friday frivolity...

Wow, I never realized the government worked quickly on anything...

Steve submitted our taxes (Turbo Tax) at 2:30am Tuesday morning...

and our refund from the state was deposited yesterday!!!

That is some quick service!!!

It is amazing what you find when you upload your pictures!

This is our well trained puppy...

up on my kitchen chair!!!

I DID NOT take this picture...

nor do I think her nasty paws on my furniture or her big slobbery tongue THAT close to my kitchen table is photo worthy.
Look there is hope.

Emma can actually go out and unhook Cali...

without Cali trying to flatten her!Michaela can be found here...

on Facebook!!!

she is looking pleased because she is talking to a friend she had not heard from since we decided not to worship at our former congregation.

They told me she was a pure bred Newfoundland when we got her.....

but I am beginning to wonder of she has some goat or cow in her!!!

SHE LOVES GRASS!!

are you going to finish strong???

wordless wednesday...

i have joined facebook....

LATER~~~Can I just tell you 6 hours of Algebra and Chemistry is enough to fry your brain!!! And it was only the first day of classes~~9 1/2 weeks to go.
~~~~~~

And I have a post about it...

but I was up until 5AM looking up people from my past...

and now I am off to Algebra and Chemistry class (UGH!!! New term started yesterday)...

so my post...

will have to wait!!!

um, yeah...

Who gave you permission to grow up so quickly?

easter~in pictures.....

Saturday evening....

Coloring the eggs for the Easter bunny to hide while we sleep!

**Emma was very worried about whether or not the Bunny would have to come into her room.


Sunday morning...

searching for hidden baskets and eggs!

off to get ready...

and of course a photo shoot....

**the sun was BRIGHT today~~not conducive to taking pictures. Some of these were taken this evening after 2 church services, HOURS of play~~BUT with better natural light!





heading out to our normal Sunday church service...

lunch and egg hunt at the Allison's~~after worship service...

back to evening worship service...

back to the Allison's for leftovers while teenagers have their devotional...

home......FINALLY!

Until next year!!

mechanics of a flip....

Michaela style...

begin jumping to obtain necessary height...

jump and tuck...

bring your body around...

prepare to land on your feet!

Emma style....

jump to obtain necessary height...

place your head down on the trampoline....
roll over!!

***I am thankful our neighbors have a trampoline. The girls spend hours out there!

*** I am also thrilled that our insurance will not allow us to have a trampoline~~so we do not have the neighborhood kids in our yard trying to break their necks!!!

saturday...

Today has turned out to be a beautiful day.

sunny blue sky...

slight breeze...

perfect day to be outside!

***and we are THRILLED that Emma {our lazy child} has finally decided she could pump her legs and make herself go higher on her own.

WOOO HOOO for swinging independence!!!
~~~~~

I am off to help get the Easter bunny ready for tomorrow!

CUZ' YA' KNOW, PROCRASTINATION IS MY MIDDLE NAME!!

I hope to actually get some pictures of the girls posted today...we will see!!

Should I be worried that Emma is downstairs singing, "I am a beautiful girl! I am a beautiful girl!" over and over:)

Time to hit Target and a shoe store. (can I just say, I am sooo happy that I am able to go out to buy shoes and dress socks the day before I need them and KNOW that I will be able to find what I need~~somewhere! So different from the last few Springs!!!)

life is more interesting when you are happy....

Earlier today, the Harris family buried their daughter, Kelsey.

Kelsey had been battling brain cancer for quite some time. She lost the fight on Monday.

I did not know this 16 year old girl personally.

I only knew of her by the example and influence she had on so many of the young adults at churches of Christ around the tri-state area who knew her.

Even as she fought for her life, she was content with her circumstances~because as she said often, "Life is more interesting when you are happy!".

She knew that when she lost the battle here on earth, she would be entering the bosom of Abraham.

She had the confidence that with God's mercy she will hear the words, "Well done my good and faithful servant..." on the day of judgement.

Her time on this earth was short~~but she packed as much LIFE into as she could.

IN 2009 I WANT TO…

Write something worth reading
Read something worth sharing
Say something worth repeating
Give something worth getting
Choose something worth keeping
Sacrifice something worth giving up
Go somewhere worth seeing
Eat something worth tasting
Hug someone worth holding
Buy something worth treasuring
Cry tears worth shedding
Do something worth watching
Risk something worth protecting
Listen to something worth hearing
Teach something worth learning
Be someone worth knowing.

