Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Twinkling, uh, I mean, TINKLING Tuesday...

THE WAIT IS FINALLY OVER!

I will now share with you what I had to use my extra special Fedex pak for. Some of you will recall that I had 5 kidney stones a while back. (If you missed that post, you can read it here.) Well, in order to find out what my kidney stone was made of, I had to give a 24-hour urine sample. Basically, pee into a container every time you pee for a 24-hour period, then send them a sample of it. In case you're wondering what kind of container I had to pee into, here it is:



And yes, it did have to be refridgerated! I had to put a jug of urine in my fridge. Luckily, that wasn't the night the queen was coming over for dinner, cuz I think that would've made a very poor impression. I know it made a definite impression on my 11-year-old. He really had no appreciation whatsoever for the jug of pee in our fridge. In fact, he didn't even find it funny when I told him I was going to wash and re-use the jug to make orange juice in. Sheesh, some people!

So, from the jug I had to fill up 2 little vials, with pretty blue lids, with my pee.


And then put those little vials, with pretty blue lids, into a special ziploc bag and into a little cardboard box.



And into my special Fedex pak and off to Fedex to be delivered to the lab.

So, ladies and gents, what have we learned from this little exercise in medical sampling??? If you want to avoid, at all costs, putting pee-pee in your refridgerator, be sure to drink plenty of water, so that this doesn't happen to you.

Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Banana Pancakes

Wow, I was just looking up a recipe for Banana Pancakes to cook for breakfast and found out that Jack Johnson has a song called 'Banana Pancakes'! It's a pretty sweet song. (And yeah, like you need ANOTHER reason to like Jack Johnson.) I mean, he DID do the soundtrack to Curious George...

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Quilt Giveaway



Okay, it's not ME giving away a quilt. Are you kidding? If I was to actually get a quilt made all by myself, you'd probably have to pry it from my cold dead hands to get it away from me! I found the link to this blog on Currently Crafting and decided to check it out. Three reasons you should too:

1) She's giving away not 1, but 3 quilts!

2) She makes and sells soap, which is something I aspire to do. Maybe not sell it, but at least make it on a more regular basis.

3) She remodeled her kitchen and has the most awesome farmhouse type sink!

So, check her out, here's the link: Old Red Barn Co.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

I feel like the CDC!




I get to handle all this stuff, and I don't have a PhD or nothin'! Did you know that Fedex even made such a thing? I'm not going to tell you what these are for until I have to use them, then I'll be sure to blog about it, cuz I know you'll be sitting on the edge of your seats until then! I just wanted to give you a sneak peek!

Yummy!

Hey y'all! I added a new blog to the sidebar called Chickens In The Road. She has lots of farmy stuff and yummy recipes that I think would make great Christmas gifts! I'm linking to a few that I just came across. AND, she's located in West Virginia, which is where I was born, so I thought that was pretty cool too!

Caramel Apple Jam & Spiced Applesauce

Pumpkin Butter

Homemade Vanilla: Big Bottle & Small Bottle Method

I would like to try all 3 of these. I recently bought some pint and 1/2 pint canning jars, so I have plenty of jars for canning the jam and butter, along with my salsa I plan on making.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

I Stamp, Therefore I Am.

One of the crafty things I like to do, but don't do too often is stamping. I scanned in a copy of the Halloween card I made this year. I think it's pretty cute!

Saturday, November 1, 2008

I thought I could can, but I can't can, can I???

Last month my dear friend Amy over at Five Little Monkeys, Jumping In A Parsonage showed me how to can applesauce!



It was lots of fun and gave me a great sense of accomplishment, like now I'm prepared for any emergency, cuz I have 6 quarts of applesauce on my shelf! So, I decided I would can apple pie filling, so that when I had the domesticated urge to bake an apple pie, I could just whip up a crust and fill it up with my pre-made filling. So, Amy was nice enough to loan me her canning supplies, so I could do this.
AND THEN, lo and behold, after researching online, I find out that I can't use the water bath canner pot on a GLASS TOP ELECTRIC STOVE!!! AND, can you guess what kind of stove I have? That's right, a GLASS TOP ELECTRIC STOVE!!! So, after checking out this site and weighing all my options, I decided to freeze my apple pie filling like Mary does on Home-Steeped Hope. It basically accomplishes the same thing as canning except if my electricity goes out, I guess we'll be eating the apple pie filling first! Here are some pics of the process:

Eye Of The Tiger

Okay, this has got to be the best version of this song I have ever seen! Ain't nothin' 80's about this!




