lazy saturday...

We ended up not having visitors today. Steve told his parents to wait until the roads are completely cleared off before they drive down. He worked his 'pretend job' last night, so in order to allow him to sleep without the chaos of two girls and a large puppy, I took the girls to see TALES OF DESPEREAUX at the cheap seats.

Cute movie~~ You know for a movie with rats and mice!!!

Tonight, before he goes to his pretend job, Steve and I {BY.OUR.SELVES.} are going to the cheap movie to see Valkyrie. I'm not a big Tom Cruise fan, but I am hoping the plot is strong enough for me to forget it is him playing the part.

I do not usually like going to the theater to watch movies. I like to be at home, folding laundry, surfing the web, doing something else while the movie is playing. But it will be a nice break in the mundane routine we are in. I think the last movie we went to see by ourselves was THE VILLAGE. And what a complete waste of time that movie was!! Let's hope this movie fairs better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We have been home, FROM SEEING A MOVIE, for less than an hour and Emma Shea was just sent to her room because she "has no one to play with." "Nothing to do." {which are words to make me lose my cool!} "Michaela just wants to read and I can't read. She is ruining my life!" WHAT!!!!!! Ruining her life.

Anyone need some toys? Craft items? Books? Because obviously Emma doesn't want them. Or better yet, anyone want a 5 year old whose life has been ruined by her 12 year old sister!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It is gorgeous outside. The sun shining on the ice is creating a shimmering light show on all of the trees.

Absolutely beautiful.

