similar logo, but it turned out to be a noodle place.  If he looked closely at the Colonel Sanders on the sign, he would've noticed that it was an asian Colonel instead! hehehe...

4.  Cab fare is really cheap.  We can take a 20-30 minute taxi ride for less than $3US.  Oh and when we first got here and got out of the cab, dh told the driver Gracias!  I about died laughing!!!

5.  The Great Wall of China can be very steep!  But I made the trek to the highest point of the Badaling Section and it was sooo worth the climb!  Words cannot describe the absolute beauty of the Wall and the feeling of standing atop such history.  We would definitely come back again if given the opportunity!

Well, gotta go.  My hour is just about up (and it cost me less than fifty cents). :-)  We'll be back in the good ole US of A on Saturday.  Talk to y'all then!

Love,

Marsha

Posted in General Ramblings

I'm almost packed-- okay, not at all packed-- but wanted to take this time to say BUH-BYE!!!

We'll be heading to Tokyo and on to Beijing in the AM.  Yeeeee-hawwww!  And Steve Walden, I shall take your advice if they give me any grief about my Bible...  Uhhh...It's my husband's!!! 

So my dear friends, I leave you with one final video clip on my sidebar of Chunky-Monkey.  Tis an oldie but a goodie!

If anyone has any suggestions for a new, shorter, schnazzier nickname, please post a comment.  Mayhaps I shall even award a prize to the winning entry!

Take care my friends and remember, NO FUN until I get back!

Love,

Marsha

Posted in General Ramblings

I can't believe it happened.  I went into the bathroom to yell at my fighting little booger boys and it just slipped out of my hand.  *KERPLOP* right into the water!  I snatched it out as quickly as I could and dried it off.  But it was too late... 

My little buddy.  Mi amigo.  My extension of me.  I'm really going to miss it.

I already feel lost without it.

Good thing it was my cell phone and not a hairdryer!  Wait...we don't need hairdryers here with all the bald-ies running around.

*sigh*  So pardon me if I wander aimlessly about for a while.  And if y'all need to get in touch with me, just e-mail or call me at the house.  Yes, PCS friends and family members, you will have to actually USE your minutes!

Love,

Marshy who needs to finish laundering and packing

PS Check out my spaz-boy Tank saying the Pledge in my sidebar-- just click that little "play" arrow!  Isn't he a cute little patriot?!

PPS  Dash insisted I post the clip of him singing Away in a Manger-- I wanted to post this in December but couldn't figure out how...my sister Coco found this site-- cool, huh?

Posted in General Ramblings

I am feeling much better after that penicillin shot but still seem to have a low fever.  It stinks because while I feel fine, I feel icky-sweaty and like I need to turn on the air conditioner.  Thanks for checking up on me, my friends!

It's going to be crazy around here today and tomorrow as I'm getting everyone packed for our VACATION (wooohooo!!!).  Tomorrow morning I will fly Dash up to Fort Worth to stay with my parents for a week.  Then Saturday morning, Tank and Chunky-Monkey (I've got to think of a new name for him!) will be going to my in-law's house.  Immediately after that, dh and I will be hopping on a flight to New York, have dinner with my sister Lele and her husband, and the next day heading to Beijing, China.

Yup, C-H-I-N-A!!!

A vacation sure takes A LOT of work!  I can't remember the last time I only had to pack for myself-- much easier than for 3 kids plus husband plus myself.  But I definitely can't complain-- I never would've dreamed that I would ever visit China.  Dh is sooo excited about seeing The Great Wall and even shopping...yup, you heard that right...shopping!  He is so fun and funny. 

Speaking of shopping, I asked one of my friends if she'd like for me to bring anything back for her.  She gave me a puzzled look and said,  "Ummmmm....if I wanted anything from China, all I have to do is go to Wal-mart and get it myself."  True.  True.  She is a wise friend, indeed.

Anyhow, it will be a whirlwind week for us!  I will be much more relaxed when dh and I are on our way to the airport and all the kids have been safely sent away to the grandparents.  Dash is so excited about having my parents all to himself-- playing Yahtzee, drinking slurpees, eating at Dusty's Diner ever morning for breakfast and just not having to share the spotlight with his brothers.  I give him a full 2 days before he gets really lonely for Tank...they really are great buddies.  Tank and Chunky-Monkey will love spending time with Grandma Linda and Grandpa.  Going to the park, all the Tootsie-Pops they can eat, and playing lots of games!

Okay, better go do laundry now...and get some moolah from the bank.  I should be able to find an internet cafe over there so maybe I'll get a chance to drop everyone a line.  Until then, NO HAVING FUN WITHOUT ME!!!  Seriously.  Y'all are not allowed to have babies, play dirty BINGO, find out you're prego or anything major like that until I get safely back in town, unpacked and re-laundered, and then can sit at my computer with a hot cup of coffee.