Hmmm, I could just watch it over and over and over and over and over and.... well, you get the picure. :)

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Through The Eyes Of A Child...

This past week, my 5-year-old Joey has been learning about the letter 'I' and measuring inches, cuz that's what "Mr. I" does. He's been going around the house measuring all of us and just about everything else. Well, I guess he had to draw a picture of something that he measured and he decided to draw ME!



Can you guess which one is me? Well, in case you can't, I'm the one on the right. I must say it is a pretty lifelike drawing, all the way down to the frown on my face because I had a bad case of the flu when he was measuring me.

He made sure he pointed out to me that he didn't draw the 'throw-up'!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Mindless Monday...

WARNING! The truth about bread consumption.

1. More than 98 percent of convicted felons are daily bread users.

2. Half of all children who grow up in bread consuming households score below average on standardized tests.

3. In the 18th century, when bread was baked in the home, the average life expectancy was less than 50 yrs old.

4. More than 90 percent of violent crimes are commited within 24 hrs of eating bread.

5. Bread is highly addictive. Subjects that were deprived of bread and given only water, begged for bread in as little as two days.

6. Bread is a "gateway" food item, leading the user to "harder" substances such as peanut butter, jelly and even coldcuts!

7. Bread is an absorbtive product, and since the human body is comprised of 90 percent water, it can turn you into a soggy, gooey, bread pudding person.

8. Bread can cause brain damage. Most habitual users of bread cannot distinguish between scientific fact and meaningless babbling.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Blog Categories

Alright, I tried separating the blogs I'm following into categories, as you can see if you scroll down on the right side. If I put you into a category, and you'd rather be in a different one, please let me know. I mean, some of you are very funny and I'd like to visit you. Some I'd like to visit, but you're spiritual too, and so on and so forth. So, if you're like "Heck no, I don't want her to want to visit me! I think I am just too dang hilarious and I can't believe she didn't put me in the 'Funny as heck' category!", then just let me know and I'll move you over. I can find you to stalk your blog no matter where I put you. And who knows, if y'all start slackin', I may start a category for that too! "Blogs that used to be entertaining, but now bore me to tears"

Okay, not really, but that would be almost funny if I did.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Follow Me, Follow me!!

I added the 'following' thing on the top right of my blog. It doesn't really jump out at you, so I figured that I better blog about it so that all the millions of people who are currently sitting on the edge of their seat, holding their breath waiting for my next exciting blog can be added to it so they'll automatically be notified when I blog instead of wasting the precious few seconds it takes to come all the way over to my blog and check it! Now, don't be shy about adding yourself, I know you're all out there...

Sunday, September 28, 2008

I like Sarah, but this is funny!

I've never read a New Yorker magazine in my life and I like Sarah Palin, but when I saw this on The Country Doctor's Wife's blog, I HAD to take it to post on my blog! I think Sarah Palin ups the entertainment value of my blog considerably. Enjoy!



SHOUTS & MURMURS
My Gal
by George Saunders
September 22, 2008


Explaining how she felt when John McCain offered her the Vice-Presidential spot, my Vice-Presidential candidate, Governor Sarah Palin, said something very profound: “I answered him ‘Yes’ because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can’t blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we’re on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can’t blink. So I didn’t blink then even when asked to run as his running mate.”

Isn’t that so true? I know that many times, in my life, while living it, someone would come up and, because of I had good readiness, in terms of how I was wired, when they asked that—whatever they asked—I would just not blink, because, knowing that, if I did blink, or even wink, that is weakness, therefore you can’t, you just don’t. You could, but no—you aren’t.

That is just how I am.

Do you know the difference between me and a Hockey Mom who has forgot her lipstick?

A dog collar.

Do you know the difference between me and a dog collar smeared with lipstick?

Not a damn thing.

We are essentially wired identical.

So, when Barack Obama says he will put some lipstick on my pig, I am, like, Are you calling me a pig? If so, thanks! Pigs are the most non-Élite of all barnyard animals. And also, if you put lipstick on my pig, do you know what the difference will be between that pig and a pit bull? I’ll tell you: a pit bull can easily kill a pig. And, as the pig dies, guess what the Hockey Mom is doing? Going to her car, putting on more lipstick, so that, upon returning, finding that pig dead, she once again looks identical to that pit bull, which, staying on mission, the two of them step over the dead pig, looking exactly like twins, except the pit bull is scratching his lower ass with one frantic leg, whereas the Hockey Mom is carrying an extra hockey stick in case Todd breaks his again. But both are going, like, Ha ha, where’s that dumb pig now? Dead, that’s who, and also: not a smidge of lipstick.

