Yummy!

Don't you just love the smell of clean?

One of my favorite smells in the entire world is the smell of Lemon Murphy's Wood Oil soap.

A clean house = a happy mom!

The love of an 8 year old...

I have been making a more conscious effort to hug & kiss my boys lately at times other than bedtime or saying goodbye. It seems that in the flurry of activities, sometimes a simple act like a hug and kiss get lost. Franklin was particularly resistant to the insistent kiss of his mother at first, but now he allows me without complaint (though he does try to blend in with the wall if I attempt it in front of anyone). Today, he reciprocated my effort by bringing me a gift that he purchased at his school's reward booth. I know that I am loved in return.

I love American Gladiator!

I forgot to mention my love for the TV show "American Gladiator" as one of my 7 weird things. I found this cartoon on a hilarious blog called "Shoebox Blog" - it's a blog full of stuff that didn't make it onto Shoebox greeting cards. The blog has a lot of really funny stuff - most of which I would not re-post.

Good news x 2

1. I am on the upswing of this illness. I visited the doctor AGAIN (3rd trip in 2 weeks) and she informed me that it is simply a virus or combination of viruses. I told her that I did not like her very much! After two rounds of antibiotics, an inhaler, a cortizone shot and three trips to the doctor - I wanted a miracle, not a virus. She prescribed a new 10 day course of steroids, the rest of antibiotic round 2, continued use of the inhaler and an over the counter cough syrup while I await the final moments of this nasty, nasty virus. As of this morning, I either feel a little better or I'm hyped up on steriods - I'm not sure, but I'm certainly in a better mood about it either way! ha, ha I'm hoping & praying for the certain & timely death of this wretched virus.

2. Our fence will be replaced soon! I'll have to go outside and take pictures of our sadly dilapidated fence before the nice fence guy hauls it off to the dump. It makes me happy that I will soon have a nice, new pretty fence that actually encloses the yard again. Amazing! Once the fence is repaired, we're on a mission to find the perfect puppy. :o)

(I just thought of a 3rd happy thing - the sun is shining!!!!! Praise God for sunshine that greaty improves my mood as well. I don't know if you could tell that I was in a bad mood or not.... *wink*)

I think I like steroids...

still sick

i have been sick since monday, february 4th (not that i'm keeping track). i have gotten better, then worse, then better, then worse. i'm on my 2nd round of antibiotics and even got a shot of cortizone (which did not seem to help). finally on monday, they did a chest x-ray and found bronchitis with possible pneumonia. i don't have the flu. i don't have a stomach bug. i just feel like an elephant has been sitting on my chest for the past 2 weeks, with a cold that comes and goes. i'm exhausted and i'm frustrated and i'm sick of being sick. and i keep going to work and taking care of my family and doing all of the things that i probably shouldn't do. how do you take the time to simply lay in bed until you feel better? it's impossible.

now you know how i really feel... ha, ha hey - sometimes life isn't pretty.

Maybe we're not so weird.

After perusing various 7 Weird Things About Me posts, I've come to realize that maybe we're not so weird. I could relate to at least one weird thing (in some cases, nearly all) on each person's list. Each of us thinks that we are weird in our own little way, but maybe we just haven't met enough people that are like us.

uh oh... I just realized in the middle of this post that maybe it's not that WE are not so weird, but that I am the WEIRDEST of all... strange...

Weird or not weird - I'm just grateful that God made us different. Life would be boring if we were all white conversation hearts.

As they say on Veggie Tales:

"God made you special and he loves you very much!"

May your Valentine's Day be filled with a lot of love and a big sugar rush!

I've been Tagged!

My friend Val of Purple Valley tagged me with a "7 Weird Things About Me" meme. So... here goes:

1. I have two pet turtles. They are named Shack & Benny - after the Veggie Tales video entitled "Rack, Shack & Benny". No, we never had a Rack - only Shack & Benny. (Hey, a 5 year old named them, okay?!?) In March, we will celebrate having them in our family for 3 years.2. I love ice cream and will eat it no matter what the weather outside is like. I'm pretty sure that ice cream is in my blood. My parents both grew up in the "Ice Cream Capital of the World" and nearly all of my relatives have worked for Well's Dairy - maker of Blue Bunny ice cream.

3. I like to play computer & video games (almost) as much as my husband and sons. I should make commission from selling the Wii to my family & friends.

4. I LOVE to dress up in costumes - Halloween (as seen below), festivals, standing on the street corner advertising an event or business (what did you think I was going to say?!?!?) - it doesn't matter. I think it is hilarious fun!