I just wish I was a good enough photographer to capture it.

~~~~~~~~

friday fill in

1. I'd really like to be independently wealthy right now.

2. Oi' is the word you'd most often hear me say if I stubbed my toe.

3. Possession is 9/10 of the law:):).

4. I have never heard of Captain Jack Sparrow.

5. Marshmallows and fire go together like Pepsi and LOTS of ice.

6. My daughter's explanations go on and on.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Mexican and a movie with my daughters, tomorrow my plans include dealing visiting with the ILs, and Sunday, I want to avoid any Superbowl 'stuff' and NOT have my phone ring telling me school is cancelled on Monday!

friday frivolity...

You know, as a mother, you are constantly telling your children to LISTEN TO ME!

We ask, "Are you listening to me?" or "Do you hear my words?" how many times a day?

The words, "I am tired of repeating myself because you do not listen to me." are regularly heard among the homes of families everywhere.

So...

maybe I should put on my listening ears! practice what I preach! take my own advice! be a do~er, not just a say~er!...

At the end of this post I mentioned that I would posting pictures of Emma with her friends Riley and Sidney. And then I added an update that stated that the pictures were not on the CD so there would be no pictures. I even went as far as emailing Emory and asking him to email them to me whenever he got a chance.

And then it happened!!!

The moment I remembered what I had been told!

As Emory handed me the CD he said, "I have put these in a zip file. You will have to unzip them to see them."

Voila, when you listen to the words being spoken to you and do as you are told, things work!!!

Princess Sidney

Princess Emma

Princess Riley

Three little princesses

Let see, your Daddy says you can start dating when you are 40~~that is 35 years from now. You'll date a few years, get engaged , and then plan the wedding for a year or so after you get engaged. You might want to wait to pick out your dress~~~styles will change, your likes/dislikes will change, and you might not like how you look in the dress in the year 2047!

I suggest eloping! Weddings are overrated!

The girls had a great time playing dress up. Emma married an imaginary husband (aren't they the best kind:) and then had a baby. I am glad she knows what order life should go in!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A new study has revealed that marital happiness may lower the risk of sleep problems in Caucasian women, whereas marital worry may raise the chances of the same.

The result was based on the study in which Dr. Wendy M. Troxel, a psychologist
at the University of Pittsburgh, and his co-workers focused on 1,938 married women with an average age of 46 years.

Seriously, we needed a STUDY to figure out that if you are having problems in your marriage, your sleep might be disrupted??????????

Maybe I should get some government funding to search out the answer to an obscure problem like determining if eating too much causes weight gain!!

wash. rinse. repeat.

Hmmm.

Surprise! Surprise!

Another snow day!

If only I knew we would have 4 days off of school this week...

We could have gone on a fun trip:)

pray for me~~~pray for others

There are people in this world that are so compassionate, so focused on helping/thinking of others regardless of their own personal issues. The Riggs, at WHERE THE LAUGHTER LIVES, are those type of people. In the midst of handling all that is necessary when you have a child with a life threatening disease {Please go to their blog to learn Abby's story} they have expressed a desire to have others tell THEM what prayer needs they may have. Their desire to lift up their voices to God in prayer on behalf of others led them to create Pray for me~Pray for others, a prayer list for the blogging community.

Each Wednesday, at their blog they will have a link for requesting prayers.

The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. {James 5:16}

This is my prayer request....

{Shelly, when you read this, I hope you do not mind that I did this!!!!}

I have a very dear friend, Shelly, who I met at church when we both were attending Ball State University.

Ever since we have known one another she has always liked to fill me in of the major events of her life an eternity after they first occurred! ~~~ "Oh, by the way, I am seeing someone." {months into the relationship~~in case it didn't work out.} "Oh, by the way, I am engaged and the wedding is..." I am always waiting for the "Oh, by the ways"

I knew that her husband Emory, {the "Oh. by the way, I am engaged..." Emory} had a biopsy performed on his thyroid on Friday {Because I was there that evening~~no 'Oh, by the way' necessary...:)} Never in my wildest imagination did I expect to hear that the biopsy came back as cancer! I have GOOGLED thyroid cancer and the survival rate is extremely high~~which is reassuring. They have not spoken with the surgeon to figure out the next steps.

I am requesting prayers for Shelly and Emory as they deal with the fear of the unknown, the impact of this diagnosis, and the treatment that will follow. For the doctors that will attend to him as he undergoes treatment. For their two 5 year old daughters, Riley and Sidney, as they try to understand what is happening. Pray that they will remain strong in their faith and continue leaning on God.

beauty...

Last night we went to bed with the sound of freezing rain pelting the windows.

Our electricity flickered a few times, but thankfully stayed on.

Because of the road conditions and potential need for maintenance at the facility, Steve stayed at work last night. After working until 11:30pm, he went to sleep in a Respite room, and awoke to 25 separate roof leaks! Now that is some FUN to wake up to!!!
When I talked to him a little while ago, he was in the parking lot trying to get a car unstuck~~waiting for the plow to come through again.

This morning we woke to this:

You can not see it in the picture, but the snow is coming down thick and fast.

I cannot wait for the snow to stop so that I can go out and take pictures of the ice and snow covered trees!!!

The BEAUTY of Winter:

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it bear and sprout,
And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire.
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
For you will go out with joy and be led forth with peace;
The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,
And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
Isaiah 55:10~12

The FUN of Winter: The WORK of winter

no 5:45 phone call...

We awoke to about 4 inches of snow.

At 12:00pm, the clouds could not hold anymore and the freezing rain began.

It is now 7.5 hours later and it continues to come down.

The rain is supposed to turn into more snow~~~3 to 5 more inches!!!

School has been called off for tomorrow already!

Joy, oh joy!!!!

No 5:45 phone call from Mr. H telling us that school has been cancelled.

