That's a great idea!

The following post is all contributed to the Ivy league brained previous owners of our home....

If you have hardwood flooring in the dining room, it's a great idea to put carpet over it....especially since the next owners of the house will give birth to a child who can't maintain a steady spaghetti plate.

(This next one was my own doing...not the previous dufuses....)

It's also a great idea to remove an entire room of carpet by oneself; taking nearly SIX hours. It causes the project do-er to regret starting the project alone about half way through, and causes much aching to a 34 year old body. GREAT idea!




Another great idea is to use the 1980's electrical to hook up the washing machine. With extension cords, of course, because the outlet is in the ceiling. And then there was great amazement when the cords melted like Frosty in the greenhouse....duh.


And my most favorite idea of all. Ready?!? The best idea IN THE WORLD is to use the kitchen sink drain as a garbage disposal when there isn't one. You know, for things like nails, screws and popsicle sticks. Which, of course causes the new owners many hours of frustration.....


GREAT IDEA!

PRAY for Kayleigh!

Click the button to read sweet Kayleigh's story!

Wordless Wednesday...Handy Manny Daddy!

Check out the orange for Stellan! Totally cool!

Giveaway!

Just in time for Mother's Day, check out the giveaway at ScaryMommy!



To enter to win, leave a comment here. Winner to be announced one week from today, April 28th.

Good Luck!

Thankful Tuesday! Blessings.....

I have so much to be thankful for.....at this moment, it's really difficult to find the words.

I am thankful for my Heavenly Father. I am grateful that He sent His son, Jesus to die for me. And I am thankful that Jesus' love for me is what kept him on the cross that day.

And for the knowledge that He didn't stay dead, but rose again. All this...even if I was the only one....wow!

I am thankful for my children. That they are healthy and can be obnoxious with one another and with me...I'd rather have that than any other.....

My husband is amazing. He's a wonderful father and a great provider and I couldn't imagine this journey without him at my side.

I'm thankful that my parents were able to come for a visit last week. We have a lot of fun...and Dad is so handy that it was he who put in my disposal and he and Jon who did the work on the bathroom ceiling. Those things are minor in the grand scheme of life, but without Dad, they would have been longer in coming.



I am thankful that my little brother (age 25) has someone to spend his life with. And that my new sister-in-law came with a new niece for me and will give birth to my nephew this summer! I can't wait!



I am thankful for the rain....since it makes the flowers grow! I'm excited to see what varities of flowers and such are going to grow in my yard in the next few weeks! That's one of the perks to buying the house in December.......



What are your blessings today?!? Big or small, I want to hear about them!

*************


Pray for Stellan today....and for Mckmama. Stellan is due to have the ablation surgery this morning in Boston. (to read Mckmama's latest post, go here.)

Ch..ch..ch..changes

In the last few days, several changes have been made at this house.

I now have a garbage disposal in my kitchen. *crowd roars*



I have several pics of that project in progress, but Dad was reluctant for me to post them, so I won't.

The living room cold air return register is now about 98% in its proper place. No more tripping on that if I get up from that same side of the couch. *yay!*

It was a family project minus C but including Grandma and Grandpa, but we FINALLY got all the leaves raked and bagged and gone from the backyard! AND discovered that I may have a rasberry cane back there and at least 50 lillies. (To go, of course with the 50 or so on the side of the house.)

The bathroom ceiling pics are self- explanatory.
Before:


After: (yay!) It's only "plain white" but SO prefered to "waterstain brown"!
(now to do something about the brown 1970's flower pattern!)

And then yesterday, Jon and I went to my Alltel provider and got a cell to use as the home phone. We are also planning to use the internet through them and can then say GOODBYE to our current ISP, and we will save between $25-$30 a month.

Oh, and this morning, I awoke to THIS!

Great time!

We're having a great time with Grandma Jill and Grandpa here. The boys are sightly hesitant to go to school, but Caleb feels much better when told that Grandma will still be here when he gets home.

Have I ever told you how much I love my dad? And more so now, as he spent yesterday installing electrical so that my kitchen can have a garbage disposal. I got some pics that I'll post later.....today the disposal will be put in. I can't wait!

Mom has been really helpful with identifying a few unknown plants in my yard. (EVERY day something else is popping up!) Turns out I have a few Hen and chicks....that's kinda cool!

