Thoughts About This Day

I haven't posted anything about today at church because it's hard to put into words all that I felt. I've procrastinated all day and now I'm tired. There's no hope of saying anything remotely eloquent now! I'll try anyway.....

It was a day full of so many emotions. I would have worn water proof mascara if I owned any, but as it was, I just had to be tough. I did pretty good. Esther made me cry as we talked about our girls and how they would miss each other. She handed me the notebook Julia was going to use when doing "school" with her little A. I remember so well moving when I was a child and how sad it always was to leave behind friends. No doubt, Julia will be fine and will probably be so excited about everything new and being there with her Gran and D that all the sad things will fade away, but it breaks my heart for her. And for her little friends. They are such a tight little bunch. I would love to see them actually grow up together. How cute would that be???

I didn't cry again until Pastor called John up to preach for the last time. That moment brought a rush of emotions. The slide show of pictures along with the music also brought tears until I realized how slow it went. That was annoying so I was able to stop crying. I for sure wasn't crying when the swimsuit calendar type picture of A and I came up on the screen. Anyone on our half of the sanctuary surely heard A exclaim, "Oh my Lord!" So thank you, Missy, for that little shock. Don't ever do that again! =)

So many people hugged us and spoke kind words. You realize just how much you care about people when you are saying goodbye to them. We were blessed beyond measure with cards and even some monetary gifts. We're so thankful for all of that. The beautiful picture Lana chose for us and the Bible were incredible too! I tried to put the picture up on my mantel but it wouldn't work. =( So it will have to wait until our next home to get hung. But I love it. And there are fresh flowers all over my house. It's probably not a bad problem to have so many flowers you're just not sure where to put them all.

It's surreal that this chapter of our lives could really be closing. Seven years is so very long and so very quick all at the same time. We've done some things great and some things horribly. You learn a lot in seven years, that's for sure.

We're so excited about the new things we get to start soon. It's an incredible feeling to know that you are smack dab in the center of what God has planned for you. The peace and joy and sheer contentment are beyond compare. I have some scriptures that have been carrying me through what has been quite the roller coaster ride lately. I'll share them in a later post.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this a special day for us. It was the perfect day that will stay a sweet memory in our hearts forever. Thank you, Lana, for taking pictures and for the beautiful gifts. We will never forget our family in San Angelo........

Easy Street

The huge leftover cake was sent home with us today from church. It was sitting on our fooseball table in the box and wrapped in saran wrap as well. John was leaving to go hang out with Jeremy and decided to take cake with him. "Just take the whole box," I told him. "No, that's too much trouble," was his reply.

• He proceeded to go to the kitchen and get a cookie sheet.
  
• He then meticulously lined the sheet with foil.
  
• Then he got a butcher knife and cut the cake in half.
  
• It was not easy getting half of the leftover cake onto a cookie sheet, but after a bit of a struggle, he managed it.
  
• Then he rewrapped the original cake. Next he wrapped the cake on the cookie sheet.
  
• Then he noticed that he spilled crumbs on the floor doing all this so he got out the vacuum and vacuumed them up.
  
• Since he already had the vacuum out, he did the rest of the den.
  
• He wrapped the cord as only a perfectionist would and put the vacuum away.

Presto! Easy as pie (or should I say cake) he was ready to go.

Can someone please tell me why in the world all of that was easier than just taking the whole thing??????? He is such a funny, funny man! =)

Little Miss Chievous

A little while ago, I went to see exactly what Aulora was doing since she was being quiet. She was supposed to be playing with the toys in her closet (No, I do not shut her in there. I open the door wide for her to go in and play.) As I peeked in her room, this is what I found.....

She knew I was standing there, but did not want to turn and look at me. She turned her head and looked out of the corner of her eyes but that was it. She then slowly started picking up all the wet wipes she had gotten out and putting them back in the container, keeping an eye on where I was the whole time.

She wasn't quite sure if she should be playing or not
as I was standing there looking down on her.

