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!