Jon is off today, so he'll help Dad with the disposal and then hopefully they can take a look at the non-functioning bathroom vent.

Oh, and M had his first track meet yesterday. All I can say is that he did really well, but if I were sitting there without my parents, I'd have needed a book.....

And Mom loaned me a new Mary Higgins Clark to read. Not MHC's newest book, but the one before that since it is in paperback. I'll of course wait till she leaves to get started on it.

That's about all from here..... Keep praying for Mckmama and Stellan..they made it to Boston, so things are looking up!

Wordless Wednesday- Making the band

Give Thanks!

First of all, hop on over to The Mommy Diaries and wish Esther a Happy Birthday! She's posted some birthday pics of herself that were fun to look at! :)

Second, pray for Stellan and for MamaSpohr's family and for April's mom. Each situation is vastly different, but all are needing covered in prayer.

It seems very wrong to give thanks this morning; it's feeling almost like bragging that I have and others have not. But somehow, I can't help but be thankful for my blessings.

I won't create a list, as I usually do, but will spend that time in prayer and thanksgiving to my Father for all that He has seen fit for me. The highs and the lows and everything in between have made me just who He wants me to be. Not that I've arrived, goodness no, but you understand.....I hope.

Give thanks for YOUR blessings today.

No Substitutes

We got some pictures of Jon and I and of the boys together, before the madness of arriving at church TEN MINUTES before the start of service! *faint* I'll post them later this week.

Frozen grapes don't cut it when all you can think of is Easter candy. They just don't.


Frozen grapes don't substitute for donuts either. Although Easter candy could.


Thank God that school is back in session today. It makes the late afternoon and evening so crazy, but it's worth it to me to have a quiet morning. :)


My parents are arriving on Wednesday afternoon and I can't wait. I haven't seen them since Thanksgiving.

Carry on.

He has risen! He has risen indeed!

Happy Easter everybody!

In Christ Alone!

Prayer request!

Just found a new blogger via Mckmama and thought that you'd wanna check it out.

The author of this blog is a mama to a little girl, April, who needs your prayers.

Check out the story by clicking here. Add the Praying For April button to your blog too!

Keep praying for Stellan!

A little funny!

Several men are in the locker room of a golf club. A cell phone on a bench rings and a man engages the hands free speaker function and begins to talk. Everyone else in the room stops to listen.


MAN: "Hello"

WOMAN: "Honey, it's me. Are you at the club?"

MAN: "Yes"

WOMAN: "I am at the mall now and found this beautiful leather coat. It's only $1,000. Is it OK if I buy it?"

MAN: "Sure, go ahead if you like it that much."

WOMAN: "I also stopped by the Mercedes dealership and saw the new 2009 models. I saw one I really liked."

MAN: "How much?"

WOMAN: "$90,000"

MAN: "OK, but for that price I want it with all the options."

WOMAN: "Great! Oh, and one more thing...the house I wanted last year is back on the market. They're asking $950,000"

MAN: "Well, then go ahead and make them an offer of $900,000. They will probably take it. If not, we can go the extra 50 thousand if it's really a pretty good price."


WOMAN: "OK. I'll see you later! I love you so much!"

MAN: "Bye! I love you, too."


After hanging up the phone, the man turns to see other men in the locker room are staring at him in astonishment, mouths agape. He turns and asks: "Anyone know who this phone belongs to?"

Clean bedrooms and anti-depressants

Today's task is to get the boys' bedrooms up to "Mom's standard" of clean. When I mentioned it yesterday, the announcement was followed by groans of agony and whispers of "oh, great".

Seems that they don't care for my standard of clean. But their college roommates will.

Jon has once again decided that he needs to quit smoking, so he visited our PCP for a prescription. And my parents are coming from Michigan for a visit next week. The funny thing is that Jon had made the same decision two years ago, just before my parents visited. Is there a reason that he feels the need to be medicated when they visit? Gosh, I hope not.

