Christmas Family

 

Father Son Bonding

 

When it comes to Hair....

Life definitely is NOT Fair!

 

50 friends most likely to flip

Today I was listening to KERA, the local public radio station and the subject was ending homelessness in LA and something called Project50. They said that they had developed a list of questions that they went out on the streets with in search of the 50 most vunerable homeless people, the fifty most likely to die on the streets in the following year, and gave them housing. My mind being the completely wacked and warped thing that it is I began thinking of the questions they were asking and translated them to determining the fifty most ready to crack friends I have. Here are some of the questions they asked the homeless people and what I could ask those around me.
Homeless Questions Homemaker Questions:
1. How long have you been on the streets? How long have you been a stay at home mom?
2. When was the last time you injected drugs? When was the last time you took your kids ADHD medication or drank more than one pot of coffee in a day? What is your average bedtime and when do you get up in the morning?
3. Do you have any diseases? How many times have your kids puked in the past 24 hours? How many times were on you? Do your kids automatically assume the held up position when they sneeze?
4. Have you been assulted? When was the last time you were able to physically soak in your tub instead of use it to hold dirty laundry? How many loads behind are you? How many days away from sending your kids naked to school?
AND THE FINAL QUESTION When was the last time someone looked at you and said it must be so nice to be able to just stay at home and relax!?!?!?!

The one that made it on the card

 

Emma

 

JuJu Again

 

Emma Smiling Pretty

 

JuJu

 

Gabe

 

I'm not sure what the funny mark is on the picture.

Julia at Christmas

 

Gabe at Christmas

 

Emma at Christmas

 

I got paid!

I have a rule, well not really since I am totally NOT a rule follower, so let me say I have a game I play in my head (hum Counting Flowers on the Wall by the Statler Brothers while you read this) that any money I find in the washer after doing laundry is mine! Today I found a penny. I've got two words for you ...SLAVE LABOR!!

It's been a month

It's been one month since I posted last and I still don't have anything to say. I've been getting some HUGE doses of humility as one of my precious children has been getting into trouble at school on a more regular basis than is healthy for him/her. Dealing with said humility and trips to the principal's (NOT MY PAL) office has made me not quite so chatty. So here's hoping for better behaved kids (HA, fat chance) and more frequent posts on the ol blog. But listen to Toby Mac is changin my mood and the next time I have to go see the lovely principal I think I'll go in singin...
Feelin So Fly

MEMED

I've been memed by my friend at La Vida Dulce who was memed by our friend at Bye Bye Buy so here goes.

Jobs I've Had
1. Bank Teller
2. Resident Advisor (college dorm)
3. Administrative Assistant at the Kryptonite Corporation (no I don't hate Superman)
4. Tech at an Eye Doctor's office (yes I got to administer the puff of air test)

Places I've lived
1. Fredericksburg, Virginia
2. Celle Germany
3. Boston, Massachusetts
4. Southfield, Michigan (for only 3 months)

Food I love
1. Farfalla con pollo al sugo bianco or any other great Italian food, especially from La Familia Georgios in the North End of Boston!!!
2. Sopa de chili poblano from Victorias in Neuovo Laredo Mexico
3. Enchiladas Verdes again from Victorias or from My mother-in-law
4. Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce - Papadauxes (sp?)

Websites I visit
1. www.realsimple.com - I love how they make life seem so simple (what the heck are the talking about? LIFE IS NOT SIMPLE - but theirs looks so nice, but I think I must need to go shopping because I only have 2 of the 10 things every kitchen needs, but wait I thought the key to the simple life was less stuff, humm they must mean other stuff)
2. www.abebooks.com - This is the enabler of my addiction BOOKS BOOKS CHEAP BOOKS
3. www.biblegateway.com - for my studies
4. http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/landing.jsp?go=DefaultRecipe&recipe_id=1190051818091 or www.cookinglight.com

