Beauty is In The Eye of the Beholder...

Ben crawled up on my lap for some "mama lovin'" as we call it, and he noticed that I was looking out our sliding glass door. He said "Are ya lookin' at our beautiful flower garden?" I said sarcastically "Yeah, our beautiful dandelion garden." He said, "Well, they're beautiful."

You're right, Ben. You're so right.....

Baseball Season Begins!

Ben's baseball Jamorbee games were this weekend, so baseball season has officially begun!! The coach on the other team was quite gung ho, I must say - the parents on our team don't seem quite as serious. The other team has all their shirts tucked in, all with matching belts and socks. This league is Tball/modified coach pitch, and the other team always pitched to their kids. Their coach kept saying "No chatting out there! Get in running position! Let's see some bouncing feet!" In contrast, all of our kids' shirts were untucked, and they all hit off the tee. Our parents cheered for each kid, and were cracking up at all the funny errors they made....It was a pretty entertaining hour. All in all, Ben did a great job hitting. He hit the ball on his first try each time, and hit pretty decent....He played third base and left field, and did his best chasing those balls....He just looked so darn cute in his baseball pants and socks. And so manly looking when he kept adjusting his ballcap.....

Sweet Sixteen

Sixteen years ago, I was screaming my guts out in a military hospital, giving birth to a 7 pound 9 ounce baby girl we named Amanda Rose. Her name means "giver of love" and "worthy of love," both of which she has lived up to in many ways.......She has touched many hearts with her giving, loving, free spirit. She is an honest, hard-working, talented person who loves the Lord. She is a daughter to admire and be proud of......




Newborn


3 months




One year


Last night, Amanda celebrated her 16th birthday with her friends. We treated 10 girls to the movie "Invisible," and afterwards, they all came back to our house for pizza, snacks and hanging out. I'm so proud of Amanda for her choice in friends - what quality girls they all are...They had a fun time playing games, eating and then watched another movie....Amanda must have told all of her friends she wanted giftcards to the new store "Wet Seal," because she got a few!! I see much shopping in her future...

Visitor

Man - my life has seriously been in the fast lane these last couple of weeks. I have so many things I've been thinking about, that I want to post, but I have had NO time to do so! I'll try to catch up soon.....



Meanwhile, check out a little visitor we had in our yard today!!!





He is sleeping in an open bird feeder Melanie and I made for squirrels and large birds. I can't believe it's holding him up! Look how cute he is with his little head tucked under....






The poor guy just couldn't get comfy in his little bed. He tossed and turned all day. At one point, he stretched out his one arm and rested his chin on the top of the fence with the rest of his body in the feeder. Or, he would stick his hind leg straight out - with his toes stretching apart as he slept....He actually spent HOURS in this feeder. He was sleeping so soundly, he didn't even startle when I stomped my feet and called out "HEY! MR. RACCOON!!" I know. It was dorky.....Anyway, if he comes back tomorrow, we'll probably have to call animal control to relocate him, however.....I've heard raccoons are not good to have around the house - especially when we have a dog that would like to chase him....

Preview

I have so many things to share, but I'm so pooped, I'll have to share another day. I'll give you a preview though: I want to share our experience at the "Weekend to Remember" conference (good stuff); show some pics of all the spiffy things we did to our front yard/house; show pics of our bonus room that we are working on....Joe's been on vacation, and when he's on vacation, he tends to do a lot of things around the house (hence the yardwork and bonus room update), so I will show you his handiwork....He went back to work today, so it's kind of sad. I hate going back to scheduled life.....We had a good time together celebrating our 17th anniversary....His 38th birthday is coming up and get this - our daughter's 16th birthday is a couple of days after his!! She is turning the age I was when I met Joe. Weird to think about.....I'm going to post some things about her too, since it's so close to her birthday....We're so blessed to have such a wonderful daughter....

One of those days...

Oh man....it's been one of those days, I tell ya. Ben woke up around 2 AM, and started puking. Bless his little heart, he had taken a bowl to bed with him and never got anything on his bed or carpet. This continued every couple of hours. I spent the day comforting him with terrible tummy cramps, fever and headache. He has been moaning and crying all day. He would say "Would you wipe my tears, Mom?" It was so sad. He has also eaten nothing all day - only sipped water and I made him an ice "slushy" he nibbled a little bit of. He has been absolutely miserable. He just went to bed, and I'm hoping it won't be a long night of more misery.