A lose-lose for the pig.

There’s a lesson in that, I think.

Who does that pig represent, and that collar, and that Hockey Mom, and that pit bull?

You figure it out. Then give me a call.

Seriously, give me a call.

Now, let us discuss the Élites. There are two kinds of folks: Élites and Regulars. Why people love Sarah Palin is, she is a Regular. That is also why they love me. She did not go to some Élite Ivy League college, which I also did not. Her and me, actually, did not go to the very same Ivy League school. Although she is younger than me, so therefore she didn’t go there slightly earlier than I didn’t go there. But, had I been younger, we possibly could have not graduated in the exact same class. That would have been fun. Sarah Palin is hot. Hot for a politician. Or someone you just see in a store. But, happily, I did not go to college at all, having not finished high school, due to I killed a man. But had I gone to college, trust me, it would not have been some Ivy League Élite-breeding factory but, rather, a community college in danger of losing its accreditation, built right on a fault zone, riddled with asbestos, and also, the crack-addicted professors are all dyslexic.


from the issuecartoon banke-mail thisSarah Palin was also the mayor of a very small town. To tell the truth, this is where my qualifications begin to outstrip even hers. I have never been the mayor of anything. I can’t even spell right. I had help with the above, but now— Murray, note to Murray: do not correct what follows. Lets shoe the people how I rilly spel Mooray and punshuate so thay can c how reglar I am, and ther 4 fit to leed the nashun, do to: not sum mistir fansy pans.

OK Mooray. Get corecting agin!

Thanks, Murray, you’re fabulous. Very good at what you do. Actually, Murray, come to think of it, you are so good, I suspect you are some kind of Élite. You are fired, Murray, as soon as this article is done. I’m going to hire someone Regular, who is not so excellent, and lives off the salt of the land and the fat of his brow and the sweat of his earth. Although I hope he’s not a screw-up.

I’m finding it hard to concentrate, as my eyes are killing me, due to I have not blinked since I started writing this. And, me being Regular, it takes a long time for me to write something this long.

Where was I? Ah, yes: I hate Élites. Which is why, whenever I am having brain surgery, or eye surgery, which is sometimes necessary due to all my non-blinking, I always hire some random Regular guy, with shaking hands if possible, who is also a drunk, scared of the sight of blood, and harbors a secret dislike for me.

Now, let’s talk about slogans. Ours is: Country First. Think about it. When you think of what should come first, what does? Us ourselves? No. That would be selfish. Our personal families? Selfish. God? God is good, I love Him, but, as our slogan suggests, no, sorry, God, You are not First. No, you don’t, Lord! How about: the common good of all mankind! Is that First? Don’t make me laugh with your weak blinking! No! Mercy is not First and wisdom is not First and love is super but way near the back, and ditto with patience and discernment and compassion and all that happy crap, they are all back behind Country, in the back of my S.U.V., which— Here is an example! Say I am about to run over a nun or orphan, or an orphan who grew up to become a nun—which I admire that, that is cool, good bootstrapping there, Sister—but then God or whomever goes, “It is My will that you hit that orphaned nun, do not ask Me why, don’t you dare, and I say unto thee, if you do not hit that nun, via a skillful swerve, your Country is going to suffer, and don’t ask Me how, specifically, as I have not decided that yet!” Well, I am going to do my best to get that nun in one felt swope, because, at the Convention, at which my Vice-Presidential candidate kicked mucho butt, what did the signs there say? Did they say “Orphaned Nuns First” and then there is a picture of a sad little nun with a hobo pack?

Not in my purview.

Sarah Palin knows a little something about God’s will, knowing God quite well, from their work together on that natural-gas pipeline, and what God wills is: Country First. And not just any country! There was a slight error on our signage. Other countries, such as that one they have in France, reading our slogan, if they can even read real words, might be all, like, “Hey, bonjour, they are saying we can put our country, France, first!” Non, non, non, France! What we are saying is, you’d better put our country first, you merde-heads, or soon there will be so much lipstick on your pit bulls it will make your berets spin!

