40 Days of Lent

So, I'm talkin' to the kids last night about the fact that Lent is starting today. I explained what it is, and how church tradition is that you give up something sacrificially during this time to honor God and His sacrifice, and to prepare our hearts for the miracle of Easter.

The kids chose to give up something each of them dearly loves. I could not think of anything that would be appropriate to give up. I made the mistake of asking the kids if they could help me think of something...when I was sitting here on the computer. I am giving up blogs for the 40 days of Lent! They suggested I pick two to check regularly, but give up the rest.

I won't say which two blogs I'm going to keep up on, but they are fairly new to my repertoire because they are about eating vegetarian. Oh, I didn't mention I'm eating vegetarian? Yup.

I know I don't post often, but now I'm going to be thinking about it a lot...for 40 days, at least. :)

God bless you during this Lenten season. See you on Easter!

And another public service announcement...

The French have some cool words and phrases that we use in the English language; words like, deja vu, a la carte, and my daughter's favorite, ballet.

There are some French words that people just should not use if they don't know how to spell them or say them. Words like "voila." It comes from a French expression literally meaning “look there!” Of late, in the blogosphere, I have noticed a rash of "walah" and even worse "viola." *sigh*

Thank you, again, for listening.

Trust

I am in awe of my kids, again. Growing up, I just did not get along with my brother. I still consider our relationship...sensitive. So, when I see my kids trusting each other the way my son trusts his sister, it really warms my heart.

This is the second time he's let her cut his hair. This time, it was done under a little bit of duress; I said, "She cuts it, or I shave it all off!!!" It was getting a bit too messy for me.



I don't think I've ever seen a professional hair stylist at this angle while cutting hair. That would make me dizzy.



Or, get a crick in my neck.


The finished product. She straightened his hair after she cut it.

She told some friends, "My brother looks like a high school hottie!" How's that for a sister's compliment!?

There might have been once that I referenced my brother and "hot" in the same sentence, and I doubt it was about his attractiveness. It probably went more like, "He smells like hot poop."

Blessings.

I just had a thought...

If my bank goes under, I will lose less than $200.00. There are advantages to being broke. :)

Blessings.

I am very blessed that my kids get along pretty well. They have the occasional spat, but overall, they really do love each other.

A little while ago, I told The Prince to vacuum the family room. I then asked La Princess if she had emptied the vacuum cleaner after she used it earlier today. Of course, she said "no." I told her to clean it, but The Prince jumped in and said, "That's okay; I'll do it." Such a sweet boy.

Yesterday, after it had rained her quite a bit, the kids decided to go "splash in puddles." Yes, they are 12 and 14. And yes, I said "yes."

Um yeah, barefoot.


He is officially considered "accident prone" now. He got completely soaked in that puddle.


Check out this awesome leaf! The kids had to get pictures of it.

All these pictures were taken by the kids. They took my camera (gasp) when they went puddle hunting.

Fortunately, they decided to take a walk to Grandma's house, and she got to deal with the wet clothes. By the time they got home, they were all dry. :)

Blessings.

When will I start to believe?

I've mentioned before how my work as a notary signing agent (loan signings) has slowed to a crawl. Well, it's actually slower than that. The Gearhead has been working side jobs to try to keep our heads above water. Seeing the dark, dismal writing on the wall, I started looking for work the last few days. Not sure where to look, since I've been out of an office job for about six years, and I only want to work part-time. Well, truth be told, I don't want to work away from home at all.

So today, after I left a Fedex-Kinko's store where I inquired if they were hiring, I saw that I had a voice mail on my cell phone. Dang thing doesn't work in my house, and it registered a message that I had received about a half hour earlier while I was at home. It was a guy who owns a signing agency. He was referred to me by a notary friend, and said he would be getting quite a bit of work in the next few weeks, and needed good notaries. I called him back, and put my name in the loop for signings. So, for now, I'm waiting to see if the work comes through. I had a signing yesterday, I have a potential one for tomorrow, and if what this guy says is true, the next few weeks could be busy.

I have felt for quite some time that I was meant to be at home with my kids. For years, I denied that voice that kept saying "Just quit. It will be okay." I was too afraid to let go of the security of my job. Oh, the years spent being such a stress puppy. When I finally couldn't take working in an office anymore, He provided the notary job, and it was really good for about four years. It tapered off, and here I am, getting my heart's desire: To be a stay-at-home mom, 100%. Of course, it comes with the stress of not making ends meet, so it's not ideal. And just as I fully realize that our little family is fast sinking financially, the work picks up...or seems to.

So, when will I truly believe that God has it all in control; that He will neither leave me, nor forsake me? Really, it's quite ridiculous how many times He's come through for me, and yet I'm still a Doubting Thomas.

Blessings.

If you can't say anything nice...

