Please Pray

I know I haven't been here in awhile. So sorry. Having way too much fun, first with the snow and then with my parents being here for 10 days, and all of us celebrating the boys birthdays...I'll have to update you later. For now, I'd like to share some things with you that are weighing heavy on our hearts, in hopes that you might pray.

First and foremost I have a new friend who is adopting from Ethiopia, got the referral not too long ago. Little Ella Victoria, they would be able to get her in about 3 more months or maybe sooner. But they've gotten word that she is very sick, VERY sick. Please pray for little Ella, and then for Sweet Courtney and John as you can imagine it's very hard to love her so much and not be there to hold her during this time.

Little Ella Victoria

Also, some sweet friends of ours are going through the adoption process for their little girl that they've had since she was under two and now she's four. They are battling the courts and hopefully their last two days are next week. Please pray for little Mikayla and that she'd be protected from her abusive mother and finally be adopted by her loving parents Michael and Stephanie.

And last but certainly not least....



These two, actually they are a three. But they have gone through the ringer with trying to have another baby. They got 'the call' this past week that a birth mama has called them and they are currently meeting her and maybe gettin' chosen. Please pray for them and their sweet little family, that all goes okay and that in less than a month, they'll be a four, no longer a three.

'...may HE give them all the desires of their hearts...'

Thank you for praying.

Snow, Baby!

I know today is a day that will go down in history for a pretty important reason. But for us, it's important for another, maybe more important, reason. We got snow today, baby!!!!



The Dave was, of course, the first up and his stampede down the stairs woke me up. We met up at the front door and just screamed. Too fun. He was the first to throw a snow ball.



We didn't want to wake the Cal-bear, as he was still in hibernation. He gets a little grumpy when you wake him early. But pretty soon we heard the thunder of his footsteps. The two of them bundled up and went outside.

Not deep enough for a good sled ride down the driveway, but you gotta give the boy credit for tryin'.



I wanted to get a picture of them throwing snowballs at each other, but they thought throwing them at their Mom who would squeal was way more fun. The little devils.





I'd take a picture of myself here, but let's be realistic. I'm out there in my big fluffy pink robe and Sweetie's Ugg boots. Not a sight that I would subject anyone but my neighbors to. Your welcome.

But Calvin just sent a ball sailing right at my face and most of it went right down my pajama top...yeah, he was thrilled with himself and the squeals that he got outta his Mama.

And this is what my camera did with having a snowball land on it...but I like the soft focus.



It's absolutely beautiful here. Wish y'all could come and visit and have a cup of coffee and throw down your own snowball. Too fun.

We're sad, my parents miss this by four days as they are flying in on Friday. And Sweetie left yesterday...can't believe he's missin' this. But he's enjoying the lovely 80 degrees in San Diego, yeah, whatever, it's January people, it's suppose to be winter.

I'm off to put my snow garb on and make a snow angel, just because my family thinks I won't. Have to prove them wrong.

We'll be snugglin' on the couch watchin' the inauguration today. And did you know that Homeschooler's don't have snow days???

Mememememememememe (UPDATED for my Mama)

I got this Meme from the lady over at 'wheat-free clan'..thought it sounded like fun. Copy and paste the following into your own blog and then blog face any that are true for you. I added commentary to make it a little bit more interesting. It's a slow blog week here.

1. Started your own blog (hello)

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band Does playing the piano during worship time at church count?

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity Then had to confess to Sweetie..he didn't know how to get mad at me for that one.

7. Been to Disneyland/world

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo I think I did when I was a kid in the church Christmas Musical. I'm sure I could win an award.

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping okay, since my Mama wanted to know...college trip to Lake Mead, Jay & I were already married (whew), late at night, us girls thought we'd paddle on our rafts out to the middle of the cove and then we decided to take our suits off and be silly. Completely innocent and oh my goodness, so freeing! :o) Your welcome!

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29 Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset Both

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors I think so.

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing Yes, but it was a rented rock wall the my sister-in-law got for her kids birthday party....doesn't that count???

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41 Sung karaoke Does singing along to High School Musical 'Sing-a-long version' count?

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurantI bought it, but it was Calvin's idea and he delivered it.

44. Visited Africa

45 Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing No, but Sweetie has.

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling Snorkeling, didn't like it.

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud Boys were VERY young, rain storm, livin' in the country. Let 'em play in the mud, then strip 'em down, play in the warm bath and then give 'em hot chocolate. Too fun!

54. Gone to a drive-in theater Even watched some of the movie!

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business Bought a business.

58. Taken a martial arts class Yes, but then dropped out after two weeks. There were scary ladies in there that could have killed me if they wanted to.

59. Visited Russia

60 Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Gotten flowers for no reason Thanks, Sweetie.

64 Donated blood, platelets, or plasma no.

65. Gone sky diving

66 Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp No, but Sweetie did.

67 Bounced a check Get this, my tithing check at church. Yep, pretty much think I'm goin' to hell for that one.

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial Moved me to tears, as my kids were reading the words aloud.