Once she saw that I wasn't mad, she was smiling again and showing me her mess. How could I get mad at such a cute little face???

John David's New Love

My son has a strange obsession. It all started when we went to Lin's Chinese Buffet a couple of weeks ago for the first time. He was ecstatic to see that there were crab legs on the buffet. So all through lunch we had to have crab legs walking around the table and trying to crawl on our arms. It was funny and amusing.

Later that day, we were all relaxing at home and I kept smelling a horrible smell. We had a guest over who was using the restroom so I figured it was coming from there. I got out the air freshner and sprayed as much as I could before the guest came out of the bathroom. It didn't help much. This smell was just GROSS.

Church was that night so we all got ready and headed up there. Afterwards, I was talking to John David's JBQ teacher about the night. She was laughing as she explained that during their practice, her husband noticed John David kept offering the other kids something to eat. Come to find out, he had tucked that crab leg in his pocket and taken it to church with him. He got hungry and proceeded to pull out crab meat to eat. I don't think his friends were very impressed as they didn't want any.

It was about that moment, as he was proudly pulling that crab leg out of his pocket to confirm his teacher's story, that I recognized the terrible smell from earlier at home. Do you realize how horribly nasty crab legs smell? Especially as they sit longer and longer at room temperature? It was so awful.

Last night we ate at Lin's again. John David put crab legs on his plate again. The crab legs tried to crawl on me again. And once again, one crab leg made its way out of the restaurant and into our van, where the stench made me sick to my stomach. He put it in the freezer and he's planning on taking it to school on Friday for show and tell. His poor, poor teacher........

The Perfect Oil Change

Usually, we go to Wally World to get the oil changed. Sometimes it's fast, sometimes it's not. Today the van needed gas, a wash, and an oil change though, so we went to Town and Country Total Car Care. What a great thing! For $29.99 you get an oil change and the best car wash package. Plus, you get to wait in the nice waiting area that has the playground for your kids and they give you cards for free drinks too! Also, you can save up to 10 gas receipts for up to $10 off your oil change. That makes it only $19.99 - the same price as Wally World.

I was happy. My kids were very happy. And I didn't have to go to Wally World - again. Love, love, love it.........

No, Town and Country did not pay me to advertise for them. =)

See You Later Bad Grade

Well, after fighting the urge to respond in the parent's comment portion of the progress report with "Interesting Teacher", I expressed my concern over a couple of things. The main one being the spelling grade. His grade was a 70 and he can always spell his words perfectly. I figured out that they were counted incorrect if the cursive wasn't perfect. It seems unfair to dock his spelling grade for that instead of his handwriting grade. I suggested that she at least let them take the test in cursive and print so she could see if they did indeed know how to spell the words. She liked that idea, especially since he's by far not the only child who hasn't mastered cursive. (Hello? What first grader has mastered cursive anyway???)

Guess what his spelling test score was today??? 110! He would have had a 70 except that she had him come up and orally spell the 4 words that would have otherwise been wrong. He also spelled a bonus word correctly that they hadn't studied and only 3 other kids in the whole class got it. I told ya' - he's a smart boy. (And in his defense, his cursive isn't even that bad. He just has trouble with b's and there have been a lot of b words lately.)

Plus, he had happy faces every day this week except for yesterday. He got his name on the board because when it was lunch time he made a little trumpet with his hands to announce it. His teacher apparently thought that was not appropriate. It just made me laugh. =) Don't worry, I didn't tell him that......

Just to clarify for those of you who have posted comments - he is not at a public school. He's in a Christian school and his teacher is a Christian lady. She does only have one child though and it's a teenage daughter. I think everyone should have at least one very creative, energetic son. It develops great patience and understanding. And it's lots of fun!

Early to Bed

The kids were all in bed by 7:50 last night and we were in bed at 8:30! I would have been in bed by 8:00 but I wanted to use my new shower again. Oh my goodness is all I can say. We didn't go to sleep right away since so many new shows have started this week and we had already recorded some. So we watched 2 of our favorites and then I closed my eyes and went to sleep. It was heaven.....

