Photo Hunters - Antique

"Antique" is this week's Photo Hunters theme. I love antique things and all the history that comes with them. This week's pictures should be so much fun.

When my aunt passed away last fall, I inherited quite a few antiques. My aunt actually owed an antiques store for many years and so she collected all sorts of amazing things. I decided on this for my picture this week, because as you can see from the signature on the back, it is over one hundred years old.

The Hunt - Antique



I love this beautiful old plate. It's amazing that it has survived more than a hundred years with barely a chip. What I've learned about this plate is that Emily Hiestund isn't a well-known artist. I can't find record of anything else she painted. In fact, she was likely just a woman with a passion for learning to paint and this was one of her projects. It's something she painted as she taught herself the art, an old fashioned paint-by-numbers, if you will. I think that she had some real talent. Don't you?

Should be a fun Photo Hunters week. TNChick is adding new hunters every week.

And if by some chance, you happen know anything about Emily Hiestund, who lived and painted in 1905, please email me. I'd love to hear from you.


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A Call

Since we sent in our dossier, we've certainly been more motivated to answer the phone. When it rings, we think, "It could be The Call, our referral call." Yesterday though, we missed a call. Wouldn't you know it, that the call would be from our caseworker? And by the time we checked the messages it was too late to call back.

So, we got a call this morning from our CWA caseworker. But it turned out that it wasn't The Call for us. It turned out to be a referral call but after much thought and family discussion and prayer, we decided that it wasn't our referral. We know. We are convinced that our referral will come. It will come, in the perfect time.

It was a quiet sober day for us. But we know that for another waiting family, it was an amazing wonderful beautiful day. Our amazing wonderful beautiful day is coming.

Update:
Michelle asked some really great questions in her comment. Once our dossier was authenicated, approved and sent to Ethiopia, we were finally eligible to be matched with children that are available for adoption through our agency. Sometimes, families feel lead to adopt children who are already on a waiting list and so they already have children in mind. However, we are not one of those families. For us, a referral call is when our adoption caseworker calls us to say that she has children that have come into their care that might be "the ones" for us. We are approved to adopt two children under age 2, and we've requested that they be a boy and a girl and hopefully (but not necessarily siblings.) We are not required to accept a referral, so there is room for God to make it clear that these may or may not be the children for us.

Love Thursday #24

Love is...

Part of my Valentine's Day present. Yum!

Don't worry, I've been sharing - a little!

My two daughters and oldest son are part of a drama troupe and are preparing for a production this Spring. They have rehearsals twice a week. Tuesday night, during practice, as part of an exercise, the director asked the students to name one thing that they wanted and the reason why. When my son's turn came, he answered that he wanted our adoption referral to come so we could bring our babies home from Ethiopia. A discussion then ensued amongst the other students AND the drama director about how crazy it is to have a big family, during which time my son sat in stunned silent disbelief. The director himself said several times how he just didn't understand why people want large families, having to spread their resources thin, blah, blah, blah. My daughter said, "I'd rather have more kids than more stuff." (Yay for her!) But she didn't feel like anyone actually heard her. Then the question moved on to the next person and rehearsal proceeded as usual.

After rehearsal, we talked about it. We attributed the attitudes of the students to (mostly)youthful ignorance. To be honest, I was stunned that the director, the adult in charge, had been at the center of the discussion. Now, I believe that family size is a very personal, private choice for each family. And I undestand that there are some that don't agree with our choice to have a large family and no doubt our choice to adopt from Ethiopia. But his lack of discretion and boldness to speak his mind, IN FRONT OF MY KIDS (who are 9, 11, &14), surprised me. I know he wasn't directing his opinion at my children and there was no malice involved. Frankly, I'm OK that he feels this way. I'm still just shocked that he thought "out loud" in the presence of my children and their friends. And I felt badly that my son had shared his heart and had received such a cold reception. We explained to my son, that Mr. N. just doesn''t understand the joy of having a large family and that as an adult, he should have kept his feelings to himself in this situation.

This isn't the first time that I have been confronted with disapproval for having a big family but it was a first for my children to have their family criticized in such a direct way. While it was hard, it was a good chance to talk about the types of questions, albeit rude and nosy, that we will be faced with when our babies come home from Ethiopia. We need to have a plan and some appropriate answers because we will be faced with tough questions.

Whatever the questions and how we choose to answer them, we've found this to be true:

Ultimately, we've discovered that as our family grows, the love doesn't divide - it multiplies!

Love Thursday & Love Is All Around.

WFMW

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone.
Hope you're feeling loved today.

