Getting Ready for School

School starts on Monday, and I think that we are ready!  The kids are bored and I'm out of ideas. C will be starting kindergarten, and he's not so sure that he'll really wants to go. G just wants to see all of her friends again.  Her good friend from Girl Scouts will be in her class, and she really wants to be able to sit next to her.

I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. I welcome getting into a  routine again. I can't wait to have a few hours every morning to think, work, plan, scheme, design, knit, drive, and whatever else I can think of doing. For the first couple of months, I will be spending some of my time with doctor's visits, and recovering from surgery. I have already started my exercise plan so I hope the peaceful mornings will make it easier. On the other hand, my baby is going to kindergarten, and it is the beginning of a new stage in my life. I really am ready for a new stage, but I'm a little scared. Will I find myself again?  Do I have what it takes?  I think the bicycle accident has wakened fears and worries about myself.  I hope the healing process also heals those fears.

Last year at this time, we moved which was followed by a season of one infection after another, and then the bicycle accident. I'm healing from the bicycle accident and in treatment for allergies which could have indirectly helped the infections. I'm really looking forward to a more peaceful year.  I hope I'm not expecting too much.

101 Things to Do in 1001 Days Redux

Back in November of 2007, I started a 101 Things to Do in 1001 Days.  It really helped me to focus my efforts to my desires. Well, this past year has been really rough in more than one way, and I've decided to start over. Instead of having lots of items where I have to count how many times I do something. I've restructured the list so I just mark off an item when I reach a benchmark. I hope this is easier to keep track of while still focusing my efforts to my desires.  Oh the places we will go ...



101 Things to Do in 1001 Days

Start Date:  August 9, 2009
End Date:   May 7, 2012

Exercise / Health
1.Find exercise that I actually enjoy.
2.Get caught up on kid's dental visits. IP
3.Get a mammogram.
4.Lower my cholesterol.
5.Take care of my mouth and teeth – Heal from surgery.
6.Do 10 full push ups without stopping.
7.Do 20 full push ups without stopping.
8.Do 50 sit-ups.
9.Do 100 sit-ups.
10.Walk  3 miles.
11.Finish 90 days of vitamin packets.
12.Lose 15 pounds.
13.Lose 20 pounds.
14.Lose 25 pounds.
15.Get a Yellow Karate Belt.
16.Take a Yoga class. (6 weeks).
17.Buy a new bicycle and helmet.
18.Bicycle for 7 miles.
19.Bicycle for 15 miles.
20.Improve my sleep habits – Make going to bed by 10:30 a habit.
Spiritual
21.Read A Purpose Driven Life.
22.Read Margin.
23.Finish Breaking Free. IP
24.Complete John Bible study.
25.Memorize Ephesians 6:10-18.
26.Do another Beth Moore bible study.
27.Go to a Women's Retreat.
28.Join a community group or small bible study.
Travel
29.Get a passport. IP
30.Use passport.
31.Go to Disney World.
32.Have a girls' spa weekend.
33.Visit lollipop museum with kids.
Relationships
34.Make a new friend.
35.Invite another family over for lunch or dinner.
36.Go out or host a girls' night out.
37.Host a craft night.
38.Make a list of 25 things I love about my life.
39.Watch a sunset with my loved ones.
40.Watch a sunrise with my loved ones.
41.Sit outside and just enjoy creation and my loved ones.
42.Learn how to dance with hubby.
43.Develop a list of good babysitters.
44.Listen to hubby in a long conversation without interrupting.
45.Teach G how to ride bike without training wheels.
46.Teach both kids bike safety.
47.Read Raising Great Kids.
48.Find a service project for the whole family.
49.Make 2 Operation Child Christmas boxes.
50.Send someone who needs it a care package.
51.Host a board game night.
52.Go stargazing with the kids.
Food
53.Find the perfect recipe for frozen key lime pie. IP
54.Make sourdough bread.
55.Make a monthly menu of my family's healthy favorites.
56.Reduce my grocery spending by $200 a month.
Household Management
57.Decorate Master bedroom and bath.
58.Paint & Decorate G's room.
59.Get Van new front bumper.
60.Buy a front-loading washer & dryer.
61.Buy a freezer.
62.Make a raised bed kitchen garden.
63.Grow something new in the garden.
64.Figure out how to compost.
65.Plant at least 1 tree in our yard, and make a flower bed around it.
66.Organize photos and complete 1 scrapbook.
67.Make a photo wall of meaningful photos.
Crafts
68.Make 33 items for charity (0/33).
69.Finish Crocheted Hexagon Blanket. IP
70.Knit Monkey socks.
71.Knit a red cardigan. IP
72.Knit a white cardigan.
73.Knit a purple cardigan.
74.Knit pullover sweater.
75.Knit Sipalu bag
76.Finish Tilly shawl. IP
77.Make a set of placemats.
78.Knit rust tank. IP
79.Make an idea board.
80.Design a knitted or crocheted garment.
Work
81.Find a part-time job that I enjoy.
82.Write my 300th blog post.
83.Sell something on the internet.
Just for Fun
84.Try 10 new restaurants. (0/10)
85.Finish State Quarter Books. IP
86.Finish my Soduku Book. IP
87.Finish Word Find book. IP
88.Go camping.
89.Get a pedicure after loosing 15 pounds.
90.Get a full body massage after loosing 20 pounds.
91.See 10 movies in a movie theater. (0/10)
Financial
92.Open savings accounts for kids. Completed 08/09
93.Finish Financial Peace University.
94.Move AEP 401 K to Fidelity.
95.Learn about retirement investing
96.Understand where we stand for our retirement.
97.Decide on becoming a personal financial counselor.
98.Clean out office files.
99.Put important docs into fireproof security box.
100.Pay off Camaro.
101.Build up 3-6 mos. Savings.