Memories.....

Tonight was our last youth service. It's still fresh in my mind so it's sweet yet painful. I wanted to capture my thoughts before I forget them.

We have so many memories - some bad, but most of them good. We got to see 2 whole classes all the way from 7th grade to 12th grade. It's hard to leave some of them at the beginning of their senior year.

Tonight, we had one last time of praise and worship together. Of course, we sang Montana (I think that's how it's spelled) - the spanish song about how our faith can move mountains and everyone gets to dance. How many years have we done that song??? And we did History Maker, which now holds new meaning since it talks about being a speaker of truth to all mankind. We're on a mission to be truth speakers, you know.

Jeremy Lopez spoke some encouraging things to the teens. Then they were supposed to have a roast, but I don't think any of those teenagers were old enough to know what a roast is. So instead, they all ended up speaking loving words, special memories, funny stories, and reasons why they loved Pastor John so much. I know he's not perfect - he knows that too - but he really does love those kids. And they know it too. It was hard not to cry as big teenage boys got up and spoke about how they had never had a father figure in their life until they met John. Or when a girl would say that he was the reason they started coming back to church. And it was amazing how big a role fine arts played in so many of their lives. I don't think we even realized it at the time.

I hate goodbyes and I wish we could just skip all of this part really. The hugs are good and you want some last memories, but it hurts too much. Part of me just wants to pack it up and go right now so all of this hard part can be over.

I can't imagine what our lives would be like if not for these seven wonderful years we've had here with our "kids". They've frustrated and exasperated us time and time again, but eventually it's always worth it when you see what wonderful people they become. Not that we get to take all that credit. Some of them have parents that played a big role (although it's sad how many of them do not have parents that are involved in their lives) and of course there's God. But just to know that we had some part of what they have become and are still becoming is a good feeling.

Ministry is so hard. Lots of times it stinks. The money's not great and the hours are ridiculous many times. People are always at your door or on your phone. You're not allowed to be human, and if you are then people are offended. Then there's the people who don't think they can be your friends because you're the high and mighty, holy and anointed youth pastors. (Ok, that's just funny. Do you know what youth pastors do? Have you seen the games we play???) The point is, it's not easy. BUT....

I wouldn't trade these seven years for anything else. We have grown. We have found beautiful friendships. God has blessed us in so many ways that it's hard to even think about the hardships of it all. It's so worth all of it. John has said for seven years that he has the best job in the world. I often just looked at him like he was smoking crack. But he was right. We really did have the best job in the world. What wonderful memories we're taking with us.......

Progress Report

I am so incredibly frustrated, aggravated, and upset right now. I should probably take a few minutes to calm down, but blogging is how I'm going to calm down this time.

I just picked up John David from school and in his folder was his progress report. Now, I'm not stupid or naive - I don't expect that he will come home with glowing reports on everything and 100's in every subject, but this is getting ridiculous. He's making an 80 in reading. Have you heard my child read? His teacher has even commented on what an amazing reader he is for his age. We do his reading homework every night too, so what in the world is that about? And a 70 in spelling. He's never made less than an 80 on a test and we turn in his spelling practice sheet every day. I just don't understand the low grades when we do homework and the papers he brings home are 80 or above - usually in the high 90's.

Then, what really ticks me off is the comment the teacher left in the space provided. "Interesting child." That's it. Even when a child is horrible, aren't you supposed to come up with something nice to say? And good grief, my child is not horrible. His name has only gone on the board once or twice in the last 2 weeks.

If we were staying here the rest of the year, I would have already scheduled a conference with his teacher to see what's going on. As it is, I really just want to pull him out after this week and homeschool for one month until we move.

I don't want to be one of those parents who has an awful child but doesn't even know it. I'm perfectly aware that his behavior isn't always pristine, but I just keep thinking to myself - Is he really THAT bad? If he were that bad wouldn't he be going to the office or at least getting his name on the board? I just don't get it. I want my son to have a teacher who thinks more highly of him than, "Man, that child is interesting."

