I have often read with curiousity about women who do OMAC, code for "Once A Month Cooking" or "Oh My Am i Crazy". I really wanted to (ok kinda sorta) start school last week, but I had promised the kids they could have off until Jan 5 - whatever could I do with all this free time? I decided to take the plunge - Andre' almost choked when he saw the grocery bill but I assured him it would carry us till February! We will have to restock fruit, milk and bread - but I should be safe if I stick to the edges of the store !

Cooking for the entire month has always been kinda scary - after all I do not *like* to cook. I cook because we like to eat, not because I enjoy being in the kitchen. My preferred place to be is on the couch with a great novel...but let's get back to the kitchen. I visited "Robbyn's Friendly Freezer", now I do not KNOW Robbyn, but her site intrigued me...cook like a crazy woman for a couple of days and defrost and reheat the rest of the month? Sweet!  I was hesitant because I have a small freezer (and no need or desire for a deep freezer - not to mention no room, though I guess if we let one of the kids sleep in the attic we could put a freezer where a bed is...) there is no way an entire month of dinners will fit in my freezer. At least that is what I thought until Robbyn introduced me to "flat freezing". Fill a freezer safe gallon zip bag with your meal and freeze it flat, when they are frozen they stack beautifully!

I printed out a calander for the month and filled it in with meals to make sure we are not eating the same thing day after day. We had A LOT of leftover turkey from Christmas and were quickly getting tired of turkey sandwiches! I began with a "mini" trial run. The turkey was boiled and deboned. The turkey was transformed into "Viva la Turkey", "Turkey Tetrazzini" and "Turkey Pot Pie" I had enough for 2-3 dinners of each! Yes, I can totally do this! AND I had the bonus of 4 small ziploc bags of rich turkey broth that will be delicious soup one day soon.

After I had my (ok, Robbyn's) recipes, I made my grocery list and headed to Wally World to get the goods and a stock pot (tis about time I get one!) Three hours and nearly $500 later we emerged. We were both dazed and wondering where in the world we would put all this food and Andre' kept asking "Honey are you SURE there is room in the freezer?" Maintaining my excitement and composure I confidently assured him there was plenty of room, while my insides were churning because I was wondering the same thing!

As soon as we got home I washed my wonderful new stock pot and put it to work boiling 10lbs of chicken leg quarters. The next morning I put 5 lbs of ground beef on to cook, put 2 roasts in the oven, 2lbs of redbeans in the crockpot and deboned the chicken. I spent the day chopping veggies and putting together meals. By dinnertime we had the following in the freezer...

20 stuffed bellpeppers, 3 packages of cooked ground beef, 3 packages of roast beef, 2 packages of cooked rice, 2 packages of redbeans, 2 packages of potato soup, lots of chicken stock and all the turkey dinners listed above.

That night for dinner we ate 10 of the stuffed bellpeppers and mashed potatoes (I pulled some of the potatoes from the soup - before it was soup) and coleslaw. Easy peasy - especially since it is Preston's month to clean the kitchen!  He was not happy with me (I did clean as I went, but most of the pots were dirty- and I even washed and reused them all at least once!)

A couple of days later I added 4 packages of chicken noodle soup to our stash. It has been so nice - no question of "What's for dinner?" For years I have made a menu of what I "planned" to cook, but sometimes we would choose to eat out or cook something different because I did not feel like cooking what was on the menu. Now I don't have to "cook" just defrost and reheat add a veggie and dinner is done!

The blessing has *far* outweighed the ordeal of cooking so much in such a few days. I don't think I will ever cook "just tonights dinner" again. After discovering how *easy* it is to double or triple dinner and freeze the rest - I am converted!

The Children and the new puppy - a raggle (beagle rat terrier) named Grace!

It has not snowed and stuck here in the Deep South since I was 12 (that was a couple of decades ago!) We had such a great time. I told the kids we were studying 'weather' and let em run. We are officially out of clean jeans and dry socks, they have used every coat in the house, but it was worth it! They made a snowman, of course he was only 2 foot tall and kinda grey... they smashed him before I could get a picture so you will just have to imagine his shiny pepperoni eyes and his stunning celery nose!

Take a look at our kids playing in the snow.

Note especially the socks on their hands (no gloves here in LA!) and Geoffrey's hat...he always wears a hat, this is his new favorite!

And remember....comments make me smile!

I love Thanksgiving; it is such a great time of year. There are so many things I am thankful for...

1. My Savior, I am thankful that Jesus chose to die on the cross that I may live, His suffering was because He chose to pay the price for my sin - I am humbled by His love for me.