Let's pray that he can stick with it this time....he caved to the peer pressure from co-workers last time and the suggestion that he did better work with the nicotine. (I could KILL that guy!) At over $6 a pack and almost a pack a day, it's going to be very lucrative for him to quit... I told him that if he doesn't smoke for 30 days, I can paint the living room! Oh, and that he is more than welcome to join the gym, as long as there is money to start painting.......the PEACH has GOT to GO! :)

Oh, and on a side note, I wanna thank Esther over at The Mommy Diaries for confirmation on my Wordless post yesterday. Maybe I could get YOU to come over and give me a tour of what's growing in my yard...hint, hint. It'd save me the extra hassle of asking my mother-in-law! :)

**Update** A Journey of a thousand miles

The scale said 188.5 this morning. That's a 3 pound loss for the week. Now to be honest, I just finished a horrendous cycle, so that's probably most of the loss. But I'll take it.

Now, to get my exercise in faithfully is another HUGE issue. Fortunately, the boys will be back in school next week, so that should ease being able to get out of the house.....

I know...excuses, excuses.

If you have ABSOLUTELY no idea what this is about, go here! That's the start.....

Oh, and I had a couple of NSV's yesterday also. (That's non-scale victories for those who don't know). I took Caleb to McDonalds yesterday after his well-check and had a salad..... and I have a so far unopened Snickers bar beside my bed. I may eat half tonight, I may see just how long it can remain unopened, as a challenge to myself!

Wordless Wednesday! Irises and Lillies- or so I've been told.

Give Thanks!

This morning, I am thankful for:

-the sufficient grace of my Lord and Savior.
-diet Mt. Dew
-the hope of high 40's today
-that the boys and I survived the first day of spring break
-that Matthew has made some connections at school that are good for him.
-Caleb makes me smile every day
- flowers are coming up in the yard!!
-the power of prayer
-brownies
- Jon, whose favorite place of the day is home with us!
- readily available food and clean water
- coffee
-friends

What are your "thankful things" today?!?!?
_________________________________

Keep praying for sweet Stellan!

Welcome Spring Break!

Caleb wants to keep calling it summer break. Matthew and his band instructor have a countdown going that *I think* is 45 days of school left upon return to school next week.

I love this...I'm up and so is Jon, but that's it. Now, as sure as shootin', Caleb will be up soon. He's just not the type that can sleep in. But I really love that I didn't have to set my own alarm this morning and don't have to keep glancing at the clock to see what time it is! (although I am still doing the clock thing!)

What will we do with this glorious week? That depends largely on the unpredictable Wisconsin spring weather. If we get more sunny/40ish days like yesterday, I'm sure that we will spend time in the yard. If it rains, then maybe to town to get some movies.

Caleb has a well-check appointment tomorrow. I promised the boys lunch out, that'll probably mean McDonalds. Matthew wants to try Panera Bread on West College, but when I went by last week, the sign out front still says "Coming Soon". So we'll see.

We also have plans to have biscuits and gravy one morning for breakfast. Doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is to Matthew; he loves them.

And since it's Easter week, we'll also color 2 dozen eggs on Friday. I'll try and get pics of the majority of the happenings this week.

Pray for Stellan. He had an up and down weekend and some bouts of SVT. Treatment is uncertain and the rest of the MckKids have been sick this week also. Pray for them.

Muhammad Ali he ain't.

I guess the moral of this story is that you better know your opponent before you begin the battle. Apparently C made no serious contact in throwing the first stick and the retaliation of his target ended up being worse for him.

Live and learn, hotdog.

We’re not in Kansas anymore.

Most of you know that we purchased our first home back in December. And that said home was in a tiny, barely-makes-the-state-map village. AND that meant that we needed to make a move from the city of 92,000 that we had been a part of for three years.

It’s an adjustment in more ways than one.

Both Jon and I have had similar experiences over the last week that have slapped us in the face with small town living.

His involved making a stop at the convenience store before church on Sunday. The boys and I sat in the car waiting for what seemed an incredible amount of time. When he got back to the car, I asked him what took so long.

“Oh, the guy in front of me knew the attendant”, he replied.
“Okay,” I say, significantly less interested now.

“That’s not all,” he continued. “The attendant made a comment to the gentleman about her husband being ill and the woman behind me pipes up, ‘Oh great, what has B done now!’”

Everyone knows everyone. Except us. Great.

My experience was earlier this week while I sat in the middle school parking lot waiting for M to get out of track practice.

About four stalls away from me sits a woman in her car. Suddenly a guy in an SUV pulls up and I hear “How’s it going?”

Then another vehicle pulls up next to the SUV. Suddenly all the drivers are catching up on life and how it’s been for them.