I'm guessing he got what Melanie had all week, although she didn't have quite the cramping or as high of a fever. She was out four days from school, though....

I just hope I don't get it.......

Geocaching-ever heard of it?

Yesterday, my neighbor was outside with his GPS playing games with my son, where he would hide objects and use the GPS to find them. He told us about a thing called "geocaching," have you heard of it? It's a type of treasure hunting game, where people post coordinates on the internet, and then you go out and find a cache (pronounced "cash") that they hid there. There is usually a trinket to take home, and then you're supposed to replace it with another trinket. Then, I think you sign a logbook of some kind. I think this would be such a fun thing to do as a family to get out of the house and have some real "togetherness." I was so excited about it, my neighbor let me borrow his GPS. Now I have to figure out how to use it. Anyway, there is an official website: www.geocaching.com (of course) to learn all about it. There are actually a lot of caches in my area, and I bet there are in your area too!! I just love this idea!!

Compassion: Get Yourself Some

I read a blog post of an acquaintance yesterday - an acquaintance in desperate pain of partly their own doing. My heart is hurting for this person and I am moved with compassion. I've had tears for them and prayed earnestly for them. And, I'm wondering if they know that there are more people out there who really care. Who aren't throwing stones. Who wouldn't walk away. Who look past the imperfectness of being a human and love them anyway.

I'm also wondering why MORE who claim to "love the sinner, yet hate the sin" are not running to the side of this person (I read there's a few). But, Why? WHY? W-H-Y????!!!???? You people need to get yourself some COMPASSION is what I say!!! LET YOU WHO HAS NO SIN CAST THE FIRST STONE, is what I say! This is a broken person with a repentant heart, so GET A GRIP PEOPLE!! Your behavior could make or break a desperate situation - God's watching YOU now. I think of that popular song: "If we are the body, why aren't His hands healing?" Yeah - that's for you, people!!

I leave my righteous anger for a moment and think back to this acquaintance. They need no "pat answers" with Christian-y sounding words. I know pain, so I know this. I think I know that they might just need LOVE. True love. Agape love. Jesus knows this. And, so should we. It's called forgiveness. It's called COMPASSION - get yourself some....

My Truck

Yesterday I was driving my Explorer. I typically try to take our compact car in order to save money on gas, but it was REALLY out of gas, so I took the truck. That thing is so fun to drive. I sit up really high in the driver's seat, which is good for me, since I am so short. I can also make the seat go forward so my legs can reach the pedals, too. I feel safe in it. It also has a great stereo system that I felt like blasting yesterday to try to ignore all of the Biology and Math in the brain that I'm trying to grasp right now. I'm thankful for my truck. We had our old van for almost ten years - it was 13 years old and nasty by the time we had to replace it. We also had a 1989 Nissan Sentra that needed replacing at the same time as the van. I was worried, but we worked our moneys and got the two vehicles (one paid off, and the other we have payments on). It is truly a blessing to have two working cars, and ones that are newer. We're not the kind of people who replace our cars often. We tend to buy used and "run 'em into the ground." I hate having a car payment, but once we pay it off, we'll be keeping it for a long time, so we'll get our money's worth. It's great for towing our utility trailer that we use for all kinds of hauling, especially camping gear......I love my truck!

Thoughts on Injustice

You know what really makes me mad? Injustice. Like, when somebody does crappy stuff to somebody else and they get away with it; then, the person who was injured ends up being the bad guy, and no one ever knows (or asks the injured person) what really happened. Or, when church people treat other church people like poop when they're supposed to "be like Christ." Or, when genuinely great church leaders are shut out by critical, beaureaucratic, PC, church members and higher-ups. Or, when parents have two $30,000 cars in their driveways, but their kids don't have clothes that fit. Or, when people live off the government when they are capable of working a job. Or, when kids find a bird's nest and break all of the eggs. Or, when the baby birds that just hatched get eaten by the neighborhood cat. Or, when the neighbors let their dog poop and pee on your lawn that you work so hard to take care of. Or, when you faithfully come into help your kid's kindergarten teacher and she subtly criticizes you in some way every time.