5. I had a massive tumor removed from my ovary in 2007. (I'm fine now, no worries!)

6. I love, absolutely love hip-hop music/dance and movies about it, like "Save the Last Dance". If I had an ounce of talent, I would love to learn all of the fun, funky hip-hop dance moves and be a back up dancer for some musician.

[I'm pretty sure there's some video evidence of my lack of talent somewhere, but I'm hoping it won't surface in a public arena anytime soon.]

7. If given the choice between steak and grilled cheese, I would pick grilled cheese every time. I'm a simple girl, really. If the food involves bread or cheese, it's going to win out over meat or veggies. That's just who I am.

I would like to tag: Amanda, Randi, Amy, and Jenny.

Greetings from the couch...

(well, not really. i had to walk upstairs to get to the computer, but i've spent most of the last 36 hours on the couch where i've spent a lot of that time either sleeping or contemplating deep thoughts of Iran and energetic kids.)

One of my favorite things in the whole wide world is hearing the sound of my Truman giggling. He's always had a really deep voice, except when he's trying hard to convince you of some injustice and his voice raises 2 octaves. His giggles melt my heart every time. I'm always amazed at the amount of energy and excitement that God packed into his 4 year old little body. The littlest things like going outside to ride a bicycle give him great pleasure. That pleasure is expressed by jumps of joy and shouts of excitement. Oh, how I miss the days when a simple pleasure made me leap to my feet. :o) Yesterday, I asked Truman if I could take some photos of him. Normally, he says no. Yesterday, he said: yes - one. I said: What if it doesn't turn out well, could I take another one? He said: okay, two. Then, he said: maybe if it doesn't turn out you could take four or five, Mom - and he began posing.

Here are the best three of our spontaneous photo shoot:

Trying not to smile...

His silly face...

Truman Smile...

Iran

We had a guest speaker at church tonight talking about Iran. It was amazing to hear stories of the underground church and how God is moving in mighty ways. They did not have the Bible in their native language until recently. I'm always in awe of the struggles that Christians in other countries have to go through just to live out their beliefs. Every day, I take for granted that I can sing praises out loud, share my faith others, read my Bible and meet with other Christians in public places. I'm humbled by how spoiled I am and that I'm oblivious most of the time. Wow! This evening was meaningful. I don't want to forget how blessed I am to live in America and have the freedoms that I experience every day. Hearing a speaker like this evening makes me want to go out onto the mission field & experience life in a location where Christ is not taken for granted. A place where the things that we value here in suburbia become insignificant in light of things that are truly important - like sharing the love of Jesus with others.

I'm nearly speechless...

Fun Pics from last weekend

The whole group...

My friend & I had so much fun taking silly pictures while we were on our trip last weekend. (We bought sweatshirts from the town where we were staying, so I had to block it out in the pics.) Here's a sampling...

Sick

Now I am sick. I've been in denial since Monday, but something has settled into my chest and it's not fun. I feel like an elephant is sitting on my chest. Strangely, I have no runny nose and my throat doesn't hurt. Nothing hurts except my chest and esophagus - and only when I cough. I'm not coughing often, but when I do, a severe pain in my chest takes several minutes to dissipate. I think I'll go visit a doctor tomorrow... I have a feeling the over-the-counter stuff won't cure this. :(

Wow! What a weekend!

I'm back from the trip to the state capitol and I'm exhausted! I thought it was going to be an easy going trip... you know, just hanging around - watching the students compete and helping out where needed - no big deal. Well, boy was I wrong! I ended up on night duty - 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. - helping out in the "office" and patrolling for curfew violators. It was a lot of fun, but my sleep schedule is so whacked out that it will take me a week to get back on track. I got an average of 4 hours of sleep per night and most of that sleep was between 7 am and noon. I arrived home to a sick child. Franklin had gotten sick (throwing up/fever sick) while I was gone and ended up missing school both Friday and yesterday. Truman has an ear infection also. Then, to top it all off - between the lack of sleep & stress, I came home with a migraine and ended up praying to the porcelain god myself a few times. Not cool! So, I arrived home from my trip on Sunday, returned to work on Monday and hosted a staff retreat for my new job all day today. Whew! Today was the 15th day of work IN A ROW and I still have 3 more before I get a full day off. When will this job transition end?!?!?

On a more pleasant note, I got some pretty fun pictures this past weekend (I'll try to post them soon) and I really like my new job. :o) Life is good... even when it's crazy & chaotic and I'm longing for a quiet day at home... life is good.

And... I got a really cool book on sale this weekend at Barnes & Noble that I've been wanting to read since 1999 - "The Millionaire Next Door". I've just begun and it's not going to be as entertaining of a read as the Dave Ramsey book, but it should be interesting.