Kelsey Harris

Our prayers go out the Harris family.

it's not always as it seems...

Many things in life are not what they appear.

We often enter into situations that look appealing, desirous, and harmless...
But once we have had an opportunity to examine the true surroundings we find ourselves in...

We see that what was alluring to us from a distance, is nothing more than destructive, unwanted ugliness.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is fair, whatever is pure, whatever is acceptable, whatever is commendable, if there is anything of excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy-keep thinking about these things. {Philippians 4:8}

wordless wednesday AND wordful wednesday...

wordless wednesday

wordful wednesday

I was recently talking to someone I had not seen since we left for England. She was asking about our experiences and travels the 3 years we lived there. In the course of the conversation, she inquired about the attitude towards Americans in the various places we visited.

I immediately thought of this picture~~I took it one day as I was driving onto the base.This is Lindis Percy

she is a Quaker...

a British peace campaigner (i.e. a protester of the American military presence in England)...

the joint coordinator of the Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases...

a hater of Americans not a big fan of Americans.

a sad reminder that American military are not always welcome in the countries they support!

laughter lives tuesday....

The first night we were in England, Steve took us into the nearby town of Banbury.

to show us around the town...

to get some dinner at Pizza Hut (we were not ready to venture away from what we knew)...

but mainly to keep us awake so we could acclimate to the new time zone.

While we were walking around the town center, we noticed Michaela ( 8 years old at the time) looking very intently at a sign hanging on a building.
After a few minutes she looks at us and says, "They left the 'i' out of toilet on that sign'.

Steve and I laughed at with her.

and then we explained that it meant 'to rent'~~it was not a 6 foot sign marking a bathroom!

The poor girl has yet to live it down~~we often have to go to the 'to let'!!

mama always said there'd be days like this...

Frustration is defined in Webster's Dictionary as: “a deep chronic sense or condition of insecurity, discouragement, and dissatisfaction arising from thwarted desires, inner conflicts, or other unresolved problems.”

Frustration is spending 30 minutes on the phone with customer service (HA) regarding an issue with your cell phone....

and receiving circular talk and NO remedy to the problem!

Frustration is talking to customer service (again, HA) of not just one, but 2 companies, and because your call has been transferred to India, having to constantly ask the individual to repeat themselves because you cannot understand them....

especially after finding out your friend's son has lost his job because the contract of the company Cincinnati Bell uses for Zoomtown IT support was not renewed~~ because CB has outsourced to the Philippines.

Frustration is....

the poison ivy between my fingers...
outsourcing and the growing unemployment rate...
the ever changing price of petrol...
the cost of our health insurance...
dealing with self~absorbed, arrogant people...

my list could go on and on,

but I will stop my grumbling and griping,

and I will remember what my mother used to tell me:

If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

I guess that means this post should have been blank!

Let me always remember:
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. {Psalm 19:14}

LATER~~After eating some caramel kisses and watching THE BOY IN STRIPED PAJAMAS...

Boy wasn't I crabby!!

I thought about deleting my mild rant, but I decided to add some fun (-ny) pictures instead.

Because it is Spring Break week, the girls are allowed to bring a friend to dance class~~and wear their pajamas.

Just something fun and silly.

Hannah B. came to class with Michaela today.

Let me stress that Hannah does not take dance...

and she will probably kill me when she sees this!!!!

randomness....

Into our lives, a little rain must fall...
And this is the beauty left behind.
{this is the same bloom that is in my header picture~~after a few Spring showers}


For a child that has had her picture taken all of her life....

She sure is EXTREMELY uncooperative lately!

{At least I have her face in this one~~even if she is talking!}

The Easter Bunny made an early stop on Emma's last day of school before Spring Break...

Does that mean he doesn't have to make an appearance next week????
{I am thinking he will still be making a visit to house #1157.}

Doing a little reading and relaxing....

Barbie and Ken live an exciting life!!

{and with all of the quality books we have in this house, WHY Barbie??}

friday frivolity...

I am FINISHED with my classes!!

I took my Math final last night

I made a 98.5%~~~Thank you very much!!

I just called in my last set of words for Medical Terminology.

So I finished up this term with all A's!!

YEAH ME!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next term is going to be fun!!

I am having to take some classes over~~because Math and Science classes expire after 7 years.

Biology~~dissecting a fetal pig ---YUCK!

Chemistry

and my second of three math classes.

OH BOY!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michaela had her first 'NOT EMMA' babysitting job last Sunday.

