Sticky Elephants

Rat 2-12-2012

2012-02-12T18:38:00.000-05:00

Update on my 2nd 5K. It's official! I ran yesterday's Valentine 5K in 32:45. I shaved 1.71 minutes off my December 5K!! And I DID NOT WALK. NOT A STEP!! 2012 Goal #1. Check. This year is lookin' GOOD!!! :)

And so Goal #2: CHECK!! :)

Rat 2-8-2012

2012-02-08T09:26:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I weighed myself for the first time in almost 2 weeks. Lo and Behold I saw a number I've not seen in more than 10 years. I weighed in at my summer weight pre-Elise. I would always lose about 5 pounds over each summer when I was teaching. I completely attribute that to the fact that I was eating my weight in melons and tomatoes and squash and cucumbers and.....well, you get it... Yum!! Summer produce has a comfort food factor that cannot be touched by any other food... Interestingly, that reinforces my current belief that "whole" and natural food is significantly better for you. This also marked 29 pounds lost since January 2011. Wow. Over the last 9 years, I had completely despaired of ever seeing that number again. No lie.

I have my second 5K scheduled for this Saturday morning. And, per this year's goal, I shall not walk. Not one step. I have promised myself!! I have pushed myself pretty hard recently, and I am trying to hold back so I am pretty fresh for Saturday. I would like to put up a faster time, but I am not familiar with the race course...so I cannot commit...but a PR would certainly be welcome...I'll be pushing for it.

I have been struggling with enough energy to successfully maintain my running pace. The funny thing is, that I discovered that I would not have enough staying power if I ate protein for breakfast, and that in general, I was craving complex carbs. Not in keeping with my Chalean Extreme diet plan...but I simply was running (no pun intended) out of steam. And so I slowly started adding a little bit more carbs to may day. Recently, I read this great book on women's running and in the nutrition chapter it specified that I should have 50% carbs, 25% protein, and 25% fat for optimal energy...and yesterday, I stumbled on a tool on my nutrition/exercise app that would put in a pie graph for me...and guess what? Almost smack on for my own discovery of my optimal nutrition. Crazy cool, huh? Sometimes, your body really does know better...

I am really enjoying a running devotional that I found on accident and cannot recommend highly enough, along with a blog...and a book:
Running with God
Running with Horses (which, ironically, I thought was by the same author as the book...it's not, it's just based on the same verse! But both are excellent!!)
Run with the Horses

And I have Runner's World headed my way...

You think I'm addicted? :)

Perhaps...but I feel better than I have in a long time...so I'm thinking it's okay for now!

Charlotte's Musical Moment: Classical Gas

2012-02-07T16:40:00.000-05:00

I know that I may over do my joy in Charlotte's musical taste, but for someone so little, she has such sophisticated taste in music! Recently, I've been noticing that she also has perfect pitch. A first in my household of Littles, although Elise certainly has a good ear.

Today's musical moment came because I went on a bit on an iTunes bender and bought myself 3 new songs for running. All were ones from my own childhood, which makes Charlotte's reaction even more precious to me.

Classical Gas came on and Charlotte literally sat up straight in her carseat and yelps, "Is this MY song???" I said, "Sure, Baby! If you like it, it can be yours."

And she sat back and hummed corresponding notes that harmonized nicely with the piece. Grinning very broadly.

Valentines to the Man-Child

2012-02-05T23:04:00.000-05:00

Because I wander around in my Bible and verse search app during the sermon, sometimes...shhhhh....I was broad-sided with a cool idea today...and as I am not the only one with a child in this age bracket, so I thought I'd share...

My project of Valentine's Day for the Man-Child this whole month:

Proverbs is such an intimate book. A concrete, every day use book...a love letter to a child on the brink of adulthood...and so I'm addressing it to my boy.

This month, I am hand-writing Proverbs, chapter by chapter, to him. I have decided on The Message, because it it is so conversational, like a true letter...

I've also decided to stick it to his mirror, in an envelope...If I trusted the post service, and had thought of this earlier, I might have sent it in the mail...but, you know...got to work with where you start sometimes...maybe next year. :)

Let me know if you decide to Biblically call out on the streets to your man-child or woman-child....

Rat 1-25-12

2012-01-25T09:44:00.000-05:00

I am still running...and on track to pull off a scheduled 10K in March...and on my way to a 1/2 marathon...I have one that is fairly local and low-key that I am stalking. A friend Knows-a-Guy, that knows there is a 1/2 in Dawsonville...I am sure to become a pest... I have signed up for two more 5Ks and I will sign up for the 10K next week...Now I just need to stay healthy, right? YAY!

I also found a sprint distance triathlon between me and my folks (baby-sitters?) that "may" not have thought to ban ipods...and I am trying to decide if I should call and ask, or just sign up for it and stick my shuffle in the back of my bike and smuggle it out for the run...it's cheap and close...which is also a selling point.

I am slowly, but surely wrestling off a little more weight...especially as I have added some more activities to my week...weights and biking on top of the running...total lost since this time last year? 27lbs. just 2 more and I will have fought back to post Gabriel/pre Elise weight, which I consider my ideal "fighting weight".

Interestingly, last year's goal of sleeping more has fallen into place, out of necessity...because my body is tired...and I simply cannot stay awake...even to watch some of my favorite shows...

I am also managing to back off my internet usage, which is something I am proud of.

I am reading running books and magazines. I am reading books with the pure intent to watch a movie with friends. I am reading with my girls and enjoying that they like stories that interest my mind...even as I memorizing "Mimi" which is Charlotte's beloved.

Amelia requested to read "Nah-nia" this week. Read or listen to audio dramatization of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe??? Twist my little arm!!!! :)

Charlotte's Muscial Moment: The Band Perry

2012-01-25T09:20:00.000-05:00

I cannot lie, I love my girl crooning in her carseat. LOVE it. This was the most recent song that I heard her belting out...The Band Perry: All Your Life.

MPT - Your REAL Happy Birthday Call

2012-01-17T08:46:00.000-05:00

It was my brother's birthday yesterday. I called him in the 5 minutes I had where I didn't have a sick child laying on me...it resulted in me hiding in my pantry holding the door shut while my sick children howled outside of it...It was a stinker of a phone call...so this is my real phone call:

Happy Birthday, Michael Paulis! I am thankful that you were my very best friend for my entire childhood...until I was 15, you were my very dearest friend and my competitor, my boxing opponent and my partner in crime, thank you for all of my very dearest memories...And since then I like and respect you...and enjoy any of the time we get to snatch together!!

Thank you for the hours spent playing with our Sears Outlet Stars Wars figures...

And their occasional girlfriends, the Glamour Gals...

Thank you for playing house with families of gummy fishing lure worms that I compiled...even though they ate the finish off of everything we played with them on...

Thank you for eating Sour Cream and Onion chips and pink hot dogs with me on the San Juan while we played with the aforementioned rubber worm families...

And the Wheaties balls we were SUPPOSED to be fishing with...

Thank you for the hours spent in the damp and cool basement playing cowboys and indians while listening to Alan Parsons Project...

Thank you for being my friend.

Happy Birthday!!! I love you!!

New Rats

2012-01-09T21:28:00.001-05:00

Hmmm. As I haven't put up my Goals for 2012, I suppose a week into the new year, I should get on that...right? But as they are not "New Year's Resolutions" I'm still good. Totally.

My new herd of rats? It's a mixed bag this year.
1. My cousin has proposed a memory verse challenge. I'm in. And pretty excited.
2. I've signed up for another 5K. I WILL NOT WALK. Not a hair's breadth.
3. I'm planning on a 10K this spring.
4. I'm planning on a 1/2 marathon before the end of the year.
5. I'm hoping to ditch another 5-10 pounds. It's not for health or looks this year (unlike last year!), this year it is about dragging around a few less pounds while running.
6. I want to make moments for friends. After an impromptu friend date with my girl, Lynn, I discovered how much I miss them and need them. And so, my goal is to run away with a friend once a month. Even if it's just to lunch.
7. I want to learn how to knit. Just simple stuff. I love to crochet. I taught myself how to crochet. I seriously make it up as I go. I do okay for myself.

But I'd love to learn something that I understand the properties enough that I can follow actual patterns. I read several novels based on knitting, and was enchanted. And so....I'm in love, with the wool, the colors, the smell, and the tradition of it. Like tea, for the hands.
8. I WILL learn how to utilize my new pressure cooker (Christmas and Birthday from my aunt!) and my new dehydrater (my brother and his wife got it for me for my birthday!). I can barely stand it for excitement!! I will post the new (and successful!) recipes of course!

As for reflections on this last year, I will tell you something cool. I was not in a terribly good place emotionally last year. Obviously physical lack of health is more visible. You are overweight? You have a spare tire. You are depressed? No real sign.

I have known that exercise shakes the dust bunnies from my mind, but I have been very thankful to discover that they really are out right now. They have not just sublet their space. Running has opened the sunshades in my mind. I am pleased to report that running, aside from helping me ditch a few pounds has helped me beat back a pretty heavy depression...and the funny thing was that I didn't even realize I was depressed until I got rid of it...and I am so thankful that God blessed me with that surprise gift. So, I leave you with one of my favorite verses: "I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free." Psalm 119:32

Now? I run. Figuratively and concretely. Thankfully.

Rat 12-29-11

2011-12-29T14:00:00.002-05:00

I am reporting for (probably) the last Rat of the year.

I ran a 5K, The Jingle Jog, on December 3rd. In 34:16 (officially, even though my watch read 34:00). I was 264/454 entrants, and 25/51 of my age bracket. I got a t-shirt. :) I walked for 30 seconds up the very top of the last hill. I was a little disappointed in that, but I know it's because I went out a little fast. There were so many kids and slow people, I wanted to get past them and not run them over...and I think I held on to it a little too long... BUT I did shave more than 30-60 seconds off my pace in every mile. Not bad for a first time. I am pleased overall with my performance.

I have lost a full 26 lbs, even with a little holiday weight flux. I ate Thanksgiving and Christmas in my goal jeans and they are loose now too. I am about 3 pounds from my tertiary weight-loss goal. I doubt I'll see than in the next 3 days...but as I am changing my life and not my pants size, I anticipate accomplishing that before the end of deer season, or mid-January if you do not divvy up your life around such things. :)

MyFitnessPal.com has record of my choices for 203 days. Keeping honest with yourself is particularly effective. No little lies adding up to pounds.

I am now running consistently 3-5.5 miles each time I go out, which is about 3 times a week. I hope to increase that this year. Especially as I signed back up to lead the Running Without Weariness Bible Study class at our church again. I am toying with running a half-marathon this year...we shall see, I guess... I had hoped to do a sprint triathlon, but found that the one I was looking at, banned iPods or other music devices. I am not sure if I can run without music. Seriously.

I am holding well with cooking. As Charlotte has added preservatives to the allergy list, that has caused even more scratch cooking... It has been such a consistent change that I felt heavy and not myself after even well-earned indulgences. There has also been significantly less illness in our family since the eating overhaul. I am sure this is thanks in part to a warmer season, but I am sure, also, that it is supported and strengthened by our increase in veggies and decrease in sugar.

I am adding other workouts back in about once or twice a week, and am pleased to find that my endurance has increased. We are considering adding the YMCA back to the activity docket for this new year...for Elise primarily, but it will benefit everyone.

Amelia has been funny, we've been very careful not to harp on weight-loss for skinny-ness sake, we've been very clear that it is for health and life choices. We mentioned at one point that we work out so we can have the snacks that we want. Now she has taken this an extrapolated on it:

A: May I have a snack?
Me: No, we'll eat in a bit
A: May I have a snack if I am healthy and workout? I'll run in the yard. Then may I have a snack?
Me: A tiny one, go have fun.

I am feeling pretty successful this year. For myself and my family. I hope you look over your year with as much pleasure. Really.

Musical Monday: Away in a Manger

2011-12-05T08:56:00.001-05:00

This is the coolest post on Charlotte and music. Charlotte is a whopping 2 and 1/2. She totally gets Christmas. On Thursday, our elves brought a picture book about Jesus' birth. And on Friday we were driving and listening to the All-Christmas-Music-All-the-Time radio station. And she pipes up from the back seat, "Hey, it's Baby Jesus!!"

We were driving looking at Christmas lights last night and again from the back seat, I hear, "It's beautiful! Like Angels! For Baby Jesus!! And his mama and daddy and his cow and sheep and donkey..."

I cannot tell you how much this touches me...and makes my heart full to bursting....

Happy Advent Season!!

Bonus Music: Swan Lake

2011-11-29T09:42:00.001-05:00

On the car ride home from Chattanooga after Thanksgiving, we listened to a LOT of music. A LOT. Because the rain and wrecks made it a 3 hour jaunt, instead of the usual just under 2. During which, we listened to Swan Lake. And Charlotte piped up from the back seat! "Ooooh! Barbie!" Now, I am amused that she recognized it from a Barbie movie, but I was impressed that she recognized it from the music and bopped her head to it, with pleasure.

I've spoken about my enjoyment of the the Barbie movies. I find it funny that while the Barbie Doll lines get sluttier, the movies and their corresponding Barbies get more wholesome and classic. I've called Mattel and told them of my disappointment in their "Street Walker" Barbies and my pleasure in their celebrating the classics in the movies...hopefully other mothers are registering this, too.

Anyway, I love that she responds to the beauty of the Good Music regardless of it's transport. :)

LATE Musical Monday: Fantasia Dance of the Hours

2011-11-29T09:34:00.001-05:00

I watched this with the girls for my birthday last week. I cannot tell you how much I enjoy the intricacies of this! And it was especially fun to watch the girls watch it, too! :)

Musical Monday: Tim McGraw

2011-11-14T08:19:00.000-05:00

This was the first song that Charlotte sang that Ethan actually believed me that she was really singing. I actually have her singing it in the dark at a Lacrosse practice on a video on my phone...I played it for him, and his jaw dropped. It was funny! Never disbelieve a mama. :)

Running Away

2011-11-10T17:05:00.001-05:00

So, unexpectedly, I am running. Again. It appears to be a middle aged woman's Oh-my-I-really-ought-to-get-my-life-back-on-track kind of plan. And I am one of them, now. But that's okay. It did,indeed, help me get my life back on track. :)

That said, I have a lot of very fond memories of running. And not because I really liked to run.

My dad has run since I have memory of him. He ran marathons, half-marathons, triathlons, trail runs, street runs. You name it. It was a somehow core part of my "whole picture" of him.

Imagine my surprise when I suggested that he come run with me for my "homework" run when my folks were here a few weeks ago, and he said "no". And not just no, I hurt myself and I really shouldn't, but no, my knees have gotten excruciating and I cannot run ANYMORE.

I acted fine, of course...I ran without him after he left. But the more I thought about this aberration to my universe the more it hurt me. And not because I didn't get a running buddy. It hurt because it was a passion, a talent, a joy of his. It was kind of like when I heard that Julie Andrews could no longer sing because of a throat infection and surgery. A desecration, almost.

I started running with my dad when I was little. He jogged and I ran up to the horse farm across the street. This started when I was somewhere between ages 5-8. Seriously. I was not probably the world's best running companion, but I did love the big-ness and camaraderie of it. I ran with him for years. I even ran about a mile race on his hospital team for the Deaconess Dashers for a fundraiser run. I felt like such a part of something. It was so cool!

As I got older, I kept running. Not because I loved it, but because I enjoyed how it made me feel after. Wiped...but triumphant. Tired...but successful. I ran track in High School. Again, not because it was fun, but because I was reasonably good and I loved being a part of a team. I enjoyed the common goal, the sisters-in-arms kind of relationship with my teammates.

I appreciate my father setting the family goal of health and involvement with the out-of-doors. I tend to dismay when I am not exercising. Not depression, but not a great emotional place. I think that is the same for my father. I know that he knows that of me, so I suspect it's genes...

All this to say. I am randomly thankful for my father's passion and sharing of that passion of running. I am thankful for his sharing his secrets to a certain peace of mind. Running to exhaustion and to prayer. He is a great man. And I am blessed to have run along side of him for 36 years.

Ethan despises stickers on cars. I mean really hates them. I asked him this morning if I managed to get myself in gear and pull off a half marathon, could I put a "13.1" sticker on my Suburban. He said, "Sure. I guess." I find myself thinking that reason alone is almost worth the insanity. :)

But just know that if I do pull it off. It's for the running trips to the horse stables, Daddy. Thank you.

Gabriel and Our Tea Addiction

2011-11-08T08:53:00.001-05:00

"My Randomly Thankful moment: I love that my13 year old, 5'11", brown-eyed, Lacrosse supastar is not too big to tuck his giant self into my side on the couch and drink Earl Grey and chat about everything."