In summary: Because my candidate, unlike your winking/blinking Vice-Presidential candidate, who, though, yes, he did run as the running mate when the one asking him to run did ask him to run, which that I admire, one thing he did not do, with his bare hands or otherwise, is, did he ever kill a moose? No, but ours did. And I would. Please bring a moose to me, over by me, and down that moose will go, and, if I had a kid, I would take a picture of me showing my kid that dead moose, going, like, Uh, sweetie, no, he is not resting, he is dead, due to I shot him, and now I am going to eat him, and so are you, oh yes you are, which is responsible, as God put this moose here for us to shoot and eat and take a photo of, although I did not, at that time, know why God did, but in years to come, God’s will was revealed, which is: Hey, that is a cool photo for hunters about to vote to see, plus what an honor for that moose, to be on the Internet.

How does the moose feel about it? Who knows? Probably not great. But do you know what the difference is between a dead moose with lipstick on and a dead moose without lipstick?

Lipstick.

Think about it.

Moose are, truth be told, Élites. They are big and fast and sort of rule the forest. Sarah took that one down a notch. Who’s Élite now, Bullwinkle?

Not Sarah.

She’s just Regular as heck. ♦

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Info. Every Woman Should Have

Just got this video about inflamatory breast cancer off of Denise's Yadda Yadda blog. Amazing how so many people could not be aware of it! The video is somewhat graphic, but I'm sure it's nothing y'all haven't seen before.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Better Late Than Never!

I was tagged a while back by my blogger friend Beth @ This Crazy Thing Called Motherhood to list 6 random/quirky things about myself.

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. List 6 unspectacular quirks you have- (as opposed to all my SPECTACULAR ones? lol)
4. Tag 6 bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each taggee's blog to let them know they've been tagged.


My 6 items:

1) I, like Beth, must take some TP and wipe off the toilet seat before I sit down. All 3 males in my house have driven me to have OCD when it comes to toilet seats. Doesn't matter where, when, seat liner or not, I HAVE to wipe off the seat first.

2) Kids with boogery/runny noses drive me crazy. If I didn't think the parents would report me to the authorities, I would grab every yucky nosed kid I came across and give them a good wipe down.

3) When I was pregnant with my oldest son, I would drink sauerkraut juice out of the pan I cooked it in.

4) I really want to get some chickens.

5) I haven't washed my hair in months, based on the 'Curly Girl' method.

6) I bake my own bread.

Who I'm tagging:

1) Caffeinated Cowgirl

2) Happy Meals & Happy Hour

3) April Showers

4) Thirtysomething Reality

5) I Am Boymom

6) Biblical Homekeeping

On the blog again.... Just can't wait to get on the blog again...

Wow, I have been SLACKIN' on this blog! You see, I was abducted by aliens... Why, yes, they were the little green ones! They took me to their planet and wanted me to be their queen, where I'd do nothing all day except eat whatever I wanted (with no adverse reactions) and watch cheesy TV shows while they waited on me hand and foot. But, alas, I had to refuse their offer. "I cannot stay here another minute! There is food to be cooked, dishes to be washed, clothes to be laundered, medicine to be handed out to every sick member of my family, and poop to be cleaned off the shower walls!" (Yes, that does really say poop.) (Don't ask...) (Well, if you really want to know, you can ask.) So, they promptly returned me to my little slice of heaven.

Okay, I wasn't REALLY abducted by aliens, but I'm sure some of you might've already guessed that. I've been working as a substitute aide at my kids' school, so I've had about 20 less hours a week for blogging and what-not. So, I'm sorry if anyone felt neglected during my absence, but I had pre-schoolers to attend to. They even made me a card!







So, I gotta say that this made all the nose wiping (theirs and mine, since I'm sick now too.) worth it! Next week, I'll be starting my new job at our daycare center in town, so I'll have even less time to blog, but I'll try to figure out something, sometime, somehow, so that months don't go by without blogging. But for now, I must try to catch up on my blog reading!

Friday, August 8, 2008

An Inspiring Message...

I copied and pasted the following from Melissa Taylor's blog "I Am Beautiful". It's the majority of her post from 7/31/08. It really lifted my spirits, and I know we ALL have those days when we're "TOO this or that" or "need to be MORE this and that". If this makes even one person feel better about themselves, then my job is done here. :) Also, I've added a really cool video (also stolen from Melissa!) at the bottom. But, I will warn you now, it may make you cry. But, in a good way, not a sad way!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Thoughts vs. God's Word

Hi! Welcome to the Encouragement for Today Daily Devotion Readers! If you have stopped by this blog after reading my devotion, http://proverbs31devotions.blogspot.com/2008/07/my-thoughts-vs-gods-word.html , I'm glad you're here.