Places I'd rather be
1. Riverbend Retreat Center with a good book.
2. Mountains in Arkansas in a cabin with a good book.
3. Rocky Mountains in a cabin with a good book.
4. Appalachian Mountains in a cabin with a good book.
5. And Italy in a villa with Farfalla con pollo al sugo bianco, a good merlot, and a good book (oh and maybe Andrea Bocolli to sing to me :))

Movies I love
1. Life is Beautiful and The Tiger in the Snow (both by Roberto Benigni
2. The whole extended edition of the Lord of the Rings Triology with ALL the extra features (especially the hidden easter egg with Jack Black and Sarah Michelle Geller which is by the way NOT kid appropriate)
3. Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Emma (all from Jane Austin books)
4. Oh Brother Where Art Thou (I LOVE George Clooney in this movie)

And since I don't watch TV I'll put my favorite CD's
1. Skip, Hop and Wobble with Jerry Douglas
2. Romanza with Andrea Bocelli click here to watch him on Youtube
3. Storm by Fernando Ortega
4. Shine Remix by Newsboys

JuJu gets a haircut

 

Today we had about 4 or 5 inches cut of Julia's hair. She now has a swingin bob!

Birthday Mani and Pedi

 

Emma and her friend Haley went to Sweet and Sassy for a Manicure and Pedicure for Emma's Bday!

Emma goes to Super Salad for her 8th Bday

 

Emma chose to go to Super Salad for her 8th birthday. Julia pretended to be a walrus the whole time.

Beauty and the Beast

 

We got to see Beauty and the Beast along with 6,000 other people at CCBC this weekend. SOOOOOOOOOOOO Good SOOOOOOOOOO Much fun!!!!

Dress Up is Fun

 

Emma and her buddy Albany playing dress up

blog confessions

Ok I admit it! I'm a sucker for vampires! I don't mean a blood sucker, I mean ever since I read a Dracula comic that belonged to my somewhat older cousins and stayed up the whole night watching the tree branches outside my Grandma's window, I've LOVED vampire stories.

Bram Stoker's Dracula scared the pants off of me! But it is the kind of scary I can deal with because its only scary for me within the context of the book. I have complete faith that I will never turn a corner and meet up with the living dead. Nevertheless, I could only read that book during the day in my parents front livingroom which was the brightest sunniest room in the house and when it still got to be too much I'd go find a room where my sibs were doing something else so I'd have someone else in the room with me. It's kind of funny because I'm not really a scary movie kind of person. I've never seen Silence of the Lambs, or any of the Jason Movies. I think the scariest movie I ever saw was called Seven and I walked out of the theater very mad and physically sick, but for me Vampires are different. They're not real and I enjoy the fantasy world vampire writers invent.

Besides Gary Oldman as Dracula in Bram Stoker's movie I also love Gerard Butler (who made a great Dracula but I'm glad didn't get to play Aragorn in Lord of the Rings) and Jonny Lee Miller who could kill Gerard Butler's Dracula in Dracula 2000 (which in an interesting twist had Dracula be Judas Iscariot), but apparently that wasn't enough to save his marriage to Angelina Jolie who moved on to Brad Pitt who played the vampire Louis in Interview with a Vampire. Yes and I admit I timed my kids naps so I could watch reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel (I do have some sense that this subject isn't for everyone and every age).

All this talk of vampires has been brought on because I've picked up a new book series that I really like, well lets say I like the first book of the trilogy and I'm dying to find the second one. The series is by Stephanie Meyer and the first books is called Twilight. I found it at half price books and read it in one night. I just found the third one called Eclipse at Costco and it is killing to let it sit there while I wait to find book two!

I was looking for some of the names of the movies above and I found a list of vampire movies and was surprised to see the first one came out in 1909! I bet that would be funny to watch today. I remember seeing the older German black and white Nosferatu that came out in 1922 it was pretty comical!

Well have a good week and if this post freaks you out you can go buy some garlic, or send me an email and I'll give you the secret location for the holy buckets of water

Happy birthday

Happy Birthday Marie! This is for you!!!

