Daddy Daughter Dance

They were so thrilled for me to take their picture.

And Sariah refused to be held.

They make a good lookin' bunch.

I'm pretty proud of them.

Mixed Feelings

This week is the biannual local consignment sale.  I spent a bundle.  I usually do.  I've been shopping it for 10 years.  I needed some good stuff this year, since I gave away a bunch of my baby stuff.  I got a cool baby bath and a bassinet and lots of fun clothes for all of the kids, including an especially sweet dress for Sariah that didn't cost me very much at all.  I was proud.

Of course, so are some of these consignors.  It really annoys me that many things at the sale are priced so high.  Dude, I could buy new clothes for those prices, not already-used stuff.  And I'm not talking about Wally World clothes either.  It's a consignment sale, not a professional antiques market, darn it.  Yeah, you wanna make money, but this isn't going to make you or break you.

Okay, I'm done venting now.  :)

It's All about Bob!

Today is my honey's birthday.  So I'm going to post 38 reasons to love him.

1. He loves me.
2. He does the laundry.
3. He does the dishes.
4. He can always tell me where a passage of scripture is (I can remember the scripture but never where it is).
5. He spoils our toddler rotten.
6. He lets me take naps.
7. He loves me even when I'm a scary, messed-up depressed person.
8. He likes to laugh with me.
9. He writes me cute post-it notes that make our kids make gaggy faces.
10. He has leg muscles that I envy.
11. He has more grey hair than I do.
12. He wrestles with our dogs and tells them he loves them.
13. My kids say things like, "You want to be married to him?" and I can say, "Well, yeah, duh."
14. He supports my hare-brained ideas.
15. He takes the girls to daddy-daughter dances and dances with them.
16. He plays basketball and catch with the boys.
17. He thinks up totally wicked punishment for ill-behaved children.
18. He loves me when I look like a bowling ball.
19. He steals my Oreos.  But he doesn't like chocolate.  I just like the contradiction.  The fact that he doesn't like chocolate is sick and weird and indicates a need for professional help.
20. He never lets me win face-licking competitions.  Although he might let me think I won.
21. He loves the gospel of Jesus Christ.
22. He will make any sacrifice to support our family.
23. He takes food off my plate whenever he feels like it.  That means he's brave and daring.  Someday I will bite his hand off for doing that.
24. He taught me the true value of flannel sheets.
25. He taught me how to cook.  (Although now I can completely out-class him.  Just sayin'....)
26. He loves me when I'm mad, make very rude faces, and call him a toad.
27. He's obsessed with LED lights.  I don't know why I like this, since I don't like LED lights, but I like it.
28. He gets so happy when he gets new electronic toys to play with.  It's cute!
29. He's let me name all of our children.  Even though he says he named them all.
30. He puts salt on his watermelon.  Eeeeeeew.
31. He loves me even when I spend all of his hard-earned money.
32. He makes me smile every day.
33. He motivates me to reach for higher goals.  Like when he had visited more states than I have.  Now I am inspired to travel more.
34. He calls me cute names, like mosquito, snake, and lioness.
35. He makes fabulous chicken fingers.
36. He holds me at night even though he won't fall asleep doing that.
37. He wants to help the people around him, and looks for ways to do that.
38. He loves me.

Yeah, we're back to that part again.  It takes a great man to love me.

Happy birthday, my love!

Spring, Where Art Thou?

I am so ready for spring to arrive.  It's been a rather bleary winter, and while generally I like rain and snow, I miss my 65-degree sunny days to remind me that I really do live in Oklahoma.  Plus, I don't like my long-sleeved maternity shirts.  I like the short-sleeved ones better.  I should get to wear them more often!

We have had a crazy busy week, culminating in this crazy busy Saturday.  I want to post pictures, but my camera is currently AWOL.

Hannah went to orchestra contest earlier in the week, and an ensemble contest this morning.  Have no idea how she did.  Then, she had a make-up piano lesson.  Music, music, music.

Oh, and we stopped at one of my favorite places, LaBaguette, and one of my other favorite places, the library on the way home.  Sugar, sugar, sugar, and books, books, books.

Had to drop my stuff off at the JBF consignment sale then.  Usually I'm much too lazy to actually get some kid clothes ready to sell, but since I got rid of bunches of my baby stuff before this pregnancy, I actually consigned so I'd have some money to spend at the sale.

Next, it was off to the movies with Caleb.  We told him if he read The Lightning Thief, we would take him to see the new movie.  He read it.  We went.  I think he really liked the movie.  But Bob and I were seriously disappointed with the adaptation.  Did they actually read the book at all?  Because I didn't recognize it.  I was disappointed.  But I did enjoy my date with 2 of my favorite guys.