It's Tuesday, and since I flaked on praying for the President-elect for the past few months, I can at least pray for him today, of all days.

Lord God, I pray for President Obama. I pray that his heart and mind are governed by You, by Your Word, by Your statutes, not the ones of this world. I ask for protection over him and his family during the coming four years. I also pray for protection of our nation...the one that has gradually turned its heart towards Your enemy. And yet Lord, You are merciful and holy, and I praise Your holy name. I pray for a revival such that has never been seen in our country; that Christians would rise up and draw the country back to You, and that many would be saved. In Your Precious Name I pray. Amen.

Okay, so I said something nice, and now I'm going, because I don't have anything else nice to say. :)

Blessings.

No mo snow

It was at least 85 degrees here today, and the snow on my blog just looks wrong, so off it goes. I sure hope the temps cool down before Spring, or this will be the longest Summer, ever!

Nothing much going on here. The Princess has a sinus infection, so she's been a bear for the past few days, but the antibiotics have kicked in, and she's feeling better. The Prince's face is quickly recovering from his snow accident. His neck still hurts, so off the chiropractor we go. The Gearhead went to bed at 6 p.m. (!!!!!!)

Um, yeah, so that's life at my house right now. *crickets chirping*

Blessings to all!

Public Service Announcement

There has been much talk in the blogosphere about dropping some excess tonnage in this New Year. Thus, if you recognize yourself, take heart. It's everywhere.

Please note:

You do not "loose" weight. You lose it. That is all.

Blessings.

Christmas, 8 days later

The Prince playing Christmas music.

The Gearhead showing off his gift from his parents.

The Prince trying out his Chucks.

The Princess and The Gearhead's mom.

The Princess opening stocking stuffers. Note the hair and make-up. She stayed up late on Christmas Eve doing the hair so that she'd look pretty for Christmas morning pictures. Who looks pretty in Christmas morning pictures?!

The Prince got a 12-pack of Coke from Grandma & Grandpa for his new mini-fridge that he got from us. They contributed 1/2 of the cost of his "big" gift, a camera, which he got at my folks house later in the day, but Grandma wanted him to have something to open at our house.

The Princess put on everything wearable that she got, when she opened it. Thus, she has two necklaces and two pairs of socks, and those geek glasses.

The Gearhead's mom opening her gift, a set of mugs. She wanted them over a year ago, but I failed to get them for her until this year. She looks happy, huh?

Our Christmas tree.

Me, baking. This was a few days before Christmas, but I didn't stay up late doing my hair and make-up, so I don't wish to publish a Christmas morning picture of me.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and God bless you!

A lesson in gravity

Night before last, my friend, Tracey, called to see if we'd like to head up to the snow in our local mountains. The Princes loves the snow, so we made plans to head up about noon on Monday.

We caravaned with some other friends. As we made our way up the mountain, it was clear that there were lots of other people with the same idea. My friend and I smelled something burning as we drove, but her car didn't indicate a problem, so we kept on going. The Prince kept saying "I have a bad feeling about this," when he saw how many cars were heading up.

These are the cars lined up along the road.

When we got up to the area where the kids could sled, I had second thoughts. It was really crowded. I figured since we'd driven for awhile to get there we could just play it by ear.

"T" and The Prince set off and quickly put a lot of distance between us and them. They were motivated to use those snow discs.

It was a beautiful day. And I wore the WRONG shoes. Cowboy boots, to be exact. I kept slipping and sliding, and I fell farther and farther behind. The boys headed straight for an area with a very steep slope.

This is the slope.

And this? The Prince on a backboard, waiting to be loaded into the ambulance. On his first try down that hill (which I would have told him NOT to go down had I been close enough to tell him), The Prince hit a bush and went airborne. I was thinking, "He's dead." I honestly thought that. I couldn't move very fast, but a very nice man grabbed my arm and got me over to where the Prince was lying on the ground, face down. Some other strangers were asking him questions about his legs and arms and neck, and my friends (who all wore much more practical shoes for the snow) were all around him. He said his neck hurt. And then I saw the blood on the snow. The left side of his face is badly scraped, and he cut his lower lip.

I finally decided to call 9-1-1 because I was worried about his neck, and didn't want to make him walk across the slippery snow to get back to the car and go to the hospital. I had to get to a snack booth because none of our cell phones had reception up in the mountains.

I will never forget how calm Cherie was in talking to me and The Prince (and tending his wounds), and how Tracey waited for hours in the parking lot of the hospital in case we were discharged quickly and she could get us home, or how Sandy and Kellee offered their snow boots so that he wouldn't slip on the snow (when were thinking we were going to walk him to the car), and how Josiah and Tyler helped carry the backboard with the paramedics. All the kids and parents were so concerned about The Prince, and they never even got to enjoy the snow yesterday, and no one complained at all.