Riverbend Retreat Center Revives the Soul

 

 

 

 

This weekend I got to go to a 24 hour prayer overnight at Riverbend Retreat Center. I try to go here twice a year. In the past 8 years I think I've been 10 times so it doesn't always work out. This time I made the effort to get up early enough to watch the sunrise over the bluff that over looks the river. It was so peaceful. I came home calm and ready to wait and see what God has in store for me this year.

Gal Pals

On that same first day of school some of my gal pals and I got together for a celebration coffee...Here are some of the sisters of my heart

Lost and Found!

I had taken pictures of my kids on their first day of school this year and thought they got deleted before I uploaded them to my computer, BUT here they are!!!!

Slow to answering Tag

I was tagged on August 31 on La Vida Dulce with the following MEME.

What are you reading right now?
Nothing…I know it’s rare but I’ve been caught in between books.

Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?
I have 5 floor to ceiling bookshelves, my goal is to read what I’ve got…okay to be honest I still have an extensive list I carry around that when ½ price books beckons I would be there in a heart beat adding to my unread collection

What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
None

What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
It would either be a statistics or cost accounting text book

What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
Sorry I can't do just one....Freckles by Gene Stratton Porter, The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien, Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller and Prayer by Philip Yancey

Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they?
Nope I don’t like to borrow I want to OWN.

Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all?
Yup The Silmarillion is often too much of non Tolkien Fans to wade through.

Do you read books while you do other things?
No just when I should be doing other things.

When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
No but I got in trouble a lot for reading too much.

What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?
The last Harry Potter book.

Pickin up speed but not over the hill

I noticed today that as I get older my breakfast is often consistening more and more of caffine and fiber...both to get me going! HA oops I mean to keep me healthy...coffee=sanity; fiber=healthy heart! And according to South Beach I don't take in near enough fiber...so I'm starting to bulk up, on fiber that is. Within a couple of weeks I bet I turn into a stalk of celery. To make this post a little less TMI...I'll post one of the new recipes that I am making and freezing for quick morning healthier breakfasts for the kids. I make them in my belgium waffle iron and then heat them up in the toaster...hummm good. Here's to natural fiber intake!

Multi-Grain Waffles
Makes 8 servings, 2 waffles each
Ingredients
2 cups buttermilk
½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2/3 cup whole-wheat flour
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup toasted wheat germ or cornmeal
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
¼ cup packed brown sugar (or substitute with the 1/2 and 1/2 brown sugar Splenda mix you can buy in the store)
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
1. Mix buttermilk and oats in a medium bowl; let stand for 15 minutes.
2. Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, wheat germ (or cornmeal), baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.
3. Stir eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla into the oat mixture. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients; mix with a rubber spatula just until moistened.
4. Coat a waffle iron with cooking spray and preheat. Spoon in enough batter to cover three-fourths of the surface (about 2/3 cup for an 8-by-8-inch waffle iron). Cook until waffles are crisp and golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter.
Tips
Wrap any leftovers individually in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 1 month. Reheat in a toaster or toaster oven.
Nutrition Information
Per serving: 188 calories; 4 g fat (1 g sat, 2 g mono); 55 mg cholesterol; 30 g carbohydrate; 8 g protein; 3 g fiber; 328 mg sodium.

Nutrition bonus: 144 mg calcium (14% dv).

2 Carbohydrate Servings

SOO MAD!

I'm so mad I'm almost not going to write this just in protest! Today was the first day of school and I took the cutest pictures of the kids. Then of course it being the first day a bunch of my friends got together for coffee and had a whooo hooo party (as opposed to the boo hoo party the Kindergarten Mother's were having). I took great pictures of all my girls totally intending on posting them here...And what did I do? I deleted them accidently while trying to download them onto my computer. As an old seminary professor who used to call the publishing company I worked for and get mad when he got the answering machine would say...

A POX ON THIS FOUL MACHINE!