Here's an inexpensive last-minute Valentine's Day gift you can give your husband, wife, kids, etc. Take a few minutes, grab a piece of paper (If it can be a nice piece of paper, all the better but not necessary.) and a pen, pencil or crayon (whatever is handy) and write your sweetheart a love letter. You might be thinking, "Cheesy," or "Cheap!" but don't underestimate or over-look the value of the written word. We all need to hear that we're loved and appreciated, especially from those closest to us who we might feel, at times, take us for granted.

So grab that paper and tell your husband how much you love him. Tell him what you appreciate about being married to him, how he makes you laugh, that he's good at his job, that he's good looking. You know the kinds of things that he needs to hear but sometimes you don't make the time to tell him. Write about tiny things that matter to you and monumental things that mean so much. Write love letters to your kids. Tell your daughter how special being her mom is to you, how she's beautiful even when she's having a bad hair day, how you love how she sticks her tongue to one side when she's really concentrating. Tell your son that you notice what an amazing person he is, how helpful it is that he takes care of his younger brother, how you see that he tries so hard at school when you know it's a struggle for him, that you appreciate how the two of you are so different or are the same.

You get the idea. The possibilities are nearly endless. And all you need today is a little bit of time. The letter doesn't have to be long. This is something you can do today. Right now! I have notes like this from my husband and my kids and they are sweet treasures to me. And they're calorie-free! BONUS!

Love letters on Valentine's Day. Who'd have thought?!

Works for me!

Don't forget to go by Rocks in My Dryer for more great Works-for-Me Wednesday ideas.

And by the way, if you don't get you letter finished until tomorrow. Go ahead and give it. Love letters are the kind of gift that are good year-round!

The winner gets CHOCOLATE!

I heard about this contest over at Shalee's Diner. Shalee's entry is just an amazing post! You definitely have to read it. Scribbit is having a February writing contest; the topic: of course is love. Here's the thing that really got me though. The winner is going to get CHOCOLATE!! How could I not play along? So I'm entering this post. It's not likely to win but I like it.

Update: I didn't win, although it was fun trying. Go here for the full list of entries (with links) - there are some really amazing posts about love.

Photo Hunters - Broken

This week's Photo Hunters theme is "broken." Back in November, I wrote this post about a not-so-simple fender-bender. I even used Pastormac's very festive cast as my Photo Hunters picture for the "red" theme back in December.

So while I was thinking about what to do for "broken" this picture jumped to mind.

The Hunt - Broken

"Ouch!"
Not just broken and askew,
there were also spiral fractures through each of the pieces.

Actually it wasn't as painful as it looks. It was a surprise that it was broken this badly. The thing that tipped us off that something was really broken was the fact that he couldn't touch his thumb and pinky to each other.

Hence the need for surgery to fix it. Steel plate, six screws & six weeks later, it looked like this....


Works just fine now.

I'm interested to see what other broken things are posted this week. TNChick has a pretty amazing picture of a crunched car. Lucky for her, she didn't end up as broken as her car!


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Favorite Ingredients Friday Valentine's Day Chocolate Edition

Overwhelmed with Joy hosts a Favorite Ingredients Friday Recipe Exchange each week. In honor of Valentine's Day, FIF is going to be a Chocolate Edition. Yes, you read that correctly! Chocolate Edition! Yum. Too yummy, not to play along.

Here's my recipe. We've made this many times and it's wonderful and easy. It makes it's own fudgy chocolatey sauce. It's definitely rich and we like it best served with ice cream, whipped cream or even a splash of milk.

Hot Fudge Cake

Batter:
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1/2 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 chopped walnuts (optional)

Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 1/4 cups boiling water


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 inch square pan.

In a medium bowl, beat sugar, butter & milk. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Add walnuts (if using). Pour into pan. (It will be thick.) For topping, combine sugars and cocoa; sprinkle over batter. Pour water over all. Do NOT stir. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes. Spoon some of the fudge sauce over each serving; top with ice cream, if desired. Makes about 8 servings.

Wow, I'm getting hungry, just writing about it.

Love Thursday #23

Last December, I blogged about what a success our Adoption Benefit Concert was. On the Wednesday following that concert something else amazing happened. Before I tell you what it was, I need to give a little background.

Our adoption homestudy was completed late last June, only then were we able to apply for adoption grants. We applied to The Gift of Adoption and heard back rather quickly that we were refused, "not needy enough." We applied to Shaohannah’s Hope. We sent off our application and learned the wait would be three months. After three months, we were notified that, due to the overwhelming interest in adoption grants, the process was taking longer and further that we needed to submit more information. It seemed positive. At least we weren't being contacted with a negative response. We sent off the information and waited, through the month of October and through November.

As December began, everyday we approached the mailbox with excitement, and trepidation and after five months, a little impatience. Would today be the day? As each day passed, the anticipation mounted.