More of What is that Smell?

C has really been noticing bad smells lately. It is beginning to be a problem. I can just hear my parents snickering over this because I had similar problems when I was a kid, and I think my whole family was relieved when I grew out of it.

Recently, I bought a big package of toilet paper, and I divided among the bathrooms, and then told the kids where to put the toilet paper away. In some of our bathrooms, there is a cabinet under the sink, but in some them the cabinet is over the toilet. So I instructed them to close the lid to the toilet and stand on it so they could reach the cabinet overhead.

Well, C comes back to me and explains that he has thrown up all over the toilet seat, and gotten some on his feet. When I asked him about it, all he would say is that he smelled something really bad. I got out the disinfectant wipes (I'm so glad that those exist!) and I washed off his feet. I went into the bathroom and cleaned up the toilet. Then I raised the lid and found that someone had forgotten to flush.

C, next time could you just flush the toilet if you smell a bad smell and not vomit everywhere? I'm just asking.

School Shopping

One Saturday, my family and a friend headed for a day of food, movies and shopping. My loving husband took the kids to the park while my friend and I went shopping, and then the plan was to meet up later, I would take the kids, and my husband could go do whatever he wanted to do.

I had a great time shopping with my friend, and when we met up with my husband, my son had on a completely new outfit. He looked really cute, but I wondered where the clothes came from so here is the story that I got from my husband:

"Yeah, we went to the park near the shopping mall, and it had a river running through it. C fell into the river so I just took him over there to Gap Kids. I figured he needed some school clothes and they had what he's wearing on sale. Win-win situation."

Who knew that this is what it took for dear hubby to take the kids clothes shopping? I was so thrilled that I had one less thing to buy for the start of school, and I didn't get a single phone call interrupting my own shopping time with a screaming husband with a very wet child. At first, I was a little concerned over the money because when something like this happened before we took him to Walmart and I usually only buy such brands second-hand, but hey I decided to count my blessings. By the time, I found out about the problem, everything was already taken care of: Wonderful!

What is that smell?

Yesterday morning, I hugged my son and realized that he really needed a good scrubbing. He just reeked in a way that really active little boys can. So I told him that he was taking a quick shower before church. As I'm getting the water ready, and encouraging him to take off his clothes, he says,

Mom, can we light a candle? It really stinks in here.

C, it stinks in here because you stink. This is why you are taking a shower.

But MOM, can we light a candle? It stinks in here.

C, lighting a candle isn't going to help because you are what stinks.

MOM! Can we light a candle?

C, just get into the shower!

Bicycle Accident - Blog Hiatus

I was in a bicycle accident on March 9th, and I'm preparing for my second surgery. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to blog until I heal from the second, and hopefully last surgery.

I'm thinking of starting over on the 101 Things to Do in 1001 days. Anyone have any suggestions on what I should put on the list?

G's Survey about Mom

Ask your kid the questions and write them down exactly how they respond.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Be quiet. Don't ask me any questions.

2. What makes mom happy?
A hug.

3. What makes mom sad?
Not listening

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
I don't know, but you have a funny face.

5. What was your mom like as a child?
I don't know.

6. How old is your mom?
36

7. How tall is your mom?
I have no idea.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Knit

9. What does your mom do when you’re not around?
Take care of C

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
A knitter

11. What is your mom really good at?
knitting

12. What is your mom not very good at?
I don't know.

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Take care of us.