This was my Facebook post this morning...and it got me thinking...how did it happen?? And as it is one of the tiny things I am proud of, I thought I'd tell the story...

I always wanted a boy. Multiple boys, if truth be told. I love the up-front-ness of boys, the brash honesty. But I love tea. I love the tradition of it. I love that you cannot drink it fast. I love the way it forces talking and reflection. When I had my boy, I basked in it. Treasured it.

When he was about 3ish, we watched Winnie the Pooh. And Gabriel asked about "Tea". He wanted to have tea...I am pretty sure this was because he wanted snacks, but I was game. I poured out cold Southern Sweet Tea and gave him cookies. He thought this was fantastic. So it became a tradition that summer.

When school started back that winter, I changed over to my beloved hot teas. I kept the tradition alive, he'd get crackers or peanut butter toast and iced tea. One day, it was particularly chilly and I asked him if he'd like "High Tea" with me. I made some tiny meat sandwiches and made some heavily sweetened Earl Grey. It was a total hit. We had High Tea most of that winter.

The Summer Tea Time fell by the wayside that summer because we were in and out of my parents and in-laws houses due to Ethan's internships. We also missed out on some tea times when I started back to teaching that fall because I was so very pregnant with Elise. It fell back to about once a week, tops.

When I had Elise, I felt so discombobulated and uncertain about everything, I am sure he felt it. Even though he was only 4. We took up our High Tea tradition again, a few times a week when Elise was sleeping. It was time for just us.

It fell by the way again, as he got "too old" at 7 or 8 and we had Amelia. We only broke it out when he was sick and was having trouble with his throat.

Interestingly, it is something that has come back full force over the last year. It has become a morning treat, with breakfast. But then, after the meal is over, we finish our tea together on the couch and talk...sometimes about important things. Sometimes over his future plans. Sometimes over what kind of Lacrosse socks he'd like. But we don't rush. Because you don't rush tea.

Cute Baby Deer

2011-11-07T16:06:00.001-05:00

Last night I posted up a comment Charlotte made about Ethan's deer: "Ooh, MY cute baby deer. My EAT him!!!"....

My mother thought it was a little cold...

Today's Randomly Thankful moment is a further explanation: I am thankful that my kids have a respectful, yet practical view on meat and the animals they come from. None of my girls had seen a dead animal whole before last night. And I considered shielding them from it last night. But on the way home from the farm where Ethan hunts, he realized it was eligible to enter it into GON (Georgia Outdoor News) because it was taken with a black powder rifle....so he took it from the truck and put it in our back yard to take a picture for his submission. All the girls wanted to see the deer so they all trooped out to see him.

They all three ooh-ed and ahh-ed over "how pretty" he was...they all three asked to "pet" him (we said "no" because of ticks)...and they all three expected that we would trundle him into the basement fridge and eat him for supper.

None of the three of them got gag-y or squeamish. None of the three were callous to it's loss of life. None of the three were unaware of it's beauty or it's imminent edibility.

I fully expected that at least one would get upset later. Or have nightmares. None did.

I am genuinely proud of their respect. I am proud that they saw his beauty. I am equally proud that they appreciate his practical sacrifice in feeding us. It was an unexpectedly neat moment.

Christmas is Coming!!

2011-11-07T09:05:00.002-05:00

I am still excited at this point. I am hoping that I can hang on to it for a while to come... I am not saying this as a Debbie Downer or anything...but Christmas trappings stress me out. I love Christmas, with or without gifts...I adore the carols and I cry over the Story and traditionally read stories!! But all the shopping (I HATE shopping), the get-togethers, the cooking, the dressing of all my kids, the keeping clean of all my kids, the keeping clean of the house...you know, all that...it gives me an ulcer.

To combat it this year I plan to try to add another thing to my list...but as I am excited about it, I think it will be a blessing. I plan to read all my family's traditionally read books...last year it was too much, but I think it'll work this year... I plan to do a Jesse Tree similar to what I did last year. I read about it on one of my favorite blogs HERE. Our plush Elf-on-a-Shelf brought the advent ornaments and then we read the Bible verses that went with them when we went to bed, Amelia chose a scary 1950's pink tree to hang them from....Charlotte will be getting an elf this year, too. I am trying to find a CHEAP plastic nativity with a TON of pieces that I can dole out as her Elf gifts.

If you know where I can find or order a Nativity that will fit the bill, PLEASE let me know!!

Here is my current beloved reading list:

A Certain Small Shepherd

The Best Christmas Pagent Ever

Our Christmas Story

How The Grinch Stole Christmas

The Christmas Story

The Christmas Movies will come later...

What are your favorite traditions?

Musical Monday: Mama Cass

2011-11-07T08:02:00.000-05:00

I have to giggle in pride over this one. I stumbled upon my The Mamas and The Papas Greatest Hits CD set a few weeks ago...and turned them waaaay up...I was proud to notice Charlotte grooving with a Stevie-Wonder-Happy-Head-Dance on this one...also one of my favorites!! :)

Rat 11-3-11

2011-11-03T11:13:00.000-04:00

Yes. I know it's been forever since I ratted myself out. I forgot for a while, then I was too tired to do it.

Current status:
I have logged in to myfitnesspal.com for 147 days. I only missed one day when my phone crashed. I log all my food and exercise.

I am on Week 9 of Couch to 5K. I am running non-stop 30 minutes when it's warm. When it is cold, I am running 10 minutes, cough and retch for 2, run 10, and so on for 35 minutes... I have cold triggered asthma. It's not cooperating as Georgia decided to actually have a Fall.

I am planning to go back to skating and Chalene Johnson (TurboFire or Chalean Extreme Hybrid) after I wrap up the C25K. I really ought to register and run a 5K, but I think I will redo the program and run one when it gets warm in the spring. Hacking one's lung up at the finish line takes out a lot the personal pride.

I did not manage to do the in-line marathon. I didn't get to skate more when the kids went back to school, I actually lost time. It took Gabriel and myself a while to find the days' rhythm in our school day....but I am still consistently able to skate 10-20 miles. I will catch that another time, I guess. But I still love to skate, and my legs like it too!

Grand total of weight lost? 24 lbs. Seriously. I am stoked!

I am in my goal jeans, but they aren't comfortable to sit in yet, so I am still fighting for those. I am heavier than when I was skinny before Amelia's pregnancy, but I look better and feel better than I have since before even Gabriel. I feel like I got "me" back in the exercising! I'm emotionally in a much better place because of it.

I had to go out and buy church slacks because I've lost so much weight since this spring. It was actually a pleasure to try stuff on...that's been a LONG time.

I have not made a pre-packaged meal, other than my freebie Zatarain's Red Beans and Rice, since June. Well, and an occasional pizza, and even that, I try to make from scratch now. (We did buy corn dogs for Elise's birthday, and I had one when I was sewing Halloween costumes, 3 days later.) I cannot tell you how proud I am that we've gotten away from that.

This year has been a great year for me and my family. Good choices beget good choices. It's a nice discovery.

Amelia-isms and Food

2011-11-03T10:50:00.000-04:00

Okay. So I don't know if this counts as an Amelia-ism, but it is very her and very funny...so I'm going to catalogue it as such...

We were OUT, out of food this weekend. I mean like it was all gone. We managed through the weekend, but there was going to need to be a grocery run first thing on Tuesday. (Monday was an teacher's inservice, but the kids were out.) But since we had no food, there was no food to pack a lunch. So I wrote a check and told the girls that they were going to be buying lunch at school. Elise spit, but accepted the inevitable. Amelia totally flipped out. She commenced to yell and boohoo about me not loving her, and how she hates nasty lunch food, and how I had to have something I could pack....I mean complete breakdown.

Eventually, I got her calmed down enough to get to school...I figured a trip through the cafeteria would convince her that it wasn't all bad...I mean, Amelia is my junk food kid, what is there not to like about cafeteria food?

The SECOND she got back into the car on Tuesday afternoon, the first words out of her mouth were, "I am never going to have to buy my lunch again, right? That was the last time, right??"

Umm. Not going to commit to that, but I am loved again, and flattered that they like me packing lunches. I certainly have more control over what they are eating and what I want them avoiding.

Ever since the whole fiasco with Charlotte...which, by the way, is indeed the color triad, Red #40, Blue #1, and Yellow #5...additionally, we've seen reactions over Red #33 and Red #5. So we don't buy colors at all or things that don't disclose (juice concentrates don't have to!). We've also discovered it affects her attitude drastically.

Anyway, as I was saying, ever since everything broke with Charlotte we have been reading everything. All labels. Nothing like that to really make you look at was actually IN food. Really disturbing. We have over-hauled our eating habits even more.

I have to say, I am really proud of the changes made and really proud that my kids like it. And that they like it enough to proclaim: "Yesterday was the last day I will have to buy lunch!"

Very, VERY late Muscial "Monday": Thompson Square

2011-11-03T10:05:00.000-04:00

Another song that totally took me by surprise when Charlotte belted this out in carline Tuesday! :)

Christina- Proverbs 31 Woman- Reflections for Her Daughters

2011-10-24T12:23:00.001-04:00

A friend, whose blog, Raising Little Women, has been in my sidebar since this blog's inception, lept abruptly into Jesus' arms last Wednesday night.

These were the poignant words I read from her husband on Thursday morning:

"To all who haven't heard, Christina Jones Hooker, my beautiful wife and perfect mother of my precious girls, very unexpectedly went to be with Jesus last night, after a hard 24 hour struggle.

These are hard words to say. First, thank you so much for those who prayed so fervently for her life. The preciousness of her life was greatly reflected in your outpouring of concern and grief.

We don't know why, but Christina suffered a severe heart attack Tuesday evening. There was no warning. One moment she was a happy, active young mother, and the next she was undergoing CPR for 15 minutes on the ER at Erlanger hospital. The doctors DID revive her, and fought to save her 24 heroic hours.

She lost that battle. She is so very much needed and missed, and though we do not blame her or God, an awesome person leaves an awesome gap in the lives of those they are closest to. Christina's friends and loved ones, please grieve with me and her children. We are facing something we can only heal with the love of God almighty and you, those who loved her. We are making arrangements at Wilson's funeral home in LaFayette, GA, and I will post om her account as more information becomes available.

Listen to me. Hold close what you have. Your wives, husbands, and children. Every fantasy I had that what is precious to me is too good to be taken was destroyed last night. There are NO guarantees. Every moment we have here is a gift. Live that while you can."

She was just about my age. Only 35.

She was a Bible Study friend in High School. At first, I didn't know her from Adam, but every one else did. Recently, I realized she went to Elementary School with most of them. I remember envying her and being generally impressed with her, she had an amazing sense of self. She knew who she was, what she wanted, and had a confidence that was amazing for a sophomore in High School. She had the perfect blend of sarcasm and earnestness. She had really mature insights in the Bible Study... I was struck by her then.

I was struck by her again, when she friended me on Facebook. I was struck by the fact that somehow, she had only grown into herself when I was reintroduced to her, through writing. I admit, that we were not "dear friends"...we were not close, in the practical sense of the word. But we had so much in common, as far as our hearts go. We read and enjoyed watching the same things. We enjoyed our children and were amused by their personalities and God's sense of humor through them. We laughed at each other's children, commenting how our 2 youngest had to be soul sisters...they were so very much alike. I found myself hoping that over the holidays this winter I could find the time to let our Littles meet and bond. And let us re-meet and bond in person.

I had prayed for her so very much during her two pregnancies and then miscarriages, and then as I sought God's healing hand on my soul's hands and knees following her heart attack all day Wednesday, I felt like I knew her and loved her. I like to think we did know each other...internet pen-pals, I guess you could call us.

I laughed over her goats' antics and was amazed at her Proverbs 31-ness in cheese-making and sewing, and light-hearted homemaking.

She adored her daughters. She loved them with an all out passion. She loved her husband, making comments on Facebook about missing him and her joy in his being home.

I am thankful for having known Christina, such as I did. She was a passionate, joyful, and quirky woman. I see her impact on her girls. I pray that her littlest remember her with joy and precious memories. I pray that her oldest are comforted that she loved her LORD with as much passion as she lived her life....and that they never forget how she loved them with a fervor that was beautiful and honest.

I know that my view of her is a true reflection of her in person the way Facebook blew up with prayers for her...

I wish I had known her better...But my prayers for her beloved daughters will continue as I wrestle with God...

When I was begging God for a miraculous healing, I posted this video to her Facebook page and friended her daughter, Locksley...I knew that she loved Fiddler on the Roof, and I felt that the music spoke to the intensity that we were all praying for her with...

I look forward to learning how to pray specifically how to pray for her family. I don't know that I would have dared to friend Locksley after she had lost her mother...but I look forward to knowing her more...she has an amazing BLOG and I have enjoyed watching her mind skip about, too.

Please pray with me for Christina's family. Her huband, Christian, and her daughters: Locksley, Ruby, Isabel, Esther, and Naomi. Between her husband's job's travel requirements and the fact that she homeschooled, that her very person leaves a hole is only amplified by the way their very lives' structure will be changed....I cannot even fathom...

I am comforted that Christina has joined the God that she loved intensely and that she gets to hold the babies that she lost...but I am still struggling with the hole that she has left with her precious family.

I pray that God wraps this family in his arms...tightly and with miraculous strength...I know he can do that, but I know that this family needs it so very profoundly...I hope that you will join me in entreating for God's love to swaddle this family...and that if you feel led, to donate time or money to help them as well...some of their close friends and church set up THIS FUND for them.

Musical Monday: Adele

2011-10-24T10:59:00.001-04:00

Because it's Monday, I feel the need to share more of Charlotte's musical soul. This is actually the first song that I realized she was actually singing along with. About a week later, I realized that she was singing every single word. This was, Folks, at the time she was NOT talking. Like referral to Babies Can't Wait, Early Intervention, Not Talking.

Love this girl's taste. Not that I haven't had a hand at helping it be so. :)

Catching up

2011-10-12T18:05:00.002-04:00

I've been over at Muchier Muchness (Yes, there's been a name change, please see its left column for explanations) lately...a lot. I have TONS of stuff jangling around in my brain, and it will undoubtedly escape one of these days soon...but with Amelia and Elise in school and Gabriel being homeschooled...and my Couch to 5K Bible study...I've been REALLY low on time...as a matter of fact, my house is pretty ratty right now, too....to be completely honest...

I promise to get back into the swing after the October craziness...and after I dust...

Musical Monday: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

2011-10-10T00:00:00.000-04:00

Because Charlotte is starting to crack me up over her musical taste, I will be initiating the "Musical Monday" tradition so you can be charmed by her musical soul. She is still a little stingy about talking (although she really is taking off!!) but she is grooving and singing with gusto and is making her musical requests known!!

Her current favorite is Paris, by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals:

She will sing along with it, complete with the "uh's" and voice growls. It absolutely tickles me. She's "gets" the soul of music, that one!!! I will share her favorites as we go... as tempted as I am to just list her chronic requests... :)

RED

2011-08-16T15:03:00.003-04:00

Tiffany's Science Theater has struck again. This time it's Charlotte.

I took her to the allergist yesterday. I had been hoping to delay as the tests are supposedly not as effective until age 3. But after a mind-blowing incident at the beach (candy coated popcorn in violent colors) that caused her to hive out in her mouth, on her lips, and rash all around her mouth in a rip-roaring 15 minutes, we started considering that we would need to go earlier than that.

When we went yesterday, they tested for milk allergies. They came back negative, but she undoubtedly has lactose intolerance, so her GI issues and reflux and diaper rash is probably all an outgrowth of that, they are just not a true allergy.

We also suspected colors. The Beach Popcorn Incident was followed by a similarly scary Sunkist Gummies Incident at church snack and a Little Debbie Creme Pie Incident. I cannot tell you why I thought red, but I really did.

I was SO hoping that they could scratch test colors. Nope. SO I was assigned a food diary.

This morning, as an outgrowth of a conversation with my mother (who insisted that there had to be some kind of spread sheet for allergens) I decided to Google the ingredients of the things she had the worst reactions to.

The only 3 over lapping items were Red 40, Blue 1, and Yellow 5. The three very most common colors ever. Awesome.

After posting this discovery on Facebook, a friend commented that she thought those were the colors that come in the baking food coloring packet. Yup, she was right. So I decided to do a homemade scratch test. Nothing. I don't know if they weren't potent enough, or I didn't know what I was doing, or what...

So, I figured if she didn't react to the skin test, and Red 40 was supposed to be completely innocuous, then it would be a safe trial run. So for lunch Charlotte was poisoned, I mean fed her red Powerade (as it has VERY few ingredients!) and a peanut butter sandwich. Within 15 minutes, her mouth had hived out, along with her lips, and a nice goatee of a red raised rash had appeared, too. Bingo, Baby.