On the Wednesday following our concert, I was home with two of the kids. (Amazing how staying home with just two kids can seem like being alone!) I was in the kitchen finishing the dishes and suddenly I just had the sense that today would be the day. Right now, I was going to walk out to the mailbox and our letter would be inside. I wasn't sure if the answer whould be "yes" or "no" but at least we'd have an answer. So I went out to check the mail and sure enough, there it was.





I brought the letter inside and set it on the counter. I would wait until we were all together to open it. A couple of hours later, we were all home and Pastormac opened and read,

"On behalf of Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth, we are pleased to notify you that you have been approved for an adoption assistance grant in the amont of $3,000."

There was much rejoicing!

And so just like that, in one week's time we had all the rest of the money that we needed to be able to send our dossier to our agency. Amazing.

Our dossier was in Washington DC early this week (Interesting story about that here) and yesterday it began the journey to Ethiopia!

Love Thursday & Love Is All Around.

WFMW - Love Sweet Love Edition

Today is a special Works-for-Me Wednesday Love Sweet Love Edition. It sounded like fun and so I thought I'd play along. Here are a couple of ideas for you and your sweetheart.

• Build-a-Bear Workshops have the cutest Valentine's Day selection. If you have a local store, why not go and stuff a bear together? But you don't even have to live near a Build-a-Bear store. You can order them online. Pastormac ordered this little cutie for me a few years ago.


• What better way to get to your sweetie's heart than with ice cream? Around here, it's a one way ticket! (Okay, there are other ways too.) Did you know if you sign up for Dairy Queen's Blizzard Fan Club that each month you'll get an email with a printable coupon for a BOGO (Buy One Get One) Blizzard?! Few husbands won't appreciate ice cream AND frugality! In honor of Valentine's Day, the blizzard of the month is Chocolate Dipped Strawberry. Yum!

Finally, as far as my relationship tips, I'll be brief and pick two things that I think are very important. Take this Bible passage in Philippians 2:3&4, personalize it and then apply it to your life minute by minute. It's a tall order I agree, but you have a life-time to practice. :-)

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard (insert husband's name here) as more important than yourself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of (husband's name).

Also, memorize this phrase: "I'm sorry. Will you forgive me?" and say it. Even when you don't feel like it, (especially then) say it.

Bloggers are already filling up the Mr. Linky over at Shannon's with bunches of great Love Sweet Love ideas. Go check them out.

Are you wondering what to do for Valentine's Day?

Today, Shalee over at Shalee's Diner is hosting a Fifty Cheap Dates party. She's asking all of Blogland for inexpensive date ideas that don't involve wandering around a bookstore for a few hours. (Rats! There went my first idea!) If you have any ideas for us her, post on your blog and then go back to Shalee's. She has a Mr. Linky all set up.

Here are my other ideas, since Shalee nixed my first thought right off the bat.

• We like to go to a dollar movie. Since there isn't a lot of talking to each other at a movie, we try to go out for dessert after the show for some "face-to-face" time. Knowing that we're eating something afterwards, usually keeps us from having to mortgage the house for popcorn and drinks at the movie.


• A great date can be grabbing one of the those books that we bought during our last bookstore date, going out to a coffee or snack shop, ordering a drink or a small dessert/snack and then reading to each other.


• This date costs nothing - we took along a worship book full of all sorts of songs, drove to a wonderful nearby park, found a picnic table in an empty corner and then spent the afternoon paging through and singing every song we could remember. It was a fantastic time, very encouraging. Don't worry if you're not a terrific singer. Remember Psalms 98:4, "Make a joyful NOISE unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud NOISE, and rejoice, and sing praise." (emphasis mine)


• Try going to the airport or the mall, find a comfortable place to sit and then people-watch. People are so interesting!


• Finally, if you don't have money for a sitter or you don't feel comfortable leaving your baby, wait until the kids are in bed and then have an at-home date. Just plan ahead, rent a movie and get a yummy dessert (put it someplace safe so it doesn't get eaten before your date), then once the kids are in bed, enjoy the rest of your evening together. You don't have to watch a movie either, you could read to each other or play cards or a game or just stare lovingly into each other's eyes. Sometimes while I put the kids in bed, Pastormac will drive down to Dairy Queen and bring back blizzrds for us to eat during our "at-home" date. MMmmmm.

There are tons of great cheap date ideas over at Shalee's Diner. Go over there to be inspired! I really liked Amberly's idea of getting a sitter to watch your kids at HER house so you can stay home and relax at home sans kids.

Don't forget Shannon's Works-for-Me Wednesday Valentine's Day Edition tomorrow. And on Friday, Overwhelmed is hosting her Favorite Ingredients Friday Valentine's Day Chocolate Edition. Yum! Don't miss that one!