2. My Husband, I am thankful that he chooses to love me everyday and put my needs and desires above his own. Thankful that he leads our family and provides for us so well.

3. My Children, I am thankful that we have been blessed with five caring, healthy, intelligent children who are blossoming into lovely young people. They are each so precious and amazing in their own special way.

4. My Parents and In-Laws, I am thankful that Andre' and I both have great parents who support us in our parenting and convictions. They may not always understand why we do things the way we do, but they do not question or undermine our authority as parents. At the same time, they willingly give advice when it is sought. They have allowed us to 'grow up' and come alongside them as adults and friends.

5. My Friends, I am thankful that God has allowed my path to cross and run alongside so many of His wonderful children. My friends have been a breath of fresh air, a comfort in times of trial, they laugh with me (though rarely at me) and are always ready to spend time with me - even if we have to have a cup of coffee over the phone lines from hundreds of miles apart!

6. My Pastors and Mentors, I am thankful that I belong to a congregation that is about reaching out to others. Thankful for the leadership my family receives as part of this body and thankful for the love and guidance my mentors have given us. I am thankful for our Youth Pastor and his team and appreciate all the care they have shown for Preston. I am thankful for our Children's Pastor and the love he showers on our younger kids and the friendship his family shares with ours. I am thankful to be part of something bigger than me, and thankful my children are growing up in an environment of giving.

7. My Country, I am thankful to live in America, land of the free. I know we are facing some difficult decisions and things seem to be changing. BUT - this is still the greatest nation on the face of this planet and I LOVE the USA! I am proud to be an American!

I had just finished using this...

When Geoffrey did this...

Which of course left me looking llike this...

My sweet husband surprised me with this... just because he likes me!

And now my floors are shiny and I feel like this...

Thank you so much sweetie - you win the Best Husband Award hands down!!!

Hurricane Gustav gave us all a scare, esp Post Katrina. We did evacuate, all the way to Branson,MO. We picked Branson because we found a hotel there that (with a timeshare presentation) was $20 for 3 nights including breakfast and 2 tickets to IMAX. What a steal! My generous father in law (we love that guy, for so many reasons) let us use his company's cargo van instead of our van (which has nearly 300k miles!) we put a mattress in the back of the van, packed the suitcases and comuters and food around the kiddos and took off. Fourteen hours later we arrived in Branson and it is beautiful, we love the mountains and this was our first visit to the Ozarks. Breathtaking. And we discovered again just how amazing our God is. You see, about a month ago, my very best friend from Junior High found me online. We had not talked in over 10 years. It was nice to chat online with her and catch up on our lives. Turns out she lives very close to Branson (didn't know that when we booked - just excited about the 20 bucks!) We were able to spend some time with her family and catch up in person. It was such a blessing. This is the girl whose family took me to church as a young teen and really lived the Christian life, I was an unsaved kid from a messed up home, and they loved me anyhow and made me feel like family. It was wonderful to visit with them, Rae and Shawn - thanks again for dinner - next time we will play host to you!

While in Branson there is soo much to do, we will have to go back again. I really had no idea this town was such a great place. The first day we took the kids to see Table Rock Dam, they understood how a dam works from watching a special on the Hoover Dam a few months back, it was awesome to see one in real life! Under the dam, Missouri has a fish hatchery where they breed Rainbow and Brown Trout to stock the rivers and lakes. The kids did not even realize they were having 'school' the hatchery was very interesting, and they loved feeding the fish. Geoffrey was on the hunt for spiders (there were several webs outside by the fish), his awe struck face admiring the spider web just choked me up. He is so.darn.cute! We spent the afternoon at the Branson Mall - I had never seen a mall with Wal-Mart inside - what a strange thing! At the mall there is a free music show featuring local talent. We stayed and watched the cutest little girls sing. There was a most adorable redhead about 7 yrs old, she tapdanced to the 'Hampster Dance' ~ the highlight of the show!

The next morning we had to do the timeshare presentation. We arrived promptly at 9:30am (no small feat for our family of late sleepers!) After filling out some paperwork, we were told that we were in the wrong place and had to go back to the hotel. OOOKKK, so we did, and of course they had no clue... turns out the timeshare people saw us piling out of the refugee van and decided we were not a 'good prospect'. We did tell the lady selling us the deal we were not interested in buying a timeshare, we were honest with our situation, she knew we were fleeing the storm.... anyhow, the company we booked through ended up honoring their end with the room (not the tickets -big whoop - we just really wanted a safe place to sleep away from Gustav!) and we avoided sitting through the speel. However, at the mall, we booked another timeshare deal in exchange for tickets to the "Acrobats of China" show. The timeshare dude kept us there for THREE HOURS!!! Ugh, but the show was AMAZING! What those people can do with their bodies was incredible. It was very similar to the Circue de Soleil acrobats, but to see it live was wonderful. And we had great seats, right in the center, just a few rows back. There was also a really talented magician, we love to watch magic shows and always try to figure out the trick, but live is just so different. It was captivating.

