Ladybugs & Stinkbugs

Last week, a friend took Annie & me out on a "Girl's Afternoon". We got to go shopping, have a nice lunch, and get our nails done. It was such a neat day - it was just what Annie needed after weeks of Baseball, Football, and car racing on the XBox. She is a very "girly girl" and enjoys any opportunity to act like one!

Here are our nails:

This little Guy is my charmer. He is so full of life and determination - I love to watch him play, sing, whatever he's doing he does with such gusto!

The last picture is of Andrew in his Puggles class. Puggles is the 2 year old class in Awana - a Bible memorization club at our church. Matthew & Annie are in Sparks, and Andrew is SURE he's old enough to be with them, but he enjoys his class (once he gets there), and is learning about God and His Word.

And playing...and smiling - as usual. This is the happiest baby!

He's such a joy - to all of us. We have really had a lot of fun with this little guy. He adds a sparkle to our days. Each one of our babies does-in a totally different way.

Enjoy!

Isildur's Bane. The evil ring that enticed Isildur to greed and pride, and then betrayed him to his death. Just the thought of it was enough to drive terror into the heart of courageous men everywhere in Middle Earth: the One Ring.

THAT'S how evil laundry is to me! It consumes my energy, my time, and my joy. I literally spend hours a week in front of the washer or dryer - just to turn around and do the same thing the next week. My children are constantly asking me for clean socks (the nerve!) or pajamas when I am SURE I just washed everything in the entire house.

The problem is bad enough because there are six people in this house. Then, add to that the fact that two of these people are little boys who enjoying "fishing" for crawfish in muddy ditches, one a little "princess" who hates to wear anything that's dirty, another's a 5-month-old spitter who can't stay in one outfit longer than 30 minutes, and there's another one who works so hard in the yard I can NEVER get the grass stains out of his clothes. I think I should buy stock in Gain and Downy because we are going to keep them in business for at least 10 more years - by ourselves!

I have to say, though, that I'm GLAD to have this problem to complain about. Otherwise, my little boys would miss the fun of getting their hands in the dirt, of exploring and discover new (and icky) creatures. My daughter would not get to know the fun of dressing up and being a lady. My husband would never have the satisfaction of a pristine yard. And my baby wouldn't be here to spit up on everything.

I guess it's worth it. =)

You thought I was going to sing, huh?

Seriously, Sunday's wear me out. We hit the ground running and keep going all day long. So why am I still up? I guess its because when you've been "working" all day, you're ready for some downtime at the end of it - and that's what blogging is for me. =)

Work at the church is going great, it just requires a lot - physically and emotionally. It's very rewarding, though, seeing the kids progress and learn and have so much fun.

What is Sunday like for you? Restful & relaxing? Or stressful and busy?

Okay, so it's not much yet - but it was a lot of work!




And here's where we put all the grass:

Okay, maybe the exclamation point was a little excessive...this is NOT an emergency. =)

I am looking for a purse/wallet/phone holder that I can put in my purse, and then pull out when all I want to carry is my keys, cell phone & wallet - like when I go work out. I don't want to have to carry my whole bag, but neither do I want to transfer everything to a smaller bag every time I go to work out.

Any ideas?

This is crazy! He's not even 6 mos old, and he's already determined to get where he wants to go. He's very happy on the way, though!

I had the pleasure of watching my three oldest grandchilden at a formal engagement party today and want to brag on their manners and behavior. This paty was for the daughter and future son-in-law of some friends of ours and was held in their beautiful home with many adults present. In fact, my grandkids were the only children present. Their mother and daddy have done a very good job of teaching them how to behave in someone else's home and yet how to enjoy themselves. They were very friendly, enjoyed the food and drink and other that one dipping into the nuts without using a spoon, they exhibited manners as well as any adult there. At 6, 5, 3 and 5 months, I think they are ready for the really formal events. Well, maybe the 5 month old would be happier in Granny's arms than visiting with others. He did smile a lot though and caught the hearts of everyone present. GOOD JOB LINDSAY AND JEREMY. I was very proud of the kids.

So I got tired of not having any energy, not being able to get out of bed in the morning, and feeling just generally icky. Especially because most of the "work" I do involved sitting at a desk (except, of course, chasing after all of my kiddos), I was really having trouble finding some way to get and stay active.

So, I went back to what worked BEFORE baby was born - Curves. Every morning (7:30 - yuck!) I've been getting up and working out. Not sure yet if I'm going to post "details" (weight, etc.), but maybe I'll at least post my progress every once in a while.

They do have the neatest thing, though - it's called "Curves Smart". They measure the way you use the machines, how many reps you do in 30 sec, the strength and speed of your reps, as well as your range of motion, and put it into the computer. Then, every time you work out on the machine - on each and every rep - it lets you know if you are working that muscle 100%. Then, when your workout is complete, it will let you know which machines you need to work better at, which ones you have made progress on, and how many calories you burned, stuff like that. It's pretty awesome - like having a personal trainer sit with you as you do each and every machine.

It's especially good for people like me who have no idea how to use most machines at a gym!

Annie has an upcoming ballet recital she is preparing for, so her teacher let me go to her class (classes are usually closed curtain) to video their routine so she could practice. She is doing so well! She seems to have natural form and posture, and she just loves it.



There are a couple of other videos of her ballet practice here if you want to check them out.

Mom was sick on Andrew's birthday. She was very disappointed that she didn't get to make it to his party. She also missed Maddi's birthday, so she decided to have a special "Granny" party for both of them.

They had a BAWL. They got to jump in a Jumpolene, play Pin the Nose on the Clown, and just in general made lots of noise! =)







See all of them, and the Opening of the Presents, Here.

A helicopter was flying around above Seattle when an electrical malfunction disabled all of the aircraft's electronic navigation and communications equipment.

Due to the clouds and haze, the pilot could not determine the helicopter's position. The pilot saw a tall building, flew toward it, circled, and held up a handwritten sign that said "WHERE AM I?" in large letters. People in the tall building quickly responded to the aircraft, drew a large sign, and held it in a building window. Their sign said "YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER."

The pilot smiled, waved, looked at his map, determined the course to steer to SEATAC airport, and landed safely. After they were on the ground, the copilot asked the pilot how he had done it.

"I knew it had to be the Microsoft Building, because they gave me a technically correct but completely useless answer."

I'm no longer sick!!! Yeah!! I know because I can swallow without feeling like I'm swallowing needles. Strep throat is NOT fun.

On a (somewhat) better note as well, Mom is improving. She has spent the week in bed with Strep, Pneumonia AND bronchitis! Not a fun way to spend your time, trust me. But she's doing better today - actually made it down the stairs and made coffee! Of course, that was it for the rest of the day, but that's an improvement.

We are getting ready for two performances at church: Children's Musical "Livin' Inside Out in an Upside Down World" and our adult Spring musical "Lift Up Your Eyes". Both are a lot of work, but also a lot of fun (so far). We'll perform the adult musical at three venues: our church, the prison, and the Salvation Army. The children will NOT go to the prison...lol. =) They will perform for our church. Matthew's very excited because this is the first musical he gets to be in (the WHOLE THING), and he has one acting part. Annie's choir class will perform the first song with us. Hopefully I'll be able to upload some video. =)

I'm sick, and don't feel like writing a whole lot, but I wanted to get pictures of Andrew's birthday up.





(Incidentally, these collages were done with an awesome photo editing product I have downloaed: Paint.net - bonus: it's free!)

Here's the rest of the pictures.