Photo Hunters - Gross

The Photo Hunters theme for this week is "gross." This should make for some very interesting pictures!

Here's my contribution.

The Hunt - Gross


Nothing says, "gross!" like a hunk of raw chicken.

Fortunately for us, through the magic of intense heat and curry spices, coupled with crisp veggies and smooth coconut milk, what was once gross turned into something gloriously delicious. Betcha can't say that about many of this week's photo picks!



Head for to TNChick's for a huge mound of "gross." This week's theme is not for the weak of stomach.


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And so it begins...

And so it begins...

I haven’t blogged much about our adoptiion. I can’t bring myself to do it and I don’t know why. For a long time I didn’t blog about it because I just felt discouraged. It just didn’t seem like anything was going forward. The task ahead of us seemed insurmountable. And then a one week’s time we had what we needed. (A post for another time.) Now, I have so much to tell but when I sit down to write I just draw a blank.

Today though. I’m going to do it. I’m going to do it because things are happening and I need to get them written down before this time passes.

Here’s the email that we recieved from our adoption agency early this week.

I received all of the documents to complete your dossier.  I need to pick up a notarized CWA document this evening, that needs to accompany your dossier, and then it will be ready to ship to D.C.  I will confirm with you that it has been shipped.

One week ago last Monday, we over-nighted our dossier to our agency. For international adoptions, a dossier, for those of you wondering about adoption, is a huge stack of papers, and I mean A STACK of papers, that esssential says that you are who you say you are and that you’re fit to adopt. We spent that morning getting the last few pages notarized, then we copied the whole thing and off to the DHL store. The DHL guy did realize what he was holding as he stuffed the document into the yellow and red envelope. I asked him if I could hold it for a minute more before he sent it off. “Sure.” he said. I held it one last time. I prayed a quick and silent prayer. And then I couldn’t help but cry, as the other 4 people in line looked on in confusion. “What a girl.” Pastormac said later. But he knew. He knew why I was crying. So much of us had gone into those papers. That collection of papers was going to change our lives, our family, our future. And it had been a long twisty road, full of quagmires of paperwork and speed bumps of financial challenges, that had finally brought us to the place where we could send our dossier on it’s way. God had forged a way and had brought us to this place. And so I cried with relief and I cried in anticipation and I cried with gratitude.

Today I know that our dossier is in Washington DC. It will visit the State Department and then the Ethiopian Embassy, as part of it’s final authenication. Next week it will head off to Ethiopia. Pastormac has chronicled it’s journey this week, please visit his blog and read his reflections.

And come back here. I promise in upcoming days that I will be blogging more about the adoption. I promise, I will!

Love Thursday #22

Love is...

My mom's birthday was this Monday. Almost 4 years ago she fought a valiant battle against cancer and lost. On Monday, she would have been 69 years old. I would have sent her a little something. I would have called her. I can imagine the conversation. We would have talked and laughed and teased a bit. Our family would have sung "Happy Birthday" to her over the phone.

My mom was a good mom, a good person, a good friend. She was kind and compassionate, generous and melancholy. She was just the right size to hug. There was no one in my life that cared about me the way she did, about the mudane things and the essential things and everything in between. She loved my kids and she was both tickled and comforted by the way that Pastormac loves me.

She would have enjoyed Love Thursday & Love Is All Around.

WFMW

This really isn't even my idea, my kids came up with it all on their own. I love it all the same.

I can't exactly remember when they started doing this or who came up with idea, but it's now something that my kids do every single night (if possible). Even when my girls were on a trip with their dad, they made sure to call at bedtime so they could say good night to their brothers and do this.

It's something the older girls do for their younger brothers and vice-versa. Once the guys are tucked into bed, the girls go in and as a part of saying good-night, they each have a turn telling the others something he/she likes about them. It might sound something like this: (and mind you, this is an exchange between a 14 year old and her 7 year old brother.)

Sweetanlo: "The thing I like about Joe Cool is that he's learning to be a good sport."
Joe Cool: "The thing I like about Sweetanlo is that she's really good at math."

It's really very sweet. I know it sounds simple and it is. But it's strengthening the bond between them (something I pray for), and it certainly helps bring the day to a close on a positive note. Works for me! (And it could work for you too - get your kids to try it!)

Drop by Rocks in My Dryer for more great Works-for-Me Wednesday ideas. Next week, it's a special Valentine's edition of WFMW. That should be fun!