Until then, please pray for safe travels for all of us.  And remember, NO having fun without me!

Love,

Marsha

(who will be packing a paperback Bible for fear it might get confiscated or something...how does that work over there anyway? I am very nervous about visiting a communist country no matter how hard they try to change their image to the rest of the world).

Posted in General Ramblings

Since Susan is sooo sweet and used very good manners in her comment, here are my responses to her spiritual tag.  By the way, she definitely lives up to her blog title of Ladies in Training, doesn't she?  And if you haven't checked out the many talents of mamaduso, you have got to see pics of the jewelry she makes-- tres bien, no?

On to the business of the tag:

How long have you been a christian?

17 years

What is you favorite verse or passage?

Philippians 4:13- "I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me."

Philippians 4:6-8

Isaiah 43:2

Have you led anyone to Christ?

Sad to say, but No.  I have planted and watered... I pray earnestly for the day that my children will accept Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour!

How old where you when you were born again?

13

Was there one thing that kept you from being born again sooner? (This is my own question). 

Like many people, it was PRIDE!  Had it not been for my terrible pride, I would've accepted Christ much earlier.  But what would people think of me?  What would they say?  I was a good girl and many already thought I was a Christian...they didn't know what was truly in my stubborn heart.  Being good or "religious" will not get you into heaven.  You should have a time and a place where you personally repented of your sins and asked Jesus Christ to be the Lord of your life and heart.  Embarrassment held me back for a long time, but like the song says-- Jesus set me free!

What do look forward to most when getting to Heaven?

Being at the feet of Jesus!!! I cannot even imagine what it would be like...let alone no more sorrow, no more pain, no more tears...

Who do you want to see most when you get to Heaven?

My family and friends that have already left this earth.

What bible character/hero do you want to talk to first?

Abigail

What one thing do you want to be able to do in Heaven that you can't do on Earth?

I have no idea!  Walk the streets of pure gold, I suppose.

Posted in General Ramblings

I was tagged by someone I can't remember and then reminded of it by an anonymous someone else...so this is for all of you Tag fans out there! (See I'm only a party pooper sometimes!)

Four jobs you have had in your life:

1. Research Assistant at a couple of med schools

2. Laundromat Attendant

3. Notes & Quotes Notetaker

4. Administrative Assistant

Four movies you could (or do) watch over and over:

1. The Incredibles

2. Little Bear or Kipper Movies (mainly to hear my kids laugh)

3. The Princess Bride

4. The Matrix trilogy

Four places you have lived:

1. Fort Worth, TX

2. Cleveland, OH

3. Atlanta, GA

4. Houston, TX

Four shows you love to watch (or did before the TV moved out):

1. LOST

2. Stargate SG-1

3. Stargate Atlantis

4. What Not To Wear

Four places you have been on vacation:

1. Cancun, Mexico

2. London, England

3. Belize City, Belize

4. Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, TN :-)

Four websites you visit daily:

1. Homeschoolblogger

2. WeatherChannel

3. That's all I have time for...

Four of your favorite foods:

1. Korean food

2. Mexican food

3. Fuddrucker's Cheeseburger

4. Mo's BBQ

Four places you would rather be right now:

1. In my bed!!!

2. Shopping with my sis in NYC

3. Hanging out with Coco in OKC

4. On a southern carribean cruise with dh

Posted in General Ramblings

Yup, too chicken to tell my big sis in person that I canceled my doctor's appointment for tomorrow...so I'm blogging about it instead.  (But I'm not afraid of you, Coco-- I can still whoop up on you like when we were little-- except you being prego and all makes you a little more imposing...)

How can I possibly talk to the doctor about what ails me when I'm not doing the most BASIC of things to take care of myself?  Hmmmm...I can just see it now...

Doctor:  So have you had this before?

Me:  Maybe once but it didn't last long...just dizzy for a day.

Doctor:  Are you eating right?  Taking your vitamins?  Exercising?

Me:  Ummm...No.

Doctor:  Are you even getting 8 hours of sleep?

Me:  No?

Doctor:  Weren't you up quite a bit with sick kids for the entire week before this happened?

Me:  Yes.

Diagnosis:  You are just really tired and need to take better care of yourself.  Try a week of decent sleep, decent meals and a multivitamin and I'm sure this won't happen again.  Oh and if it does, you are getting older, ya know!