When we got home, I dolled Sariah all up for a daddy-daughter dance with her sisters.  She was twirling around, singing, "I am sooooo pretty."  Man, I need some self-confidence like that.  Especially now that I'm feeling like a big round bowling ball.

So the moral of all of this is that I'm really exhausted and going to bed to read now.  And I'll probably pray that my boys fall asleep sometime soon.

Ha, fat chance.

Vindication

So, I had a really great laugh last night.  But you're going to need some history to appreciate it.

During The Oklahoma Christmas Blizzard in December, one of the whirlybird thingies on top of our house got ice in it, but didn't completely freeze up.  It still turned, but we could hear it scraping throughout our entire house.  At night, when Bob and I got into bed, it made both of us NUTS.

After the first night of this, Bob comes to me and says somewhat hopefully and somewhat ruefully (because he knew what my reaction would be), "So, I guess climbing up on the roof to knock the ice off that thing isn't really an option?"

I'm sure my reaction was entirely reassuring: "Are you freakin' crazy?!?!?  You know how many layers of ice are up on that roof, and it's incredibly steep!  That would be completely insane!  I can't believe you even thought of it at all without immediately dismissing it."

In hindsight, I understand that he felt compelled to defend himself and his thought processes.  Really, I do.  But when he told me he'd thought of anchoring himself with rope, I rolled my eyes rather violently, sighed quite huffily, laughed hysterically, and stomped off.  Climb the icy roof with rope, indeed!  I was so glad we didn't own enough rope to actually accomplish that.

I happened to mention this to my Mom and Dad when I was talking to them later that afternoon.  I didn't really mention the rope part, because I thought Dad would worry that I'd married some kind of irresponsible freak show.  I didn't feel very vindicated when Dad said something along the lines of, "Well, thinking of it isn't really that horrible as long as you don't put it into action.  I would have thought about it for a long time.  You really do have to look at something from all the angles."

"Well!" thought I.

Not too long after that, I talked to my brother over the phone, and mentioned the laugh I had when my dad came through in defense of my poor berated husband.  And Chad says something like (in a very delighted tone of voice), "Oh man, they have these really cool rope anchoring kits at the hardware store, and that would have been perfect for climbing up there!"

What the...?!?!?  The three men I love and respect the most in my life had completely lost their minds.

Men!

And now I arrive at last night.  I was chatting with a family friend.  Their kids are slightly older than ours, and we really admire them and look up to them.  They have a truly amazing family, and spend a lot of time loving and serving the people around them.  The translation of all of that is that we really respect them, right?

She tells me that during the more recent ice storm, they lost electricity for 36 hours.  When it finally came back on, they wanted to watch TV, but their satellites were frozen.  She goes out that day, and sees her dad (who lives across the street) perched up on a ladder on the side of the house unfreezing his satellite.  She tried to convince him to unfreeze hers, too, but hers is way up on the top of their two-story house.  No dice there.

Later, she sees her husband walking around the house with a big length of rope.  He's going to unfreeze her satellite for her.  She tells him she doesn't need it at the cost of a dead husband.  He unfreezes it anyway, by taking his rope, and having one of his sons anchor him, and going out on the roof via the second story, and getting the job done.

By now, I was laughing so hard.  I came home and told my husband the story, and I'm sorry to say that he felt completely vindicated and that my hideous, hysterical tirade over Christmas was completely out of line because obviously a bunch of men we really respect thought up the same ideas he had and then some of our favorite people actually carried them out.  I was a mean wife, and it was completely inexcusable.  But he kissed me and told me he loved me and tucked me into bed.

I didn't sleep for a long while.

Hmph!  Men!

Spitspot

 

Today's Writing Prompt: Laundry

What do you wish you could throw in a washer with your laundry, knowing it would come out fresh and clean?


My gut reaction to this post was "me."   I remember what it felt like in those first hours, minutes, and weeks after my baptism.  I remember feeling shiny.  However, all is not lost, and this is what repentance and enduring (as in trying to be a better person) and the sacrament on Sunday are for.  So I guess I know what I need to do on this count.

My second reaction was a bit more ... um ... practical.  If I could get away with it, I would throw the walls in my house into the washing machine.  There are little (and  big) fingerprints everywhere, and since the walls are painted flat with no primer, they are impossible to get clean.  It makes me crazy.  We need to paint them, but that's a project in and of itself.  And probably rather expensive, too.  Someday, right?

Oh, the Drama!