Photo Hunters - Silver

Tough themes for The Hunt this year. I had to surf around last week to finally come up with something. (Thank you Photo Hunters for a little inspiration!) This week's theme, "silver" I also found challenging. All I could think of for most of the week was my daughter's silver iPod Nano. Luckily something else came to mind. The picture quality is lacking since I had to take a picture of a picture. (the original photo is over ten years old.)

The Hunt - Silver

Technically, he's the TIN Woodsman. But we had to cover him in silver to get him there, right down to spray painting his clothes, shoes, skull cap and funnel using cans and cans of silver spray paint and covering all exposed skin (even his eye lids!) with silver make-up.

I'm sure that the Photo Hunters have come up with lots of great "silver" pictures so check them out! And be sure to stop byTNChick who makes The Hunt possible each week.


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Love Thursday #21

Love is...

Hugging you while you were still in my tummy.

Holding you for the first time.

Enjoying what an incredibly easy baby you were (which considering the antics of your older brother was JUST what I needed.)

Watching you grow from a baby into a boy and trying hard to treasure every moment.

Holding your hand in mine, a perfect fit.

Getting lost in the depths of your stunning blue-green eyes.

Marveling at just how perfect the nape of your neck is.

Smothering you with kisses while you talk to me at bedtime.

You ignoring me while I do this and continuing your stories undeterred.

Reading you the same story night after night after night.

Listening to all the wonderful things you have to say.

Listening to all the not-so-understandable things you have to say.

Tucking you back into bed in the quiet of the night.

Being astounded at just how amazingly smart you are.

Sometimes giving you everything you want.

Sometimes NOT giving you everything you want.

Catching all the kisses you blow to me when I'm leaving.

Blowing kisses back.

Knowing that the time we have to together is precious and the time we've had is a treasure.

Pausing in the midst of the chaos of life to revel in the blessing that is you.

Happy birthday my baby, my boy.


Love Thursday & Love Is All Around.

Give Me Five! Well Okay, Six! by Shorty

Shorty is turning five years old today. Five years old!! As I did with his siblings, Sweetanlo, #1 Son, and Joe Cool I'm letting him have the blog to post a list of his own. (I helped a little bit.) Here's his list, one for each year and one to grow on.

Give Me Five! Well Okay, Six! by Shorty

Hi I'm Shorty and I'm five years old today. That means I'm a kindergartener now.

Here's my list.

• I really like playing our Nintendo Wii and my Nintendo DS. I got Kirby Squeak Squad for Christmas and it's SO cool.



• My favorite color is all the colors but if I had to choose just one (and it would be hard) it would be red.



• I like building car tracks and driving mini-cars (I call them car-y cars) around them.



• I like any kind of cookies as long as they have lots of icing and sprinkles. I like Bizcochitos too because they're covered with sugar. Yum.



• We have a mattress that we get to jump on and I love it. I like making up all sorts of tricks and jumps.



• I love my bed and I even love going to bed. My bed is so comfortable and I love my blankies. Sometimes I even lay on it during the day! (can you believe it? - during the day!)

Thanks for reading my list. See you next year when I get to list seven things because I'll be six and then when I'm eight, I'll get to list nine things and when I'm 99, I'll get to list 100 things! Wow.

WFMW

Here's a product that works GREAT at getting out grease stains on clothes. Even stains that you didn't notice and therefore have been washed and dried.



Just rub a little of this thoroughly into the stain and then let it set for a few hours or over night. Then just launder the item as you usually would. For a really subborn stain, you can make a paste with a spoonful of this and a spoonful of your laundry detergent.

I've been using this stuff for years. You can pick it up at Walmart or Target and most grocery stores. It's inexpensive and a tub like this lasts a long time. I've had a lot of luck using it to get out pretty much any kind of stain my kids produce - around here that list is endless. Works for me!

Check out Rocks in My Dryer for more great Works-for-Me Wednesday ideas.

Photo Hunters - Wild

I found the theme this week to be a hard one. I had to surf around a few of the other Photo Hunters to get some ideas. I wasn't having any luck thinking of a picture for "wild."

Once I got a little inspiration, I looked back through my pictures and found that I did indeed have something for the theme.

The Hunt - Wild
Each afternoon, while we were on vacation this summer in Utah,
a little group of wild turkeys would walk through our backyard
and then a few minutes later they'd pass by again on their way back to whence they had come.
Maybe they were going for a drink. Although you can't see from the picture,
just down the grassy hill is the Virgin River.


I took this picture at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
The WILD flowers were beautiful. I wasn't the only one who thought so.
This little bee agreed with me.

Don't forget to check out the other Photo Hunters! TNChick works hard every week to make The Hunt successful. You should join us.


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Love Thursday #20

Love is...

He comes to me, usually when I have found the most comfortable warmest position in which to sleep.