As the reaction progressed VERY quickly, I decided to give her Benedryll. Which, by the way, is pink. Huh. I decided to read the ingredients. Red 40. I kid you not. Frankly, this makes a lot of sense, as her reactions never cleared up very quickly with it, and sometimes appeared to become worse...Thankfully I had bought a dye free one at the beach, because the Fair Popcorn only had popcorn, sugar, and colors...and she had been fine on sugar and popcorn...

I told a friend, who's son has crazy allergies that I would rather have a child with Downs than a food allergy, because at least you know what to expect. I stand by that statement, by the way.

Red and likewise violently colored medicines have always annoyed me anyway. I mean, really, your child is sick, may throw up or whatever, so lets make sure that they vomit red or something else that stains...brilliant. The children's medicine manufacturers need to fire their product development guys. The colors also do not delude your kids into thinking they taste good, so what's the point?

Now, I am just totally hacked off. Tylenol, Advil, Benedryll, vitamins, amoxicillan...and after reading the ingredients of the stuff in my pantry, it's in flippin' everything!!!

And as the Little Debbie Incident was thoughtful enough to warn me, even the color of a food does not make it safe. An Oatmeal Creme Pie, while brown, has Red 40 and Yellow 5. The colors of red kool-aid and Mello Yellow. I totally did not see that coming... *sigh*

I am going to give her body a break and in 4 days, I'm going to give Yellow 5 or Blue 1 a whirl. If she goes for the triad, I am going to shave my head and mourn at the city gates...

Amelia-ism - Age

2011-08-10T22:36:00.001-04:00

Amelia-ism:
Me: How old will you be next year?
A: I don't know
Me: What comes after 5?
A: 6
Me: Good! How old will you be after that?
A: 7:38
(Ummmmm....Gabriel and me dying laughing!!)
A: THAT'S A NUMBER!!!!!!!

Happy Breastfeeding Awareness Week

2011-08-07T21:55:00.004-04:00

I have decided that I am a successful breastfeeding mother. I am gauging this not by the number of children I have breastfed, nor how long I did it for. But rather by hearing my son's reaction to a bit of a to do about public breastfeeding.

A few months back, there was a hue and cry about a local county making public breastfeeding over the age of two illegal. Interestingly, putting it on par with strip club as far as encouraging crime rates and public nudity. There was a lot of public ruckus, with nurse-ins and discussions on the radio. My 12 year old son turns and says to me, "Why on earth would they make giving babies their baby-snacks against the law? That seems mean to the babies."

I never hid nor flaunted my breastfeeding his sisters. I just did it. He was quite fascinated by the event when he was small during Elise's babyhood. He asked a lot of questions. By Amelia, it was just what you did. By Charlotte, he would drag her in to me, citing, "She is not happy. She needs baby snacks."

I have been increasingly saddened by the public sexualizing of breastfeeding when it should be the most natural of things, especially on the heels of our children being sexualized by TV and the public in general. I was charmed by the blog post of one of my dear bloggy friends about Breastfeeding in the Sistine Chapel, really, she says it so beautifully, I am going to leave that pretty much be.

Breastfeeding is not always easy. Not even for every child born to one mother. Gabriel was the easiest child in the world to breastfeed, no massive pain, no awkward learning curve. Not to say there were not bumps in the road, mastitis, pumping when I had to return to school, his abrupt refusal to nurse when he discovered how very easy bottle nipples were for little piglet babies... Elise had a long battle with breastfeeding that we ultimately won. Amelia was a bi-polar nursling who would go on bottle benders followed by needing the real deal with monthly switch-ups for a very long year. Charlotte has loved breastfeeding like no child I have ever known....she had a painful latch and whole months of awfulness, but it nourishes not just her body, but her entire soul. My sister-in-law prefers to call it nursing, and for Charlotte that is supremely more accurate. I've never known a more passionate proponent of breastfeeding with fabulous manners, Charlotte, that is.

I just didn't want this year's Breastfeeding Awareness to pass without a nod to the natural beauty and joy that it embodies...and my pride that my son, at twelve, is protective of the innate balm nursing is to a baby. Because whether or not a mother gets support from her loved ones, is a huge indication of her success. (On a tangent, Muslim Law requires mothers to attempt to nurse a minimum of 2 years. Yet, even if their god tells them to, the likelihood of success [and therefore infant mortality rates!!]still weighs heavily on public and familial support. This was crazy fascinating...)

So Happy Breastfeeding. Be supportive of mothers. Be supportive of babies. They are only little for so long. Don't be in a rush to make them grow up. They always do....whether you're ready or not....

Charlotte Speaks.

2011-07-30T20:48:00.003-04:00

I have discovered that although Charlotte is not big on talking, she knows words that will blow your mind. As I promised, she now speaks in badly articulated sentences. Thanks to Elise, I am sure, as most of the mispronounciations are Elise's as well. It shouldn't be too surprising, either, as they are best buddies.

But do you want to know what words she can say flawlessly? Animal names. For example, she popped out with "Oh, look, a hippopotomus!" this last week. Um. What? Why, yes! Yes it is. Crazy. She is an insane fan of "Go, Diego, Go!" who is Dora the Explorer's cousin and a animal rescuer. Like throw her diaper-up-on-stage-groupie-fan. LOVES him.

I am looking forward to this fall. Charlotte will be home without either of her sisters. I will be homeschooling Gabriel, so she'll have a lunch buddy. I bought her some coloring books, and plan to pull all of our animal books so she can have "school" with us too. It's going to be fun. I am curious if she her speech will clean up...or if she'll hold indefinitely popping out with whole paragraphs at a later date!?

I'll get into why we decided to homeschool Gabriel soon. I promise!!

Skating and Rat 7-30-11

2011-07-30T20:07:00.002-04:00

Wow. It's been waay too long.

Quick update. I've lost only 2 more pounds. BUT, if you add up those I gained from changing my workout AND those from naughtiness, then I've lost 4 or 5 new pounds. :)

I started Chalean Extreme. Yes, another Beachbody product. (As a matter of fact, I have developed such an addiction, I am now a coach, so if you want anything, order from MEEE! But I seriously needed the discount!!) But the great thing about Chalean Extreme is that it focuses on weights. It is virtually no impact, or can be easily made to be so. Chalene argues that the body's metabolism slows down, not really because you are aging, per say, but because you have less muscle mass and therefore burn less calories. Which totally makes sense. But because I started adding muscle mass, I gained a couple of pounds back because I'm packing on muscle...but my pants were even looser, so as much as I disliked the pounds coming back, I wasn't terribly worried about them. And the weight is coming back off now that those muscles are burning off fat while I sleep. :)

I am still skating. As a matter of fact, my coup today was a whopping 25.5 miles in 3 hours and 13 minutes. I was in over my head, and I seriously almost didn't make it. I have skated no more than 11 miles in over 14 years, so, this was quite the feat. I have only really been actively back on my skates since March. The folks I was with do the A2A every year. I wanted to guage my situation compared to the "big boys". I needed to know how I was standing, how I need to be training. So I crashed their skating party, and they were very gracious. I could have managed 20 competantly, but the last five just about got me. So now I know what I need to do. I even got a very encouraging note to hold the course from the guy who led the skate. He doesn't know how much I want this, and how unneccessary it was, but it was nice to know that someone else is pulling for me! What I learned today was that, surprisingly, I need to work more on the flats. (I know!! Totally crazy!!) I have been so worried about the hills, that's all I've been working on...the flats were brutal for me as I had no down hill momentum to count on.

I gotta tell you a funny fact, though. The skate I went on today is called The Freight Skate. My nerdy mind went straight to the Kessel Run in Star Wars. Don't ask me why. I am just crazy, I guess. But I had to strangle down asking them if they had completed The Freight Skate "in under 12 parsecs"? I really wonder how they would have reacted? :D

I have seriously not sweat so much in a LONG time. I can honestly say I cannot remember ever sweating so much that there were actual salt crystals on my shoulders. Yes. Really.

In some more good news, I had this conversation with Gabriel the other day after I went shopping for pants this week because I had NONE that fit.

Funny thing, after I got home and was wearing the new pants? Gabriel kept looking at me, I started getting paranoid.

Me: What?
Him: You get new pants?
Me: Yup. Why?
Him: They fit. No offense, but the others looked REALLY bad!

You KNOW things are changing when a tweenage boy notices!!! :)

The First 6 Months Recipes

2011-06-21T22:52:00.009-04:00

As you know, one of my New Year's Resolutions was to change not only my eating habits, but my family's as well. Habit will have a huge impact on their health choices as adults. So I have felt the pressure to get away from the temptation of pre-packaged meals. These are the yummy ones that have stuck and have replaced others of my go-to meal choices!

Smashed Sweet Potatoes With Coconut Milk
courtesy jillianmichaels.com
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds potato(es), sweet, scrubbed and cut into 3/4-inch chunks
1/2 cup(s) coconut milk, light
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pinch nutmeg, ground
Preparation
Place the sweet potatoes in a glass microwave-safe bowl. Cover and microwave on high until very tender, 4 to 5 minutes.
Transfer the hot, cooked potatoes to a mixing bowl. Add the coconut milk, salt, and nutmeg. Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes and combine with the other ingredients. Serve.

Shrimpo de Gallo
by The Pioneer Woman
Ingredients:
1 pound Cooked Shrimp (tails Removed), Chopped
½ whole Red Onion, Diced Finely
½ cups Green Or Black Olives, Chopped
2 whole Tomatoes, Diced
2 whole Fresh Jalapeno Peppers, Minced
2 whole Avocados, Chopped
2 whole Limes, Juiced
Kosher Salt To Taste
2 cups Cilantro, Chopped
*(I like to add a healthy glug of white vinegar for a little bite!)

Preparation Instructions:
Combine shrimp, red onion, olives, tomatoes, and jalapenos in a large bowl. Add lime juice to taste, then a dash of kosher salt. Add cilantro. Stir gently with a spoon, then taste on a tortilla chip so you’ll have an accurate gauge of the salt content. Add more salt and/or lemon juice if needed.
Chill until serving. Note that the avocado will brown if too much time passes, so if you want to make this ahead of time, leave out the avocado until just before serving.
Serve with tortilla chips!

Rice Bowl
Insanity Nutrition Guide
(single serving recipe, multiply accordingly)
1 cup cooked Brown Rice
2oz Chicken breast cooked (or you can scramble an egg and substitute it in)
1/3cup yellow frozen corn
1/3 cup frozen peas

Mix. Serve. You can serve it with soy sauce, but it is great all by itself!! My kids beg for this. Even the ones that won't eat the veggies on their own!!

Quinoa Bowl
(variation on a theme from the rice bowl)
(again, single serving recipe, multiply accordingly)
1 cup cooked quinoa (red or white)
1/2 cup frozen peas and carrots
2 oz chicken
1 Tbsp Thai peanut satay sauce

Mix. Serve.

Turkey and Avocado Rolls
Slice an avocado longwise, salting it just a tiny bit, and wrap it in some turkey sandwich meat...Mmmm! So good!!

Sandwich Tweaking
Laughing Cow spreads have the same number of calories in it as mayonaise, but it is nutritionally better. AND if I use it on my sandwich instead, I can leave off the cheese without feeling ill used. If I put cheese on with it, it is LUXURIOUS!!

Oatmeal-Flax Pancakes
courtesy of Livestrong
1 1/2 cups Quick Oats
1 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (or whatever whole wheat or all purpose flour you've got)
2 tbsp Sugars, Brown
1 1/2 cups Skim Milk
2 egg
2 tbsp Butter
1/4 cup Flax, Ground
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt

Mix and cook in a pan or griddle...Serve with syrup or apple butter or fruit spread...Enjoy!!! (These are SO much more filling and nutritionally wise than Eggos or similar items!!)

Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut Oats
(Seriously the best change I've made!! And these are the best of the best!!)

Cook according to directions. Add honey, cinnamon, and bananas. Or brown sugar and cinnamon. Or honey and raisins. Or...the list is endless and it ALL good!!!

Dijon Oven-Fried Chicken

(This is a hodge-podge from several different recipes that I merged off of the cornocopia of Google)

Take chicken breast, roll in Dijon mustard, roll in seasoned bread crumbs, lay in an olive oiled glass cookware. Cook at 350-400 depending on your time available.

Apricot Scallops
Pan sear scallops with a tiny bit of olive oil sprayed on pan so it doesn't stick. Serve with apricot fruit spread. Yummm!! A little of cinnamon is fantastic on it, too. This was my quickie invention based off a delicious appetizer at a Moroccan restaurant Ethan and I went to a few years ago.

Squash and Zucchini Bake
Slice a couple of squash and zucchini
spray with olive oil (THIS is a GREAT purchase!!)
roll in bread crumbs
bake at about 350 degrees (Almost as good as fried!!)

Tomato and Cucumber Salad
Thanks to a BBQ restaurant we went to this last week, generously dice cucumbers and tomatoes, mix with a light Balsamic Vinegarette dressing, and chill. Delicious!!

Red Beans and Rice
I would be lying if I said that I have quit all pre-packaged meals. But I haven't bought a single Hamburger Helper or lasagne since I committed to our health. I have found my kids ALL love scratch corn bread and Zatarain's Red Beans and Rice. So, we keep it on hand for rough nights. It is still a MUCH better option than most pre-packaged meals. Frozen or boxed!!

My very favorite corn bread recipe is Quaker's. It used to be on the box, but now it's hit-or-miss. It can be used with ANY cornmeal, but NOT a cornmeal mix, however, as I learned!!)

Here is the cornbread recipe:

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Quaker (or whatever you have) enriched corn meal
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 cup skim milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 egg whites or 1 egg, beaten

Heat oven to 400 F. Grease 8 or 9 inch pan. Combine dry ingredients. Stir in milk, oil and egg, mixing just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Serve warm.
(Fast and one of my all time favorites!!)

Salad Substitutes? Always use a sweet and light dressing on a fruit and spinach salad. For a little protein or to make into a salad meal, you can add cheese, chicken or ham, and nuts. I am currently in love with Rasberry Vinegarettes and Bolthouse Mango Vinegarette. Seriously wonderful!! Unlimited combinations!!

I also tweaked a Potato Soup tonight that turned out great, but I still have to figure out it's nutritional properties...so while scrumptious, I will wait on the recipe...maybe next week.

And finally, my Less Evil Macaroni. Make up a box (1 Large [Barilla] or 2 Small [Kraft type]) of elbow macaroni, your choice, but I would encourage whole wheat pasta. Add 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/4 of parmesan cheese. Add frozen peas. My kids are all fans. And it isn't quite as processed as the actual box's "cheese" powder, but just as fast and, I think, yummier.

Happy Father's Day 2011

2011-06-19T00:29:00.004-04:00

I posted for Father's Day for my Daddy last year. I don't think that I can top it, frankly. That pretty much sums it all up.

But I wanted to put together a collage this year of the things I remember specifically, as a child with my Daddy.

I remember the Giant Fake Book and the Omnichord!! I remember singing at the top of our lungs all the songs we loved! I remember cranking the music and singing in the car while snarfing down stale (the best kind!)
Twizzlers!

Daddy, "And if you fix your bathing suit...and if you do it right, you'll be the hero woavenite..." *snort*

I can hear you yelling at me to look out the windows instead of reading as we drove to North Dakota.

I can smell the crayons as I contemplated the idea of a pastel suit in Noel Paul Stookey's album, before I knew what "pastel" meant. (I concluded, wrongly, that is was along the neon lines of Crayola.)

I can smell the hot vinyl of the car seats and feel the hot metal in the truck bed as we chased down the ice cream man...our very first time...

I remember you reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Farmer Boy" to me.

I remember learning that exercise was fun on the Paracourse.

I remember Par 95's at the Frisbee Golf Course. :)

I remember being important and feeling confident in being loved. I adored spending time with you, and I remember you genuninely enjoying spending time with us.

I remember your eyes squinched up in laughter lines when you explained why "Johnny Sands" was funny.

I remember sitting at the bathroom mirror, trying to squinch my eyes up like you...and terribly disappointed that they wouldn't...because I thought your smile lines were SO COOL!!

I remember you running and biking to Alan Parsons, because you liked how you felt when you were working out...while I sat reading (as usual) and enjoying your rockin' music...

Thank you for Big Band and "Dizzy" and Ella Fitzgerald.

Thank you for happy memories and for fun music...and running through life with passion and joy!!!

I love you, Daddy!! Happy Father's Day!!!