I truly hope that we will find a better school situation when we move.....

Terrorist Julia Strikes Again

Don't be fooled by the cute little exterior of our second child. She is sweet as can be, but boy is she mischievous. John David has been working for hours almost everyday building his lego sets. They are his pride and joy. He is halfway to his goal of being a "lego champion" according to him. (You can't really be a champion until you are at least 9 years old because then you can build any of the sets, don't you know.)

Every night, whatever he has built gets set on the top of his bookshelf beside the bunk beds. The bookshelf isn't too very tall so it's accessible to Julia as well. After I put her in bed on Monday night, she apparently got up and got his lego creations. She then proceeded to play with them and sleep with them. Poor John David. The next morning was not pleasant when he discovered what she had done. Most of his efforts were now strewn in pieces about Julia's blankets. He was very certain to make sure that if she did that again, she would have a spanking. Luckily for her, she did not repeat her skunkiness last night. I think I instilled some fear in her. =)

My Special Friend

Once again, my friend has proven just how wonderful she is. A showed up at my door today with a great big beautiful Yankee candle - no doubt the exact one I would have chosen myself (except only bigger because I'm cheap!). So my house is, in my opinion, quite perfect now. Beautiful, clean, uncluttered, and a wonderfully scented Yankee candle burning away. I love it! I'm sure that people will be offering us at least $10,000 more just because of that candle. =) I can dream can't I?

She made me cry too when she told me how she shared with her son today that we would be moving. He's a smart little man and knew what questions to ask. She had to tell him that he wouldn't get to see us very often. So when they bought our candle at the store, they bought the same one for themselves. That way, whenever he or his sister miss us, they can light their candle and think about us. How was I not supposed to cry when I heard THAT???

BTW, the scent is Autumn Wreath. Thanks, Cassandra, for the great tip. =) It's perfect!

Long Time, No Post

I know you probably thought I was dead since it had been so long since I posted. Usually, I post everyday, if not multiple times a day. Writing blogs just had to move down on my list of priorities for awhile. Too many other things to do......

I think everyone knows by now that we are moving. That's been the main reason for the hectic pace of life lately. Getting a house ready to sell, taking care of kids, preparing for a retreat, and then going on a retreat has left time for little else. But, the retreat is over (and was wonderful I might add - more on that as I have time) and as of last night, our house is officially for sale. The sign is in the yard.


The sign in sheet is on the bar. Right now it's beside a little candle, but I'm planning on getting a yummy Yankee candle today. I love Yankee! I'm already looking forward to choosing the scent. Of course, my choice is always hampered by the color. The color has to match my house.



Then there's the shower in our bathroom. I'm waiting for the plumber to return to finish one last part, but it's mostly done. I haven't cleaned it really good and shined it up since the dirty plumber will soon be standing in there again, but I'm already enjoying the new look. I really should have taken some before pictures so you could fully appreciate it too, but I was honestly too embarrassed to have anyone see what it looked like before. It wasn't pretty. And although I would have loved to have totally replaced the tub and all the tile, it didn't make sense since we were going to be moving soon. So this was a much cost friendlier alternative that looks nice. Just ignore the cloudiness of the tile. I promise - it will look awesome.


I think we currently have about 7 boxes with which to move. We did have a very large garage sale in August, but I'm still thinking we might need more than 7 boxes. I don't think that would even hold half of the toys our kids have. =) Sooooo, if anyone has boxes they don't need let me know! I'll happily take them off your hands for you. I'm trying to stay away from banana boxes as they don't have solid lids or bottoms and many boxes may have to go to storage for a time. Other than that, I'm not picky. Let the boxes flow!!!