He comes to me. I hear his feet on the floor before he's even in the room. "Mama?" he asks softly. I know what he needs. I follow him back to his room. He's curled up on his pillow as I reach his bed. I pull the sheets and covers up and tuck them tightly all around him.

"Say goodnight to blankies." he commands.
"Goodnight blankies, I love you." I reply, giving them all a pat.
I turn to go.
"Mama." His small voice floats to me through the darkness from a mound of blankets.
"See you in the morning.....Sweet Dweams."

My heart is full.

Love Thursday & Love Is All Around.

I TIRL-ed! I really did!

Way back in December Shalee posted this about her "Grown-up Christmas," which included wishing that everyone would switch to Verizon so that she could talk freely. I mentioned in my comment that I wouldn't need to switch for that to be the case. And what do you know? She emailed me her cell number.

Well I've been keeping that number trying to muster up the nerve to call her. To be honest, I was a little nervous. I've never done anything like that. I'm not exactly what you would call an out-going person. Friendly? Perhaps. Gregarious? Heavens no! What if I call at a bad time? What if she doesn''t like me? What if I say something dumb? What if I introduce myself and she says, "WHO?" What if, when she hangs up she thinks, "Whew! Glad that's over!" or "Note to self: Don't give out cell number wthout a background check first." I know these are silly thoughts. I'm silly like that sometimes. Shalee even teased me in a later post about getting up the gumption to call her.

So last Friday I determined that I was going to it. I was going to call Shalee. You see, I had gleened from her posts during the week that she might could use a little lift. It seemed like a good time.

I dialed her number and felt my face flush hot with nervousness. I stumbled through introducing myself. "Oh boy, here I go..." I thought. But I needn't have worried. Shalee is every bit of the wonderful mom, wife, friend, woman of God that her blog shows us. Even more, in fact! We chatted about a myriad of things. It was a lovely time and then Shalee mentioned very graciously that she had to get back to cooking dinner for her family and the 5 extra kids that they were having spend the weekend. See, I had called at a bad time and it didn't even matter!

So I TIRL-ed (Talked-In-Real-Life)! I really did! And it was wonderful. Thanks for being such a good friend Shalee, even before I had a chance to earn it.

Works-For-Me Wednesday

I'm late joining the Works-for-Me Wednesday crowd today. Last night I was feeling particularly uninspired.

Then my idea came to me as I was thinking about my boys going to the dentist this morning. In the past, before a doctor or dentist appointment, I was always stressing over where all our insurance cards and such where hiding. I don't like to keep all that stuff in my wallet because I like to carry the bare minimum with me and I just don't need those things on a daily basis. So, in order to keep all the insurance information together and ready, I bought this little wallet:I put all the kids' insurance cards and information inside. Now it hangs right by the front door with the keys on the keyrack, which also makes it hard to accidentally forget since I see it when I'm grabbing my keys. So in the event that we're rushing out the door like crazy people trying to be on time (Of course that never happens because we are always SO together and organized.), I can just grab it and go. One less thing to find. Works for me!

See you over at Rocks in My Dryer.

Mark Your Calendars

Tomorrow is an amazing day. BooMama and Susie of Bluebird Blogs are doing something special and you can be a part of it. You can read all about it here,
here and here.

So go by BooMama's tomorrow. You can help make the day unbelievable for Kelli. She could really use a good day.

See you tomorrow at BooMama's.

Photo Hunters - Technology

This week, the Photo Hunters are looking for a picture of "technology."

Around our house we have computers and laptops, cell phones and gameboys. We have iPod shuffles and nanos, digital cameras and hard drives and digital camcorders. So it was a hard narrowing down my choice.

I settled on a couple of pictures of me mopping my floor.

The Hunt - Technology
This is our little iRobot called a Scooba
(I got it for Christmas - I call him "Scooby.")

I just fill him with water and soap,
hit the "clean" button,
and he sweeps, mops and dries the floor for me.

Technology can be a wonderful thing!

Check out the other Photo Hunters! Thanks to TNChick we're over 200 strong. There's always room for more!


Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.


Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

Full o' Memes Friday & Delurk! Wouldya?

It's Friday of "De-Lurking Week."
(I thought it was ironic that it's De-Lurking Week and Blogger is having trouble with comments.) I debated about joining in, but decided to play along afterall. So go ahead and leave a comment, whether you're a lurker or not.
Say "hi!"

Today is the day that I'm answering the memes that I've been neglecting. I don't want to diss anyone who tags me for a meme. I'd hate for them to quit tagging me.