Rat 6-7-11

2011-06-07T10:04:00.005-04:00

I am here checking in, as I promised. I am not, however, where I wanted to be. I think I am in a good place, maybe even a better one, but not where I expected to be.

I am on temporary hold in the the Insanity program. I got through the first month, swimmingly. I did as I was supposed to, wrote down every single calorie, exercised every day according to the program plan. I did the 5th week, that was actually supposed to be a semi-rest week. Then, I did Day 1 of Month 2. And the infuriating happened.

About 3/4 of the way through the work out, a mind-blowing electrical charge shot up my arm to my armpit while doing planks and push-ups...it about dropped me. But when I looked down, I couldn't see any damage...and finished my workout in some slight pain and continuous little shocks...about 20 minutes the inside of my wrist was green, a perfectly square bruise, with a bullseye light spot in the center. And it scared the pants off me.

I stuck it out through the day, as it got worse and looked worse. I would forget about it, and bump it, and it would hurt so badly! I finally sucked it up and took myself to the urgent care for some x-rays. The doctor there had never seen anything like it...after the x-rays, it was concluded that I had dislocated a carpal bone in my wrist... They made me an appointment 2 days later, with a hand specialist. At that visit, I discovered that I had not dislocated anything...my bones were in the right places for them, but they were not quite where "everyone else's were". Great, now I am a freak straight to my bones.

Officially, I have damaged my ulnar nerve. It may fix itself, or it may not. The hope that it would resolve itself in a week, is gone, as it is now 2 weeks later. I find myself thinking that if I could have just disocated my bone, they could have popped it right back, and I could have gone about my business...

I am unable to do all the plank and push-ups required for the Insanity program. So it is on hold. I am now running, skating, biking, and doing a few of the P90X and Jillian workouts on rotation. I wish I could tell you that I am 2 weeks from finishing the Insanity program. I am pleased to say, however, that having completed the first month of Insanity was enough to jump-start a lot of life changes. I am still planning on doing the in-line marathon in October and am planning to make good on my 15 year old self's desire to do a triathlon. I am planning to get my body in shape running enough to complete a sprint distance marathon within the year...I have bike and swim under my belt...I only need to be able to run about 3 miles...

Officially, at this point I have lost 8.5 lbs. I feel so much better. It's funny, I lost weight before on Weight Watchers...and it worked....but I never felt so GOOD as I have while working out. I feel like old me...when I worked out for the fun of it. I am only 2 lbs from my Goal #1) Get my weight down to "healthy". Then I can more on to the more fun goal of Goal #2) Lookin' Good! :)

SO. There you have it...still holding strong!!

Finally, here is this rat's recipe:
Oatmeal-Flax Pancakes

(The link contains the nutritional content.)

1 1/2 cups Quick Oats
1 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (or whatever whole wheat or all purpose flour you've got)
2 tbsp Sugars, Brown
1 1/2 cups Skim Milk
2 egg
2 tbsp Butter
1/4 cup Flax, Ground
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt

Mix and cook in a pan or griddle...Serve with syrup or apple butter or fruit spread...Enjoy!!!

Memorial Day 2011

2011-05-29T21:01:00.001-04:00

Every year, I boohoo my way through Memorial Day and Veterans Day services at my church and PBS. I am touched and moved. Any time I look at the flag, I get choked up. I can't hear patriotic music without having my heart fill with the magnitude of their sacrifices. This phenomenon lasts the whole year through.

And not just the grand sacrifice, but all the little ones, too. The days that they never spent with their families. The milestones that they should have celebrated with their spouses, their kids, their parents. The anniversaries, the birthdays, the births, the first steps, the first words, the first days of school, the snow days, the family dinners....that they were not there for and they can never go back and redeem.

And even the possibilities...that are lost...

I know a young man who is a marine. He and his family have always felt strongly about their involvement in government, local, federal, etc. It should come as no surprise that as a young man, he took that sense of duty and felt called to military service. He signed up, with his family's support, concerns, and love. He was in Iraq for less than a month, involved with communications, when he was shot. He has had surgeries into the double digits to try and repair the damage that was done. They have not been as successful as was hoped.

He has been in surgeries, therapies, has had pain medications, addictions, and deep struggles with depression. I have learned a whole other side of veterans. The abyss that is after care.

We see glorious gifts of sacrifice. We see triumphant reunions. We do not see these men broken, struggling, and hurting. I have learned the appalling statistic of "Eighteen veterans a day commit suicide; 6,000 a year". That is more military that we have lost by their own hand, than on the battlefield.

I urge you to be appreciative of the military personal that lost their lives securing yours. I beg you to be aware of the losses of those who gave up so much so you could take your day to day for granted. But I entreat you to pray for those who are back, broken in body and spirit. Hurting after heroically standing in the gap for you. I plead with you to stand in the gap for their soul. I implore you to write to them, call them, be a true friend to them and their families. They now need you to rescue them.

Please don't forget them after the fanfare has died down. Please be their hero.

Real Work

2011-05-22T00:56:00.003-04:00

A friend of mine posted THIS LINK up on her Facebook page in honor of her husband. And I LOVED it. I loved it even more when I went and read THIS entire testimony, by Mike Rowe, later, when I had time.

And I thought I'd to it add a little rant of my own. It comes in several parts.

#1) I think school is over sold. I mean, really, it is getting too full for it's britches. I believe that "school" has an inflated sense of self.

School has it's place, but practical, get into it EDUCATION is far more important. When I was in 5th grade, I had a teacher who was a little crazy. In the very best way. We would study things holistically. When we studied Mesopotamia, we read writings from then, stories written by them, dressed like them, cooked like them, ate like them, even went to school like them...sun-up to sundown, one day. I've never forgotten any of it.

You can make me read books about stuff until my face turns blue, but send me out to actively get involved in it, and I remember and appreciate it.

I can go to the grocery and buy my food, but kids today don't even appreciate the pre-packed genius anymore...not until they have to make bread from scratch, weed and tend a garden, or can their own applesauce or tomatoes.

I think that we lost a huge opportunity when we went to college. I believe with my whole soul, that we should go back to apprenticeships. Not only would we appreciate our "degree" but we would have a solid idea of the rest of our lives! I know SO many people who went to school, went to college, got a degree or two and realized that they hated that job 3 weeks after they started. They had, however, mortgaged their future with debt, and so stay for 30 years. Despising every minute.

Not only would we know before 2, 4, 6, 12 years of education had passed, whether or not we liked our job, there would also be no "learning curve" once that job started. I know very few jobs where you show up the first day and know everything. Even once you get a job, there is usually on-the-job-training. So, why are we in school for years first????

#2) Also, education has allowed, as was mentioned in both links, a snobbishness to rise up between technical, vocational, self-made, and highly educated people. If we were all in the trenches together, I think a sense of the interdependence would be clearer. I certainly have a affinity to teaching math. I cannot put a car together if it breaks. Do we both need each other? Yup. If "I" hadn't had to suffer through 4.5 years of college to get my degree do you think I would be so smug?

I have dreams of learning how to fix my car and learn how to do plumbing and pouring concrete so it would run, not leak, and not look like a kindergartner's plaster of paris project...I hope to figure out some of it. I have a healthy respect of those who learn and do. And anybody who does look down their nose at the "dirty job" workers? My advice, do it your own dang self. What? What is that you say? You can't??? Then SHOW THEM THE RESPECT THEY DESERVE!!!! (And this goes both ways. I know many self-made people scorn those that got a degree, even if that degree was necessary to fix their problems.)

#3) School hurts those that do not learn like Suzy Average. I should know.

The most practical example I can give you? Me. I had planned to go into medicine. Occupational Therapy to be exact. I did TONS of volunteering, and I had a real natural ability. I liked the problem solving aspect. It made sense. I was told by every single person I shadowed that I had a knack for it. Since having Elise, I have asked her Occupational and Physical Therapists stuff, that blew them away, and they had to go do homework on, and even on occasion, shared my conclusions with their peers. True story.

College decided that I should take Physics in order to get this degree. Um. Okay. So I took it. It was not made for me. The funniest part? I failed it the first time. FAILED. What? You feel scorn and pity at my stupidity? I GOT AN A in the Physics Lab (you know, the place where you practically use the knowledge?). It was 25% percent of my grade. AND I STILL FAILED!!!! Do you know hard that is??? I took it a second time, and passed with a C total grade...but I had hurt my GPA to the point that I couldn't get into any OT programs. Even though I was competent in the actual field and in the practical usage of the taught information, I didn't get the "gold star" to actually pursue my passion.

I went into education, ironically. I like to think that I was able to encourage some of those upside-down-thinking people still duking it out with THE SYSTEM.

During which time, I met Darrin. He was a trouble-maker. He had an attitude. He had bad grades. He was surly. He was angry. He was hurting. He had a IEP (Individualized Service Plan) for Special Education. He did horribly in his core classes. He made it difficult for even his peers to learn in class.

Crazy person that I am, I had my 7th graders make tin lanterns for Christmas. They were just empty soup cans that I had them bang holes in with nails. When you put candles in them, they were cool. He never did his work, but I think that the shock of my unorthodox lesson plan, and the opportunity to make the class under us cringe from the racket, caused him to join in. His lantern was intricate, beautiful, and full of truly professional precision. It was the most gorgeous one that was made the 2 years we did it (300 some odd students). I ooh-ed and aahh-ed over it. And he was so embarrassed. But he gave it to me. I didn't have a single behavior problem from him for the rest of the year. I went to shop and asked the teacher there how Darrin was, told him of my pleasure watching him on our project, and was told that he was one of the best students, that he was incredibly technically talented.

So why do we keep removing the vocational/technical programs from our high schools??? Why do we want to beat down these kids who excel with their hands, and make them wallow in their ineptitude with geography until they are 16, at which time they drop out and populate our prisons, because they never had an opportunity to succeed???????

#4) As both the links pointed out, if we did not denigrate jobs that looked like work, and respected them, we wouldn't have class warfare. Or sky-rocketing unemployment. And an unexpected impact? We wouldn't have to import illegals to do it for us and hurt our economy. If we filled our own jobs, then they wouldn't have reason to come over here. We wouldn't have to be putting up fences and law enforcement.

#5) And we could let men be men. Boys be boys. Kinesthetic learners wouldn't have to suffer until the age of 16 or 22... The men we all respect?? They didn't have fancy educations. They did what they had to do. John D. Rockefeller Sr, Steven Spielberg, Bill Gates, Andrew Jackson, Henry Ford, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, The Wright Brothers....(Need I go on???) They made our lives better. What are we doing in return for their efforts? Trapping brilliant people in to learning disabilities and failure. Killing the American Dream.

SO. You may find this odd coming from a woman with a college degree in education, married to a man who has a graduate school dual degree. But if my kids don't want to go to college...as long as it isn't laziness prompting them to live in my basement...I am not married to the idea of school. Get Educated. Work hard. Work Very Hard. Make a difference. Pursue a passion with no illusions of "just deserts" without the time and effort. You will be successful. And I don't care if you have degrees out the wazoo or just a herculean work ethic....

And I will be proud. Very proud.

The Actual Jane Austen Challenge

2011-05-20T15:53:00.002-04:00

Jane Austen 30 Day Challenge
(I found this HERE)

1. Favorite Austen heroine.
2. Favorite Austen man.
3. Favorite Austen book.
4. Favorite quote from the books.
5. Favorite moment in the books.
6. Favorite movie adaptation.
7. Favorite Austen couple.
8. Least favorite couple.
9. Most hated foe of a heroine.
10. Most frustrating family member.
11. Least favorite book.
12. Least favorite Austen heroine.
13. Least favorite Austen man.
14. Favorite love confession from the books.
15. Favorite love confession from the films.
16. Least favorite film adaptation.
17. Moment that made you sad/cry while reading.
18. Moment that made you smile/happy while reading.
19. Moment that made you laugh while reading.
20. Moment that made you mad while reading.
21. Favorite Jane Austen-related photo.
22. Favorite Austen female casting decision.
23. Favorite Austen male casting decision.
24. Favorite supporting character.
25. Favorite family connection (i.e. sister-sister, mother-daughter, brother-sister, etc.)
26. Favorite casting cameo from the films.
27. Favorite quote from the films.
28. Favorite moment from the films.
29. Favorite character back story or secret.
30. Character you most relate to.

"There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort."
Jane Austen

Confessions of a Janeite

2011-05-20T15:36:00.004-04:00

I ADORE Jane Austen. I mean, JANE. Not the movies, although they do have a lovely place in my happy thoughts...

I am planning on an indulgence to kick off my summer. I am going to re-read my favorite (all of 'em!!) Jane Austen books. Then I plan to wrap up my summer with a 30 Day Jane Austen Challenge. HERE it is, in case you'd like to join me. (I'll post it up in a separate post for your ease.)

If you choose to do it, PLEASE TELL ME!!! Email me, link up your blog, message me on Facebook...I want to know where my Janeite Peeps are!!!

Until then, I plan to post one (at least) Jane-Related post each week...to keep us in the mood! :)

After all:
"Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery."
Jane Austen

Music for the Hump Day #1

2011-05-18T08:58:00.002-04:00

LOVE this song...enjoy!!

Deep Thoughts Down the Drain

2011-05-14T14:35:00.001-04:00

Today is not a deep thoughts day. I wanted it to be, but they apparently all went down the drain.

The thought of the day? Does your hair age? Yes, it will change color, grey and all that…but does it get dry and brittle like your skin as you age?

The reason I ask, is my recent experience with shampoo. I used to be able to wash my hair with bar soap, and it would do okay. I mean, not great, but in a pinch, it got by. Recently, my hair has been disinclined to behave. So I have actually broke down and bought it products to whip into submission. Things have been going well under the new regime, but my actual hair, which is still baby silky (dandelion, remember?) has been dry and unhappy, distinctly fuzzy. I ran out of shampoo a while back. I have long been a fan of Suave in the fruity flavors…plus it’s cheap, it used to be a buck, but now with the economy, it is a whopping $1.50. Anyway, I was not planning ahead (as usual) and realized that I had no shampoo, so went and got my travel sized Garnier Fructis out of my trip kit. And lo and behold, my hair was happy, smooth, and not so dry. Huh. SO, I used it until it was gone…yay, happy hair!! It ran out, and I was back to my strawberry Suave…boo, sad hair! Huh.

I went out and bought the real sized Garnier, and spent *gasp* $3.50. But my hair is 18 year old happy. Seriously, is my hair old? Demanding coddling, like my skin has been lately? Terribly strange. I guess when I turn 40, I will have to buy $5 or $8 shampoo? It is an interesting thought…not deep, but certainly a matter for research… :)

Rat 5-9-11

2011-05-09T10:26:00.003-04:00

I have not ratted myself out for a while. I am not proud of this, but I have not lost momentum, I have actually gained ground. I've just been tired.

I completed Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred...granted it was in about 90 days, but I pulled it off. I did lose some weight, and then put on some muscle. Which is good and depressing all at the same time, because although you put on muscle, you also put on some pounds....so I was at a neutral weight loss, but I looked better and my jeans fit better. Good, but not great. I was feeling more like my old self. When I first started, I took so long between workouts because I had to let my muscles regroup and heal. Then it took a while between workouts because I was adding other workouts, in-line skating, running, stationary biking, etc. so I didn't get bored. I felt like it got me in shape enough to get in real shape.

Then in a fit of craziness, I ordered Insanity, an exercise program that is made to brutalize your body into shape. There are rotating workouts so you don't get bored, and so your body has a chance to regroup, but then again, not really. Ethan did the P90X workout, by the same company, and lost about 22 pounds. And while it would have been smart to just use it, I just could not face an hour and some for each workout. SO.

I actually really like it. I like that the workouts are all under 45 minutes...I like that just when you feel like you will die, they do stretching... I like that it works. I have lost an inch off my waist and 4 pounds in 3 weeks. And it is the kind where not only are you losing, but you can see the muscles show up. I am feeling so much better about myself. I am tired and sore just about everyday, but I am feeling healthy again. PLUS because the program is so brutal, you get to EAT! I am following their diet, and I actually find myself having to eat at the end of the day because I am UNDER their recommended amout of calories for my day...when was the last time you were on a diet like that!!!???!!!

My favorite new recipe that is in their nutrition booklet is the rice bowl. Brown rice, peas, and corn then you add chicken or a scrambled egg...and that's it, nothing else. (Although Ethan and Gabriel like soy sauce on it.) It is yumm-o and the kids like it. Elise is thrilled when I make it, and she will actually eat the peas and corn and beg for more...which is a plain ole shock.