After the show, we went back to the room and cleaned up - by then Gustav had made his way north and we were beginning to feel the rain and wind. We checked out at midnight and started toward home. We did take a detour through Keller, TX (near Dallas) to visit dear friends who moved away after Katrina. Andre' got some much needed rest and I got some much needed "Katie time!" They treated us to dinner and some laughs, almost convinced us to move in down the street from them! It was difficult to leave...our next evacuation vacation will be to their home! The kids loved being together again, and it was pure joy to hold Nathalie again! Thank you my friend - I am tearing up just remembering yesterday - I miss you already!

We pulled into our driveway at 7am Thursday. We are exausted, but filled with joy to see our home and city spared - except for spotty areas that are still without power. We do have power, and have no damage except a fence board down and a messy yard! Today we clean up and tomorrow it is back to reality! Thankfully, because we began school in July we did not lose much by taking this 'Evacuation Vacation' and we will get back to school in the morning. My local friends and family, who fled to areas near for saftey and those who stayed, I am glad to hear all is well, and challenge you - next time - go far enough away where you can enjoy your time and where the weather is nice!

In other news, we have a new school name. We began our homeschool adventures as "The L**** Institute for Advanced Learning" (guess who came up with that doozy  and Preston was only in first grade!) we changed our name along the way to "Joy Learning Center" we wanted our school filled with JOY and teach our kids to focus on J - Jesus, O - others then Y- yourself. so it was fitting. But now we are nearing graduation for our oldest and Joy Learning Center engraved on his class ring and his diploma just did not sound right! We held an election. The names nominated were "The Academy", "Things Go Better with God School", "Candy School", "M********* Street School", "Life Academy", "PCCCG Academy", "Academy of Joyful Learning", and "L.I.F.E."

Drum roll please.....

We are officially announcing the new name for our school: L.I.F.E. (L**** Institute For Education) it is a fitting acronym and encapsulates what we teach here... "LIFE".

Our family motto seems to be 'Just Do It'! One of our goals is to create great memories with our kids and this weekend we made some great ones. I love that my dear husband is so spontaneous. Thursday we decided to surprise the kids with a mini vacation, we enlisted Preston and Catherine's help Friday evening and swore them to secrecy.

Saturday night I put the boys to bed at eight and told them to go right to sleep bc "tomorrow is family fun day!" I refused to elaborate, they finally crashed about 10pm and at midnight we put them in the van, the boys stayed asleep and did not stir till we were in Georgia! The little guys did not know where we were going, every time they asked we told them we were going to Family Fun Day and it was a surprise. About seven am Cade wakes up and sleepily announces that he KNOWS we are going to the beach because he heard us talking. (While I was trying to be sneaky while packing Cuyler saw me grab their swimsuits and decided we must be headed to the beach! hehehe) Andre' and I acted disappointed that he was so smart to figure it out, gosh, it was supposed to be a surprise. Then we start pointing out the Six Flags signs and Cuyler tells us "Too bad you forgot the coupons, oh well, maybe next time we come this way we can go to Six Flags." (like we 'come this way' all the time )

Preston got the map and showed Cuyler we were still about 4 hours from the beach, which kinda bummed the kids out that we had that much more time in the car - yep, we took a short cut through ATLANTA to get to the beach.... maybe we need to focus on geography more, or map skills!?!

Andre' finally set them straight "We ARE going to Six Flags." and they were so excited. When Cuyler found out I had in fact remembered the coupons he shouted "Aw mom - You rock!" It is nice to be complimented - ya think that is what Solomon meant when he said "Your children shall rise and call you blessed."?

I brought water bottles with lanyards and fanny packs with snacks for the kids and we packed a backpack with water bottles for the big people. Security did not bat an eye at our stash - . The kids also had flavor packets for their water (which was great bc the water from the fountains tasted funny.)

We had a great day, the weather was beautiful - 89 degrees, the lines were so short we only had to wait one or two rotations on even the biggest coasters for our turn. We got soaked on the water rides and all shook up on the big coasters, spun round and round on the 'Wheelie' and ate way too much icecream! Thankfully we all held our lunch (though Dre and I did sit out on the Shake, Rattle and Roll ride  we are no longer 16! - it is really weird to be the 'old people'. somehow I never thought it would happen to me...)