You don’t really see that in the big city. Even at the schools, parents aren’t invested in each other unless they have to be by committee.

I graduated from high school in a town of 6,000 residents. My graduating class was 84 members; you knew everything about everyone. Unless they were an outsider.

I’m feeling like an outsider. Hopefully I won’t still feel this way in 2015 when C goes off to college.

I wonder if it’s too late to go back to Kansas.

A journey of a thousand miles

begins with a single step. Is that the saying?? It's something like that.

Anyway, this morning I discovered that someone had taken a picture of me when we were cleaning up the yard this past Saturday.

I groaned and posted it anyway. The one that I'm sure you're glad I didn't post is the back shot of me. I'm going to hold an interrogation after school and see if I can get the photographer to confess.

But I have to admit to needing to see full length shots of myself on "film". Makes that "little bit of extra weight" a lot harder to deny.

Oh, and since I'm laying it out there, according to the "charts", that little bit of extra weight is now just over SIXTY pounds. *faint*

So here we are. Something *must* be done. I caught a glimpse of myself in a full-length mirror in the hotel at retreat, was disgusted for all of 5 minutes and promptly "forgot" about it. Or chose to spend time floating down Egypt's most famous river...whatever.

The point is, my single step this morning was to walk 1.36 miles. (How do I know it was *that* far?) I would have walked farther except the wind is FIERCE and I still have that nagging left inner thigh injury.

But some is better than none, right?

Oh, and the scale this morning said 191.5.......kill me.

Wordless Wednesday- No Foolin', this was last weekend!

One Thousand Gifts

“Every good and perfect gift is from above; coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17.


Oh my goodness, my heart is heavy this morning. I ache so much for little Stellan and his whole family. Please, I beg you, keep praying for this little guy.

I feel like that gives me even more reason to praise for the gifts that I have been given this week.

-We were able to do some yard clean-up before the storm on Saturday night. That was good because it was starting to drive me crazy.


-Every day, I'm hearing and seeing more varieties of birds in the area. That's a sure sign of spring.

-I am thankful for the power of prayer. Whether it's as I pray for someone or I sense that someone is praying for me, I know without a doubt that God answers prayer. In His way, in His time.

-Picking M up from track practice yesterday, I realized that I have now entered the "shuttle mom" stage of life. That means that my boy is growing up. I am thankful for the young man that he is and am excited to see what God is going to do in his life.

-C is easily distractable, and that isn't a quality that his teacher cares for so much. But I know that sometimes it is helpful to me. When he gets distracted, so do I sometimes and he can very easily help me forget my troubles and focus on my blessings.

-My brother is getting married tomorrow. While I am sad that I can't be there, I am excited to be able to welcome his wife and 4yo stepdaughter into our family. S is great, and Mom and Dad are very excited that D found someone to spend his life with.

-J is exactly who God intended for me. And I have always known that, but have been reminded of the fact in the last week or so. He's my exact opposite when it comes to almost everything; while that is uber frustrating at times, it does keep life interesting........hehehe.

That's what I have this morning. What are YOUR gifts that God has given you??

We speak Your name.

This was our "theme song" for retreat last weekend. I meant to post this last week.

It is a powerful reminder that He is there as soon as we speak His name. Enjoy!

Woohoo!

I *love* a good "underdog" win! Villanova, baby!



(3) Villanova 78, (1) Pittsburgh 76

God looks at the heart.

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

This was the passage that jumped off the page to me in my devotional time yesterday, so I thought that I'd share my initial thoughts with you.

Sometimes I am guilty of spending WAY too much time on my outward appearance. Especially if we are getting the opportunity to go somewhere without the boys. There's no way that I want someone to look at me and think "oh my goodness, she really needs to get it together."

At the same time, this passage is saying that you could spend all kinds of time primping and if your heart is full of selfishness or anger or sin, it doesn't matter what the outside looks like.

A sermon illustration that my Dad gave once has stuck with me all these years. Imagine the greatest steak dinner there ever was; fillet mignon, baked potato with butter AND sour cream, crisp green salad with your favorite dressing and hot, fresh dinner rolls. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

But imagine if the waitstaff attempted to serve this glorious dinner to you on a dirty, smelly garbage can lid. Not so appetizing now, is it?

