Food Prayers....

As you may already know, we are doing a weekly family bible study. See Michael's post, if you want to know more. However, the first week the daily lessons went over spending time alone with God, how to and why. On of the days focused on prayer and had us break down The Lord's Prayer.

So, if I put together what I studied last week and then what Melissa studied this week...I should be praying for jelly sandwiches, daily. Sounds perfectly logical.....

Give us this day our daily bread and make the 9 fruit of the Holy Spirit your daily personal prayer petition (Galatians 5:22-23)

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

I'm Superior, at least today.....

71 As a 1930s wife, I am Superior Take the test!

I am not convinced that I'm superior. However, it was fun to take. Thanks Emily for adding to your blog.

A game of tag....

First, let me start off by saying, I really have never enjoyed a game of tag. Really, what is the point? You are either running from someone or to someone. Again, what is the point? My dislike may be a direct result of my distaste of a. being hot and b. sweating. I wasn't going to take Melissa's challenge of being tagged, but after reading Melissa's and Emily's posts, I just had to join the fun. I was laughing out loud with Emily's.....your's was funny too, Melissa.

Okay, here is the mission, if you choose to accept.
First you post the rules:
1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks you possess.
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

Here are a few...um....real things about me.
1. I CANNOT stand mouth noises, especially while sitting at the table. (i.e. the sound of someone chewing with their mouth open) I was at a friend's house not too long ago and her son was eating and I had to actually fight the voices in my head that were screaming, "STOP chewing with your mouth open, you're grossing me out!"
2. I like to sit with my heels up and my toes curled under, with the weight resting on my curled toes. Is that enough description, or do I need to post a photo?
3. Speaking of feet, my feet are usually smelly. That is why I love YellowBox flip flops and Crocs, they can be thrown in the washer!
4. I pluck my eyebrows and chin hairs, yes I said chin hairs, everyday. I like it. I've never had my eyebrows waxed and don't think I will.....I enjoy plucking.
5. I'm a copy cat. Rarely do I come up with ideas of my own. I just improve on other's.
6. This is not a quirk that is ongoing, but....I gave myself a pedicure at Blizzard Beach. Well, not a full pedicure. In the lazy river, while my feet were dangling, I rotated my heels along the rough bottom. As I'm typing it, it sounds kind of gross, doesn't it. My heels are completely smooth now. I guess I left my DNA at Disney.

I am tagging some of you......here goes.....
Mom
Christy
Laura
Michael
Kimberly
Johnna

Catch up

I feel the need to catch you up with what I/we have been up to lately. Then I begin to think, do you really care? I've decided that you do, otherwise why would you be reading this, right?

The summer is almost over, the kids go back to school on Monday and I'm sad. I've convinced myself I'm sad because I won't have a child in elementary school anymore - Jacob will be in the 6th grade and is going to middle school. I don't know if that is why I'm a little sad or not, I haven't had time to be introspective. Maybe that is why I'm sad, I haven't had time. It truly seems like yesterday I was at home with 2 toddlers. While pregnant, I was told to enjoy every minute; I didn't and now I wish I had. However, it's not too late to enjoy every minute.

Last week I did just that, I enjoyed every minute. We took a quick trip to Orlando. I didn't plan every minute of every day, like I normally do. The resort we stayed at had a 75,000 sq. ft. pool area, complete with slides. My neighbor, and friend, mentioned that she would like to take her family to Orlando's waterparks. I immediately loved the idea and after a little research found that Disney has a great deal for Florida residents - year pass, after 2pm for $60/person (the regular price is $40/day). With Michael's dad living so close to Orlando, I thought that this was a good idea. We were able to sleep in, lounge at the resort pool and then head over to Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. I must admit, I am not a fan of water slides, but knew the kids and Michael would love it. They were perfectly happy to let me lounge along the lazy river - so it was perfect. I didn't even take any photographs, instead of capturing memories we made memories. One day it rained and we watched movies and played games. Michael's sister, Christy, popped over for a day and we were able to stop and see Michael's dad, brothers and sister, too.