The most exciting thing was that Geoffrey was tall enough for the Mind Bender - a big coaster that goes upside down TWICE! It was his first upside down ride - he rode it 7 times in a row!!! We did not stop in at Thomas Town - that is for babies you know ~yes I know, I enjoyed the baby years, but seeing our little guy's face light up because he is big was so awesome.

The park closed at 7pm and we were at the very back playing on the water slides, they very nicely invited us to leave! We went to eat at Golden Corral and realized again that we are not kids anymore. I used to be able to eat a big salad, two plates of yummy carbs and dessert, not to mention a few of their incredible soft rolls with honey butter. I could only eat one plate and a roll for dessert. I tried to eat dessert, I really did, just can't do it. I was sad, so I took a roll home, and ate it for breakfast! MMMMM!

We got back on the road about 9pm and pulled into the driveway at 4am Monday! Crazy spontaneous trips, just another perk of homeschooling and being blessed to set our own schedule! (Of course we did school Monday... NOT!)

Btw, thought I would post the budget in case anyone else is feeling crazy...

4 lunchables with Six Flags coupons - $10 (the coupons are $10 off adult admission and free child admission -child is 3-11yrs)

Tickets for family of 7 with above coupons - $128

Snacks from grocery - $15

Lunch in Park - $50

Icecream in Park - $40  (Ben n Jerry's Mint Chocolate Chunk - yum! totally worth it!)

Golden Corral dinner - $60

Gas - $200

Drive time - 14 hours round trip

Surprising the kids - Priceless!

I know I am not alone. But I just have to say I am hooked. I am a political junkie - Rush, Sean, the great one --- Mark . Levin. I listen to these guys as I drive the kids around keeping up with the political landscape. As the bumper music for Rush came on the radio Geoffrey sighs from the backseat with rapturous joy exclaiming "This is my favorite song!"

But right now, I really am not interested... Sorry Sean, I will not be tuning in for a bit - because I have become an Olympic Junkie!!! Usually Andre' and I could care less about sports. We only tune in when LSU or the Saints are in a major championship. Realizing the 'educational' value that this is the kids and I are tracking the medals and marking them on our map. I never knew how much fun the Olympics could be - I am cheering for people I have never heard of before like they are my own children!  Boy oh boy - Michael Phelps - how amazing is this guy? ELEVEN GOLD MEDALS - the world's greatest. This has been so fun! And beach volleyball, sychronized diving (I did not even know this existed), gymnastics - my family now knows a little what it is like to have an armchair quarterback in the house. I cannot wait for the track and field events to begin...

Right now it is like there is nothing else newsworthy in our life, the world has come together and there is seemingly peace on earth. I am sure I am not the only one who tears up everytime our National Anthem is played. Reality will kick back in soon, until then we are enjoying the ride!

I am having a great week! I have seen the power of God at work in my life this week and He is good. The last week of April, I was not feeling so great! But we live by faith not feelings, right? So, my back was achy and I had to keep going, ya know care for the family n stuff. Wednesday afternoon the kids were enjoying the slip-n-die (slide!) and after their play was over I had my eldest put the slip-n-slide on the fence to dry. After bringing him to Youth Group I noticed it was not "right" on the fence, so I take my aching back over to the fence to fix the slip-n-slide, raised my hand over my head and could.not.move! I was seized with a pain that can only be compared to back labor at 10cm minus the pain meds I tried to walk, nope, crawl, nope. Here I am in my FRONT yard in a crawling position, it hurt so bad I put my head down on the ground. Picture this - rear in the air, head on the grass, in oh so much pain. But still my vanity held up - I realized how ridiculous I must look so I slid my legs down (with mucho oucho) until I was laying down flat, I propped my head up with my hands and was so thankful that I had not landed in one of the dozens of ant hills in the yard (time for some bug killer...) Praise God I had my cell in my pocket, called Andre' who rushed home from work to rescue his damsel in distress. He had to pick me up from the ground and carry me (wailing and crying - it hurt so so bad) to the couch. We ended up in the ER - Thank God we have wonderful friends who came and spent the night with the kids. 5 hours later we were headed home, still in a bit of pain, but thankful for Loritab  and with a perscription for muscle relaxers, an anti inflamatory, and strict instructions to 'try and stay in bed tomorrow, just get up for *ahem* hygeine reasons!' Yeah right - I can't walk dude, I will be going nowhere tomorrow or maybe ever . I figured the kids could be on their own, eat whatever they can find and consume large amounts of Disney Channel and Nickelodeon while I stayed in bed with my muscle relaxers wishing I also had a catheter so I did not have to move at all! Sweet Andre' had to carry me to the facilities and back from Thursday until Saturday. My precious friend Julie came over Thursday, unannounced and oh so welcome, acted like a substitute teacher and had the kids complete their school work! I am so blessed to have such great friends. My sweet mommy went to the grocery for me and made sure the kids and I were well cared for after Julie went home to her family and Friday and Sat. so that Andre' could work. Sunday, glory to God, I was able to hobble to the couch and begin to get around. Monday I began seeing a chiropractor, oh how wonderful she is! She dx me as having a bulging disc and my rt hip is 1" higher than my left. We continued to pray for complete and speedy recovery and as of this Thursday, she says I am much straighter and my pain is now a 1-1.5 instead of an off the charts 10+! I can walk and move and pick up things off the floor without hurting. God is so good! I am content at home with my chickies and delighted to be able to serve my dear husband again. And oh goody, we will be finished with school in the next two weeks!!! Friends, if you are healthy, remember to thank God for your health. If you are not, I lift you up before the throne and ask for your healing, He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you can ask or think. He is faithful and He is good.