Ahhhh...That feels better...What makes you mad?

My Day Yesterday

Yesterday I spent just about three hours in Biology (inluding a lab). I studied Daphnia (water fleas) - well, actually tortured them. I had to record it's heartbeats after putting different concentrations of alcohol drops on it. Then, I had to put different concentrations of caffeine drops on it. After that, I had to do a control, which means running through the whole thing, but using water each time and recording heartbeats. If it wasn't so tedious, it would have been fun. I am naturally curious and want to observe nature. I think I just need to slow down and try to enjoy it, even if it feels like I have to hurry and get the stuff done....

I also had math in the evening for two hours (Mondays and Wednesdays are crazy days..). I actually spent an extra hour, when I went in early for help. I'm SO glad I did. I was really struggling. I have a feeling this is what this class is going to be like.....But! NOW, I can simplify the fifth root of five to the third power! WOW! Just what I always wanted to know! :)

This morning there are no classes - just a computer class in the late afternoon. So, I will be reading and studying Biology in the quiet of my house with kids all at school. I have SO much to absorb, it's not even funny.....

I'm looking forward to this weekend, when my husband and I get to go to the marriage conference I mentioned in another post! We actually won the registration on a radio show!! I've heard that these conferences are life-changing for whatever kind of marriage a couple has (good, bad or ugly). This weekend is actually our 17th anniversary, so we will probably do a special dinner together when they release us for "Date Night" on Saturday night. I'm really excited to have some time away with him, and see what God has up his sleeve for us.....

Spring..

This is a page from Ben's homework for Spring Break. He had to write about one thing he likes to do in the Spring.





Translation: "I like when I am doing Easter hunts and when I am with my mom." (Notice MY MOM is in big, capital letters - I like it!). Also notice how Ben drew himself with a surprised expression. He said he found the last Easter egg in this picture! :)

Longest week ever...

Man - this was the longest week of my LIFE!! I'm still battling this cold, which I'm not sure is partial allergies or WHAT. I have just been SO worn out. And, trying to adapt to Joe's new schedule, and MY new schedule and the kids being out of school this week. I feel like I'm here, but not here....

Anyway, I bought all of our Easter stuff today. We're going to church Saturday night, so our Easter egg hunt will be Sunday when Joe gets back from singing on the worship team. My girls still participate in the Easter egg hunt, and they can as long as they want to! :)

I'm looking forward to celebrating Jesus this weekend. I'm thinking of making the "resurrection cookies" with my kids as a way to incorporate the message. We'll see.....I love the spiritual celebratory feeling of Easter, pondering the sacrifice Jesus made for me on the cross, what the people must have felt that day, and then how awesome they must have felt when they SAW Him ALIVE!! It's so awesome that out of all the religions in this world, Christianity is the only one that worships a LIVING GOD, not a dead guy, or a statue or whatever....And, that WE can have a personal, RELATIONSHIP with God is a feeling beyond my words to explain.....I am so GRATEFUL to God for accepting me, loving me and giving me a new life to live. His presence in my life is EVERYTHING. I'm thankful that He has shown me His truth - beyond religion, beyond rules, beyond condemnation, beyond me being perfect - just LOVE, just RELATIONSHIP. And, in that relationship: a changed heart and life, continued healing and help while always in process to become more like Him...."If God is for us, who can be against us?"

HAPPY EASTER!!!

College hangover....

No, not THAT kind of hangover....an INFORMATION hangover! UGH...I had my first day of Spring Quarter yesterday....I had almost three hours of Biology plus a lab, then later on had a 2-hour, evening math class. Let's just say I think that math is going to be difficult this time around. Even the teacher said so....Great.

However, Biology is going to be fun. I love that kind of stuff anyway. The teacher formerly studied to become a Franciscan priest (so we know where he stands on evolution :) ). He said that he met and married his beautiful wife, so "having a beautiful wife and being a priest don't go together," were his words. I think that's kind of cute. Anyway, he is a marine biologist, so he tells lots of stories related to that - VERY interesting. I think the time will go by quickly in that class....