Plus, I WebMD'd my symptoms and I think I'll survive.  Perhaps I was a bit hasty in my panic...you know, the nighttime makes ya crazy and all.  But in the meantime, dh and I will get our will's done before we go on our trip next weekend...and I will stop this post now so I can get to bed at a decent hour.

If I get all weird again, I promise I'll go to the doctor, okay???  Thanks for all the kind comments and sympathy/empathy and all-- y'all are the best!

Love,

Marsha (who is a little crazy in the head sometimes but hopefully in a not-too-annoying kind of way)

Posted in General Ramblings

Or is it???  It has been quite some time since my last entry.  Since then I have dealt with a merry-go-round of fevers.  Once one boy gets over it, another one gets it.  It is a sad state when you can actually empty an entire bottle of Children's Motrin!  *sigh*

Around 2am last night, Tank woke up screaming.  I rushed upstairs and he was burning up.  I was able to get him into the kitchen but then had to almost collapse onto the floor because I felt so faint.  Not like the vapors or anything (you Little House fans know what I'm talkin about), but like I am really going to pass out.  You know, you get all woozy-dizzy, flash of cold, and you can't see straight all of a sudden. 

So I sent Dash to wake up daddy...my hero!  Eventually, the boys will be big enough to carry me to the couch but for now it's just the man himself that can do it.  Oh and he gave me a cold glass of water-- with a straw so I could drink and not have to lift up my spinning head (spinning inside...not around like a horror movie...contrary to what some people may say about me).  And he dosed Tank up with Motrin for the night as well.  Double-sweet of him, huh?

So in the midst of all this, the boys all went down to our bed to crash and I stayed on the couch all night.  The weirdest part is that both of my arms started feeling numb...all the way down to my fingertips.  I thought surely there was something terribly wrong with me.  I honestly could not bring myself to lift my head up, not even an inch.  Man, the things you think about when you are woozy-headed and have arms that don't feel right. 

When I was in 4th grade, my dad had a brain aneurism.  I had a friend die of a brain aneurism at the ripe old age of 22.  A few years ago, my big sis had a tumor on her uterus the size of a grapefruit.  Is this what it would feel like???  I did have that weird, sharp pain a few days ago.  And a couple of weeks ago, I was dizzy for an entire day...hmmmm....

So I'm just laying there in the dark, with my tingly-numb arms, wondering if this is what it feels like to have a brain aneurism...or a tumor...   Scary, huh?  This further led to thoughts about not having done my Will yet...although I have had the paperwork collecting dust on my nightstand for over 6 months.

So for all of you nightowls out there, have you made a Will yet?  Have you set down in writing who will take care of your children should something happen to both you and your spouse?  Do you know how much one of those full-body scans costs?  I'd really like to get one of those.  Honest. 

And the BIG question is:  Are you ready for eternity?  If you were to die today, do you know for sure that you would spend eternity in heaven with our Lord Jesus Christ?  While I can't tell you exactly who should watch your dear little ones if something tragic were to happen, I CAN tell you how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and accept Him as your personal Saviour.  Just click on that handy-dandy link on my sidebar to e-mail me...and I promise I will answer.

Okay, those are my thoughts for the day, week, year!  I promised my sis (the one with the grapefruit sized tumor that the doc actually took a picture of to show us in the waiting room-- yes, it was icky but VERY cool!) that I would go to the doctor about this bodily weirdness.  I'll let y'all know what he says...and it better be more than...Well, you know you ARE getting older.....

Posted in General Ramblings

I would spell out the MA part but can't quite remember the ending to it and dare not offend anyone from around here!

We left sunny, warm weather and landed in a slightly cold with lovely snow on the ground Hartford, Connecticut.  Then we hopped in the hotel van to MA...weird, huh?  Dh and I had a very lovely day today starting with sleeping in until 10:30am.  It was quite nice to not have to worry about little footsteps running around upstairs or our sweet littlest one hollering for us to come rescue him from his bed. 

We got up and then headed to the Holyoke Mall for a little grub and some shopping.  It never fails that when I've got Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket, no kids hanging on my leg, AND my fav store of all time-- H&M-- which is not available in the South...I cannot find a single thing to buy!  Why is that anyway?  When you can't buy anything (or shouldn't!) you see a bzillion things you like.  But when you are searching for something to buy, there is not a single purchase-worthy item that tickles your fancy.  Dh even headed to Sears to give me lots of shopping time at H&M and was completely shocked that I did not walk out with bags full of clothes and such.  So I shall return home tomorrow well-rested but with a slightly empty suitcase.

Then we took the bus (gotta love public transportation!) to the movie theatre down the way where we saw King Kong.  I really wanted to watch Narnia but dh reminded me to practice some self-control and wait until we can take the kids with us and all see it together.  The movie was okay and a very long 3+ hours but the company was fabulous!!!