I have the greatest husband in the world. I know you may disagree, you think you have the prize mate, but alas, you are decieved - he married me!

I am so blessed to have such an amazing partner. Andre' will do anything for us. He works hard to provide for us, thankfully, he has a job he absoultely loves. But he puts in long hours to keep his clients up and running. At home he loves to hang out with us, he is helping Preston and the boys build a skateboard ramp - we are all very excited about it! Of course he is totally wrapped around Catherine's little finger! And the greatest testimony to what a great daddy he is  - the kids can't wait for their turn to spend a day at work with him. He is so kind and loving to them, and so much more patient than I am. I hit the jackpot!

There were some concerns though, mainly, what would I do without him? Last August Preston went into our room when Andre' was sleeping and came out very scared. "Mom, Dad stopped breathing for a few seconds when I was in there. Is he ok? Does that happen a lot?" Well, actually son, yes it does, several times a night. I was either awakened by his outrageously loud snoring, or by the silence, far more horrifying, of him not breathing. Do I nudge him and risk waking him up,? His sleep is so restless, I hate to disturb him. Will he wake up? Then the sharp realization that he was not breathing would alert his body and he would gasp for air and resume snoring. He slept late nearly every day. We blamed it on his work schedule or late nights chatting or playing computer games. But deep down, I knew differently and I was afraid. Worried he would develop diabetes that is so prevelant in his family, afraid one night I would not be awake to nudge him so he could take a breath and I would wake up a widow. Occasionally I would share my concerns, but mostly I pushed my fears aside and continued to sleep the sleep of a new parent. Not fully asleep, always just at the edge of consiousness, just in case I was needed.

Andre' and I celebrated 15 wonderful years of marriage last August. We were able to get away for a night and his incredible mom kept the kiddos. We drove for hours, just talking, reminiscing, renewing our promises to one another. In the course of our conversations I shared what Preston had witnessed just days before we left. It was as if a light clicked - he realized I was not making this up, and he had frightened his son. It was time to make some changes.

I am so proud of him! It has been a challenge to put aside our favorite junk foods and start feeding our family healthier - and we are not perfect, but I would say we have made a ton of progress! Congratulations Andre'! You did good babe!

Before - taken June 2007

After - Taken April 20, 2008

We both sleep easier now! His sleep apnea is completely gone. He does not snore! He wakes up refreshed and energetic, ready for a new day. And I am not afraid.

Andre', Thank you honey, for taking such good care of the man I love. Yours, Jes

The lady on the phone made me feel so important. My opinion was needed to provide better television programming - at least that is the gist of what I heard over the constant hum of noise that is ever present in the background of our home. I would watch a new sitcom "Rocky LaPorte" and fill out a questionnaire expressing my thoughts on the show. "Be sure to watch on Monday night and be available to answer some questions Tuesday afternoon when we call you."

OK, no biggie, watch a flick, answer some questions, chat on the phone a bit and win $100. Not exactly. Here is really what happened. The packet arrived Monday afternoon, I put aside schoolwork to look over the information. I was instructed to fill out a booklet noting my favorite brands of several different products before watching the show. Check - I filled it out and went about finishing school and beginning dinner.

After dinner the kids and I settled down to watch the program. It was mind-numingly bad. Kinda like your typical sitcom, dad is a dolt, mom is hard-working, teenage daughter has an attitude, young son is smart but looked down on and felt sorry for bc he is a geek. And there were the commercials. Which is REALLY what the survey was about. The show was a front to get me to watch the commercials -which could not be fast forwarded (we tried). I filled out the questionnaire about the show (one page - they were not interested in my answers!) I filled out the second packet of "Which product do you like most". Ah hah, I am on to you now Mr. Survey Taker Guy - I am no dummy, the second list was similar to the first, the products that stayed the same were the ones I just watched a commercial for. But guess what, your tricky ad shinanigins will not work on me - I know what I like. So far I have spent a little over an hour dealing with this survey.