I made my family dinner before I left for math, but they ate it ALL, so I had cereal. How mean! Anyway, I think something might be wrong with the milk, because I felt really nauseous and had to go to bed early. I must have needed it, though, because I didn't get up until 8:30 this morning (almost 12 hours of sleep)! I still have his rotten cold that won't let go, so that's probably part of it.....

Well, my 12-year-old brother spent the night last night, so I'm going downstairs to make them all pancakes....Later today, I have computer class for TWO hours.....

Sunday thoughts...

This picture has nothing to do with my thoughts for the day, but I think this is so funny. This is Melanie's hamster, "Oreo." I prefer to call him "Hammy." Look at his CHEEKS! He stuffed them FULL of seeds and goodies. HAHAHA! He also likes to stash goodies all around his cage, burying them in special hiding places. I guess he hasn't figured out by now, that Melanie will give him more food everyday....But, he's particular about how he likes things, I guess. He also doesn't like poop in his cage, so he throws the turds out onto her desk.

So, on to my Sunday thoughts....I started perking up yesterday after being sick, so I thought it would be fun to go to that new paper store in Sumner I found called "Paper Muse." I invited Melanie to come along. We stopped first at another new store in our town, which is a pet supply store with really cool things. The real reason we went was because my friend told me about a giant bunny that is living there who is up for adoption. Now, I told Melanie we were only going to see the bunny, not adopt it, but she still begged anyway. The sweet thing was named Flora, and she was a huge, orange bunny. She made me think of the Peter the Rabbit stories, and she seemed to me that she should be wearing a floppy garden hat, tending a garden......So, I was done visiting Flora, and I wanted to go to my paper store. But, Melanie didn't want to leave. You know when your kids are little, and you say "OK, I guess you'll have to stay here. Bye!" And you fake leaving? Well, I actually DID leave and get in my car. Melanie finally came out. I guess she REALLY liked Flora.

On to the "Paper Muse!" UH! It's SO awesome. The owner is SO nice, and she carries ALL the coolest, latest and greatest paper crafting stuff from my two favorite companies, BasicGrey and 7Gypsies. I wasn't sure if I was going to spend anything, but then I rationalized that I MUST get some stuff to make a Mother's Day gift - of COURSE! :) I was talking with the owner, and I was pleased that she also is not a scrapbooker, but just likes making cards and paper projects. I haven't met many people like that. I think that's why she carries such artistic supplies. She also has really neat projects that she has made. She gave me a template for a cute little box with handles that I can't wait to try....my Melanie was getting bored in the store, but she used her imagination and wished that the store could be our house, as well as visited with the owner's new canary. Pretty soon, I look over and my 13-year-old daughter is laying in the middle of the floor on her back. I chuckled and said "You comfortable, Mel?" That's Mel for ya.....

All in all, it was a great day that ended with church, which was also awesome. The youth pastor spoke, whom I think is the greatest. He's just so likable. Actually, it's never a bummer if our main pastor, Roger is not there. We have such fantastic pastors - all of each are gifted speakers. It is a thrill to hear each of them. I miss not getting hugged and loved on by Roger at the front door, but all of the pastors deliver a great word worth hearing. The worship had a very sweet spirit to it, and it was lovely....I'm looking forward to Easter services...We're going to go on Saturday night, which will be different, but I love going to Sat night services, anyway.

Benny fell on his tailbone during baseball practice on Saturday. Joe noticed him getting up, and throughout the rest of the practice, he would grab his rear, and not really run full-on. Joe asked him if he hurt himself, but he denied it! After practice, Joe pressed him, and he admitted he had hurt himself. Later on, I asked him to please tell me or Dad if he hurts himself. He said he didn't want to. When I asked why, he said "It's the law." Maybe it's some sort of boys' baseball law I'm not aware of....:) I think he just loved being out there playing, that he didn't want to stop. He's pretty tender around his tailbone today, though! When Joe came home from work today, he encouraged him again to take a break and come tell us if he gets hurt......Boys are so different!

Amanda returns from Disneyland tonight! She has been there with her school orchestra for a contest and fun time. It will be fun to see her and all of her pictures from the trip!

Today I hope to do a little paper crafting, but I have to make a Wal-Mart run. We have a brand new one, and it's very spacious, not usually crowded, which makes for a happier me....