same coat, different day...

February, 2007

January, 2009

there's no fun like snow fun...

SNOOOOOOOOW!!!!! Fun

yippee...

It is 1:30 in the morning.

All is quiet.

I just looked outside~~expecting to see NOTHING!

Surprise!!!!! Surprise!!!!

The weathermen were RIGHT!!!

I think a SNOW DAY is inevitable!!!

You know, a REAL snow day...
With, hmmm, ACTUAL snow!!!!!!!

look what i can do!!!...

Emma has been asking us to teach her how to tie her shoes.

We knew she was not ready last year, so we worked on the first part last summer.

Unfortunately, we got sidetracked.

Tonight as I was sitting on the coach with the laptop, she came over and sat by my feet. {as it should be!!!!:):)}

Three questions and three tries later....

she has TIED MY SHOE!!!

WHO HOO!!!!~~~she is growing up; getting more independence!!!

BOO WHO!!!!~~~she is growing up; getting more independence!!!

not me! monday...

You know...the blunders, mishaps, moments of comedy...

Brought to us by MckMama~~who is soaking in the sun as we all are enjoying the winter wonderlands we live in~~and NOT wishing we were in the sun too.

• It is NOT ME! that thought about linking to Mr. Linky before I wrote my NMs, but I knew that was wrong, so I didn't. I mean I would NEVER even think about circumventing the rules. Nope Not Me!



• It is NOT ME! whose children are home from school for a snow day because of a dusting of snow. Seriously! A dusting!!! My house is child free, quiet!!!, this Monday morning!!



• It is NOT ME!, whose daughter has been potty trained for years, had to clean up an accident after church services last night because she had to go to the bathroom so badly, but knows she is not allowed to get up during the services, so she wet herself AND THE FLOOR where we sit! Shesh!! I thought I was over cleaning up potty!


• It is NOT ME! that just posted about my child having a potty accident. I am sure years of therapy would be needed if she actually read this!



• It is NOT ME! that volunteered to drive 5 teenagers to Indianapolis for a weekend Bible study. Who, in their right mind would VOLUNTEER to be in a van with 4 teenage girls and 1 teenage boy for 2 hours!!! NOT ME!!



• It is NOT ME! that has decided child labor is a good thing!!!

• IT is NOT ME! that could not figure out why Nigel, our GPS, was completely confused about the route to take to church and the time it would take. 22 hours to go 60 miles????? It was NOT ME! that finally figured out, after three trips, that someone had changed Nigel to calculate WALKING DIRECTIONS!! And while I enjoy walking, 22 hours to get to church services would be a bit insane!!!!

• It is NOT ME! that wonders what number I will be on Mr. Linky. I would have been 65 if I had been dishonest.....

somewhere between insanity and complete lunacy...

Recipe for 'Driver on the edge'

Ingredients:

Take one van~~black with 'snow dust' all over it

ADD:

1~~Mommy~~who doesn't mind driving, but doesn't talk while she is driving

1~~5 year old Emma

1~~12 year old Michaela

1~~13 year old Hannah

Stuff van with overnight bags, coats, pillows, and sleeping bags.

DRIVE for 45 minutes @ 70 mph

Recipe will be ruined if you drive faster than 75 mph because:

• An extra ingredient is added~~ a police officer with pretty lights
• Your bank account will suffer loss
• Your husband will boil over

After driving for 45 minutes, ADD:

1~~15 year old Travis, in the front seat, who talks non~stop about everything( see above about Mommy driver!) and likes to change the radio channels CONSTANTLY!

1~~14 year old Rebecca, very sweet ingredient that sat with 5 year old and kept her entertained!

1~~12 year old Breanna, beware of this ingredient, slightly caustic. Speaks her mind. But good for a few laughs

Stuff van with more overnight bags, coats, pillows, and sleeping bags.

Drive for 2 hours.

Check ingredients occasionally.

Fight the urge to muzzle Travis.

About one hour into driving, add phone call from husband inquiring as to where we are.

Gently answer, " Somewhere between insanity and complete lunacy!"

After 2 hours of driving, non~stop talking in every corner of the van, an unplanned bathroom break (MICHAELA!!!), and the forbidden, "Are we almost there?" question (REBECCA!!!), remove ingredients from van.

Check for completeness!

Share with the other Christian teenagers assembled for worshipping God at the Whitsetts!!

Repeat 24 hours later

LEAVE OUT: 1~~13 year old {Her parents picked her up!}

ADDING:

• Grumpiness, sadness, and exhaustion to the 5 year old
• Fatigue to the others!
• One unplanned bathroom stop! (EMMA!!!)
• One beverage stop!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I actually had a good time driving them. They are all good kids! Can't wait for the next one! {Travis will have to sit in the back with Emma He DOES talk ALL OF THE TIME!!!:):):)}

They had a great time at the Bible study. The singing was awesome (I didn't get to record this time), but they did not get too much sleep~~a hard floor and a LOUD snorer downstairs {In the male section} that they could hear through the floor.

Emma and I had fun at the Brown's. {pics to come}

UPDATE: No pics. I just went to upload pictures from teh CD that Emory burned for me and there is only one picture on it~~~and it is NOT of Emma with the girls.:)

friday frivolity...

I was very surprised last night when I looked at my blog to find it had an offensive content warning.

Someone flagged MY blog for offensiveness.

I am not sure what someone found offensive.

Maybe it is my use of the word POO.

or maybe, the pictures of my daughter.

Maybe, just maybe, it is because I talk about God and Christianity.

Whatever it is, I am glad the blogger people saw fit to remove the flag.

Next time, if you find something you don't like, just take your mouse, use it to move the arrow to the top right hand corner, and click on the X.

Offensive material gone!!


The girls and I are off to Indiana tonight.

No, not to the IL's~~thankfully.

Michaela, along with Hannah B. and three teenagers from La Grange,are attending a monthly youth singing and Bible study at the home of a family in Indianapolis.

This family started these Bible studies a few years ago with 20 or so young adults coming over.

It has grown to over 75 young adults coming on Friday to worship God in song and to have fellowship with other Christian teenagers throughout the Tri~State area.

About 40 or so of the children spend the night at the house {Chaperoned and separated by house levels} and then on Saturday morning they come together for 4 Bible studies.

I am in awe of this family. To open your home to almost 100 teenagers, every month!!!

Incredible!! {or insane!!!}

I hopefully can get a recording of the singing. It is phenomenal.

Emma and I will drop the big kids off, get them settled, and then she and I will head over to the Brown's to spend the night with them.

Emma is so excited about seeing Sidney and Riley again!

Should be fun~~~Three 5 year old girls together!!!!