Tuesday afternoon. We have been interrupted so many times by the phone (I know don't answer it - sigh - so tough for me!) and kids who did not want to cooperate and a 2yr old who did. not. want. to. nap. And now it was 3pm and the baby needs to get up from the nap she finally took, and the boys are running in and out of the house with their toy weapons shouting like banshees, and the girl needs help with her math, and the teenager does not understand his science questions. And I am on the phone with Mr. Survey Taker Guy. We have been chatting for 30mins. I have answered no less than 900 questions. 600 of the questions were dealing with a baked bean commercial (I am having a sneaky suspicion this guy works for the bean company). My blood pressure is rising. I ask Mr. Survey if we were going to chat about each of the commercials in equal depth. He assures me he does not know. I smile and tell him that is because noone will stay on the phone long enough for him to finish his job. I have the best of intentions, I really want to finish this, I like to complete things. So we continue - another 50 questions about baked beans - this is really getting old mister.

Chaos is swirling around me. I open my mouth to correct the children and remind them that "Mommy is on the phone darling - stop shouting and attacking your brother, no baby girl - do not go outside alone - hang on Cici I will be off in a bit...." But instead of the above I ask Mr. Survey "What is the most important thing?" He is silent. I continue, "My children are the most important thing right now, I hope your next call is to someone who has time to finish the survey and does not need to tend to a bunch of children. Have a great day." He stayed silent. I hung up.

And it felt so good! I will not be held hostage by other peoples demands on my time. My family is too important. Especially when the "prize" is actually a drawing for $100 in coupons and discounts on my 18 favorite products. And he never did ask me ONE question about Rocky LaPorte.

So what are you being distracted by? The phone, the latest curriculum catalog, Oprah or Dr. Phil, useless surveys? I am going to take care of what is the most important thing and let the other things go. How about you?

Our sweet Catherine, the beautiful ballerina, has been benched for the rest of the year. Turns out BOTH ankles are injured in the same way ~ weird huh, only one of mine could've managed that! The x-rays show there is a chip missing from the interior bone on both ankles. She is in a cast on the right foot and will wear that for 4 weeks. After the cast she has to wear a boot for several weeks as we watch and pray that the bone will grow back properly.

We are just watching the left ankle right now (couldn't very well cast em both!  she is having enough trouble getting around with just one, sweetie keeps kicking herself in the back of her left leg with the cast) Hopefully, now that she is not dancing both ankles will heal. Ya know no more 'grande-jetes' and 'pas de chats' or whatever else she did.... However she did tell me earlier tonight that the left ankle is bothering her like the right one was before she got her cast.

Meanwhile, she is having a great time getting all her friends to sign her cast and can't wait to go to dance to visit (and have them sign!)

So if you think of her, please remember her in your prayers. We are both pretty bummed about her not being in ballet anymore. Although, we are enjoying our free afternoons, she was dancing 3 days a week, and now at class time we are free ~ blessedly free! We are praying for the casting to work completely and for both ankle bones to grow back like they should ~ because if they don't she will be looking at surgery.

In other news, our Homeschool Co-op ends next week, which is always bittersweet. While we will miss meeting with our friends and going to such great classes each week, we will enjoy not having to rush out of the house right after lunch on Tuesday's.

 My week seems to be emptying of the rush it has been all school year. We were out of the house every afternoon for something or another, and now all but one of these activities has ended. Feels almost surreal. It really has been nice. I actually sat down and created a menu for the first time since about September! And I have been home to actually COOK - standard fare this year has been me standing in the kitchen with glazed eyes about 5 or 6ish wondering what I can throw together or worse, calling Andre' and asking him where he wants to eat!!!

I am beginning to feel like a HOMEschool mom again, and it is very sweet.

I saw this warning at the Sonlight Forums and had to pass it on to you dear ladies, be aware - this may have happened to you and you did not even realize it. Scary...

THEFT WARNING FOR WOMEN

Most of you have read the scare-mail about the person whose kidneys were stolen while he was passed out. Well, read on. While the kidney story was an urban legend, this one is not. It's happening every day.