This blog is called, "I Am Beautiful", but I can tell you that those words don't come out of my mouth easily. You see, I don't think I'm beautiful. I think I'm overweight, undisciplined, nervous, insecure, untalented, out of control, weak, unworthy, and ugly. But I know better. Those are my thoughts, not God's Word. God's Word tells a very different story. That's one of the reasons I created this blog. I struggle with negative thoughts about myself and I don't ever want to forget what God says about me. And indeed, I am Beautiful, and so are you. If I had it my way, every woman and girl in the world would view herself as God sees her, not as she sees herself or as others may tell her she is.

I'm not sure where your thoughts are today. And I don't know what or who helped to form the thoughts you have today. But I know the One Who made you. And I know that He knows best. And in order to begin transforming your thoughts to be in line with God's Word, you have to think like Him. That often takes training and being super intentional. It doesn't come natural to me, does it come natural to you? Only by filling my head with God's Word, do my thoughts begin to reflect His. So, I talk about His Word, I write about His Word, and I read His Word. I have to or I forget His Word!

I recently wrote an article on anxiety and depression for the November issue of the Proverbs 31 Woman Magazine. It was one of the hardest articles I've ever written. You see, I didn't want to admit that I was a Christian and struggled with negative thoughts. I didn't want to admit that I needed help. I tried so long to fix myself and I became exhausted to the point of practically breaking down. I don't hide those feelings anymore. And I don't try to fix myself anymore either. My life has turned around. Now when "My" thoughts enter my head, I check them as quick as I realize what I'm thinking. I say, "Now Melissa, is this what God says about you?" The answer is usually "No Way!"

I pray you have been encouraged today. Believe you are amazing and beautiful and forgiven and loved and gifted and worthy and wonderfully made, because your Creator does. And fix those thoughts on God's Word. You are so worth it!

Love and Blessings,


Melissa



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This video clip, to the tune of Total Eclipse of the Heart, shows that when our identity is in Christ and we give Him our burdens, labels, issues, etc, we are Free and Saved from this world. We may still live in this world, but we are New Creations.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

My Kidney Stone

Okay, I'm sure this is probably TMI, but I'm posting a pic of my kidney stone that I passed lastnight. I found out a few weeks ago that I have 5 of them, so I've now decreased my amount of kidney stones by 20%. As soon as I found out what was causing my unusual pain, I started drinking my required 8 glasses a day, which is actually 64 ounces more water than I would normally drink. So, now I'm saving my rocky little friend to take to the urologist next week to be analyzed. I'm hoping that they'll tell me that the only way to prevent more of them is to increase my intake of frozen dairy products (preferably chocolate flavored). And one thing that totally amazed me about my stone is that when you look at it in the light, you can see little shimmery sparkles. I'm assuming they're some sort of mineral deposits like you sometimes see in rocks, but dadgummit, if all my poor eating and self-dehydration didn't create just the purtiest little stone! I'm wondering if I can't make some sort of bracelet after I pass the other 4, so that I have something to show for all my hard work!

Saturday, August 2, 2008

My Bloggy Shout-Out!

As I was browsing through my favorite blogs, checking out some new ones, I noticed something that made my day! I know what you're thinking. "Alicia, your house is a mess, there's laundry and dishes to be done, not to mention the fact that you've got an accumulative total of 32 years of your children's memories to scrapbook, AND boxes that haven't even been un-packed from your move a year ago. Do you really think you have all the time in the world to be checking out MORE blogs???" Okay, well, no I don't. But, what I DO have is an unhealthy obsession with reading about other people's lives. I don't know if all you ladies know it or not, but y'all are pretty dang funny! See, now you have me off-topic and I'm rambling on like a crazy person, talking to people who aren't even speaking to me. OKAY, so what made my day, was that I was on This Crazy Thing Called Motherhood and Beth has me on her list of favorite blogs! I feel like I just won an Academy Award and received my little naked gold statue! Although, this does crank on some pressure to try to be witty and entertaining in all my blogs. Now, I have to keep up a certain standard of blogging for fear that I may be 86'ed from her list of favorites. This may set off a whole new set of issues...