~~~~

Steve went in to work today. He is still feeling achy, but better.

Emma went back to school. She sounds so much better today. And the foul breathe~~~YUCK!~~ from the strep is gone.

Everyone seems well at this moment!

because i do have 2 daughters...

It would seem that lately Emma has dominated the blog.

Since I do have another daughter, I thought I would post some pictures of her.

Of course, she is not as cooperative as her baby sister when it comes to me taking pictures of her.You know, when you are a preteen, you have better things to do than let your mom take your picture.

Better things like completing your FAVORITE part of having a dog.

POO CLEANUP~~redneck style.

what!!!!!!!...

Look what I caught Ms. Emma Shea doing this afternoon!

I have not seen her do this in months.

I guess it is time to apply the Hoof Hands again!!!

when you are REALLY thirsty....

hmm..we didn't put THAT on our list of cons...

While we were in the process of interviewing for jobs, Steve and I would list the pros and cons of each job.

This often led to a job being taking off of the list of potential jobs because the cons far outweighed the pros.

We did this with the Atria job and the GE job.

We sat down and each listed what we felt was good about the offer and what was negative about the offer.

These two jobs came out about the same.

But after 4 days on the job, a con has come to our attention that we NEVER thought of.

A negative that will affect the entire household!

The negative of the Atria job we failed to think of~~~the illnesses that Steve is exposed to working in a closed community of elderly residents!

UGH!!! It will be like my first year of teaching all over again~~exposed to every germ imaginable.

This week is a lovely GI illness that is making the rounds.

And guess who was sent home today because he has it??

Oh Boy!!

Could I get lucky enough that this stops with him!!

my throat still hurts, but my bum feels better...

This is what sick looks like.

She has had NO FEVER!
NO LOSS OF ENERGY
NO LOSS OF APPETITE!

Yet, she has gone 3 1/2 days sounding like she has cotton stuck in her throat. And telling me her throat hurts alittle when she swallows and yawns.

I finally took her to Urgent Care to have a throat swab.

Cuz' ya' know, I am one of THOSE moms who does not take her children to the Dr. unless they are close to death.
I figured almost four days was long enough!

The nurse did a throat swab~~Oh Emma loved that!!!

The Dr. checked her throat and was shocked at how large her tonsils are!!

The strep test came back positive.

A shot of penicillin was given in her bum~~Again, she was thrilled!!

We are home now.

Her throat hurts alittle, but her bum feels better!!!!

what have i done to deserve this...

Seriously, have I done something so awful to deserve this punishment?

The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of the Christmas Caper

The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of the Fun House Mystery

The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of the Hotel Who-Done-It

The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of the Logical i Ranch

The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of the Mystery Cruise

The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of the SeaWorld Adventure

The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of the Shark Encounter

The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of Thorn Mansion

The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of the U.S. Space Camp Mission

The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of the United States Navy Adventure

The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of the Volcano Mystery

Could I have possibly been bad enough to deserve this?

Whatever it was I did, I promise to NEVER do it again!!!

Just please do not subject me to anymore of this cruel and unusual punishment!

EVER again!