That's the same as if we spend money and hours on our outward appearance and neglect the condition of our hearts. Not to say that He doesn't think that we should look our best, just that it should be secondary to our relationship with Him.

I don't want to stand before my Lord and have Him say, "Ya know what? Your hair and makeup were always neat and your clothes were always the latest fashion, but what I really wanted was your heart."

Words!

Before you read my newest post, just a reminder to *please* continue to pray for little Stellan. There are hundreds of prayer warriors in the gap for this little boy and his family and it's working! Keep praying!

*****************************************************************************

Do you love words? I do. I'd read the same book a hundred times before I would sit down to any "logic brained" mathematical equations. That's just the way I am. So this email from a friend last week really made me think. How clever of these people!



The Washington Post has also published the winning submissions to its
yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings
for common words.

And the winners are:

1. Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted, adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has
gained.

3. Abdicate, v. To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. esplanade, v. To attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly, adj. Impotent.

6. Negligent, adj. Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a
nightgown.

7. Lymph, v. To walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle, n. Olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulence, n. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been
run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash, n. A rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle, n.. A humorous question on an exam.

12.. Rectitude, n. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by
proctologists.

13. Pokemon, n. A Rastafarian proctologist.

14. Oyster, n. A person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

15. Frisbeetarianism , n. The belief that, after death, the soul flies
up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

16. Circumvent, n. An opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by
Jewish men.
*************************************************************************************
Maybe you have a favorite "word"...I'd love to hear it!

Praying for Stellan

Will you join me in praying for Stellan? He's a sweet, small child of the King who urgently needs your prayers as he is having some serious medical issues right now.

To read the latest update directly from his mama, click here or you can also click on the Praying For Stellan button that is below my new posts.

Also, join me and my fellow blog friend at The Mommy Diaries in a prayer vigil for this sweet boy. Get there by clicking here.

The power of prayer is a God thing. Pray for wisdom for Stellan's doctors and also comfort for Stellan and his family.

His will be done!

Thankful Tuesday- A Reminder

Still Feelin' Fine!

Retreat was so great! I have to say that every year is better and better.

We left Thursday night. It was so late in fact, that C was already in bed. And we didn't arrive at the hotel until after 11pm. No matter, after being put above the very active karaoke bar, it just gave us a chance to catch up with our pianist who attends a different church than we do. (Or in my case, did.)

After some room fiasco, we were able to have great sessions with our speaker, Linda Seaman. She and her husband were missionaries for the Church of the Nazarene in Martinique and West Africa. Now, her husband is the district superintendent of the Michigan district for the denomination.

We've had the privilege of hearing her at retreat four years ago. When she tells the story of her then 17 year old daughter Kendra's terrible accident and subsequent severe brain injury, there isn't any way for me to hold back the tears. It's a story that would give anyone chills. In 1991, Kendra is 17 years old and a freshman in college and is taking a ride with two friends of hers at night. Out of nowhere the car is hit by a what is described as a black monster truck without its lights on. Witnesses to the accident say that there were tire tracks from the truck on the roof of the car that the teens were in. The guy at the point of impact turned his body to shield Kendra and was killed instantly, but saved her life.

Linda describes the next several weeks for herself and her husband in great detail. Kendra spends two weeks in a coma and basically wakes up in the infant stages of life. But Linda and her husband are surrounded by church family who are praying for Kendra on a constant basis, and the Church of the Nazarene as a whole is praying as well. Just hearing the details of what God does to watch over Kendra at that time is heart-wrenching and truly a miracle.

This year, Linda did one better. On Saturday morning, we watched a DVD of some of the highlights of Kendra's time in rehab. Again, an amazing story in pictures of the power of our God and His decision to heal Kendra.

As if that wasn't good enough, just as the DVD ends, I catch a glimpse of a shadow at the door and then a woman comes through the door and I realize that it is Kendra herself. She walks up to the platform and stands at the podium and the whole place erupts. She then without much difficulty, told us the story of what God has been doing in her life since she was able to go home to Michigan.

The summer of the accident, Kendra was six hours short of being a college junior. And it took her four years to finish the last 2 years to her degree, but she graduated from a Nazarene university in 1997.

Since then, she has met and married a wonderful man with four small boys, gotten a drivers license and through the grace of our God, defied every odd that the doctors said that she couldn't.

She describes herself as a "miracle with a limp".

She is my hero.