The Prince is feeling very self-conscious about his face. I looked at him from the time of the accident until we were discharged, but he won't let me see his face now. He is wearing his father's welding mask around the house. I'm not kidding.

I feel blessed that he wasn't badly hurt (in the scheme of things), and that so many people, strangers and friends alike, were there to help.

And that burning smell on the way up? It was the brakes on Sandy's van. They were smoking on the way down the hill, and a wonderful stranger honked and yelled and got Sandy to pull over so he could tell her! They had to sit for awhile before they could head down again, but had to pull over a second time! I'm telling ya, the day was kinda cursed.

So, rather than a warm, fuzzy Christmas post, this is what you get. Sorry 'bout that. But, I will be back with Christmas pictures soon.

FYI, I got The Prince's permission to take his picture, and to post it here. I told him he'd want to show the pictures around someday...a long time from now.

Blessings to you!

Did y'all have a Merry Christmas?

We did. It was very nice. Pictures to come, but right now, I have to give a shout out to Lou. She is having a giveaway on her blog, one which I am entering. She is giving away $150 worth of scrapbooking supplies from Cosmo Cricket. I have to say, I cannot get enough of scrapbooking supplies. They are too much fun. In fact, I have probably collected enough stuff to last me awhile. Now, I've gotta get scrapbooking!

I'll be back soon with Christmas pics.

Blessings to you!

I'm done, are you?

I'm starting a trend: Every one of my post titles will be a question. What a gimmick! I'll become like Pioneer Woman, with readers coming out of my ears! I'll get to go on a talk show...to talk about my incredibly clever post titles. Then, I'll make up my own calendar to be sold for charity. Then, my husband will become a very hot cowboy. Yeah, yeah, I know, ain't gonna happen. I like my hubby just the way he is, and he did wear cowboy boots to our wedding.

Anyway, I just realized that apart from a very few stocking stuffers, I am done Christmas shopping. How cool is that? The kids started a tradition a few years ago of wrapping each other's stocking stuffers, so I don't have to do any of it! That leaves me with the parents, my niece and my brother to wrap for. I love it! I kept things simpler this year, so there isn't that much to do, but it's even better than I planned.

In other news, we went to the Aquarium of the Pacific today.

My friend "L" got attacked by the birds as soon as she walked into the Lorikeet Habitat. She has nectar in a little cup that they just lap up. And that little cup? Three blinkin' dollars!!! Just ridiculous, but it works great if you want to be in a scene from "The Birds."

Do I look nervous? I have a long history of being pooped on by birds (starting at the age of 2; I'm not kidding) so these guys had me a little intimidated...and hoping I wouldn't have to figure out how to get bird poop out of my hair later on.


Here's The Prince and his buddy, "T." They're harrassing the sea anemones and starfish.


And here's The Princess and Cousin "B" doing the same, though I think they were tickling rather than harrassing. It's a girl thing.

And this, my friends, is what I call "Success!" This darling otter was moving so fast most of the time that I couldn't get a good picture of him. The flash made an unattractive bright spot on the pictures, so I had to get in close to the very dirty, smudgy glass. FINALLY, he paused to look at us weird humans, and I got him!!! Isn't he the cutest?!

Once agan, I have written the most non-cohesive post I could muster. This time, no alcohol involved, so I have no idea why this is so.

Hope you have a blessed weekend!

Snow in Southern California

Well, the forecast says rain, but I'm seeing snow, are you?

Fragile!

Now, if you've ever seen the movie "A Christmas Story," you will not pronounce that title in the typical American way...think Italian..."Fra-geel-aa!"

One of the big differences in the upbringing of The Gearhead & I is that my family celebrates all the holidays (in a secular way, for the most part, but they rock the gifts and the dinners, etc.). When the Gearhead's fraternal grandmother died, so did all the family get-togethers. Seriously. This was all before my time, but I have never been to a non-funeral family gathering with The Gearhead's entire family. So, The Gearhead's view of holidays is quite, what I feel to be, watered down.

Case in point: Valentine's Day. Direct quote from The Gearhead: "It's a Hallmark holiday." Thus, no celebration (at least after we got married).
Case in point: My birthday. Until a few years ago, no gift. My family did all the planning and gift-giving. Otherwise? No birthday. That has improved, I have to say.
Case in point: Christmas. If I didn't get gifts for our kids, for his family, for my family, there wouldn't be any gift-giving. He'd just rather let it go on by, without a big fuss. After 17, almost 18, years of marriage, I'm kinda getting used to it. There are times when I get really upset about it, but for the most part, I deal.