My other absolute favorite food discoveries? Slicing an avocado longwise, salting it just a tiny bit, and wrapping it in some turkey sandwich meat...Mmmm! So good!! Also I discovered that the Laughing Cow spreads have the same number of calories in it as mayonaise, but it is nutritionally better. AND if I use it on my sandwich instead, I can leave off the cheese without feeling ill used. If I put cheese on with it, it is LUXURIOUS!!

I really didn't want to post that I was doing Insanity, because it promises such dramatic results...what if I don't get those dramatic results?? But I read something that my "coach" said, that if you don't have the guts to tell people that you are trying something, then deep down you are giving yourself a way out...and that really struck me. So now you know the reason for my rat today. I am not giving myself a way out. I am going to fight through this program, dagnabit!! I am about to start the 4th week. Then I get a recovery week, and then the abuse starts for the second month...which is supposed to be harder. And I'd just like to say, that if it is too much harder then you will find me rocking in a corner...I am genuinely scared of the second month. But you want to know something weird? I like the workout instructor, still. I usually could take out a hit on the exercise instructor of any other program I've done, after about a week...even those I liked.

I will let you know how things are going in about 3 weeks, which will put me half-way through the second month....if I'm not dead. Plus is gives me a pride incentive to stick to it!! And then it's only 2 weeks til I can say I made it...which I can totally do, right??

My Mother and Her Babies

2011-05-08T00:00:00.005-04:00

All I wanted to be when I grew up was a mama. I had no back-up plan until I was 13. Then I was going to be a large animal vet. Then in high school I discovered that I was a good teacher, so that became the plan...there were a few other changes, but that ended up sticking. But regardless of the plans that came and went, wanting to be a mama was the only constant.

And you want to know why I wanted to be a mama? Because mine was so good.

We made each other crazy. There is no denying that. She made me have a nervous breakdown about once a week, and I am sure I returned the favor, but it was behind closed doors. She never, not once, made me feel like a stress, a disappointment, or a frustration.

I know that I was a mystery to her, we were not alike in our wiring make-up...but she even found ways to coddle my biggest issues. Instead of allowing me to chew the snot out of the car seats and my clothes, she let me chew on her glue sticks before they made it to the hot glue gun. She let me wear the same 4 Ocean Pacific shirts and 2 pairs of jeans my entire 6th grade year, washing them regularly so I could. I flat refused to wear uncomfortable shoes, so she would break-in shoes for me. No lie.

She borrowed her weight in library books every week. She bought me audio books and crayons out the wazzoo, so she could get stuff done. She read Little House on the Prairie books until she was blue in the face....often "reading" quite literally in her sleep as she fought with drowsiness when my brother came into the picture.

She made grilled cheese sandwiches and hot breakfasts. She wrote notes for school lunches.

She would come pray with me when I got scared in the dark. She would lay in bed with me until I calmed down, sometimes sleeping with me through the night.

She would make mushroom soup for me when I was sick. Fill hot water bottles for my stomach. And read some more.

She drove across Cincinnati to pick up a huge box of Barbies just for me. She helped dress them, she talked my dad into making me a Barbie house. She bought it carpet and made it furniture. And she is not a particularly crafty woman. But she did it for me.

She read Steven Kellogg, Russell and Lillian Hoban, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and the list is positively endless.

She was there for everything.

She homeschooled me when it became clear that public schooling and my crazy self was not going to be a good fit.

She took on nauseatingly complex craft projects for my birthday parties with quite a few little girls involved as "helpers".

I like looking at her childhood pictures, because she always has a baby doll. Better than 90% of her pictures until she was 4 or 5 has a doll in them. I like to think that she was practicing. Practicing loving. Practicing being patient with bizarre antics. Practicing reading. Practicing being never alone. So that when she finally had me, she had the big stuff down.

I am beyond thankful that she is my mother. I know she wasn't perfect, but I sincerely doubt anyone could have handled me with as much grace as she did.

I am thankful that she was always there.

I hope I can be half the mother to my kids that she has been to me.

Happy Mother's Day!!! I am so very thankful for you!!

"Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate."
Proverbs 31:28-31

Storms

2011-04-29T19:25:00.003-04:00

We got a rather terrifying lightening storm night before last...and after watching the insane weather on radar just barely miss us, and talking to friends and family who were not so lucky over the last couple of days, am I the only one who starts thinking The Book of Revelation?

There were some big, bad tornados that have decimated lot of the south that typically do not get hit by any such storms. I have friends that actually had their house lifted and moved 4-5 feet and then dropped by the tornado...destroying it. I am thankful to say that not one of their family were there, they were in their church basement...but all of their stuff is all a loss.

Many of my family and friends have no power and do not anticipate it being restored for a week. One friend has been charging her phone in her car, and posted on Facebook that they were warming water over candles for coffee...thankful that they were safe.

Whole strips of neighborhoods, buildings, and schools are literally gone. Forests have been razed...hundred year old trees snapped like matchsticks.

A friend from high school posted that she went to her parents' damaged house today and they have heard the cadaver dogs searching all day. They can see nothing but destruction everywhere they look.

Today another friend posted that her husband (who is a contractor) has been let go from his job...which I find bizarre (the entire area is going to be rebuilding from the ground up...who do they think will be doing this??) But in the face of the desolation, how awful would it be to get that phone call??

I have been emotionally tossed about over the last few days...I virtually never watch TV (when it is on, we are usually streaming from Netflix) but yesterday I spent the day searching Facebook for friends posting that they were safe, or reporting that they had talked to other friends...I watched the news for pictures, information, and reports of the damage. Today I have watched the Royal Wedding and the reports of the damage...the highs and lows are making me feel manic depressive...I am feeling darn blessed that my life is boring, normal, and safe.

Repeat after me:
I am blessed. My family is safe. I have a home. (even if it is dirty!) I have electricity. My fridge is full of food that has not spoiled. I can microwave said food. I know where my clothes are. I can bathe and wash my clothes. I can contact my loved ones. I can go to the store and know it is standing. I and/or my spouse have a job. I do not hear cadaver dogs searching for the lost. I can give blood. I can donate to those who have nothing. I still have time to tell those I care about that I love them. I have hope. I know what is important. I can cry and celebrate with others. I know who has His Hand on me and that I deserve nothing....that I am blessed to have HIM.

Princesses

2011-04-28T09:26:00.005-04:00

When I was a kid, the term "princess" was a call to proper behavior, and not in the way you would think. Like, "You are not a princess, go clean your room." or "You are not a princess, you need to help your mother set the table/make supper/dust...etc"

I resented it. I mean really, REALLY resented it. Being a princess was such a lovely concept and it was used for rebuke. It was one of few things that I swore I'd not do as a parent that I actually made good on. Most of the "Swearings" have failed because I grew up and realized that my folks were right. There have been a lot of "I'm really sorry I was ugly to you...you were right...it makes sense now..." phone calls made to my mother.

I told my parents that the Princess Reprimand would come to a screeching halt when I had Elise. I found a line at my local Bible bookstore while I was still pregnant with her that had a "Princess" line based on being "The King of Kings" daughter. I thought it was amazingly cool. To their credit, they have backed me on this decision. To the point that my mom and dad bought a Princess Bible for the girls for their Easter basket illuminating the Princess qualities that each woman in the Bible brought that we should imitate. (SO cool...I highly recommend it!!)

I wish I could put my finger on why princesses have such a fascination for us as a gender. I don't think it is the power, or the dresses, or the handsome prince, as many have suggested. I think it is the treasuredness, the belovedness, and the protection that is placed around the position. I really do.

I am looking forward to the Royal Wedding tomorrow. You know, Kate Middleton to Prince William of England...House of Windsor and all that...

I do not have an obsession that many have scorned on the internet...just a healthy interest in someone else's special day. I look forward to them being happy. I look forward to seeing the beautiful cathedral of Westminster Abbey. I look forward to seeing the tears wisked away by the royals, telling us that we are no different deep down. I look forward to the glowing smile of the bride, the victorious pride of the groom. I like the emotions that go on at weddings. I love that they are all the same, no matter the color, the station, or the financials of those getting married. It's a day of joy.

In July of 1981, my mother ripped me from my bed at about 4 am. I do not remember being warned that she would do so. I was not yet 6, and 4 am is VERY early for a 5 year old. I was fed hot chocolate in her best china cup and some kind of baked good as I sat in a bean bag in my basement. My mother and I watched as Lady Diana Spencer married Prince Charles. It was magic. I had never seen a wedding. This one was over the top. A princess!

I treasured that morning. I enjoyed the wedding. It was SO pretty! But the most important part was the hot chocolate and the time with my mama. I was special. I was OLD ENOUGH to get woken up at 4 am and watch a wedding full of beauty and joy....I was old enough to make a memory. I was the real princess.

SO. Tomorrow, guess who is getting woken up for the Royal Wedding? My girls. Charlotte won't remember it, and is a big meanie when woken before her "time", so I'm not going there! I am not banking on Elise, I although I will attempt to get her up to join me. Amelia, however, will be up (she's up by 3:30 in the morning half the time anyway!!)....drinking hot chocolate, and being loved on by myself and my mama, who will be joining us....SHE will be the princess. SHE will remember the time she got to witness her first wedding, and the time with those who adore her....and it will be magical.

And here is a little fun that Disney could not resist putting together in case you are a big sucker like me and want to be cutting or baking all afternoon. I am. I will be cutting out the Kate Paper Doll that will get torn up in about 20 minutes...and Amelia will love every second, so I'm doing it...because it is the time put in that makes the magic...

He is NOT a Tame Lion

2011-04-24T12:08:00.002-04:00

“It isn't Narnia, you know,” sobbed Lucy. “It's you. We shan't meet you there. And how can we live, never meeting you?”
“But you shall meet me, dear one,” said Aslan.
“Are are you there too, Sir?” said Edmund.
“I am,” said Aslan. “But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

I believe this explains more concisely than I can my love for the Narnia series. About 3 years ago we started the tradition of watching Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe movie on Easter. We always take the time to explain that what Aslan does at the stone table, is just what Jesus did for us on the cross.

Frankly, I think it explains Easter powerfully. The more we have watched it with Easter in the forefront of our minds, the more powerful it is for me, and even the more real the story of the cross and resurrection is to me. The ultimate parable.

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
"If the Witch understood the true meaning of sacrifice, she would have interpreted the deep magic differently. That when a willing victim who has committed no treachery, is killed in a traitor's stead, the stone table will crack, and even death itself will go backwards."

"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

And He is, isn't he? Happy Easter! God is Good and He is risen!! Isn't that just AWESOME???

Psalm 24 and Earth Day

2011-04-21T09:51:00.000-04:00

I was going to save this until tomorrow. This morning Gabriel asked what day it was because he is "supposed" to wear green to celebrate Earth Day tomorrow....

While I don't have anything against celebrating the amazingness of the Earth, it's not it's "mother-ness", but that it is the miraculous creation of the Lord of Heaven, that I am celebrating.

Gabriel will be reading this passage out loud for his sisters tomorrow. I hope you will join me in recognizing WHY the Earth is so spectatular.

"Psalm 24

Of David. A psalm.

1 The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,

the world, and all who live in it;

2 for he founded it on the seas

and established it on the waters.

3 Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD?

Who may stand in his holy place?

4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,

who does not trust in an idol

or swear by a false god.[a]

5 They will receive blessing from the LORD

and vindication from God their Savior.

6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,

who seek your face, God of Jacob.[b][c]

7 Lift up your heads, you gates;

be lifted up, you ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in.

8 Who is this King of glory?

The LORD strong and mighty,

the LORD mighty in battle.

9 Lift up your heads, you gates;

lift them up, you ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in.

10 Who is he, this King of glory?

The LORD Almighty—

he is the King of glory."

Giveaway Coming!!!

2011-03-11T09:47:00.002-05:00

Okay, Mamas-of-Girlies!! (or Aunties-of-Girlies, etc...)

I have to offer a teaser! I'm going to be doing a giveaway here in the next few weeks, so make sure you check back!!

I was a lucky little girl to fall into this knowledge! I had a few diapers that were not a perfect fit for us, so I have been trolling www.diaperswappers.com for a while looking for a new home for them...and found a mama who had a couple diapers that I wanted...and made some of the cutest bows...and she is graciously trading some of her bows for my extra diaper...

For being a mama of THREE (count them, 3!!) girls, I am not the biggest fan of bows...on the flip side, I don't really like naked rubber bands, either. Imagine my excitement when I saw her flowers!! She has gorgeous fabric flowers and some of the coolest flower stackers... And the prices!!! So reasonable and in the Make-You-Buy-Bunches Range!!!

So go drool (and feel free to buy!!) on

Blue Willow Creations:

Here's her Etsy Site!!

And go fan her on Facebook, for new products and galleries!!

Blue Willow Creations will be my new Go To!! I will post pix of mine when I get them!! I even got to pick m fabric combinations...ooh! AND she will do customs if you have a fabric you MUST match...you can send it to her....and she'll whip you up some magic!!

I will be giving away a Flower Stacker when it gets here!! Make sure you check back!!

deals with tweens and other craziness

2011-03-11T08:37:00.004-05:00

I am totally excited...I get to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring tonight with my boy! Never mind that I watched it while I folded laundry a couple of weeks ago... I made Gabriel read The Hobbit on the promise that I would let him watch the movies.

Here's the thing. I'm not making him read the rest of the books. I might make him listen to the audio books this summer...but I am going to make a confession, I really enjoyed the Hobbit...it was really good...But the rest of the series, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, makes me crazy. I don't love them. This is the only exception so far where I liked the movies more than the books. The LOTR is tedious. While I like a good description as much as the next person, LOTR takes that a little too far. EVERYTHING is described, to the exaggerated extreme that every breath, every footstep, every thought is described. IN DETAIL. Uggh! While I was reading, I sat there and figured out how much time had passed, and I think that the time frame for the ENTIRE trilogy was about 3 weeks...and I think I spent a week and a half reading it. And I read fast. It was brutal. I wanted to keep my geek card, and put it on my list of things I'd read. So I did, but it was awful. I'm waiting for the phone call that my geek card will be revoked...because I dared to speak against the trilogy...

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the date night with Gabriel. I love that boy!!

Rat 3-9-11

2011-03-09T10:02:00.005-05:00

I have lost back down to what I was before the last unfortunate rat. Good, I guess. No more diet drinks. It's working, huh...wierd.

I have gone to bed reasonably, about 50/50...those that I have not been good about resulted because of working out too late...but I have managed to work out reasonably early for the last 3 days...I hope to be able to get up and work out before I get the kids up tomorrow...I may check in just for that... :) I'd really like to change over to morning exercise.

I made quinoa and peanut satay dip and chicken...which is YUMMY! I think peas, sweet potatoes, or carrots would go GREAT with it. The kids won't touch it...but I liked it. Still working on finding new stuff for them.

The kids' food? I have been making a form of Bento Boxes for them, and they really like it. I use THIS site for ideas...I've gone cheap, and am using Ziploc divided containers, but I have enough that I can wash them in the dishwasher every couple of days...Elise has been eating more variety because of the divisions...utilizing the OCD tendencies does have some benefits! :)

I also bought some new skates!!! I cannot begin to tell you how VERY excited I am!! I got last year's version for about 1/2 the price, so I was able to get premium performance skates for a recreational skate price. I would have paid full price to get what I wanted, but I actually preferred last year's color combination! Bonus!! And I am now all set to start training for A2A! I am sooo excited!! Yay!!! I'm sick, perhaps, but dead serious! As of right now, I'm planning on the 38 mile distance...but if I can manage to train with some kind of regularity, then maybe, I can up it...we shall see.

I am hoping to get "skinny, fit Tiffany" back by doing "skinny, fit Tiffany's" exercise activities. I got my bike ready to go with the kid's trailer for when it gets warm again. Ethan worries about my taking my skating up again. He keeps reminding me that I am no longer a "Spring Chicken"...but I countered that I may get to look like one by acting like one. He rolled his eyes and reminded me to be careful. He knows how recklessly I used to skate, but I think that motherhood has tempered my consequence planning... Plus, my dad took up Mountain Biking at age 50. I come from a long line of acting-the-age-you-want-to-feel-like. So, there.

A girlfriend commented on my Facebook wall "Girl...just how FIT ARE YOU? You are running, skating, Shredding...I stand in awe...." Here's the thing. I am fairly fit. The problem is to be really fit, I have to look like it and quit making myself fight against my own body. As I said before, I need to ditch about 7 pounds to get healthy, but to truly free my old self, I need to lose about 15...not that that loss will take me back to college, but it will go a long way to allowing me to do what I want...and that is the truth of it. You can run, bike, skate, and exercise while dragging around a few extra pounds. However, for it to be really fun and to make it hurt less, losing all that extra makes all the difference. It's like running with a bag of groceries. You can do it, but it's no fun.