Does anyone know how incredibly fun it's going to be to keep my house spotlessly clean with 3 kids running/crawling around? And I can't wait for that first call to come right when nap time has started and we have to get out of the house. Yes, it's going to be fun. So fun, in fact, that we're praying for an offer within a week. I felt much more confident after the group of realtors walked through a little while ago and were saying to each other how nice it was and that it shouldn't last long at all. I know my house isn't perfect, but it is nice and pretty and big. I would buy it (obviously). So there it is in type - what we are believing God to do. An offer within a week. That means by next Tuesday. Expect to see a picture of the sold sign in the yard. =)

Fall Sale

The Just Between Friends sale is coming back next month. The spring sale was ok - not too great because word just hadn't got out enough. (I'm not going to complain though because I made lots of money on that one!) Check out the website to get all the details. I'm getting tubs and tubs of stuff ready for this sale. If you know of a mom who's having a baby girl, I can tell you that she will not want to miss this stuff. I bought soooo many pretty boutique things for my girls and now it's time to say goodbye to it all. =( Stuff I'm taking is mostly sizes 0-6 months with a few exceptions.


http://sanangelo.jbfsale.com/


She's Gone

My sweet Julia just left with her grandma and great grandma to go on a short trip and then back to their home. I'm sad. My house is quiet since Aulora is napping and John David is at school, but I'm still sad. I have things I could and should be doing but I just keep sitting at my computer thinking about how much I will miss her this week. I won't see her again until after the retreat! At least I have 2 other babies to love on. =)

Birthday Pictures Are Finally Here!

All By Himself

John David got 3 sets of Star Wars Legos at the family birthday party this past weekend. He was soooo excited about them! Most of the cool sets are for ages 7 and up so he's been waiting for his 7th birthday for a long time. We taught him that he can't have a set unless he meets the age requirements, mainly so we don't end up spending hours doing the sets for him.

At the beginning of the week he started his first set. Several times he asked for help, but we kept encouraging him and telling him that he could do it. And he did! He was so proud when he finished it a couple of nights ago. He has spent hours on end working on this creation and I'm pretty impressed that he followed the directions and built it correctly without help. His goal is to be a "lego champion" just like Daddy was when he was little. =)

First Spelling Test

Along with first grade comes spelling tests. John David is an excellent reader and a great speller. If he only had to take an oral test or even print the words he would do fine. But he has to take his test in cursive. Cursive is the thorn in his side this year like nap time was last year. "I just hate cursive!" he says. I try to encourage him and talk about the good parts of writing in courage, but a first grade boy just doesn't really appreciate all of those things.

Here is his test he took last Friday. He only got an 80 even though he could spell every single one of those words in his sleep.





He missed the word "bus" because his cursive u just wasn't quite readable. He also missed the word "a". That one's a mystery since we laughed last week about what an "easy-peasy" word that was to spell. I just laughed when he spelled "a" with a "u". Poor baby. Cursive really is stinky to learn.

Tonight, we had a practice test for tomorrow. Hopefully he'll get 100.....

She Caught On

Julia's new response when John David tries to bribe her with barbies for her birthday is, "You don't even have any money for barbies." And this reply is always accompanied by a big smile - she's proud that she figured him out. So there you have it. She got smart and now Mr. Big Shot will have to think of a new way to keep his little sister in line.

The Wet Nerf Ball

One of the kids' favorite things to do is play football in the living room with Daddy. They get out the nerf ball and make teams and name the teams too. One night Daddy was on a team by himself and his team name was "The Worms" (even though he was only one worm). They thought that was hilarious. That same night the competition was named the Ballerinas. I have no idea how that came about since John David was on that team along with Julia. But he embraced it and even showed Julia how to do a ballet dance to celebrate. Very unlike him and his little manly self.

A few nights ago they decided to play for a few minutes before bedtime. The ball was outside though and it had been raining that day. John David tried drying it off but it's Nerf so it had absorbed water. So Daddy thought it would be a good idea to put it in the microwave. I asked him not to just because who knows what a Nerf ball might do in there. But he assured me that nothing would happen. I suppose this would be much more interesting to read if it had blown up or melted into a purple and blue puddle, but it didn't. It just turned around and around as all three of them stood in front of the microwave and laughed their heads off. It was the greatest entertainment they ever had in this house. I didn't think the ball in the microwave was particularly funny, but watching them hoot and holler was most definitely funny.