A few weeks ago, Michael, with the help of our neighbor and friend, Gregg, finished Hannah and Jacob's closets. They built shelving for the center of their closets, with poles on either side. Hannah's desk in in the middle of her closet and we slid Jacob's dresser in the center of his. All that is left is moulding and the closets will be complete. I'll have to post photos when they are complete and loaded. Hannah is especially thrilled; she has been without a closet to hang her clothes since we moved in. Actually, I think that Jacob is equally thrilled; he doesn't have to have his sister's clothes in his closet anymore.

lazy summer afternoon

Do you ever have a day where you wake up ready to get a lot accomplished only to find yourself still in your jamas at 2:30p? I did do a few things...maybe I should list them to make myself feel better......

1. brushed my teeth


2. dead-headed my sad looking hydrangeas


3. cut up a watermelon


4. made lunch


5. checked the blogs

Okay, even after typing it, I still don't feel better. Maybe I'll go take a nap and then I'll feel better! These two look like they aren't too concerned that they haven't accomplished much today.

Addiction

Are you addicted to anything? Admittedly, I'm addicted to lots of things, but lately I addicted to ideas. I surf the blogs and the web for ideas, while in the check-out line, I look at magazines for ideas, at the bookstore I look at books and more magazines for ideas. I have look for storage and organizational ideas, decorating ideas, craft ideas, ideas for new meals, party ideas, weight loss ideas, fashion ideas....do you get the idea?

I have folders on my desktop full of ideas. I have paper folders on my desk full of ideas. I have stacks of magazines that I'm saving because ideas are in them.

I - imagining
D - decorating
E - everything
A - around

If you have time and want to waste some time.....check out some of the ideas I am saving.

Rainbow Jello
Illustrated Placemats
To Do Jar
Printed Napkins
Wordle
Fabric Camera Strap
Platter Chalkboards
Rubber Stamps from Erasers
Shoulder Bag
Watercolor in Altoid Box
Bagsket
Car Organizer
Photo Idea

That is probably enough for now......

Do you have any addictions?

Did the curosity kill the cat?

Or are you still interested?

No, Ty and his crew will not be making an appearance at my house, at least not that I know of....

Here's my story of last Wednesday!

We woke up @ 5am to catch a 7:30am flight. After a layover in Atlanta, including a small 2nd degree burn on Jacob’s foot, from a lady spilling hot coffee on him, we safely arrived in Cincinnati. We went straight to Jason’s Aunt Elaine’s to have lunch, then to Mame’s to drop our belongings off and quickly change. We then were off to West Chester, to see the Extreme Makeover home. We decided to pop over on Wednesday, instead of “Move That Bus” Thursday, to avoid the 2,000+ people and the 90º heat. We were told where to park (thanks Aunt Holly). Boy, Extreme Makeover runs a smooth operation. It is no wonder they can get a home built in a week. We arrived to find ROTC guys and gals directing traffic. Before boarding the bus, we were told to grab some ice cold bottles of water. After a short ride, we exited the bus and were greeted by a woman handing out bags with info about the family and the builder. Security was tight, no walk-ins were allowed. Even the neighborhood residents had to show ID just to get into the neighborhood.

We stood across the street, in the front yard of a neighbor, right up against the barricade and saw Michael in the garage, digging through boxes to find what we think were picture frames.

There were women there that came every day and had great stories to share. It was hot, but we had our water and were enjoying listening to the stories when we noticed the garage door lower. Vehicles started to move out of the driveway and the assistant director came from the back yard with a film crew. We looked down the street just as the crowd started to cheer, clap and wave. Ed was in the back of a truck with what looked like a pergola. The truck stopped, he put his cap on and they started filming. He waved and winked to the crowd before unloading the pergola.

He went around to the back and was not seen again. With hopes to see Ty, we decided to stick it out. We were talking to a friendly woman and then looked as a Gold Star employee with a Coney case was handing out free Coney dogs…Yummy. In the end we didn’t see Ty, but did she the film crew film the walk up to the front door.