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt Don't ask me if it's finished.

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job Yes, after two weeks. Totally humiliating.

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone My left arm when I was eight.

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79 Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car First year we were married, Sweetie surprised me by taking me to the dealership and buying me a new car. It was for Christmas. I loved that 1991 white Ford Escort. Drove it till Calvin was born.

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the paper

85. Read the entire Bible.

86. Visited the White HouseNo, but I stood in front of it and waved to the President...he could have seen me and probably waved back.

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life No, but Sister Vicki saved Dave's life when he was born by alerting the nurses that he still wasn't breathing and was turning blue. They had turned their attention to me and the little emergency that had developed in his birth. All turned out okay, but we are thankful for Sister Vicki.

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club I think Sara and I were going to start our own little book club last year. Hey, Sara, did you ever read that book?

93. Lost a loved one Grandpa Clyde, Grandma Euna, Grandpa Davis

94. Had a baby Two; one c-section, one regular

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake but I have swam in A lake.

97. Been involved in a lawsuit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

Dang, I pretty much see that I need to travel more, take more risks and not get grossed out by bugs and raw food.

Lists

I love lists. I love making lists. I love, even more, crossing things off that list. The longer the list the better. My mother taught me the fine art of list making. My sister and I have refined our talent at list making to incorporate pile making. Because what is a pile, but a list of things to deal with and put away. Isn't it?

Well, in this months favorite magazine 'Real Simple' they had a whole article about lists. I just loved it. Loved seeing everyone else's lists and even made a list from some of the lists. But then I turned the page to see this and just laughed...because it's realistic and pretty much sums up my day, everyday. It doesn't seem to matter what I put on my list I have more days that look like this than anything else that might be productive.

I tweaked it (just a bit) to fully portray me.
THE TO-DO LIST YOU CAN ACTUALLY DO...
1. Roll over and snooze some more.
2. Wipe mascara from under eye with wet q-tip.
3. Forget to floss.
4. Scarf down toast and cereal and coffee (way too many carbs)
5. Forget to put laundry into the dryer, leave them there in the washer till they start growin' a stink.
6. Screen phone calls.
7. Decide NOT to mail bills since mailbox is too far from front door.
8. Get sucked into some sappy love movie on Lifetime TV.
9. Grow anxious as the guy seems to not really like the girl.
10. Put off remaining daily duties to read blogs and entertainment news off internet.
11. Wonder if Brad really does love Angie.
12. Skip my daily walk, because, oh I might feel my back is a little sore, I think I need to lay down.
13. Eat potato chips and a cookie for lunch with a cheese stick and 2/3 of a diet Coke.
14. Ignore the dog's pleas for some playtime.
15. Make my kids clean up the kitchen, not to train them, but because I'm too lazy.
16. Leave the day's makeup on because I'm just too tired to think about doing all those steps.
17. Ear plugs in and lights out.

What's on your list?

Thankful on a Tuesday

1. Going up to kiss the boys goodnight last night and finding them both engrossed in their books. Calvin is reading Tom Sawyer and Dave is reading a Sherlock Holmes. Their little (actually big) snuggles were precious to this mama.

2. It rained all night last night. We could hear it through our open window in the bedroom. It was so soothing.

3. Drinking my coffee while grading yesterday's schoolwork, I love being back on schedule...it fits my personality much better.

4. Daisy's poofy fur to bury my nose in.

5. Bought new dishes last night. We were in desperate need. What fun to unpack the box and wash and put away into the cupboard. Plus they were on clearance, even better.

6. Was feeling stumped on a birthday present to buy for a special lady, prayed about it and instantly THE PERFECT idea came into mind. Don't you just LOVE it when that happens.

7. Finding new ways to stream line our monthly spending and Sweetie has put me on a new budget, that's NOT so fun, but it's the right thing to do...right? I kept looking but there was no purse & shoe budget? What's up with that??

8. While making the bed this morning, I buried my face in the coolness of the squishy pillow. I absolutely LOVE doing that...does anyone else do that?

9. My ipod, otherwise the neighbors would not take to kindly to my blaring the Rocky soundtrack while I'm on the treadmill.

10. We've started recording shows on the DVR off of the History & Discovery Channels for Calvin. He's in heaven. The poor kid enlightened us that we were abusing him by not letting him watch television. Yeah, real abused. But after getting Aunt Cathi on his side and hearing her convincing arguments...we've conceded.

What are you thankful for today?

Christmas Memories

Before we begin down memory lane, pics from today:


The guys got sportcoats for Christmas, this is Dave this morning, he had to match Dad for church. What a couple of hotties.


Pretty much what we've been doin all day today. Poor Calvin, his cold is worse.


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The new calendars are up. The decorations are boxed in the attic. All the Christmas Carols are out of my head. School is even starting tomorrow. But I'm going to go back in time, just a month, to remember my favorite parts of this Christmas.