Just a nice memory I didn't want to forget. =)

A Long Time Coming

I'm super excited to say that this morning my tv was finally hung! I would say "new" tv but we've had it since December just sitting in our den, not being used. Yes, I said not being used. My brother offered several times to take it off our hands for us, but I turned him down. Isn't he so kind? We kept putting off hanging it because we were house shopping and didn't want to hang a tv in a house we were about to sell. But, we've decided to stay here in our house so up it went. I'd like to say that my extremely handy husband did it, but life is a little too busy for him right now. So I called up my favorite new handy man, Jose, and he came right over. He and his friends even put in an electric outlet behind the tv so there would be no cords hanging out. Now I just have to wait for the cable man to come hook us up.

You can look forward to pictures of me laying on my bed enjoying this new hunk of luxury. It's going to be great. =)

I have to add that this is such a far cry from where we started out in our marriage. When we first married in July of '99, we decided to not have a tv. We thought that would be best for our relationship. After a few months, a brought home my little 6 inch black and white tv from my parents' house to watch the news on. When we moved to SA, John's grandparents gave us an old color tv that was about 19 inches. We had to get basic cable so we could pick up some channels. Then a year or so later, we got a 32 inch tv for Christmas from John's parents. Along with that came the intense desire for a few more channels. We got complete basic cable. Very nice. Sometime along the way I figured out that for about the same amount of money, we could get Dish network with DVR, so we changed to that. Then last Christmas, we got this little baby. And now we're putting it in our bedroom! Something we said we'd never do! But after 8 years of marriage I think the rules change just a little.

We do have 3, almost 4, kids you know. I think the rules need to change........=)

Aulora's Special Birthday Treat

Aulora thought it quite wrong that even though she had a birthday cake on Saturday, we did not have one yesterday for her actual birthday. She took matters into her own hands by scavenging in the trash can. Julia had thrown away a half eaten rice krispie treat without my knowledge. Aulora found it and was very happy about it. Here's a picture of her after she had pulled out her hair bow and covered herself in sticky trash can dessert. Yummmmmmm.

Happy Birthday, Aulora Grace!

Happy Birthday Aulora Grace!

It's hard for me to grasp that a whole year has already come and gone. What an angel we have been blessed with. Sweet and beautiful inside and out. Aulora, we will always love you with all of our hearts! You are absolutely our precious little girl! Having a birthday on September 11th brings to life the words, "You make me happy when skies are gray."

No one could love you the way that we do
Mommy and Daddy too
We'll never leave you
We'll always be here
And you will always be ours.
We love you, we love you,
Aulora our Doll.
How we love you, we love you,
For now and forever
You are forever our Doll.

Playing House

Today is our big family birthday lunch for Aulora as well as John David and Julia too. I figured it would be easier to have one big gathering for all 3 so the family wouldn't all have to make the trip 2 more times. So everyone came in last night at different times and all but John's grandmother are staying in a hotel. John David and Julia spent the night there too, so my house is super quiet this morning. It's 9:30 and I'm the only one awake. How lovely.

In preparing for this meal, I'm reminded how much fun it is to be a hostess. I think so anyway. I would do it more often if not for being so busy with kids. It's fun to set a table pretty and to make sure you've thought of every little thing. Having the house clean, dressing nicely, making yummy (hopefully!) food, and having all the family here. I feel like I'm playing house sometimes. Could I really already be this old (no comments Meems)? Growing up must have been sooo fun because the time really did just fly by. It's amazing that here I am with my own house and 3, soon to be 4, real babies to take care of. Life is just wonderful. =)

School of Discipline (as taught by John David)

John David has figured out a way to get Julia to do just about anything he wants. Or to stop doing anything he wants. He just tells her, "I'll get you barbies for your birthday!" or "No barbies for you!". She immediately falls into line. I know I should make him stop, but it's just too funny. You have to wonder when Julia is going to catch on.