14. What is your mom’s favorite food?
I have no idea.

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
When she makes things for me.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
a queen

17. What do you and your mom do together?
cuddle

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Our hair; we're beautiful.

19. How are you and your mom different?
I don't know.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Makes things for me, and is loving to me.

22. Where is your mom’s favorite place to go?
the beach

G seemed to really find this difficult. ah well ...

C's Survey about Mom

Ask your kid the questions and write them down exactly how they respond.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Put your shoes and socks on and your coat on.

2. What makes mom happy?
When I do stuff that she says I have to do.

3. What makes mom sad?
Doing stuff that she says I can't do.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Juggling balls

5. What was your mom like as a child?
You liked to play.

6. How old is your mom?
I don't know.

7. How tall is your mom?
Kinda big.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Play.

9. What does your mom do when you’re not around?
Go somewhere.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
You'll do a show.

11. What is your mom really good at?
Playing catch.

12. What is your mom not very good at?
I don't know ... tackling

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Take care of me and G.

14. What is your mom’s favorite food?
Toast

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
When you play catch with me.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
The Loony Tunes Bird that says "I did, I did see a pooty cat."

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Make crafts & take naps.

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We have bodies, hands, and faces.

19. How are you and your mom different?
You have long hair and I have short.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Because you play with me.

22. Where is your mom’s favorite place to go?
Shopping

For those of you who know me, does this really sound like me or is C in his own world?

Prayer is about Trust

I just had this epiphany that prayer is about trust. I may be coming to this a little slow since I've been a Christian for almost 25 years. At various times in my life, I've really struggled with prayer because well God knows everything so what purpose does it serve for me to tell him what He already knows. I've also gone through times when prayer just seemed like me taking my to do list to Him. It is easier for me to thank him because I think that I have a pretty great life.

Anyway, I went to Bible Study Fellowship this morning yesterday, and the topic was Numbers 11 & 12. The whole theme of Numbers 11 is about complaining. The Israelites complained and God got angry, but then Moses seems to complain and God helped Him. What's with that? The difference is that the Israelites were complaining about God's provision. They were rejecting his feeding of them in the middle of the desert. Moses was overwhelmed with governing over at least 2 million people and he complained to God, and then trusted God to take care of it. This is where I got my epiphany. God wants us to come to Him for help, and those cries or prayers get answered (although we may still not like the answer) when we trust God with the solution. The key is trusting or having faith that God is good, Holy, and Just, that He cares about us.

I agree that it is hard to trust a God in a world that is full of hate and destruction. That makes faith all the harder, but I just don't believe that God is behind all of the hate and destruction, we can do those things by ourselves. That's a discussion for another time.

So I guess it is time that I start praying like I mean it, really giving over my frustrations to God. If you read Numbers 11:11, you will see that Moses really took all of his frustrations over to God. The rest of the chapter shows God's response. I hope this gives you the encouragement that it gave me.

God bless!

G's Deep Thought for the Day

Yesterday, G asked me as we were driving home after school: If God wants us to praise him, then how come he just doesn't make everyone praise him?

I just love it when my kids ask questions that show that they are really thinking. No matter how I answer her questions, I'm glad that she is trying to figure things out.

Observations from Moving from Place to Place

This is a list that I put together based on living and moving in so many places. I will probably add a few items as I come up with more. Please leave your own observations in the comments.

1) Not everything is cheaper in small towns: The bigger city that I've lived in the cheaper the water although I've always lived in places where water is plentiful.

2) Sometimes more competition means much better customer service if it doesn't mean better prices.

3) Grocery prices are really not all that different from place to place although Houston has the cheapest grocery prices, possibly because it is so close to Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico. Our food bill has shrunk living in a small town because there just aren't that many places to eat out.

4) Preschools, classes, hair stylists, and oil changes are better priced in smaller areas.

5) People are pretty much the same where ever I've been, but different areas have their own flavor. Each area has its own terminology so in some ways, I have to learn the local language.

6) People who haven't moved around don't realize that not everyone does things the same way. You can definitely tell the difference between areas that are used to dealing with newcomers and those that aren't.

7) Churches in small towns are probably a good 20 years behind what's going on in the big city churches, but community is easier to find in small towns than in big cities.

8) Some small town hospitality would be really creepy in a big city.

9) The internet & the library are great tools no matter where I live, and both have their own social circles.

10) A bigger house doesn't necessarily mean it's harder to clean, but the more stuff I have, the harder it is to clean a house, no matter how big it is. I have gotten better and better at getting rid of stuff.