I believe that my special needs blog placed 3rd for the Reader's Choice Awards (I have to wait on the official announcement to know for sure!)...which is cool, but missed 1st and 2nd place by 7,000 and 6,000 votes, respectively. So, it's not quite as impressive as it sounds. I am still pleased though. Not bad for a 5 month old blog! :) The reason to brag about this is to explain why I've been forced to keep stalking my votes. On my phone. At night. With my husband home. I feel badly. I am going to start putting it away when the kids go to bed, so I can kick that addiction again. I promise!

So, is that everything I have to rat myself out about? If not, I'll check back in. Thanks for making me stay honest!

Tweenie-bopper

2011-02-25T08:37:00.003-05:00

I am eleven in my soul. I am. I love bubble-gum music. The kind that has no musical depth, and that cause people to roll their eyes at me when I rock out.

I stayed up WAY too late last night. The undesired by product of working out too late. I watched the tail end of Jay Leno that resulted in a surprise. Hanson is back! You remember, "MMmmmmmBop". Which, I confess to enjoying. Yeah, I have their CD, and I bought it about 5 years ago...5 years after they were SO not cool! Because I missed them and enjoyed them. I watched a bio on Hanson a while back (waaay back) and they are really talented. When asked to sing something, they chose to sing some 1960's song, with a complex harmony, and not one of their own...And I was struck that that is one of the reasons I like them. I LOVE the bubble-gum music of the 60's. Hanson is the same happy music with a head bopping beat and fluffy happy lyrics. "Dizzy" is one of my all-time favorite songs. It makes me happy, always, without fail. It has virtually no message, but it is just pure fun. "Mmmbop" is worthless, but it is like sunshine in a music clip. I can smell hot pavement and a breeze when I hear it. I still like it. You can take me out and stone me later.

Hanson is back, and I am happy to say they, as men with families, still sound fun and like summer. HERE is what I saw last night, and yes, I'll be buying their CD.

While I am confessing to loving embarassing "tweenie-bopperness", I also like High School Musical, Gidget, and will watch iCarly without my kids. SO THERE!

I have enough real life in my real life. I don't care if movies and books are not realistic. I like sunshine. I like happily-ever-afters. It's my drug. It could be worse.

Scarecrow Fun

2011-02-23T10:12:00.002-05:00

There is a property on my way to the kids' school that has gallavanting scarecrows. No lie.

I use the term scarecrow lightly. They have white heads and their outfits change often, and they appear to have wire bodies. I cannot stress the magic of these scarecrows enough. I have not once seen them posed. I have never seen anyone near them. They have taken on lives of their own.

They skip through the flowers and roses, bending to smell them. They wear capes and bonnets, overalls and suits. They dance around a pot of gold at St. Patrick's Day. They sing around the tree at Christmas. One was proposed to this Valentine's Day. She's run off and he looks disgruntled, so I'm thinking perhaps she's turned him down.

They will literally be moved from their morning positions by the evening some days. Sometimes only one will have changed...

I will probably die in the ditch from watching these scarecrows and I solemnly promise to write a thank you note to the property owners before the end of this year. I treasure the magic...it makes me feel 5.

Rat 2-23-11

2011-02-23T09:51:00.002-05:00

So I've gained 2 pounds this round. Like in the last 3 days. Stink. I considered not even ratting myself out this time, but since that is the whole point...

*sigh*

Well, I've been working out consistently. I've been maintaining the appropriate food choices. My pants are still fitting the same way, so the weight hasn't addressed my biggest concerns...The only change is this: diet drinks. I'm dead serious. I went on a food bender at the Brad Paisley concert, and then went back to being good...but since I had all that nice yummy food and drinks, I started fantasizing about sugar and cokes and cakes and...well, you get the picture... So I bought some diet tea. Figured no calories, no harm, no foul. Hmmmm. Maybe not.

So, I am adding this, no diet drinks...so there. We'll see if this is the problem.

I sent a tracing of my foot to an in-line skate store to fit me for my new skates. I have chosen a type of K2 skate, and I'm really excited. I've been reading reviews and harrassing major inline producers, so I think this will be good. I'll let you know when my purchase goes through, and how happy I am...I am officially planning to go for the A2A marathon, but probably the shortest distance (38 miles)...this time... I am seriously exxcited!!!

Sleeping? Eh, about 50/50 at this point. I am trying to wrestle my self into bed so I can try and get up early to workout so I shower BEFORE 9 o'clock at night...a side-effect of working out being pushed back and back and...well, trying to fix that one!

Food? No new stuff this week...I know, naughty me. But low on food and NO desire to go to the store...Actually, I take that back, pierogies are surprisingly low in calories...and so that was subbed in for ravioli a few times this week, and Elise actually liked it! Amelia made a big production of gagging...can't win them all, huh?

Computer? Um, back to old habits...started to read to ditch the computer...yeah, now having a hard time putting down the stinkin' books and be responsible...BUT I've read some good ones lately...so, sorta successful this time...the computer addition is being replaced by my old book one... :)

Blogging is working out well...as a matter of fact, if you follow me here and not at Just a Little Bit Downsy, then, do me a personal favor and go HERE to vote for me...I have actually been blessed by friends and supporters and am a finalist for a special needs blog Readers Award. You can vote once a day until March 8. Thanks!!

Thanks for making me honest and checking in on me...See you with hopefully better results in 2 weeks!!

Valentines of the Magi

2011-02-14T09:49:00.003-05:00

This year my valentines exchange with my beloved was funny enough that I had to share.

We decided back in November, I think, to go to see Brad Paisley in concert, the week of Valentine's Day. So we went with friends, and it was fabulous! A phenomenal concert, really, quite a show! And we really enjoyed it, but since we did something so spectacular, we decided to exchange lower profile gifts.

I went out and bought a George Washington biography that Ethan had hinted at all Christmas season. But I could not get in time for Christmas...so as soon as the kids got back in school I ran out and got it. Score me! I was SO excited to see his happiness! He would be shocked and happy that I actually remembered!

No lie to you, he came home with it last Saturday. I was SO disappointed!!! I mean my thoat even got a lump in it...and I comtemplated keeping my mouth shut, but ended up chirping "happy valentine's day" when he showed it to me...and I told him that that was his gift, so enjoy it, because I wasn't going to be able to come up with another "good one" in time...so did he want to keep it, or should I take it and give it back to him on the 14th? He told me what a great job I did and that he'd like to start reading it...fine. whatever.

I NEVER buy CDs! Really, very rarely...I'll compulsively buy 1 or 2 a year and they'll ususally be for the kids or Ethan...

But in a fit of tweenagerishness (and I'm sure that's probably a real word), I bought Taylor Swift's new CD, and came home with it, Tuesday, I think...

It was playing when Ethan walked in the door from work...and he perked up his ear and asked if it was the radio...and I confessed that I had bought it that day...and he said, "happy valentine's day"...whaa? Yeah, that is what he bought for ME back in January for Valentine's.

So, while there was no selling of hair or watches, it smacks a bit of the Gift of the Magi story by O Henry...But, somehow it is really sweet how it happened to both of us this year. We have loved each other long enough to know each other that well...and it makes even the frustrating special. :)

The Evil Genius

2011-02-10T13:06:00.004-05:00

Gabriel talked right on time for his age. He used big words early, big surprise there being I'm his mama!

Elise was delayed, because of her health and Downs.

Amelia was delayed, because her playmate was Elise. She was referred to the local early intervention program...I never took her, because I was confident that she would get caught up. Now she uses million dollar words and never stops talking. People think she is older because of the information that falls out of her mouth.

Charlotte is not really talking. She has phrases that she uses in a pinch, but she doesn't really talk. I am betting big money that on her 2 year-old well child visit, the pediatrician will refer her, too.

I think she isn't talking because she doesn't want to, not because she can't. She is a mover and a shaker. She doesn't talk because it will take less time for her to just go and get what she wants, rather than take the time to ask anyone.

Lately, she has started playing with her sisters. They play house a lot. Not surprisingly, Charlotte is usually "the baby". But she doesn't just stand there, she actively pretends to be a baby. She gets in the doll cradle and flaps her hands and babbles, which she has NEVER done before. I find it wickedly funny that the baby that doesn't talk, pretends to be a baby who doesn't talk. She sticks out her tongue, and says "bah, bah, bah". It's truely hysterical! But it makes me really wonder if she is calculating. Does she choose not to talk, so she can do as she likes?

She has never babbled. She will NEVER repeat after you, anything! She does not "do" baby talk unless she is playing that she is a baby. But she understands everything! She is an "old soul" kind of kid. Her eyes know so much more than she should. She "gets" people and laughs over jokes she shouldn't understand. I am convinced that when she does decide to talk, it will be in not only complete sentences, but in complete paragraphs and ideas.

So, thanks to this crazy little girl, I am practicing letting my eyes glaze over and pretending to listen, and perfecting "yeah, yeah, sure" kind of answers...for when we go to the pediatrician for her 2 year-old check-up. Just because she isn't talking doesn't mean she can't, I think she may just be just an Evil Genius, she just plays that she is a baby....yeah, yeah, that's it!!

Rat 2-7-11

2011-02-09T09:33:00.003-05:00

I have mixed feeling about this Rat. On one hand, it is not the story of success I was hoping to put down like 2 weeks ago...on the other hand, I had strep 2 weeks ago, so I did not work out AT ALL while I had strep. I ate okay, but because I felt so bad, I ate what I wanted...But after I started feeling better when the antibiotics kicked in, I got back on the program.
So, I lost 1 measly little pound. However, I did that in a week, so essentially, I am still on track. Total weight loss at this point? 3 pounds. Still nice to post. :)

I didn't work out while I could not swallow, but I worked out 5 days of this last week. I did Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred mixed with P90X and the recumbant exercise bike.

I have eaten well, and allowed myself enough stuff I like that I am not feeling too sorry for myself...as a matter of fact, I have found that I really like quinoa and some of the other things that I am replacing are not half bad. Fish is awesome and the Fish Rub from Emeril is YUMmy! A VERY well spent $3!!

A friend was gracious enough to share www.myfitnesspal.com. It is a FREE online community that does the exercise log and calorie log, but allows you to join with a friend (or 5) and it rats you out to your friend on whether you worked out, logged your food, lost weight, etc. when you log-in. I wish it had all the yummy recipes that Jillian gives, but, still, for free....

For the SuperBowl, I used this yummy recipe to keep me out of trouble! I did add a couple of healthy glugs of vinegar, but it was DELICIOUS!!! I stayed out of all the bad snacks and didn't feel abused in the least!

Shrimpo de Gallo
by The Pioneer Woman
Ingredients:
1 pound Cooked Shrimp (tails Removed), Chopped
½ whole Red Onion, Diced Finely
½ cups Green Or Black Olives, Chopped
2 whole Tomatoes, Diced
2 whole Fresh Jalapeno Peppers, Minced
2 whole Avocados, Chopped
2 whole Limes, Juiced
Kosher Salt To Taste
2 cups Cilantro, Chopped

Preparation Instructions:
Combine shrimp, red onion, olives, tomatoes, and jalapenos in a large bowl. Add lime juice to taste, then a dash of kosher salt. Add cilantro. Stir gently with a spoon, then taste on a tortilla chip so you’ll have an accurate gauge of the salt content. Add more salt and/or lemon juice if needed.
Chill until serving. Note that the avocado will brown if too much time passes, so if you want to make this ahead of time, leave out the avocado until just before serving.
Serve with tortilla chips!

Also, I made this soup...the kids won't touch it, but I loved it!!

Chicken and White Bean Soup
this was one that came from Jillian Michaels' newsletter
Ingredients:
2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
2 leeks, white and light green parts only, cut into 1/4-inch rounds
1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
28 ounces reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
15 ounces cannellini beans, rinsed
2 pounds precooked skinless, boneless chicken, shredded (approximately 4 cups)
Preparation:
Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add leeks and cook, stirring often, until soft, about 3 minutes.
Stir in sage and continue cooking until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Stir in broth and water, increase heat to high, cover and bring to a boil.
Add beans and chicken and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 3 minutes. Serve hot.
Makes 6 servings.

Since I didn't have sage, I left it out, and used dry minced onions, since I cannot bear onions...and it was still great! So, there you go...

Elise and Amelia and the TV:
I boxed up their entire room of toys and put it in storage about a week and 1/2 ago. I decided that they would each get one toy and it would get rotated when they got bored with it. Amelia got her Barbie stash and Elise got her horses. I also left their books in canvas bins. They are enjoying audio books on tape, we have The Secret Garden, dramatized by Focus on the Family, and Little House in the Big Woods, and they play while the audio books play. It's been a really good option!! I am thrilled. I am also thrilled that their room is not as a mess and they seem to be playing better with their toys. They are also willing to clean up their own toys because it is not so overwhelming. I am supremely pleased by the results of that brain-child!

I am also planning to make up chore charts this week. I'll let you know how that goes.

Gabriel started Lacrosse this week, and is loving it. The more protein-focused meals are good for him, too. I cleaned his room for a fresh start and am dropping the axe on him, too. I do not have to be the maid service...it makes me nuts, and is a disservice to the kids!

Sleeping:
I went to bed early while I was sick and last night, but the rest of the week it was a sad, sad tale...

Computer:
I am doing well staying off the computer when Ethan is around (and not on the computer), and it's been nice...but have my old problem returning, when I'm reading a book, I struggle with putting it DOWN during the day...but it's been nice anyway...

So...there you have it...I hope that I have more success to share in two weeks, but for now, I am very pleased with the changes being made. It's going well! :)

Thanks for letting me rat myself out! :)

One skate, RIP

2011-01-31T11:16:00.005-05:00

My left Rollerblade broke this last Saturday. I mean it cracked from heel to tongue. Dead, unusable, pain-causing...in more ways than one.

I got my first set of Rollerblades back when I was in 7th grade. I was 13. I paid more for them than I paid for anything up to that point. I mortgaged all of my spending money that I had saved and some that I had not yet received. My father was not one to allow "pre-spending" of money, but I had an already established passion of rollerskating in parking lots.

My dear friend Micah, brought me to a discovery of just what joy a smooth set of roller skates could give when they paved the parking lot in my 6th grade year. We were are a tiny school, and we played in the field to the side of the parking lot and in the gravel lot on rainy days. The black top was really nice when they put it in, and it called to us all...

The roller skates made it a land of freedom and speed. The black sparkling surface stretched half of the old lot. It was stupendous. I always loved roller skating, but the mixture of the sun and wind made it akin to flying...My $10 skates were black and had yellow wheels and I thought that nothing could bring such joy...

Then I went to Montgomery Cyclery with my dad. My dad spent a lot of time in bike shops. I know he bought a few, and I know he got them tweaks and presents...but I had no idea that they sold anything else until one day I was reading on the floor (as I was want to do)...and happened to fall in love with my first true love, some Rollerblades.

To this day, I cannot remember if my dad introduced me to my drug of choice or if I happened to notice them. But I remember lacing their HUGE, plastic, hockey boots and falling deeply in love. They were the original Lightnings in White with black inner boots. And the smooth speed when those wheels hit the polished tile absolutely took my breath away.

I replaced 2 sets of wheels before I hit high school and innumerable brakes. The speed, oh, the SPEED was freedom in it's finest form. The wind in my hair, the sun on my back....the bite of cold through my jacket...or lack thereof, that resulted in several bouts of pnuemonia......

Actually one of my most treasured memories, was a day that it snowed at school....It was right after they finished paving the rest of the parking lot which resulted a doubling of my rink, so the black top was fresh and smooth...and the sky was black, the snow started falling, but it melted the second it hit the pavement. As I screamed through the wind, the snow whipped around me, transforming it to some kind of fantasy that will never again be attained until I get to heaven. Truly. That mix of speed and magic has never been touched since.

When I was 15, Sears or JCPenny had an impromptu sale on the upgraded Rollerblade Lightnings, in a smoother chic black on black that I couldn't say no to, especially as the bearings on my older skates had seen better days...I skated in rain, snow, sleet and it was really beginning to tell. My speed, although I was stronger, started to lag...So, I happily bought my upgrades for a steal....and have had them for 20 years as of this spring.

In college, hills were a dear friend, the flying feeling was even more pronounced as I screamed up and down, and felt the shackles of the world fall away...it became almost a religious experience, the separation from my cares, stress, or pressure of my future. It felt as if God himself was running his fingers through my hair...soothing me...