Butt Juice

We have a new product at our house that has been renamed by our three year old and we will all never be the same. In an attempt to help my kids eat healthier I bought some Peach Guava juice that has the name brand Naked. My older two kept asking for Naked juice. Early in the morning a couple of days ago a not very awake JuJu drifts into the kitchen and asks if she can have "Butt Juice" in her sippy cup. From the other room the much older and wiser Emma shouts, "ITS NOT BUTT JUICE IT IS NAKED JUICE". I was laughing too hard to correct her and say that actually it is just peach and guava juice, hey the pecking order has to be maintained around here or there would be chaos!

Whimsical

I've decided what my decorating style is....Whimsical. Which I guess really means I have no style at all. Webster's online dictionary defines whimsical as

1: full of, actuated by, or exhibiting whims
2 a: resulting from or characterized by whim or caprice; especially : lightly fanciful
b: subject to erratic behavior or unpredictable change

2b is definitely my way of decorating. I haven't gotten to rearranging my furniture so much as an old aquaintance whoes husband said he couldn't go lay down on his bed in the dark for fear it had been moved, but other than my bookcases everything is up for unpredictable change!

PBS is calling

I'm waiting for PBS to call because I'm planning to live for the next year very counter culture.

Remember the series where the people lived like they were on a homestead during frontier days--counter culture?

I hear PBS is coming out with a new series about a family with 17 kids and counting--counter culture.

Well I'm not planning on having two dozen more kids or moving to a farm with no running water, but I'm going to do something just as crazy! I'm not going to volunteer for anything for the next 18 months. I have to say though, school starts soon, church small groups are gearing up again and I've already caught myself humming the Queen/Bowie song, "Under Pressure".

For only the second time in my adult life, that I can remember, we are consistantly having dinner on the table, laundry done (okay there is still the BIG basket of socks to be matched), and a we're following a budget. WHY? Cause I have time....I'm not doing anything else! No campaigns, no outside job to bring a little spending cash, no committees and for a couple of weeks now I've realized that the elephant isn't standing on my chest anymore!

So what's the problem? I am the female impersonation of Charlie Brown! WISHY WASHY!! Someone asks if I'll do something I can't say no, but this year is going to be different! I don't care if people (or is it just the voices in my head) say that I'm a terrible mom because I'm not roommom; a terrible witness because I'm not leading a small group; and underachiever cause I'm not bringing home extra bacon. This year I'm working on my qualifications to become a PB, Professional Buffer. That means in the afternoon after school I'll be avaliable to help MY kids with homework, when OUR home fix up projects are needing extra time I'll be waiting to pick up the paint brush, when JuJu needs a mommy horsey for her baby horsey, I'll be avaliable for apples and suger lumps. This year I have all the excuses in the book: 1. Ray is going back to school in addition to his full time job so somethings he normally would pick the slack up on I'm going to have to do, 2. this is Julia's last year before preschool and 3. Cause my mommy says so (okay she hasn't but I know she would!)

We'll have to see how long I can hold out. I may have to keep a list of things on the side of my blog that I've said no to but if I start not wearing deoderant or quit shaving my legs I'll leave it to my dear friends to rescue me from the draw of my own PBS series.

All Time Coffee Low - May Need Intervention

Today I am OUT of coffee...well that is not completely true there are grounds from yesterdays coffee still in the pot. I don't remember how many cups I made yesterday but I'm going to add enough water for the coffee I want today and have a cup...Wow this is really sounding like a serious addiction problem! I guess the only thing that makes me feel like I haven't completely hit bottom is that I am not using a papertowl for a coffee filter...yet. Oh and today is grocery shopping day. :)

Summer Hair

 

G here goes to a school that requires short haircuts so once we are within a month of the last day of school he's had his last haircut and he doesn't get another one until the day before school starts. We still have about 3 weeks before school starts but his hair is already way longer than it was last year at the end of summer.

My Bathing Beauties

 

 

 

 

The girls in there, as Julia would say, BABENSUITS.