Maybe I should try this technique too.....



just kidding.......

What a Day.....

Today was jammed full of too many things to try and make a post about it all. So bullet points it is.........

• took John David to school late and had to pick him up early yesterday because he wasn't felling well
• he still had a fever today when I woke him up for school so he stayed home.
  
• Asked Julia if she was hungry yet. Did she want her ham? No, she's not hungry.
  
• did some housework then took all 3 kids to Lowe's to buy new shower fixtures (I know that sounds like I'm a horrible mom but John David was still running around playing. He just had a fever so I couldn't take him to school.)
  
• Julia, are you hungry yet? No, not yet.
  
• came home and tried to finish the shower project. it wasn't as easy as we thought. Mr. waterman, please come turn the water back on because I can't fix it now after all.
• Oops! Turn it off, turn it off! Valve is broken and water is spewing all over my bathroom!
• Tracked down plumber to help
• Found Julia hiding in the cabinet eating cereal (this was around 2:00 so I know she was really hungry). Julia, let's eat your ham bite. No! She's still not hungry. I hold her down in my lap and force feed her anyway. She finally chewed and swallowed it. Then she promptly threw it up. Gross.
  
• Julia happily had breakfast. Finally.
• Took out about 15 bags of trash. While out on our trash ledge of death, I saw that the trash men hadn't picked up all of Monday's trash and some animals had strewn it all around.
  
• Plumber made the water stop spewing and showed me what to do to get the right supplies to actually complete the job (on another day - no more time now)
• While here, plumber notices that the pipe is not correctly on the gas water heater. Carbon Monoxide is filling our garage and coming into our house. Thank you Mr. plumber for saving our lives. Seriously.
• Locked John David and Julia in the den and taught piano lessons.
  
• They escaped.
  
• Took Julia to Rainbows (in the truck - no fun for many reasons)
• Brought John David and Aulora back home.
• Did yardwork and got eaten by mosquitoes.
  
• Fixed a falling apart a moire in the kids' room.
  
• Picked up Julia and was forced to have lots of church people see me looking and smelling less than desirable.
• Got evil look from Marme for the mean blog joke I played. =)
  
• Came home and fed kids pizza.
  
• Got them ready for bed and tucked in.
  
• That was almost 45 minutes ago. I just heard both of them in the living room. =(
• I'm tired and grumpy and stinky. I think I'll take a shower and go to bed.
  

Tonight's Enemy - Ham

For dinner tonight we had brown sugar ham, mashed potatoes, veggies, and rolls. It was yummy good. We all thought so except for, you guessed it, Julia. She did eat all of her potatoes. I'll give her that. But she was so not thrilled with the one little bite of ham that I placed on her plate for her to try. She stared at that ham. She poked at it. I think she even snarled at it.

After a while, I told her there was a party in her tummy. Then I made the ham start crying because it wanted to go to the party too. Boo hoo hoo. (Thanks A and Yo Gabba Gabba for this great trick. If only it worked.) As soon as that ham started crying, she took her roll and smothered the ham so it would be quiet. Obviously, the ham was not on the invite list for this party. Poor ham.

We told her she had to try a bite. Blah blah blah. (I don't want to sound like a broken record since I've posted about this before.) She finally got too tired and asked to go to bed. I told her she could but that ham would be for breakfast in the morning. I intend to stick to it too. What a lovely morning I know I'm going to have. Force feeding a 3 year old leftover ham. Don't you want to come???

What a Friend!

I have officially verified the fact that I have the most awesome friend I could ever ask for. I should have whipped out my camera and taken pictures so you could see for yourself. Today, A was doing some serious manual labor at my house. You should have seen her digging in a hole filled with dirt trying to find where to shut off my water. And then her big muscles were bulging as she took off my shower fixtures. She didn't even flinch when one of them came off and revealed some nasty stuff. I don't even know what it was and here she was scraping it off and spraying it down. What a friend. She saved me from spending a couple hundred dollars to pay a plumber to do this simple little job. It's not finished yet since I still have to go buy the new fixtures and install them, but she gave me the confidence to do this myself.