Friday, July 25, 2008

Clear Skies In The Forecast...



Recipe for Sky Jello . Created by Huber Hof Academy.

Haven't made it yet, but it just looks like big tall glasses of happiness to me!

Cake Mix Cookies

1 box any flavor cake mix
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup water
1 cup whatever you want to add (m&m's, raisins, oatmeal, nuts, etc.)

Mix together cake mix, water and oil. Stir in your cup of "whatever". Scoop out onto your stone, cookie sheet, etc., and cook at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Make sure that you smoosh them down before baking so that they have a more cookie-like appearance.






I used a box of chocolate cake mix that expired July 2007, but I'm sure that un-expired mix will work just as well. As you can see, I chose to add oatmeal to mine. Whenever I make cookies, I just feel like a better mom when I add oatmeal to them. Helps to contribute to their recommended daily intake of fiber. And you know that fiber is essential to a well-functioning bowel. But then again, I used expired cake mix, so that might not be a problem...

Seriously though, I did test them first to make sure they weren't poison.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

New Post: No Time to Read!

Okay, I'm just blogging cuz I haven't for a few days. Drove to Omaha to pick up my daughter and father-in-law from the airport today. I was actually lucky enough to get their flights scheduled within 2 hours of each other. Praise God, the weather was perfect(meaning no tornados or threat of)! FIL here for a week and daughter here for 5 weeks. Not sure if I'll have any other time to blog for the rest of the week, and it seems like on the blogs I normally read, they're blogging like 3 times as much and I have NO time to read them right now. I think I may be suffering from blog-stalking withdrawals. So, if everyone could just have un-exciting, un-eventful lives for at least the next week, so that I can catch up on my blog reading, I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks to y'all in advance!

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

One large serving of thunder and lightning, minus the tornados, please.

Lightening"

I don't want to lose you, this good thing

that I got 'cause if I do

I will surely,

surely lose a lot.

'Cause your love is better

than any love I know.

It's like thunder and lightning,

the way you love me is frightening.

You better knock, knock on wood, baby.



Okay, I just absolutely love that song, and it was fitting to this post, so there it is! Tornados aside, one of my favorite things about living out here are the storms. I am like a little kid on Christmas when it comes to thunder and lightning! For instance, I'm sure lots of people will go out on their porch to watch lightning, BUT will they do it at 1:30 in the morning in their pajamas and barefooted? (The barefoot part only lasted a little while, cuz then the rational part of my brain convinced me that if I didn't put some shoes on, all the bugs in South Dakota would be migrating over to my porch just to climb up my pajama pants, then they'd hitch a ride inside, then they're in my bed and it would just all be bad.) I'm sure that if my neighbors were awake and saw me they'd be wondering, "Didn't they have any dadgum lightning in California? Why does she have to subject us to the sight of her in pj's everytime there's a storm? Maybe she's sleepwalking..." When I'm out there, I really have to force myself to come inside and go to bed, cuz I'm honestly worried that the be-all, end-all, most awesome God-inspired displays of lightning are going to happen while I'm asleep! Just like Santa won't come while you're still awake, I'm convinced that the same is true for lightning. My hubby isn't too much help. He tells me this morning that the lightning was so bad at 3am that he had to close the curtain, because it was like a flashbulb constantly going off. My reply, "WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP?!?!?!? Geez, man, have you no love for me at all!!" Then there's the thunder. Fortunately, I can hear the thunder from inside the house. Actually, I can FEEL the thunder from inside the house. We have thunder here that's so loud, it will shake the basement walls sometimes. It's really pretty awesome. If you've never watched a midwest thunderstorm, you should definitely take some time out of your busy life to do so. And I'm sure if we ask really nicely, we can go the rest of tornado season with only thunderstorms and no tornados, knock on wood.

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Tornado Warning!!!

I have come to realize that the worst feeling in the world is to be 4 blocks from home (where your 11-year-old and 5-year-old are) when the Tornado warning siren goes off.

Luckily, we weren't hit by a tornado. But the few minutes it took me and hubby to get home, driving down our main street with pouring rain and high winds, were just the beginning of one of the scariest hours of my life.