Meme #1: The Most Memorable Moment in My Life

Shaz over at Adventures in Motherhood tagged me a while back (a long while, sorry Shaz!) , asking about the most memorable moment in my life. This is a tough one; not because I don't have memorable moments but because I have too many to choose just one. My wedding day was an amazing day. The births of my children are kind of a blur in many ways but are definitely memorable. The day that I watched my mom lose her battle with cancer is certainly a day that I will never forget. So I'm settling on the day that Pastormac and I talked about getting married. I can remember it like is was yesterday. It was a beautiful April afternoon, a Sunday, and we sat on campus and talked about how we had both come to the conclusion that we would be spending the rest of our lives together. It was amazing. It was a relief. It was a comfort. It was exciting. I remember it and that almost 18 years ago. This is followed VERY closely by the Friday evening a week later that he bent down on one knee and, with ring in hand, asked me to be his wife. Then we shared our first kiss. Yes, very memorable. VERY!

Okay, now it's your turn, Beck, Michelle and Shalee.


Meme #2: 5 Things You Don't Know About Me and My Baby

Beck tagged me with this one way back before Christmas (sorry Beck!) and I've been writing my response in my mind but I just haven't written it out. So here goes:

Five things about me that you wouldn't know unless you lived here or were more than a Bloggy Friend.

1. I adore growing African Violets. Sometimes I talk to them, which gets me very funny looks from my daughter. I can't always get them to bloom so this little beauty gives my heart a thrill. (Grew this baby from one leaf!!)

2. I organize my groceries when I put them on the check-out belt at the store.

3. I organize my silverware as I load it into the dishwasher.

(I know, I know. But this little bit of over-organization helps me keep my sanity amidst the chaos.)

4. I was the first person in my family to get a Nintendo DS Lite. Then I had to get my kids their own because I never got a turn with mine.

5. I haven't changed my hair-style in a very very long time.


Five Mysterious Things about Shorty.

1. He listens to Rebecca St. James album If I Had One Chance To Tell You Something every.single.night. when he goes to bed. Every.Single.Night! Sometimes more than once because he asks us to turn it back on for him during the night if he wakes up.

2. He loves wearing shorts, even in the dead of winter. So if we're not leaving the house for any reason, you'll find him in shorts. Luckily we don't live in a place where winter brings extremely low temperatures or we'd have to actually put the shorts away until summer.

3. He will not wear a sweatshirt, even if his life depended on it. He hates.hates.hates them. He doesn't mind a coat as long as it has a zipper. No pull-overs of any kind.

4. He is not what you would call an easy-going guy. No sir! Much too serious and particular about things.

5. He's nuts about geography, US geography especially.

I'm tagging Overwhelmed, Michelle, Mama Duck, Mary & Shaz.


Meme #3: A Meme About Blogging.

And finally, both Beck & Michelle tagged me with this one. It was a tough one.

1. Do you like the look and the contents of your blog?
I LOVE the look of my blog. Susie over at Bluebird Blogs designed it for me. I can't recommend her enough. As for the content, I think I have a lot of room to grow. I haven't been blogging long and so I have a lot to learn. I want to post more but sometimes the job of getting my thoughts down is daunting. I love the way some bloggers can write about the daily happenings of life and have me hanging on every word or laughing or crying out loud. I would like to be better at word crafting. And I'd like to blog more about our upcoming adoption. And I will! I promise.

2. Does your family know about your blog?
I told them about it but I'm pretty sure they forgot about it a minute later.

3. Can you tell your friends about your blog?
Sure! But my friends aren't as geeky as me and so I'm pretty sure they don't stop by. A few do.

4. Do you just read the blogs of those who comment on your blog?
Wow no! Think of all the great blogs I'd be missing. I read a bunch of blogs.

5. Did your blog positively affect your mind?
Yes. I think writing well stretches the mind. "It's good for your brain." as I would tell my kids.

6. What does the number of visitors to your blog mean?
I like that folks stop by. But I can't get too worried about the numbers. If I think too hard about it, I get a little stressed about the people that are reading my blog and why they would be reading it and are they normal. etc. What a appreciate about my numbers is the friends that I've met through blogging.

7. Do you imagine what other bloggers look like?
Nope, not really.

8. Do you think blogging has any real benefit?
I suppose that depends on the blog and the blogger. I think there can be value in writing out thoughts and experiences.

9. Do you think that the blogosphere is a stand alone community separated from the real world?
I'm not sure how to answer this question. Doesn't it have to be part of the real world to be real? I don't really think that it's a "stand alone community." Afterall, wouldn't blogging cease to exist without the REAL people in their real lives writing about life?

10. Do some political blogs scare you? Do you avoid them?
Yes and I avoid them entirely. Everyone's entitled to write their opinions, but I don't have to read it.