I actually fell in love with my husband on these beloved skates. He was a random request of a skating partner one hot August day in college. I just wanted some companionship on the pavement that day and he was the first to be able to keep up with me on skates....sometimes I giggle that they were a bit of a backwards Cinderella moment...because the skate "fit"... :) Of course, we found that we were a match far past the pavement, but it was the start. Another one of God's gifts through my skates!

I skated until I was 6 months pregnant with Gabriel, at which point, my core balance failed me. When I had him, I finally was released back to them and feared falling which would impair my mothering ability. That worry didn't release me through the rest of my kids...I get out there periodically, but my true enjoyment was tempered by my need to care for someone after I took the skates off...until this weekend.

This last weekend was the first time where my kids are all at the point that they have a certain measure of self-sufficiency...and I felt truly free to enjoy the speed...until I started up a sparkling hill in my neighborhood and was unable to to correct the leaning of my skate....and found the crack...

I cried. I admit it. I was devastated. And they are just stupid skates...but the joy that they have brought me over the years really is unmatched, shy of my husband and kids...It was like an end of an era.

I have researched purchasing some new skates, and am planning to do so, but after the 20 years of devotion to my black pair, I feel a bit the harlot. There are some beauties out there and I found a road group that actually does a marathon of varying distances from Athens to Atlanta, on in-line skates...I am SO very tempted to try for it this October...so who knows... It appears that I may be tempted beyond what I can bear for that... :)

The idea of whipping down a road blocked off for ME for an entire day sounds like heaven...and God can run his fingers through my hair again...yes, I believe I will have to try for it.

Blessings and Prayers?

2011-01-27T10:05:00.003-05:00

Um. I may or may not have commenced my first book attempt since I was 15. Keep me in your prayers when you think about it. Thanks. :)

mid-life crisis

2011-01-25T08:32:00.005-05:00

I never thought I would have a mid-life crisis. Who am I? Where am I going? That kind of thing, and while I do not believe that I have lost my sense of self, I realized the other day that my "baby days" are numbered. Amelia will likely start school this fall and Charlotte is already more self-sufficient than all of her siblings. And the next few years will roar by with the speed of a freight train.

And so I am looking at having an empty house with all the kids in school in 3 or 4 years. This has yet to happen to me. The kids are so spread out that there has ALWAYS been somebody at home. It is a truly weird thought.

So, the next thought in that parade is What Will I Do? Not like it won't be fabulous to clean without somebody following RIGHT behind messing it up for me! But surely that won't take up all my time. And so I find myself wondering what I shall do? Do I volunteer in the kids classes? Do I take classes to pursue another career? Do I get a job? Do I finally pursue some of my passions? Do I think I might get PAID for some of my passions? Do I suck it up and go back to education? Do I teach? Do I try to get involved in the educational administration to try and fix some of the glaring issues that have always made me crazy?

And then, this all leads to what will I do when all the kids are GONE? What happens when I am an empty-nester? Will I be an empty-nester? How will I know how much I need to let Elise go to find her own life? Will I be able to do what I need to?

My belief in raising kids has always been that if I've done my job right, then they will live their lives independently. It's actually my goal that I will have made myself useless...except praying for them non-stop...and as few "Love You Forever" trips as possible... :) But with Elise, I know that the fine line will be even thinner and will have to be handled even more wisely....

I doubt that I will find the answers quickly...and I doubt that you have any of them for me...but I just wanted to say them out-loud and ask God for a little help and wisdom here. I want to KNOW what he wants me to do. I want to find where he wants me to go. And I want to be able to do it with a good attitude. So, God, please start prepping me, please?

I'm listening.

Rat 1-20-11

2011-01-20T10:23:00.002-05:00

I said that I would rat out myself in conjunction with my New Year's Resolutions, so here we go:

I've lost 2 pounds, already. I've NEVER been able to say that over a 2 week period. EVER. It makes me SO excited to work out. I actually gained a pound and 1/2 the first week and it was SO depressing, but even with the gain, my pants were fitting looser and so I didn't panic.

I've been working out very consistently, 5 or 6 days a week. I made Ethan get me Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and am following that...and then usually I add some other exercise after. It's funny, my clothes are getting looser and I am feeling stronger and better...such that it is so disappointing when I see myself in the mirror, because in my head, I feel much more like my old, fit self. I also took advantage of the free 30 day trial of www.JillianMichaels.com to log my exercises, steal new recipes and record my food intake...Which I really like, I may actually pay for it, when my trial comes to an end! :)

Speaking of old, I do not know if it is my exercise choices, or my age, but if I do not do the warm-ups/cool downs or at least stretch, I am so tight and stiff...hopefully being consistent in working out will loosen up my muscles...we shall see.

I am not doing brilliantly going to bed earlier. I did for about a week and it was lovely! But this week has been so busy and has devolved into me exercising late and causing me to be all wound up after...I am planning to continue working on that!

Meals...I have been very good about this and found some yumminess that I need to share (both are courtesy of www.JillianMichaels.com :

Smashed Sweet Potatoes With Coconut Milk
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds potato(es), sweet, scrubbed and cut into 3/4-inch chunks
1/2 cup(s) coconut milk, light
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pinch nutmeg, ground
Preparation
Place the sweet potatoes in a glass microwave-safe bowl. Cover and microwave on high until very tender, 4 to 5 minutes.
Transfer the hot, cooked potatoes to a mixing bowl. Add the coconut milk, salt, and nutmeg. Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes and combine with the other ingredients. Serve.

Easy Salmon Cakes
These amazing salmon cakes will make you feel as if you're at a seafood shack by the beach. Even better, they're baked, so you can enjoy them, guilt-free.
Ingredients
1 small onion(s), finely chopped
3 teaspoon oil, olive, extra virgin, divided
1 stalk(s) celery, finely diced
2 tablespoon parsley, fresh, chopped
15 ounce(s) fish, salmon, canned, drained; or 1 1/2 cups cooked salmon
1 large egg(s), lightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoon mustard, dijon-style
1 3/4 cup(s) bread crumbs, soft whole-wheat
1/2 teaspoon pepper, black ground
1 lemon, cut into wedges
Preparation
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and celery; cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in parsley; remove from the heat.
Place salmon in a medium bowl. Flake apart with a fork; remove any bones and skin. Add egg and mustard; mix well. Add the onion mixture, bread crumbs, and pepper; mix well. Shape the mixture into 8 patties, about 2 1/2 inches wide.
Heat remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in the pan over medium heat. Add 4 patties and cook until the undersides are golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a wide spatula, turn them over onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining patties.
Bake the salmon cakes until golden on top and heated through, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve salmon cakes with lemon wedges.

I also discovered steel cut oats which are the best thing since peanut butter on bread. I make them according to the directions which only takes me about 15 minutes (or I make them ahead) and then add banana and honey and cinnamon. Ummmmmm!!!

Non-TV activities for Elise (and the other girls) have included coloring pages and listening to Russell Hoban's Francis books on audio CD and my reading aloud Little House in the Big Woods. All of which have been great, however, they all feel that I MUST sit with them for all activities...which don't really help my working out plan or doing that which I need to. So, still a wash, just now. Still searching...

I have been better about my phone/internet addiction in the evening, except when Ethan works late or falls asleep...I need a new book. I've read my old ones, too many times...I am contemplating a Kindle so I do not have to store a million new books....again, we shall see....

I've been pretty good about making sure there are new blog entries...I posted an Amelia-ism on being sick...but was cautious about being too graphic...which is too bad because some of her commentaries are pretty hysterical!! :)

SO, there you go. Thanks for letting me rat myself out...knowing that I have to, makes me more honest with myself.

New Year's Resolutions

2011-01-05T15:43:00.003-05:00

Hmm. I really hate New Year's Resolutions. Really. And it's not because I break them. It's because I feel like they loop. I feel like I make the same ones over and over. Ironically, I feel like "there's nothing new under the heaven" and each and every year that reasserts itself.

I am going to try them a little differently this year though. So you are coming along on the ride...mostly because I need to 'fess up to someone...so there you go.

I am going to make only 7.
1) I'm going to cook newer and healthier meals. For Ethan and myself AND the kids.
2) I'm going to work out at least 4 times a week for at least 45 minutes.
3) I'm going to sleep at least 7 hours a night...which puts me in bed no later than 11:30. Ever.
4) I'm going to blog at least once a week on each of the blogs...here and Just a Little Bit Downsy
5) I'm going to lose 2 pounds each month. I figure I can totally do that, and the result will be 24 pounds at the end of the year. Which will also result the 10lbs I need to lose to get healthy again, and the 20lbs to sexy. :)
6) I'm going to lock up my computer and phone after 9pm so I can work out, and pay attention to books and my lovely husband...I'm not missing anything important.
7) I'm going to find other activities that Elise can focus on other than TV.

I am also going to rat myself out. Every two weeks. I will share a new recipe that I have tried. I will tattle on whether I have worked out, slept, and if I managed to ditch any weight. And I will say if I have wrestled back my evenings from the internet.

And I will tell you what activities I've tried with Elise. And if there was any success.
Yes, I am aware that I am using the internet to keep myself honest, just as I'm swearing it off...well, just a little... But we use what we must, huh?

To loop back to the beginning of this post, just for a minute, the verse that I mentioned, Ecclesiastes 1:9, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. " Hmm...at least it is not a mark of my failure, just my human-ness. And human is okay...and as my mantra is over on Just a Little Bit Downsy, at least we are not alone! God is with us even on the little stuff...and happily gives us our daily bread...and daily support...which is just cool.

On that thought, I am going to make one last resolution. I'm going to pray over the resolutions...I'm ashamed to say I've not thought of that before...have you?

Amelia-isms on Being Sick

2011-01-04T19:09:00.001-05:00

Amelia said, literally with her head over the puke bucket,

"Can I have goldfish?"

Umm no.

"Why can't I have just a tiny snaaaaack?!?!?"

Because, apparently, I'm a mean mommy.

On *ahem* gastrointestinal distress:
"Mommy, my bottom is sick again. Do I have to wear the crunchy panties [pull-ups]?"

older and older

2010-12-27T00:03:00.003-05:00

My cousin died on Christmas day.

It breaks my selfish heart. He's come to our house immediately after Christmas for the last two years. My kids started asking if he was coming this year as soon as we put up the tree. And I now know the answer to that question.

It is not the answer I would like...

He was a sweet boy/man. I have always loved him and his family.

We lost his mom just after Christmas, almost 2 years ago...and I was devastated. We lost another cousin at almost 30. Charlotte was born on his birthday. We lost another aunt in February, in 2006. I've lost 4 people in about 4 years. People who have been intregal to my life and childhood. People who I had hoped to be intregal to my children's lives.

Life has no guarentees. None.

We've been sick for 2 months. One virus after another. I'm tired of being sick. I'm tired of my kids being sick. I'm tired of getting no sleep. I'm tired of being in lock down from it. I'm tired of having to trudge on and pretend that I am not sick, so I can be a "good mother".

But in the face of this loss. I am glad that my kids are sick. I am glad that they get into my bed snuffling and sneezing, wretching and hot. I get to hold them. I get to make new memories with them, even if they aren't what I want. Because don't we remember fondly our mothers petting our hair when we felt awful? And even the yucky sicknesses are a gift.

I'm tired and I feel old. I am sad, and cannot stop the tears. I am struck over and over again, at how fragile and un-perfect life is...it makes me want to tie my kids to the couch and snuggle them until they cry for mercy. I realize that there will never be enough hugs, there will never be enough words said...there will never be enough time.

Christmas Carol Cluster #25: Christmas in a Nutshell

2010-12-24T23:25:00.000-05:00

This is the number one thing I was looking forward to posting in this series.

Linus tells Charlie Brown what Christmas is all about:

And to keep to the carol requirement.

My most often favorite carol.

O Come, O Come Emmanuel:

I don't typically like Sugarland...but, I loved their arrangement of this...

Christmas Carol Cluster #24: Away in a Manger

2010-12-24T06:32:00.000-05:00

Away in a Manger:

I've just spent entirely too long looking for a perfect version to post of this carol. This is the one.

Christmas Carol Cluster #23: Good King Wenceslas

2010-12-23T11:28:00.002-05:00

LOOOOOOvvvved this song...

If you knew me in high school...I am sure you were annoyed out of your skin listening me to sing this version...what? You don't hear hardly any words? Right you are...that would be why I was so annoying... :D

And frankly, I love that they are showing the LP on this one...as it should be listened to.

Please Enjoy Good King Wenceslas by Mannaheim Steamroller!

Christmas Carol Cluster #22: 3 Ships

2010-12-22T09:24:00.000-05:00

I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In:

I NEVER figured out why this was a Christmas carol...but I always enjoyed it.

Christmas Carol Cluster #21: The Holly and the Ivy

2010-12-21T11:23:00.000-05:00

The Holly and the Ivy:

I need a candy cane in my hand...ever so slightly sticky...walking where it is miserable cold...looking at Christmas decorations...

NOW it's Christmas...

Sorry

2010-12-20T14:28:00.003-05:00

For the record, I have been very prolific elsewhere. I got an article published in a local magazine, you can read the article here. And I have written over on Just a Little Bit Downsy.

In fact, just today I was mulling...

But January "should" normalize. I hope. I hope that you are listening to the Carols...I do love them and am sharing my Christmas heart. I am not just randomly posting...

Just a Little Bit Downsy got an incredible opportunity for Christmas, and so I took it...but it has taken away from my reflection times...

I hope to write about all the kids and be more balanced...I did post an tiny collection of Amelia-isms...

I look forward to being back...

Amelia-isms

2010-12-20T12:01:00.003-05:00

I know there are more, but I gotta get these down before I forget!

When she saw some horses in a field in their winter blankets to keep them warm:
"Are those horses wearing capes pretending they can FLY??"

The next two are her singing Christmas songs along with the radio and CDs

"Pissing on the Earth!"
"Whoa, baby! I think you mean 'Peace on Earth!"
"Yuh, that's what I was singing!"
Oh, dear!!

"O, O Santa, sing praises to the King! O, O Santa, Let your praises ring!"
Santa? Oh! You mean "Hosannah"?
I'll fix that one next year!! Santa can totally sing praises this year. Actually, it's kinda a cool thought...

Christmas Carol Cluster #20: Bleak Midwinter

2010-12-20T11:13:00.001-05:00

In the Bleak Midwinter

Loreena McKennitt

GORgeous!!

And that's all there is to say about that.

Christmas Carol Cluster #19: The Angels Cried

2010-12-20T11:07:00.002-05:00

Allison Krauss and Alan Jackson...slow but really thought provoking....and pretty.

The Angels Cried:

Christmas Carol Cluster #18: Bing

2010-12-20T10:58:00.002-05:00

I heard the DJ's talking on our local Christian Radio Station, last week. The Fish plays Christmas Music exclusively from Thanksgiving until Christmas. ANYWAY, they said that Christmas music was a cultural education for many kids...that they only listen to their own brand of music all year, but they listen to jazz, big band, ballads, carols, etc over the holidays...and I started thinking...that is probably true for most people...so break out all the genres!!

On that thought...BING, baby!

Joy to the World:

and for good measure White Christmas:

Christmas Carol Cluster #17: Amy Grant

2010-12-20T10:30:00.002-05:00

Christmas wouldn't be complete without addressing Amy Grant.

I use to like Tennessee Christmas...but I can't get on board anymore since there are no scratches on the record...stupid CD's...

I used to think I was quite the alternative rocker listening to Emmanuel...but I still love it!!

And I have surprisingly found that I adore Little Town:

Christmas Carol Cluster #16: Carol of the Bells

2010-12-15T21:32:00.001-05:00

So I know the Trans-Siberian Orchestra gets a lot of play now...and it's about the only version of Carol of the Bells you hear...but I have to say, George Winston CANNOT be topped.

The Carol of the Bells...the right way. :)

Christmas Carol Cluster #15: Mary, Did You Know?

2010-12-15T11:41:00.002-05:00

ADORE this one...it may be getting so over done that people are missing the power of this song...but I still get all choked up over Mary kissing the face of God....it is SUCH an amazing thought!!!

Mary, Did You Know?

Christmas Carol Cluster #14: What Child Is This

2010-12-15T11:28:00.002-05:00

Martina McBride does an AMAZING job with all the Christmas carols, I've heard her do....Here is my favorite of hers and been my on-again-off-again Favorite Carol for years... Greensleeves is one of my very favorite musical pieces...

What Child is This?

Enjoy!

Christmas Carol Cluster # 13 "Two Fer": Allison Krauss and Yo Yo Ma

2010-12-13T09:00:00.002-05:00

Allison Krauss and Yo Yo Ma. Bliss...here are two beautiful duets with them...