We did have 60mph winds and our town siren went off 3 times. I'm usually not really scared of weather, and I've always wanted to be a storm chaser. But, NOT NO MORE! I really thought, as I sat in the basement clutching my bible, praying like a madwoman, that in just a few minutes, we would be left with nothing but 3 bottles of water, 4 blankets, TOO many boxes of toys that haven't been unpacked since we moved, and the 2 50# boxes of photos that I hauled down the stairs into the basement.

Praise God, the worst of it was a dent in the car. And of course it was our 2002 car and not our 1995 car, but better a dent in a car than in a kid!

We did have some downed power lines and there was a tornado spotted about a mile outside of town, but we didn't have any major damage in town beside the fallen tree branches. Of course today was a beautiful, sunny day, just like nothing had happened. I believe there's a bible verse that says something about the Lord's blessings being new every morning!


And even though, I'm sure I'll remain calmer the next time this happens (my son's 5th grade classmate told me this morning that I'll get used to it!), I think I may be suffering from some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder. When the sky started to look sort of menacing this evening, I had to make a conscious effort to not come un-glued and rush everyone and everything back into the basement. And, much to my surprise, I really became un-nerved and kinda scared when my husband jokingly imitated the warning siren noise. So, I seem to be a little skittish right now when it comes to all things storm-related.

If I had to come up with something positive about the whole experience, I guess it would be that I now know what I need to keep stored in the basement. And knowing how to operate the storm radio would probably be helpful too.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Who is this child's mother?!?!?

Ever been somewhere and noticed a mom who is just on the brink of losing all sanity right then and there in the middle of the store? She's torn between screaming and having a fierce outbreak of physical violence, but she knows she's in a public place, so she must keep some sort of lid on it, so as not to appear a complete lunatic who cannot get a grip to save her life? Who, in the midst of all this inner turmoil is wondering, "I'm in a christian bookstore! Why can't some sort of divine intervention happen here and save me from this mental and emotional anguish???"

Well, I must sadly admit that I am that mom. I realized today that if I have not trained my child on how to behave in public, that even helping my 11-year-old pick out a bible, will not protect me from all the 5-year-oldness that my darling angel may decide to unleash upon me.

My obvious lesson for today was, "You reap what you sow."


Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Joey's 5th Birthday!!

Joey turned 5 on Sunday and we actually had time to have a relaxing day! After going to church and running some other errands, we were able to come home and enjoy the rest of the afternoon. Joey was quite excited to put the sprinkles on his cake! If you've ever let a 5-year-old do this, you know they should really be called 'dumples' and not 'sprinkles'.


Here's Joey sitting very proudly with his cake. We had also walked to our local store to get some ice cream. He picked out Mint & Chip ice cream without any coaching from mom! Obviously he's being raised with good taste. We will be having a Chuck E. Cheese party in a few weeks when our daughter's out to visit, so it was nice to be able to relax on his actual birthday! After cake and ice cream, we went outside to watch the boys play with the new bat, balls and tee that Joey got. The weather was perfect for being outside. It was definitely one of those days when we could sit and reflect on all the wonderful things God has blessed us with!

Monday, April 28, 2008

Ready for Spring Already!!!

I have come to the sad realization that the "First Day of Spring" does not pertain to South Dakota. We've seen glimpses of the mysterious season, but Winter is still hanging on with at least one hand. It has officially been Spring for about 5 weeks now, and just this past Friday, school got out at noon because of a snowstorm! Although, I have to say that I really didn't mind missing out on the 8th grade study hall that I was going to sub for! (If you've ever had an 8th grader, you'll know what I mean, but, THAT subject could take up it's very own blog!) And now, we're supposed to get more snow at the end of this week, which could mean cancelled field trips! I won't be too heartbroken about missing the zoo itself, but it will be my preschooler's first field trip, so if we don't go, I'll be really bummed. So even though I have ABSOLUTELY enjoyed having actual seasons, I'm ready for it to be Spring and ONLY Spring for now!

Friday, April 11, 2008

Just getting started...

You'll have to excuse the lack of scenery on my blog. I'm working on getting it set up. Although, I'm not too sure what I plan to blog about. My bestest friend kept on me about starting one,

"We should set up blogs." says her.
"Why would I do that?" says me.
"You can keep people updated on what's going on since you've moved!" says her.
"Okay, well, the only person who would check it out is you, and I talk to you everyday, so you know what's going on." says me.
"What about this person, that person, him, her and the other?" says her.
"Umm, okay...." says me.

So, I'm guessing this whole blogging thing falls into the category of "If you build it, they will come."

So, here goes...