1. First and foremost was the joy that came, I've already blogged about it, but I just have to start with that, because it is what I'm thankful for most. A joy in the decorations, and joy in the season, a joy with the boys, a joy in the gift buying and even a joy in the cookie baking. A great JOY in HIM.



2. We attended the Christmas Banquet at church. There was a 37 (or so) peice orchestra up on stage to entertain and play music for us. It was for adults only. (nice!) The dinner was absolutely scrumptious. Then at the end of the evening our resident comedian (our pastor) got up to do his yearly fun. My name got drawn for the party game, the lovely gift swap and steal game. By the end of the game he had made me sit off to the side and no longer participate, the pastor was addressing Jay in the audience saying I might need church discipline. Our pastor is very funny. Real funny.

3. My friend Theresa and I went to our town's Tour of Historic Homes. It was a VERY cold Saturday afternoon, we were both tired and a little frenzied feeling. But after talking and vowing to pray more for each other, our day was perfect. It was completely dark and overcast and absolutely frigid as we walked from home to home. It was beautiful and fun, and we giggled and talked and relaxed and it was, by far, one of my most favorite things I did all season. Thanks Theresa, for your friendship, what a treasure you are

4. The Company Christmas Party. Basically it was the guys calling Cathi & I while they were at work one day and saying they wanted to take us out to dinner and me calling it our Christmas Party. It was just the four of us. But since we're such great friends it was a hoot. The most divine dinner and drinks. Lots & lots of laughter, and a celebration of friendship that has spanned ... what seems like forever.

5. A last minute trip to CA...we didn't think we'd be able to do. Sweetie kept checking the flights and guilt got the best of him. How do you not go home and see your Mama at Christmastime? :o) It was just 5 days the week before Christmas. It was perfect. Perfect to see my sister and her fun family. Perfect to wake up every morning to my Mama & Daddy's house. So much fun to be with Jay's family again. To beat down my Mother-in-Law at Uno. (she loves me & really loves that I live 3000 miles away!) Too fun to go playin' with Sara. Fun to go back to church and hug on necks I haven't seen in a long while. Very fun to celebrate and appreciate our employees and customers, to do another Christmas Party and be the Bingo Master yet again. Though this time we had our own room at the restaurant so I didn't have to feel too bad about being loud. We had a blast and are so thankful we got to go.


our little company of guys, they are the best! It was fun to go straight to the job from the airport and see them all. What a blessing they are.



my Dad took the boys one day and had them do chores, it was great since they had been bickerin' for awhile that morning. I left the house that morning with them helping him hang the Christmas lights. Yippee!



Calvin had to take over for decorating the top of the tree, he was thrilled that his Mimi happens to be a little vertically challenged, not that that's a bad thing.




helpin' Papa put the train around the tree.



the boys idea of hilarious.



Have I said before that I love this guy? He's Captain Cutie-Patootie.



Mine and Dave's self portrait, we're not so good at it.



a Boy and his Mimi (and I'm seein' now that my pictures are startin' to get a little fuzzy, it could have been the eggnog, maybe)



Wiseman Folly...my husband's idea of hilarious.



while I was out playin' with Sara, Sweetie took the boys over to his brother's house and the cousins did flips in the front yard...Calvin basically landed with a thud.



Dave proved to be a bit more agile...it was a good thing I wasn't there, I can't even stand to look at the pictures. And our Chiropractor just loved us when we got home.



The boys with Granny Betty (Sweetie's mom), she's a hoot. and after raising 8 kids, she's not at all a loon!



My mama, me, my beautiful Neice & Sister (dang, but my hand looks huge!)



Sweetie, Calvin, Dave, my Daddy & Bro-in-Law, Lance



Mimi & Papa Claus got Calvin a shave kit for Christmas, he was so absolutely thrilled, can you tell?



my sister and I opened our last gift at the same time, apparently it was going to be the same thing...I was told I had the same look on my face, but Sweetie captured her instead...she's funnier, and she has a bigger mouth. (A gift card to our favorite store, we were a little thrilled)



We've come full circle. This time last year, I was in this same spot, had just started my blog and eating my Daddy's french toast. Here's the shot for you, can you see the hair??



And this was what you could see every morning and why my heart breaks a little more everytime I think about the fact that we live 3000 miles away.

Hope you have some precious memories to keep in your heart too.

Plans

I have this big plan in my head of a stellar blog post of all our favorite Christmas memories from this past December. But it involves downloading pictures off of Sweetie's camera and laptop and computer. (which I'm scared of) And actually sitting here and getting them onto the post and writing cute anecdotes to go with the pictures.

Right now, I'd rather clean out the office closet and do the mound of filing that is calling my name. Jay's desk is in a cloud of dust. There is a rather large family of dust bunnies living behind my desk. And I can't fit one more timecard into the files so I need to start boxin' up 2008 stuff.

So please be patient. I must conquer said office room from all things cluttery and dusty. My very exciting Christmas Memories Post will just have to wait. Please talk amongst yourselves in the meantime. Enjoy!