Wanting to post something cheerful after a day chock-full of drama.  It wasn't horrible drama.  PTA anyone?  What about 1 predictably unpredictable toddler and 4 grumpy children in trouble for ... integrity issues?  No?  Okay, well I did finish a bunch of laundry and paperwork.  That's a good thing.  I can actually see the top of my desk (in places, lol!).  And despite a bitter wind, the sun was out, so all my serotonin and endorphins are firing happily away.  That's a good thing, too.  Oh, and there's chocolate ice cream in the freezer, and my bed has a heated mattress pad, and I have a book (or twelve) waiting eagerly to be read.

Yeah, it's all good.

Comfy-Cozy

Today's Writing Prompt: Storm

Explain how you feel during a rain or snow storm.


I spent most of my younger years in super sunny southern climes.  The Sonoran Desert taught me to appreciate rain, and Dallas taught me to appreciate a proper winter storm (as opposed to an ice storm).

I love great big downpours of rain.  Although I hated them when I was little, and I still flinch when there are thunder and lightening, electrical storms still make me feel high (or as high as someone who's never been drugged-out high can feel, anyway).

Ice, snow, or rain, I love being inside, comfy-cozy, while a storm rages outside, or softly falls and blankets the world.

But the best part is still when the sun comes out the next morning, and elicits from me a great big stretch and a smile.  That's when I feel warm inside.

How History Affects the Present, and the Future, Too

Just this weekend, I was pondering that I haven't posted anything about tender mercies lately.  Have they not been around, or have I just not noticed them?  (I know, it's a silly question, really.)

And then Sunday rolled around.  After a rough night with the Temper Tantrum Queen (a.k.a. Sariah), Bob took the kids to church, and I caught up my sleep.  When he returned, we ate a quick lunch, and then I took the kids down to Blanchard for the baptism of a friend's daughter while Bob took a nap.

It was a sweet experience for me.  The baptism itself was exceptional, with lots of spirit and goodness.

But the real tender mercy of the whole thing came from another source.  Bob grew up here in Oklahoma, and as a member of our church.  There are so many people who have known him since he was knee-high to a grasshopper, as they say, in and out of the church.  We ran into quite a few of those people yesterday in Blanchard.  The sweet thing is that they clearly have a lot of affection for Bob, and extend it openly and willingly to me--as well as our children--with kindness and lots of heart.

I know many people from way back when I was little, most of them family, with occasional friends thrown in here and there.  But I don't regularly associate, face to face or voice to voice, with anyone who has known me "since the beginning" (excepting my parents and brother, of course).*  I'm sure Bob wishes his old friends wouldn't recall how he wore his ties when he was 12, or recount to our children what sorts of things he blew up as a youth, but there is something so comforting to me in knowing these good, good people who have influenced his life for better (or worse), and who still care so deeply about him and his life, and by extension, me and our beautiful little family.

Truly, it was the best way for Heavenly Father to remind me of His love for us.

* And let's not forget that part of the reason Facebook is so addicting is that it does allow you to reconnect with all the distant corners of your memories.  It may not be face to face or voice to voice, but I so enjoy talking with old friends via Facebook.

Trashy

Today's Writing Prompt: Annoying

What is the most annoying thing you encounter online or in email?

Anything that I haven't invited, including advertisements, and especially inappropriate content and spam. I think the internet and email are amazing tools, but they are littered with trash, trash, and more trash.

A Good Day

I had an extremely busy, highly productive, very expensive, very satisfying day.

We started with  having Rex's pictures made.  He was awesome.  He's the best poser ever.  He was so good, we would have been in and out quickly, but I had to choose from all of his awesome portraits.  It was hard.

Then we got Hannah's new glasses ordered, to be picked up later in the afternoon.  Lizziy got hers earlier in the week.  All of their glasses look awesome.

Then my super-fabulous best friend took me to get a pedicure, and now I have awesome blue toenails and nice relaxes feet and lower legs.  Cool!  Thanks, T!

Then I got my Valentine's Day present from Bob: a new iPhone.  It was dreadful really, the circumstances.  Hannah's phone got stolen, so I sacrificed my current phone for her to have one, and agreed to replace my phone.  Aren't I an awesome mom?  She has a new phone number, btw, so if you want it you'll have to ask me for it (and have a criminal background check done).

And then I was really tired and worn out from such an exciting day.

And then my honey brought me home a peanut butter hot fudge sundae made with peanut butter cup ice cream from Braum's.  Really, what more can you ask for in a day?

It was awesome and fabulous.  And yes, I like those two words a lot.