Sickness & Blogs

I guess a month with an infected tooth really depletes the immune system. My immune system just keeps getting kicked to the curb. I wash and wash and wash my hands, but I also cuddle and clean up after my sick kids, and according to my Germ Guru, this exposes me to lots of germs. So I'm washing my hands, disinfecting the house, taking my vitamins, eating well when I have an appetite, drinking lots of clear liquids, and resting as much as possible.

Unfortunately, for those of you that actually read this blog (Are there really any of you out there?) I haven't been very consistent with making entries. I wanted to let you know that I do have some ideas for blogs, but while being sick, they seem to only come out one line at a time. My goal is to post blogs on Monday, Wednesday & Friday, so if I'm going to post, I'll post on these days with the ultimate goal that I'll post every Monday, Wednesday & Friday.

Please say hi if you're out there? Also any guesses to the identity of the Germ Guru, and isn't this a great nick name for her?

It is still Beautiful if it isn't perfect.

G
I have been really pondering this quote from a favorite blog of mine lately. I think that it is a matter of choice to look at a scene in all of its imperfections and choose to concentrate on the beautiful.

We've had a lot of snow this year. Last week, we got another 8 inches. N and G went outside to make a snow lady. (All major characters are girls to G.) When they came back in, the snow lady was made, but it was far from perfect; Short and fat with no neat round balls. Evidently, the snow was too dry and it wouldn't pack into balls so they mounded it into a big heap and then carved out the figure. Mismatched hat and scarf with carrots for the whole face completed the character. G loved her snow lady, but N was very disappointed in the snow. It just wasn't the picture perfect snowman.

I smiled when I saw the lady. She was beautiful. She represented a father spending time outside with his daughter. She graces our front yard like a snow Michelin tire. Why look at what she isn't when there is so much to appreciate in what she is. Our short and fat snow lady is absolutely beautiful.

C's Statements of Fact

C makes these wonderfully, obvious simple statements of fact:

"Sometimes when it gets really cold outside, the pond freezes into ice."
"It is cold outside during winter."
"Snow melts and makes my clothes wet."

I just love it when he does it. It is like I can see the gears in his head clicking. He just declares these statements one at a time out of the blue. You can't tell when one is coming, and an awful lot of them come after a ride in the car. He has been thinking and has finally figured something out. I can't wait until he gets in school and starts taking a science class. What kind of conversations are we going to have then?

Snow, Freezing Cold & Sore Tooth

It has been a week of snow, freezing cold & a sore tooth. The kids just don't believe they have to zip up their coats or shoes or hats or gloves, and then 5 minutes later, they are freezing. Throw in a sore tooth and the week has been exhausting.

Out of the mouth of babes

I conducted a New Year's Interview of my kids, and it was fairly enlightening.

C says his favorite toy, book & animal is FROGS.
G's favorite TV show is iCarly.
Their favorite restaurant is Denny's? Who knew?

Here is where I got the idea, and I plan on saving these and comparing year to year.

In fact, I think I'm going to have them sign their names so we can compare their autographs from year to year.

Kimberly's Jambalaya

I made this for New Year's Day, and served it with a salad and whole wheat rolls. It was a big hit. After reading several recipes, this is what I put together:

2T Olive Oil (or just enough to saute veggies)
1 med onion, diced
3 med green onions, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
Seasoned Salt
Garlic Powder
3 T parsley flakes
3 T minced garlic
1 T dried oregano
1 T dried thyme
1 t onion powder
1 t cajun seasoning
1 T dried basil
1/4 t cayenne pepper (optional)
6 oz tomato paste
1 can Fire Roasted tomatoes
3/4 c brown rice
1 pkg Uncle Ben's Wild Rice & seasoning packet
1 # turkey smoked sausage, cubed & browned
1 # chicken, cooked & shredded
7 c chicken broth or combo of chicken broth & water
1 # shrimp, raw, peeled & deveined

Heat olive oil in stock pot on medium-low heat. Saute onions in oil and sprinkle with salt & garlic. Cook onions until tender. Add green onions and peppers as you chop them decreasing the stove to low. Add spices and garlic to onion mixture. Stir in tomatoes and paste. Taste to check spices. Add more spices if necessary. Be careful not to add too much cayenne pepper because it will become spicier as it is absorbed into the dish. Combine well. Add rices, including seasoning packet from wild rice. Add turkey and chicken with liquids. Combine well. Bring to boil and then simmer covered for 25 minutes or until rice is tender. Add shrimp and serve when shrimp turn pink. Be careful not to overcook shrimp because they will become rubbery.

This is better the second day, and it freezes well.

Let me know what you think if you try it. I like a lot of spices and I always add spices to whatever dish I'm making so if you usually like the level of spice in a cookbook recipe, then you might want to tone the spices in this down.