I can't believe the day is already over.  We have a very early 6am van time tomorrow morning so I best get going...assuming the plane gets in tonight for us to take out of here tomorrow.  They are expecting quite a snowfall overnight.  I wish I could bring a snowball back for the boys-- they would think that was the absolute most coolest thing (next to making a snowball themselves)!

Posted in General Ramblings

Just packing a few things to head to Hartford, CT with dh until TUESDAY!!!   Dh gets some nice overtime for working on New Year's Day and since it's a nice looong layover, I can come along for a nice retreat without having to pay for a nice hotel...just meals and entertainment.  My very nice and wonderful in-law's will be here soon to stay with the kiddos.  It is sooo nice to not have to pack for the kids and for myself!  Tis going to be a very niiiiiiice getaway!

It's a little weird sitting here almost sweating in the 80 degree heat and yet packing a coat for the cold weather up north.  I think there's even a chance of snow up there tomorrow!  My boys would be so disappointed if they knew...so don't tell them, okay?

Hope y'all had a great first day of 2006!  I spent the last minutes of 2005 folding laundry and cleaning up the house while the kids and dh were fast asleep.  Yuppers, we ARE the original party animals!!!

Love,

Marsha (who is currently a spoiled and very blessed mom of 3 boys and wife to 1 wonderful man!)

Posted in General Ramblings

Nope, not thoughts about the New Year just some thoughts and the fact that 2006 is just about here.   You may skip to the end if you're disappointed.

• I am truly a coffee addict.  My dearest bestest friend Suzanne was kind enough to bring me 50 coffee filters the other day.  Hopefully it will be enough to last me through the week...
  
  
• Honduran Coffee is yummy.
  
  
• Dh came home the other day and the first words out of his mouth were Oh my gosh!  WHAT happened here?!  Remember the decluttering of toys and such?  Well, I'd start working on something and then get distracted by another pile of mail or laundry or old sippy cup slipped under the couch.  Then the next thing ya know, it is a complete disaster zone!  I was driving myself crazy with the gigantic, enormous mounds of mess in my house!  Our house has never ever been this messy-- as in never ever!
  
  I guess that's what happens when one is delusional enough to think that the kiddos will gladly cooperate by feeding and taking care of themselves while mommy tosses old toys in a big trashbag...and then sneaks them out to the trash bin.
  
  I am now happy to report that my house is halfway done.  I still have the schoolroom to organize (so much for starting lessons soon!).  But the good news is that the kitchen and two of the bedrooms are decluttered and relatively clean (as in needs to be undusted).
  
  
• Dh is so sweet to me.  We spent part of the day playing golf yesterday and then all gross and sweaty went to Sam's Club where dh bought me a nifty table for the laundry room.  So now I have a clean space for folding laundry straight from the dryer!  I am SO married with children to get this excited about something so very practical.
  
  
• A couple of years ago, a dear friend told me to treasure every moment with my kids since they are with me only a short time.  I thought she was crazy back then!  The days seemed to go on f-o-r-e-v-e-r.  But she's right...each year goes by faster and faster.  And just when you think they'll never go potty by themselves (and neither can you!), they do things like:
  
  •  read books by themselves and have their own library cards
  • wash their own hair (what little there is anyway)
  • take care of the baby first thing in the morning before I even get there
  • get the mail on their own
  • set up the DVD player
  • get stuff from the deep freeze way down in the garage...without needing me to open the door for them
  • vacuum the floors and sweep the deck
  • I guess I could go on and on on this one...so I'll stop now.  I love my little men!  They are growing so fast and I'm sad that for two of them, there are no more dimpled knuckles and elbows...only long, skinny big-boy faces. *sigh*
    
    
• My older sis Coco is having a GIRL!  My first niece!  And the very firstest granddaughter who will be quite spoiled and bedecked in beautiful girly clothes from her aunt's who love to shop a little too much.  I cannot wait for little Emily Reagan to be born in May! 
  
  My boys, on the other hand, were a little disappointed since they thought for sure this would be a boy.  They were happy for Coco but still kept saying We don't talk to girls!  Only boys!  I have no idea when they came up with that crazy idea.  I reminded them of their friend Mia... Well, she's different! 
  
  I have no idea why she (Mia) still wants to marry Dash.  But they have been best friends since they were little babies so I guess ya never know.

Well, we're off to the park to take advantage of this crazy 80 degree weather!  Strange how it's been autumn for only a few weeks and there are still leaves left to fall off the trees...and it's almost January!

Have a safe and happy new year, my friends!

See you in 2006!

Love,

Marsha