So, the other night, The Gearhead decided to watch "A Christmas Story." We own it. I was sitting in this very spot before the computer, listening to him guffaw throughout. The man rarely watches a movie, and even more rarely will he watch the same movie more than once, so this was a big deal. When the movie was over, he said, "There, now I've had Christmas. If nothing else happens for Christmas, I'm happy." WHAAAA???!!!!! Have y'all seen "A Christmas Story?" I just can't imagine it completing anyone's Christmas dreams. But, that's just me, I guess. He did mention that he'd seen on the internet that you could actually buy one of those fishnet stocking lamps and have it delivered in a big wooden box, just like in the movie. Here's a link to the scene, if you haven't seen it before: "Fishnet Stocking Lamp."

The Gearhead's birthday was this weekend. He is really hard to buy for, so I usually just tell him to get something he wants. He does that anyway, all year long, so it's just kinda blah. I was at a music store, and they had these for sale:



Oh yeah, baby. I bought one. That's what he got for his birthday. It got quite the chuckle out of him.



















Happy Birthday, Biscuit!!!! :)

FYI: The cohesiveness of this post is questionable. Therefore, in the spirit of full disclosure, I have to be honest. I had a drink tonight when my dear ol' dad began telling my husband's friend one of his war stories - loudly - ad nauseum. So, if this post doesn't make complete sense, let's just chalk it up to that, 'k? Thanx.

Praying for Obama

Just realized it's Tuesday!

Lord, I pray for President-elect Obama. I ask, Lord, for Your influence in his life, for him to truly turn his heart towards You, to seek YOUR will for our country. Thank you for being all knowing, and all powerful. In Jesus' Name.

Take the Quiz here!

I knew it! I get the guy! :) Yippee!!! Oh yeah, I'm married with children already. Oh, well.

Praying for the President-elect

Daja had this idea straight from God, and I decided to join with her in praying for our President-elect.

So, I'll join Daja in praying that a strong, Godly black man comes along side him to guide him. My own prayer is that he reconsiders reinstating UNFPA. I don't understand why we should fund abortions in America, much less in China (for instance), where abortions are forced on mothers who have already had a child.

As Daja said, feel free to use the picture above, and join us in praying fervently for President-elect Obama.

Blessings.

I can't believe it's Monday already. The weekends don't have that much kick when you are a stay-at-home mom. That is my title now, since I work so infrequently that I can't really count it. I've wanted this since before my kids were born, but this is the first time it's happened, and not because we were planning it, per se. And thus, the financial problems. Oh, well.

I am trying to get the grocery bill down, and it sure is helps that gasoline is $2.39 today, versus over $4.00 a few weeks ago. I joined The Grocery Game recently. I had used it years ago, and cut our grocery bill to about $40 per week. I stopped because we had no more room for the stockpile!!! I use it differently now, but it is helping a little bit.

The Prince and I are heading to Disneyland on Wednesday, because it's The Happiest Place on Earth, and that's where I need to be! We bought the tickets a long time ago, and they are expiring soon. I get to go twice, this time with The Prince, then with The Princess in a couple weeks. We had to buy four tickets, but The Gearhead doesn't like Disneyland (sick puppy that he is).

Blessings to you!

The one where I lose my mind

Are ya sick to death of the word "Texas" yet? I AM! So, I'm going to think about it tomorrow, 'k?

Pictures, that's what I need!

The kids have been participating in a public speaking class with our homeschool co-op. They were not happy about it, but The Gearhead and I insisted. This is how the table looked at my friend's house, whose kids were partnered with mine for the second assignment, which was a debate.



"D" and The Princess were working for 8 hour stretches at times to learn all they could about the topic of the debate. They had to learn both sides, and be able to argue both. "D's" mom and I probably put as much work into it as the kids did. We felt quite overwhelmed at times, but figured everyone else felt the same way. We found out that they certainly did. The kids did great (especially these two).

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This is our piano. Well, truth be told, it's my in-laws piano. It was given to my husband's grandmother when she was a teenager, and the tuner told us it was about 90 years old. It hadn't been tuned in years, and since The Prince is taking piano lessons, we decided to get it over to our house and get it tuned. See that lovely pile that the tuner (Vick) is pointing to? That, my friends is a mouse's nest. There were droppings inside the piano all over the place. Additionally, there were little paper parts that were completely gone from mice having eaten them. So, our tuning project went from about $150, to a whopping $300. Luckily, the in-laws paid. I love in-laws.


Vick was at our house for about 3-1/2 hours. I had never seen all the inner workings of a piano, so it was quite fascinating. Did you know that when they do the actual tuning, it's so repetitive and soothing that people fall asleep? Both The Prince and my mother-in-law fell asleep while he was tuning! The Princess and I weren't here, or I would have gotten pictures.


The Prince was overjoyed that he finally got to play a real piano at home. The keyboard just wasn't the same, so it's been relegated to church for Sundays only, since he can't very well cart a piano to church.

Man, are you as bored as I am, now?

The Princess and I are headed out to see my niece sing at an opera recital.

Have a blessed weekend!