My thighs were stolen from me during the night a few years ago. It was just that quick. I went to sleep in my body and woke up with someone else's thighs. The new ones had the texture of cooked oatmeal. Who would have done such a cruel thing to legs that had been mine for years? Whose thighs were these and what happened to mine? Hurt and angry, I resigned myself to living out my life in jeans and Sheer Energy pantyhose. Then, just when my guard was down, the thieves struck again. My butt was next. I knew it was the same gang, because they took pains to match my new rear end to the thighs they stuck me with earlier. I couldn't believe that my new butt was attached at least three inches lower than my original. Now, my rear complemented my legs, lump for lump. Frantic, I prayed that long skirts would stay in fashion.

It was two years ago when I realized my arms had been switched. One morning I was fixing my hair and I watched horrified but fascinated as the flesh of my upper arms swung to and fro with the motion of the hairbrush.

This was really getting scary. My body was being replaced one section at a time. How clever and fiendish. Age? Age had nothing to do with it. Age is supposed to creep up, unnoticed, something like maturity. NO, I was being attacked repeatedly and without warning. In despair, I gave up my T-shirts. What could they do to me next?

My poor neck suddenly disappeared faster than the Thanksgiving turkey it now resembled. That's why I decided to tell my story. I can't take on the medical profession by myself. Women of the world, WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE! That really isn't plastic that those surgeons are using. You KNOW where they are getting those replacement parts, don't you? The next time you suspect someone has had a face "lifted," look again. Was it lifted from you? I think I finally found my thighs, and I hope that Cindy Crawford paid a really good price for them!

This is not a hoax! This is happening to women in every town every night! WARN YOUR FRIENDS!

P.S. I must say that last year I thought someone had stolen my breasts. I was lying in bed and they were gone! As I jumped out of bed, I was relieved to see that they had just been hiding in my armpits as I slept. Now I keep them hidden in my waistband.

I lost a dear friend of the family a couple of weeks ago. She had been with me since our oldest was four. Sweet Mrs. Roper served our family daily for the last 12 years, making sure all of our whites were white and our colors were bright while her dear honey Mr. Roper dried everything to a fluffy softness. He passed away two years ago and nice old Ken More moved in to help out Mrs. Roper with the chores her honey used to take care of. But alas she has gone on also, although she is not too far away - she has been sitting in our back yard since her passing.

After Mrs. Roper moved to the backyard I decided to be creative. Surely her job was not that difficult. A little water, a little soap, agitate it, rinse and maybe rinse again, ring it out and send it on to Ken. Humph, she has been fooling me! I filled the tub with hot water and a little Sweet Pea bath soap, tossed in some socks and undies, added a couple of young boys to agitate the clothes (I figured they agitate me enough...) and left to fix dinner. Lets just say young boys do not do the same job as dear old Mrs. Roper!!! But on the up side, the bathroom floor got a well needed mopping! So I removed the boys, drained the clothes and rinsed them - FIVE times! I still had soap in em. And the socks were still grungy, so I ran the hot water again, added powdered bleach and detergent to the sock soup and tried to hand wash the suckers. Two hours and three busted knuckles later I gave up, rinsed everything one last time, called in the resident hero (aka dh Andre') and he wrung everything out. I tossed the wet things into the dryer (aka Ken More) and crossed my fingers. Another hour later and Ken delivered dingy dirty dry socks and undies. So much for nostalgia and the good ole days!

Ken More was delighted to meet Miss Roper and the two of them got right to work on Mt. Washmore which has invaded our home since Mrs. Roper passed away. Miss Roper welcomed the dingy socks and cup of bleach and sweetly delivered the whitest socks this house has seen in years! I will miss my dear friend, but her replacement is making the transition much easier!!

Guess what I got for Christmas? Aint she purty!

Sure beats last years gift...

 A radiator for my van (yep the van that kicked the royal bucket 4 months later...) I am sure Miss Roper will be with us much longer than that silly radiator was - and she was half the price!!

Enquiring minds asked to know, so here is the famous (at least in my family) Frog Story.

I am a firm believer that God has an incredible sense of humor - which is why He gave me four boys -the girl was an answer to prayer! And I do so love my boys, but they are so very different than me. They love all things creepy and crawly.

The Frog Story

I was a sweet young girl of nine tender years. Our family lived in a small rural town in south Louisiana on an acre of land. Back in those days I thought an entire acre was just about as much land as a family could hope to live on, ahh sweet youth.

Although I was throughly a girl my mother had been raised by a scientist and an artist. My scientist grandfather kept venemous snakes in the family basement, he milked them for the venom. I never got to meet this amazing man, as he went to be with the Lord when my mom was a girl herself. But mom remembered her daddy's snakes and raised us to enjoy the slippery serpants.