She watched 2 little boys from noon until 6:00pm.

I was a nervous wreck!

But of course, she did a great job.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of the ladies at church ordered Jonas Brother concert tickets for 10 of the girls

One of the tickets was for Michaela---a surprise for her birthday in August.

She was miserable knowing that all her friends from church were going and she wasn't.

It was killing her friends trying to keep the secret~~and we still 4 months to go.

So when she got her babysitting money on Wednesday...

She ran back in and asked Rebecca if they had already ordered tickets.

Rebecca told her yes and they could not order any more.

Michaela came back to the van deflated.

I could not take it...

I told her to go in and talk to Ms. Gina.

I followed her in and told Gina to just tell her yes.

Michaela asked her if there were any extra tickets...

Gina told her 'No'.

Michaela slumped in disappointment.

We all started laughing...

I told her I had ask Gina to order her a ticket for her birthday...

The smile on her face was priceless!

She handed over her money with no hesitation!

I saved myself the $40.00,

but now I have to hear about this concert for the next 4 months!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spring Break is next week for the girls and I.

No plans.

Sleep late!

Clean the house!

Go through toys for donation.

Hopefully have nice weather and be able to be outside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

hey, what's that noise?

giggle

AAAAHHHH!

giggle, giggle

WOO HOO

giggle giggle giggle

SIGH

What's that noise you ask?

That is the sound of....

Finding out she gets to see....


on August 23 in Louisville!!

~~~~~~~~

YES!

WOO HOO!

THANK GOODNESS!

ALL RIGHT!

SA'WEET!

What's THAT sound you ask?

That is.....

(insert picture of ME)!

Thrilled that....

(insert picture of Cari)

is the one taking the 10 girls to the concert!

and NOT me!!!

wordless wednesday...

be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life...

I received a call Saturday afternoon letting me know that my friend's father had passed away.

Tomorrow she and her family will bury him.

When she sat her 5 year old daughters down to tell them that their grandpa had died~~knowing that there innocent hearts could not comprehend the 'reality' of his death~~ one of them looked at her and said, "He is in a better place. He gets to live with God"

What a blessing to be pure of heart..

to be as innocent as a child...

to be able to see the blessing in the death of a faithful Christian.

As adults, we are overcome with sadness~~for ourselves.

We grieve OUR loss.

We fill in the emptiness left by the absence of our loved one with tears and sorrow.

But the reward for a faithful follower of God's word is glorious.

Psalm 116:15 shows us that death is PRECIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF GOD.
Death means that one of His children has come home.

Those that have died are REMOVED FROM EVIL AND ARE AT PEACE

Those we have lost are BEING CARRIED AWAY BY ANGELS TO BLISS {Luke 16:22}

The ones we grieve for are GOING AWAY TO PARADISE {Luke 23:43}

Those that are taken from us in death, "GAIN" SOMETHING FAR BETTER THAN LIVING {Philp.1:21}

Those we must say goodbye to have gone TO BE WITH CHRIST; ARE AT HOME WITH THE LORD

Those that have 'fought the good fight' here on earth have A BLESSED REST FROM THEIR LABORS in death. {Rev. 14:13}

While tears will flow and emptiness be felt by Mr. Hendrick's loved ones, comfort can be found in the words of his granddaughter,

"He gets to live with God!"

aaaahhhhh!!!

It's FINAL'S WEEK!!!!

I finished one of my online classes last week.

I had planned to complete all of my work for Medical Terminology by tomorrow afternoon so I could focus on studying for my Math final for the rest of the week.

I was pluggin' along...

Completed and submitted one quiz about the Muscular system...

Tried to submit Quiz #2....

and I received an error message when I hit submit!!

Of course the call center closed an hour ago.

I sent an email to the 24 hour help line...

They will get back to me in one business day.

{if it's available 24 hours, shouldn't I be able to get quicker response?}

That is very helpful!

So I guess it is off to bed!

And my study schedule will have to be adjusted.

is this really necessary?

For 10 years, Dora has entertained and educated preschoolers with her explorations and adventures.

As of this fall, she will become a 10 year old middle~schooler living in the big city.

Mattel felt that “Girls really identify with Dora and we knew that girls would love to have their friend Dora grow up with them, and experience the new things that they were going through themselves. The brand captures girls’ existing love of Dora and marries it with the fashion doll play and online experiences older girls enjoy.”

Why couldn't Dora just stay Dora~exploring with Boots, helping her friends, and staying safe from Swiper?