The assistant director came out and was talking to some of the spectators and told them that he sent everyone home, except Ed. That was our cue to leave, since we already saw Ed. Hannah really wanted to go back for the reveal, but that would have required us to be across town at 5:30am the following day and stand in the heat for 6+ hours for a chance to see Ty and the reveal. We decided against it.

Our main reason for going up north was to see family. We were able to see Aunt Elaine, Aunt Julie, Alex, Uncle Mark, Grandpa Gene, Aunt Holly and Uncle Mick. We even were able to squeeze an extra day in, because flights were oversold on Saturday.

We had a great time. I’m so glad I was able to crash the annual trip to Cincinnati this year….Jacob did tell me that I wasn’t going next year, I guess I rained on his parade!

A little tease.....

Independence Day

A friend at work is having a grilled pizza party today. It sounded like fun, so I decided to try it also. Michael isn't fond of things that are out of the ordinary, so he is a little hesitant and wants to have a back-up plan. I'll let you know how it turns out.....

Grilled Pizza Update:

Turned out GREAT!!!!! I found a fast, easy and yummy pizza dough recipe and an equally easy and yummy pizza sauce recipe for our grilled pizzas. We brushed the dough with olive oil so that it would not stick to the grill. Michael grilled the pizzas on one side for about 3 minutes and then we loaded them with toppings and then put them back on the grill for another 3 minutes. We were only able to grill 2 pizzas at a time, so not everyone ate at the same time, but it was a blast.

After dinner, we hopped in the van and quickly drove to a local church to watch fireworks. We parked, laid our blankets out and sat down in enough time to hear the national anthem and watch the fireworks show. We then came back home for our own fireworks show! Michael had a stockpile of fireworks.

It was a great Independence Day, other than my mom getting hit with a frisbee....

Honey Dos and An Addition

My honey has done a few things recently.

A while ago, we purchased a new under the cabinet microwave. With much pulling and prodding, Michael was able to remove the old microwave and install the new one. Now, all my kitchen appliances match.

Yesterday, Michael installed under the counter lighting in the kitchen. We purchased the lights a few months ago and Michael decided to attempt the task yesterday. He was successful. I really did not want to install under counter lighting that plugged into the wall, where the plugs could be seen. He drilled and screwed and stapled....and now we have under counter lighting with no cords showing!

Also, he hung a knife rack for me. I purchased the knife rack along with the lighting but when I got home I wasn't sure if I was going to like the knifes hanging on the wall. So, I hung it on the dryer in the garage and there it stayed until yesterday. Eric hung Melissa's right away and I decided I liked the way it looked in her kitchen, minus the can opener (laughing out loud right now, Melissa), so I had Michael hang mine. My kitchen looks bigger with the elimination of the knife block and with the new lighting!

Thank you Michael for checking things off your Honey Do List. Don't worry, I'll find other things to add!

Also, the kids convinced us to bring home one of the Botley kittens. We brought home Betsie. She is a very sweet kitty and even Tigger agrees. He wasn't too sure of her the first few days, but now not only tolerates her but plays with her, too. The other day Hannah caught Tigger grooming her - what a sweet big brother.

It was an adventure bringing her home, however. When we brought Tigger home, we just let him have the run of the van. He basically just sat with the kids in the back. We decided that it worked for Tigger, then it should work for Betsie. She did great, she walked around the van, climbing on luggage, the kids and the seats. We stopped for dinner and gave her some kitty food and water and she was happy. We got back on the interstate and Michael felt her crawl across his right foot....he was driving at the time. Well, long story short, she was missing for a while and then we heard little meows coming from the a/c vents. We pulled over on the side of the interstate and Michael tried to find her, to no avail. We drove a little further to the rest area and Michael pulled the glove box, drink holder and storage compartment out. It was getting dark, so it was very hard to see her. Finally, by the light of Michael's cellphone, he caught a glimpse of her and coaxed her down. Needless to say, Jacob had a firm grip on her the rest of the way home!