Thanks, friend, for your time, muscles, and know-how. You know so much and I usually feel plain dumb concerning these kind of things when I'm around you! I can't wait to get it finished and see how pretty it will look. Every time I take a shower and gaze upon my lovely fixtures I will fondly think of you......

Here We Go Again....

For Labor Day our family went to Abilene. We went there because John was registering at Hardin Simmons University for some classes. He figured out that with 2 more semesters of specific classes, he could get an additional degree - one in Philosophy. He's going to go to HSU because that's the only West Texas university that offers it.

It will amuse at least one of you (you know who you are), that he has to take 4 spanish classes. He is somewhat worried about it too, if you ask me. Hehehehehe. (If I was bilingual at all, I would say something amusing in spanish here.)

So there you have it - come May, my husband will have 2 undergrad degrees and 1 masters degree. I just have to remind him often that he is NOT smarter than me. Just more educated.


Although, I do have to admit, he probably is smarter than me. He's a hard one to beat. =)

My Head

Yesterday morning, I used a new shampoo. It was just a shampoo and conditioner in one by Herbal Essences. All was well until yesterday afternoon. My head started itching sooo bad! It only got worse as the day went on. After church I had to go to Walmart (yea). I was afraid everyone there would think I had lice because I was scratching my head so much. At home later, I asked John to please look to make sure I didn't have lice. I didn't. Thank you, Jesus. But what is wrong with my head???

This morning I tried using a dandruff shampoo in case that was the problem. But even as I used it my head was on fire from itching. So I washed with another shampoo. A tiny bit better for a little while, but not long. As I sit here typing, the only reason I'm not scratching my head is because my fingers are otherwise engaged. I really don't know what's wrong with me though. It's almost unbearable. I may need to make a dermatologist appointment tomorrow. Help!!!!!

Terrorist Julia

Julia really cracks me up. Every night, before John David goes to bed, he makes very sure he has his little dixie cup full of water right beside the bed. This is apparently very important to a 6 year old. Well, Julia knows how much he loves his water cup. Every night she waits until he has rolled over and then she sneaks into the bedroom and gets the water. (I should explain that they sleep in the same room but I space their bedtime by about 30 minutes to avoid problems.) Invariably, he rolls back over to get a drink and discovers that she has stolen his water. She's always sneaky about it and I never even notice that she's gone in there to get it. So here comes big grumpy John David demanding to know where his water has gone. And if you look over, you will always see little Julia smiling a big as can be from behind her new found dixie cup of water. It's just so funny to watch night after night. It never gets old to me.

The Note

We got a note from John David's teacher on Friday. I think she may have sent a note to each parent, but I don't know. The note explained how for the first few weeks of school she was getting to know the kids and basically being kind of lenient with the rules and discipline. Now she knows that, and I quote, "John David marches to the beat of a different drummer". She said he reads very well and she's impressed with that. But what the crud? I know that's teacher code for something like, "your child is soooo strange" or "your child really needs help".

So what am I supposed to do now? I seriously considered homeschooling yesterday. But then I'm afraid that might make the problem worse. He is just always so excited to be around other kids. Plus, he's a boy. He has energy! John just thinks he's really smart and he gets bored. I agree he's smart, but I think it comes down to self-control and attention span.

Either way, it's a discouraging thing when you want your child to do well so badly but it's not happening. He's a really good kid. He's very smart. Is he really the only 6 year old boy who has energy and trouble focusing for long periods of time? Our only thought for now (which we are implementing this week) is to not allow any tv or games on school days. He loves cartoons so this won't be easy for him. We're hoping that maybe we can encourage a longer attention span this way. Suggestions all you teachers???