11. Do you think that criticizing your blog is useful?
Depends on who's doing the criticizing and how they do it.

12. Have you ever thought about what would happen to your blog in case you died?
Not until I read this question.

13. Which blogger had the greatest impression on you?
A bunch of them. Check out my "Favorite Blogs" links. If pressed, I'd have to say Mary, Beck, Susanne & Shannon.

14. Which blogger do you think is the most similar to you?
I have no idea.

15. Name a song you want to listen to?
"On The Western Skyline" by Bruce Hornsby & the Range.

Whew! I'll tag She Lives, Jody & Caylynn.

Love Thursday #19

Love is...

A Dog and Her Bone

The person whom she loves above all else (Pastormac) brought her home this chew last night. After she chewed herself into exhaustion, she took it to bed with her and slept next to it. She loves it but not near as much as as she loves him.

Happy Love Thursday! Hopefully today someone you love will bring you home something special to make you smile. Love Is All Around.

Healthy Eating W.F.M.W. - Fettucine Alfredo Lite

I know what you’re thinking? ”Surely you jest?? Fettucine Alfredo Lite?! Oh puullleeeezzz!”

But directly from the helpful pages of Cooking Light magazine comes a figure friendly recipe for Fettucine Alfredo. To give you an idea of just how friendly it is, normal rich decadent Fettucine Alfredo has 910 calories per serving, including 63g of fat, 236mg Cholesterol, 1197mg Sodium and 56.2g total carbs. This trimmed down version only has 399 calories per serving with only 13.5g fat, 34mg cholesterol, 822mg sodium and 48.9 total carbs.

And may I suggest a subscription to Cooking Light magazine? It’s a magazine that has not only great healthy tasty recipes, but also tons of other useful non-cooking related ideas for living a healthier, thinner, happier, less-stressful, longer life. (And they didn’t even pay me to say that! Although I’d love for them to give me my next subscription for free.) Works for me!


Fettuccine Alfredo

1 tablespoon butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups 1% low-fat milk
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
2 tablespoons 1/3 less-fat cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups hot cooked fettucine (8 ounces uncooked pasta)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Cracked black pepper

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in flour. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk. Cook 6 minutes or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Add 1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, cream cheese, and salt, stirring with a whisk until cheeses melt. Toss sauce with hot pasta. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and chopped parsley. Garnish with black pepper, if desired. Serve immediately. Makes 4 one cup servings.

Pair this with a nice salad and some whole wheat french bread that has been sliced, toasted and then rubbed with a peeled clove of garlic (leave out the butter). Yum!

OK, so it's not carrot sticks and rice cakes. But you can't eat that stuff all the time.

Feeling hungry? Me too. Meet you over at Rocks in My Dryer for more great recipes.

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt - Memory

It's 2007, time to look back and find a "memory" for the Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt this week! Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with for the posts today.

Since "Hanging Out with My Boys" is my theme of the week, I'm sticking with that for the hunt too.

S.P.S.H. - Memory

#1 Son and Joe Cool six years ago.
(They were so cute!)


Here they are today.
(Still pretty cute.)

Where does the time go!!??

Happy S.P.S.H.!

Go here to join the hunt! Come on, you know you want to.


Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.


Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

Love Thursday #18

Love is...

A lot of boys

Yup, it's just me and my guys this week. Pastormac and my girls are gone all week. A business trip for him and the girls where able to go along just for fun.

So my days are full up with boys. Long days but good days. There's a lot to love.

The first Love Thursday of the New Year. Glad I didn't miss it. You don't have to either - Love Is All Around..

Works-For-Me Wednesday

Here's a quickWorks-for-Me Wednesday today because I am tired. tired. tired. Pastormac and my girls are gone to a conference. Here's the kicker - they'll be gone for six days. Just me and the guys and we're virtually house-bound due to residual snow from the ten inches we got last week. I made it though day one but I'm beat. I am a TOTAL wimp when Pastormac is gone. I miss him something terrible when he's gone overnight.

So here's my tip and then I'm going to bed.

Don't underestimate the power of the almighty buck. When we're all searching frantically for some lost item, something that just isn't turning up, I often offer a monetary reward for the person who finds said lost item. My searchers are all children so the reward offered doesn't have to be much. But it certainly ramps up the enthusiasm and determination in finding the lost item.

I know, I know. They should all just look for the lost thing, and they do. But sometimes they just need a little more motivation. Money motivates. Works for me.

First WFMW of 2007. Head over Rocks in My Dryer for more great ideas. .

A New Year's Prayer

A dear friend sent this to me today.

A happy New Year! Grant that I
May bring no tear to any eye
When this New Year in time shall end
Let it be said I've played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,
And made of it a happy year.

~Edgar Guest

May 2007 bring you abundant blessings. God loves you this much! (even more)