The Wexford Carol:

and

Simple Gifts:

Christmas Carol Cluster #12: Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring

2010-12-10T19:05:00.002-05:00

Doesn't get much better than this.

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring:

Christmas Carol Cluster #11: Ave Maria

2010-12-10T18:39:00.004-05:00

I adore Ave Maria!! And I simply could not decide.

Celine Dion's Ave Maria:

Charlotte Church sings Ave Maria:

Bizarre, but gorgeous. Ave Maria by 98':

Andrea Bocelli. Ave Maria:

Fantasia's Ave Maria. Probably started it all.

Christmas Carol Cluster #10: Sweet Little Jesus Boy

2010-12-10T18:31:00.002-05:00

And the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. Please bask in the richness of Natalie Cole's voice...and one of my favorites:

Sweet Little Jesus Boy:

Christmas Carol Cluster #9 an ALBUM: Nat "King" Cole

2010-12-09T10:15:00.004-05:00

As much as I hate to be any part of predictable. The Christmas season gets kicked off with Nat King Cole. He can make me smell, egg nog, cinnamon, candy canes, and fuzzy jammied babies in the middle of a Georgia July!

So in honor of the Christmas Album to take all Chrismas Albums, here's Nat crooning:

The Christmas Song:

O Holy Night:

Silent Night:

O Come, All Ye Faithful:

I'm not sure if I am more in love with his voice, or the fact that while he has the most amazing voice,as he sings, he's not "trying too hard". You truly get to enjoy the songs and HEAR the words!

Christmas Carol Cluster #8: Jane, Jane

2010-12-08T09:27:00.002-05:00

I don't know if this is really a Christmas song...but I loved singing this at the top of my lungs on my spring horse...at 4 I figured that if it was about "The little bitty baby born, born, born in Bethlehem..." then it was definitely Christmas...so I'm gonna run with it. :)

Peter, Paul, and Mary's "Jane, Jane":

Christmas Carol Cluster #7: Breath of Heaven

2010-12-08T09:26:00.001-05:00

Love this song...and this is a beautiful arrangement!

Breath of Heaven:

Christmas Giveaway over on Just a Little Bit Downsy!

2010-12-06T13:54:00.002-05:00

Hey! Just a Little Bit Downsy and Band of Angels are doing a 12 Days of Christmas giveaway! 12 giveaways over 12 days! Get over there and get in the giveaways!!!

Today's

The explanation and kick off entry!

These will have lots of incredible items, good for people who have kids with special needs or those who just want to learn how to be better friends to those who do!! :)

Christmas Carol Cluster #6: Hippopotamus for Christmas

2010-12-06T08:04:00.002-05:00

I'd never heard this song before about 6 years ago. From Ethan's bosses' wives...they treated me to an improptu chorus of this and I about died..seriously one of the funniest thing I'd ever heard...

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas:

Christmas Carol Cluster #5: Chipmunks

2010-12-06T08:01:00.001-05:00

Because we have been in lock-down with sickness this entire weekend, and watched a million hours of kids movies, I thought it would be an appropriate time to post this stand-by:

The Chipmunks Christmas Song:

Christmas Carol Cluster #4: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

2010-12-04T13:38:00.002-05:00

I loved both of these carols for as long as I can remember, but heard this arrangement a few years back and fell in love.

Please enjoy this beautiful, but bizarre pairing of Sarah Mclaughlin and The Barenaked Ladies:

We Three Kings/God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen:

Christmas Carol Cluster #3: Jingle Bells

2010-12-03T08:56:00.002-05:00

Ethan is still morally opposed to Barbara due to her political activism, but this is too much a part of my childhood for me to part with her over that...

Please enjoy Barbara Steisand's Jingle Bells:

And feel free to imagine a little kid experimenting with how fast it can actually be sung...and turning purple with the experimentation on how many breaths of air was required to sing the song. :)

Christmas Carol Cluster #2: The Little Drummer Boy

2010-12-02T09:26:00.003-05:00

When I was little one of the things that bothered me the most was going to church and singing The Little Drummer Boy with No Drums, I thought it was a real disappointment.

I have since married a percussionist and then gave birth to a little percussionist, and The Little Drummer Boy will always hold a beloved spot in my heart. This year it is officially Gabriel's favorite carol.

I will say though as I was hunting a fun version to post, there is a disturbing lack of arrangements on this one. Which is just pitiful when you think of all the brilliant percussionists that could have a go at it! I would just LOVE to see Cake have their way with it!! So, consider this a challenge all you musicians, PLEASE play with The Little Drummer Boy! :)

Gabriel's favorite version:
Bob Seger's The little Drummer Boy:

I got tickled by Jimi Hendrix playing it at a concert:

Here is the "original" that I remember most from my childhood. Although it's not as good as when you could hear the white noise emitted from the record player!

A celtic band has a little fun:

And highland pipes and drums for a kick:

Christmas Carol Cluster #1: One Small Child

2010-12-01T09:26:00.002-05:00

To kick off the Christmas Carol Cluster. This is my 2nd All Time Favorite Christmas Carol.

Evie did it, but it never made it to YouTube or her CDs from the records.

But, love Ali Matthews. In hunting this particular song, I found her and am going to have to buy a CD now. :)

One Small Child

Christmas Carol Cluster!

2010-11-30T15:48:00.002-05:00

For December I am going to be posting YouTube videos of my favorite Christmas Carols, every day! I challenge you to do like-wise. I think that Christmas Carols don't get enough attention!! So starting tomorrow, get ready for some joy! :)

Unexpected Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T15:04:00.003-05:00

Charlotte was exhausted and generally snarky for Thanksgiving. I did A LOT of walking. 2.5 miles up and down some impressive hills of my husband's family's home.

This was not how I planned to spend my day.

I am so thankful for this unplanned detour. I got to enjoy some incredible sights. I saw some errant Queen Anne's Lace that did not receive them memo that it is not the season for flowers. I saw some absolutely gorgeous fall colors. I saw a full rainbow. All the colors and a complete arch, cast against a dark sky. Making it all the more beautiful. I got to soak in the unseasonable warmth with a luscious breeze.

It's been a long time since I got to take such a lovely hike. It really ranks up there with the magic of my childhood "milkweed storms"...

I highly recommend an unexpected detour if you can catch one. Recharge on God's gifts of silent and often hidden beauty. Soak it in and save it for a rainy day.

I am especially thankful for the Unexpected Thanksgiving this year! It was lovely!

Because I am Generous and Flippin' Brilliant

2010-11-17T09:11:00.003-05:00

I am sitting here having had a terribly brilliant moment and feeling guilty for you, my lovely mamas, for not having shared it!

So, here it is:

American Girl Dolls are very loved over here...and while Santa brought them a couple of years ago, Santa is struggling to pay $30 a pop for clothes for the dolls. I have skirted the issue the last couple of years...I have bought Target and other knock off brands. I have bought hand-made clothes from places like Etsy and Ebay...

This year I was a little stymied. My girls REALLY want the formal ballgown-like dresses for their girls. So I decide that I'm going to make them. So I am thinking about sewing at 11:00 at night and am really having difficulty getting excited. Plus, I've going to have to figure out crinoline, etc.

Then the brilliance strikes.

Wait for it!

The over the top baby clothes that are really too formal for church, but you eye at the stores and at consignment sales...and either you buy and it sits in the closet, never worn. OR you pass it over, because you totally know you won't ever put this on your kid. But you WISH you could. HERE IS THEIR USE!! I bought several at my consignment store for $3 to $6 bucks each and I'm cutting them down. Yes, you heard right. I am taking in the waist and the sides of the bodice. That's it. And if you can find a formal jumper, all you have to do it take up the shoulders and sew the sides together. VOILA!

I have found that the ideal baby size is 0-6 months. Any larger than that and you are dealing with a LOT of fabric...and you also may need to hem the bottom...again, more work. Turn them inside out and safety pin the sides where you want them...then dig out the thread and go to town! I plan to use the machine, but have hand sewn an entire outfit for Gabriel (during his Davy Crockett stage), and I assure you a doll dress is totally do-able.

And you are a ROCKSTAR! And your daughter has an entire formal wardrobe for her doll and you spent less than $20 bucks.

Totally fantastic, yes??

Charlotte's 21 Factoids

2010-11-16T08:48:00.004-05:00

And here is my littlest's 21 Factoids:

1) Charlotte the littlest...but she is NOT a baby.
2) She has chosen to be Not a Baby because she has no time to be one.
3) Charlotte has chosen to take FOREVER to talk, because she doesn't have time to ask, so she'll just get it herself already...
4) She loves Dora, Diego, and puppies.
5) She is PETRIFIED of cats. Terrified. It is bizarre!!
6) She adores babies.
7) She adores dolls.
8) She is super serious.
9) Which makes her smiles particularly adorable
10) And her giggles as precious as gold
11) She will clean up after herself or her siblings without being asked
12) She mothers anyone who will let her
13) She is my only true introvert
14) Charlotte loves to be worn in carriers
15) She will pull down the back of my shirt to kiss my back and massage my neck, when she is hanging out in the carrier.
16) She is my only baby who waddles like a baby as she runs every where, arms pumping
17) For as busy as she has been, she has not self-weaned like her siblings yet...
18) Charlotte likes to color and eat crayons
19) She is disinclined to wear clothes.
20) She likes to pick out her diapers...and often chooses the practical white ones.
21) Charlotte is my last baby...and I wish she was more of a baby. But I love her crazy little old lady ways. :)

21 Factoids on Amelia

2010-11-13T14:53:00.003-05:00

My factoids on Amelia:
1) She talks ALL the time!!
2) I mean ALL the time, LOUDLY!
3) She uses scary long words properly (Oh, yes, this is the girl that was referred to Early Intervention because she took too long to talk. And then talked poorly, for too long...WHATEVER!)
4) Amelia loves to dress up
5) If she cannot be in proper princess attire, then she wants to wear dresses.
6) If she cannot wear dresses, then she will wear leggings or tights...she despises jeans
7) She adores headbands
8) She thinks chap-stick is awesome, and cannot WAIT until she can wear make-up
9) Amelia is ALL about imagination
10) I am pretty sure she thinks Entirely in Italics
11) Amelia is obsessed with size and age and what you can do accordingly due to each
12) Amelia is Tweedle-Dee to Gabriel's Tweedle-Dum
13) She loves any doll that she can dress wildly...
14) She dislikes tennis shoes and prefers anything sparkly
15) She lives for eating 5-layer burritos at Taco Bell
16) Her dream is to eat "in" at fast food restaurants...drive thru's are just not glamorous.
17) Amelia loves and fights passionately
18) Amelia is an inborn care-taker
19) She loves her siblings with a deep and powerful love
20) She is a candy fiend
21) Her beloved is Elephant, who has a middle name, last name, wardrobe, and idiosyncrasies that rival only her dramatic self! :)

Gabriel's 21 factoids

2010-11-03T09:53:00.002-04:00

It told you that I was going to use the ideas I did with Elise with my other kids...I loved the 21 annual factoid list and decided to do each one.

Here is Gabriel:

1) Gabriel prefers his name to be whole with adults and at home. But goes by Gabe at school, because he is sick of being called Gabrielle.

2) Gabriel tends to work better when he's had projects or chores or exercised...I've only just figured this out...and I'm going to utilize it. It's like he "gets on a roll".

3) He is disinclined to wear winter clothes. Sleeves and jackets annoy him.

4) He loves mythological type stories. Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, and super heroes.

5) He reads in spurts. Constantly, and then it's like pulling teeth...I think it falls under the #2 item, too.

6) He has grown so much that he is wanting to check his height or hand size against mine every few hours. It is SO annoying. I'll be trying to cook and he'll ask if he's taller and try to measure...even when he checked that morning...BUT he is only like two inches shorter...he's 5'6".

7) Gabriel loves pasta and asked if he could move to Italy. I told him Americanized Italian is probably better, because there is more cheese. He wants to go anyway. For the food.

8) Gabriel makes a bigger mess in his bathroom than I can wrap my brain around...DAILY! And he doesn't see it...it's crazy!!

9) Gabriel has an amazing ear for music. He can fake knowing how to play the piano at the drop of a hat. He can play some songs, really well...Coldplay...and can pick out others very quickly, but cannot yet read music. He is excellent with Percussion at school band, as well.

10) He loves his sisters more than anything, despite an in born need to harass them all day.

11) He loves skanky cheap candy that nobody else will eat.

12) He would choose fruit over candy any moment in the week.

13) He is my only child with my brown eyes. And if genetics continue, before he completes puberty, his eyes will go to a hazel green/brown.

14) Gabriel is currently wearing the jeans size I wore when I got pregnant with him...

15) Gabriel yells and screams at video games, G-rated racing games...and I usually have to cut him off...so he doesn't give himself an aneurysm.

16) Gabriel still believes that if his shirt actually fits in his arm pits, it is too small. Because for so many years, I have bought big so he won't out grow it before the season is over!!

17) He likes the idea of cheering for sports teams and enjoys wearing their paraphernalia, but has yet to watch an entire game.

18) Was diagnosed with Reactive Airway Disease and has more ear infections than I can even count.

19) He has been to urgent care and emergency rooms more often than any of his sisters combined. Including Elise.

20) He was my only NICU baby, at a whopping 7lbs 12oz.

21) I am SO thankful that he is my boy. He has eased me into every parenting stage and I am incredibly thankful for his mild personality...even when it makes me nuts.

Okay, I'm Back!!

2010-11-01T14:16:00.003-04:00

Wow. I just want to say how hard it is to commit to writing EVERY SINGLE DAY! Sometimes I don't want to write. Sometimes I am tired. Sometimes I can't write...and I stress over committing and doing what I said I would. By day 6, I there were no more inspired posts...just dragging myself along by the back of the neck, much like my life is many days.

Now back to normal writing. Sorta. Except now I am trying to get other people to be brilliant. It's an easier job, I only have to write other people's thoughts...which is cool...

If that would apply to you, I'd love to hear from you, too!

I feel like I've done a disservice to my other kids, so I decided to apply a few of the ideas that I had for Elise to them..but not today, today I approached about 30 people with the request of writing for my big November idea...and my fingers are twitching...

I did want to say that I've missed you and am looking forward to being a more balanced woman again...I have decided that being a hybrid mama has perks in it's balance...it keeps everything in perspective in it's own right...I don't get tunnelled down only one path...

So, few "Isms" to prove that I'm back:

Amelia: "Look how much taller Elise is now that that she ate all that macaroni!"
Elise: "Yes! So taller!!"

Amelia: "See how tall my legs are? Maybe I'll get married soon."

Amelia: "I wasn't at your married day because I was with the doctor at the hospital, right?"
Me: "No, you didn't exist yet."
Amelia: "Well that's just not fair."

Amelia: On Disney Princesses on Ice "All that magic was like magic."

Amelia: "I'm sick, so I get purple medicine and then movies all day will make me better."

I promise legit "everybody" posts now.

Eeep! Another chance at a free Ergo Baby Carrier

2010-10-04T13:13:00.001-04:00

Here's another chance to win one of my FAVORITE baby carriers!!

Momsmilkboutique.com is celebrating 7000 Facebook Fans!

Enter HERE!

R.I.P Thomas

2010-10-04T12:23:00.002-04:00

This one is for me.

Amelia has officially put behind her one of my favorite baby mis-wordings.

Thomas.

She, wierd child that she is, adores hummus. She begs for it for 3 square meals from the moment that it enters the house.

She used to call it Thomas. "May I please have Thomas on my crackers?"

Then she started realising that it was wrong, and would request clarification...now she is correcting herself... I'll miss eating Thomas for lunch. :(

When she started remembering to correct herself, she renamed one of her Sunday School classmates, too.

"I played with Aubrey and Calin and Thomas...I mean Hummus..." *giggle*

*sigh*

I guess it would have been wierd to go to middle school like that, but it was fun while it lasted...

:)

31 for 21: I am writing...just not here...

2010-10-04T11:21:00.003-04:00

I entered a challenge for Down Syndrome Awareness, where you blog everyday of October because it is Down Syndrome Awareness Month...I was really torn over where to post it...because it is my everyday life...but because if kinda fit more my special needs blog, I decided to register that one...so I am writing prolifically, just not here.

Here: at Just a Little Bit Downsy

If you are curious:

Day #1

Day #2

Day #3

Day #4

I'll be there, mostly, for all of October.

Mother-ease AIO review and giveaway winner!

2010-10-03T00:03:00.002-04:00

Stacythemagnificentmommy was the winner! Congratulations!!!

I used Random.org to generate the winning post. #30 has been contacted!

Thank you for playing along!

My next review and giveway will be for Envibum Products! I am looking forward to that one, so stay tuned!!!

THANK YOU!