Which is why this girly girl at the tender age of nine, had a pet snake in her room. Yep, me, a real live pet snake. (No son you may not! You see I do not have my mothers affection for the creepy crawlies, maybe your grandma will let you keep one at her house )

I kept my snake in a ten gallon aquarium on my dresser and fed it little tree frogs that I would catch in our yard. For your information, if you are into hunting tree frogs, the best place to find them in the daytime is the inside of the top pole of the swing set (you know, where the plastic safety plug is supposed to go - ours was lost - or never put on - or maybe that is a trendy 21st century saftey device) whatever the case, it was the best spot to find a little frog to feed my snake.

Now any of you who are familiar with serpents will know they do not eat often. I had placed a frog in with the snake and they lived happily together for several days. Until that fateful night. At four or so in the morning I awakened to the most horrid scream I had ever heard. Someone was being murdered, in my room. Calling out to my parents from under the covers, I was so very afraid! I am sure I woke the entire house with my wailing. My parents ran to my rescue, flipped on the lights and we saw... the poor frog being eaten alive. The snake had grabbed him by his back leg and was happily munching (do snakes munch?) and the little guy was actually screaming bloody murder. A frog screaming is a most frightful thing for a sweet little girl to hear at four in the morning.

And to this day, I am afraid of frogs. I know it is the snake I should have a problem with, but HE did not wake me up screaming! I will jump and scream when I see a frog or toad and walk far out of the way so that we will not cross the same path. I cannot imagine the horror of having one touch me. I really am concerned that they all have it out for me and will jump on me if given the chance. I know this is silly, but its ok to be silly sometimes isn't it? And my boys know this story - and they love to tease me.

Btw, my pet snake was released to the wild the very next day - there was NO WAY I was ever going to catch another frog to feed him!

So now that you are laughing at how ridiculous I am, are you brave enough to share your silly fear?

I've been tagged for the first time in my blogging life by Icecastle.  I have to write seven weird things about myself.  Well, I have to come up with seven weird things about myself that I am willing to share.  That narrows it down quite a bit!

The rules are as follows:

Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.

Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.

Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.

Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

OK, here it goes.

1.  I grind my teeth when I sleep. My poor dh! (at least I don't snore too!!)

2.  I must have obnoxious amounts of cream and sugar in my coffee, no matter what kind of coffee I
     happen to be drinking. (me too Icecastle)

3.  I do not, EVER use onions in my kitchen. I have bought 3, by force, in my 15 yrs of marriage! Blech!

4.  I purchased my first coffee pot ever about a month ago. Now I am real grown up! (which I cannot use right now bc Cuyler broke it when he was supposed to be washing dishes and instead was trying to make coffee  thanks kid!)

5.  I hide chocolate chip cookies from my children so I can have them all.

6.  I have a rule that when travelling we may not eat at any place we can eat at near home.

7.  I have a very real fear of frogs and toads. There is a story....

Here are the people I am tagging:

mamaclsn

cahanbury

diamonds in the rough

pretzel family

teaching 2 sons

peaceandnoise4Him

camillaanderson

A friend sent this to me and I thought it was funny - *warning* this story is rated PG-13! Send the kids out before reading cuz they will wonder what is so funny!

I was able to purchase a deluxe model from the fifth floor - he has gotten much better as the years progress. I definately see this as a worthy investment with great returns!

The Husband Store

A store that sells new husbands has just opened in New York City, where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates:

You may visit this store ONLY ONCE! There are six floors and the value of the products increase as the shopper ascends the flights. The shopper may choose any item from a particular floor, or may choose to go up to the next floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building!

So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband. On the first floor the sign on the door reads:

Floor 1 - These men Have Jobs.

She is intrigued, but continues to the second floor, where the sign reads:

Floor 2 - These men Have Jobs and Love Kids.

"That's nice", she thinks, "but I want more."

So she continues upward. The third floor sign reads:

Floor 3 - These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, and are Extremely Good Looking.

"Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going.

She goes to the fourth floor and the sign reads:

Floor 4 - These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Drop-dead Good Looking and Help With Housework.

"Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims, "I can hardly stand it!"

Still, she goes to the fifth floor and the sign reads:

Floor 5 - These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Drop-dead Gorgeous, Help with Housework, and Have a Strong Romantic Streak.

She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor, where the sign reads:

Floor 6 - You are visitor 31,456,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that some women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store.

PLEASE NOTE:

To avoid gender bias charges, the store's owner opened a New Wives store just across the street.

The first floor has wives that love *ahem* 'intimacy'.

The second floor has wives that love *ahem* 'intimacy' and have money.

The third, fourth, fifth and sixth floors have never been visited!

I did not write this - but it is my hearts cry! Enjoy.

Ever Feel Like This?