A Gift of Love

Were you aware whilst a suckling babe,
that your path of life had been laid?

Did you know why angels sang on high,
whilst swaddled within that lowly sty?

Could you think above the others,
being cradled in the arms of mothers?

While shepherds bowed did you coo with glee,
or sleep before their bended knees?

As wise men came with herbs and gold,
did you know of what those gifts foretold?

As a babe, could you reason,
that to everything there is a season?

Did you not cry or fuss unduly,
as a toddler never unruly?

Wise we know, beyond your years,
a young heart free of doubts or fears.

When you slept would you dream,
of nonsense or of things unseen?

Did you know each star by name;
hear their voice your glory proclaim?

How was your laugh, rich and deep?
Or sweet and quiet through closed lips seep?

Did you always know you were God’s son,
precious, sacred, the only one?

When you looked upon your Mama’s face,
did you know she was saved by grace?

Did you know each hair in Papa’s beard?
For it was you who put them there.

And when someone would hold you as a babe,
your infant hand on their cheek you laid,

Could you see their heart, their soul so weak,
and turn it so that they could seek?

Oh Jesus, you came, a babe so small,
to rescue your own from the fall.

Let us not forget the true reason,
for which we celebrate this season.

So we could live forever with God above.
That is the true reason for Jesus, a gift of love.

Marriage

I am not your average woman... fairy tales are fake and so are Disney Princess movies. OK?

However, I think it is totally possible for two people to live happily ever after. We've had trails and hard times, but we are happy with each other.

We will have been married for ten years in April and we have not had one fight. Not one. Our dating/engagement period was less than one year when we tied the knot. We are even more in love than before. The first year... three years... seven years... it just keeps growing!

He is not perfect... although I would never tell him that. I am not perfect... although he would never tell me that. Marriage is not 50/50 its 100/100. You have to give to get... it is what you make of it.

A Housewife's Song

Sung to the tune of I Can See Clearly Now

I can see dust now the blinds are drawn.
I can see little hand prints everywhere.
Gone are the clean panes, the stains have come.

Its gonna be a long, hard working day.

I can see pet hair all over the floor.
I'd use the vacuum but it don't work no more.
Cobwebs are hanging from everywhere.

Its gonna be a long, hard working day.

Look all around there's nothing but clothes to fold.
Look under the bed there's dust bunnies to scold.....

The sink is full again and I have no soap.
The cupboards empty and there is no hope,
Cuz there's sticky kids runnin' everywhere.

Its gonna be a long, hard working day.
Its gonna be a long (long), hard (hard) working day.

My Skinny Dip

For our one year anniversary My Love and I went backpacking deep into the foothills of Nor Cal. We found a secluded lake and set up camp and decided to cool off before night fall. Since we were so far away form civilization (about a two hour drive and five hour hike from nearest place to spend $) and still suffering from newlywed sickness we decided to go skinny dipping.

After about an hour of swimming we were ready to get out but just as I was making my way to shore I noticed some movement on the opposite side of the lake (It was a small lake about two football fields side to side). Upon closer inspection I see that it is a boyscout troupe!!! Probably about twelve 10-12 year olds.

We stayed in the water as long as we could but I was getting pruny so I sent My Love to get our towels. Once he got out the scout leader must have taken the hint 'cause he moved the troupe away from the lake.

The funniest thing about it was that I could see the whites of the troupe leaders eyes from across the lake once he saw My Love climb out of the water... priceless.

Talons...

...that's what I think when I look at my fingernails. MAN...I need to cut them...I could dig a burrow with these things!

Booger Pic

What a busy couple of months, but I actually haven't been away for as long as I thought. I've been visiting the AI boards so much that I haven't saved any time or energy to come here to write. Alas, now the season is over and life (at least on Tuesdays and Wednesdays) can resume to normal.

I am stoked because I was able to post pics on my AI file so I'm going to try it here, too.

YIPPEE!!! It worked...It worked! And it only took about 15 minutes!
This is Booger. She is the sweetest cat. Puts up with a lot from the kids. In this pic it looks like she is holding out her paw for you to shake it...or kiss it. At the time she was actually washing her face. She is the loudest licking cat I have ever heard in my life! Some times I think I hear running water in the house but when I look around I realize that it is just Booger cleaning herself on the couch. Yech!

My Testimony

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

Psalm 139:7-14

God has always been there for me. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know His presence or feel the tug of His spirit on my conscience. If I had to give a two second testimony about my spiritual growth it would be ‘slow and steady she goes.’ I am an observer. God has put in me the ability to sit back and watch His work unfold around me. To some it may appear as laziness but I rest in the fact that God has put eyes in the Body as well as hands and feet.

Both of my parents are believers and they both come from believing families. I had a great childhood. My dad was a policeman and my mom was a nurse. I was a tomboy with one older brother. We were a very normal, middle class, nuclear family. Growing up our church was about two hours away in the bay area, in Richmond, where my dad grew up and his parents lived. The Meeting of the Plymouth Brethren; the service was somber and the music was a cappella psalms and hymns. The sermon was an hour long theological discussion among the elders and the overall mood was that of reverence. Women were not permitted to speak or pray out loud during the service or play a roll in any leadership position. I remember my mom often complaining that it was rather like going to a funeral, but, I don’t know…I kind of liked it. As one who does not care to bare all or cry in front of people or clap my hands and shout hallelujah, The Meeting suited my spiritual needs just fine. I will take logic and theology over emotion any day. I also enjoyed that God was the focus of worship and not my Sunday morning entertainment, and without accompaniment to the songs I was able to fall in love with the poetry and depth of meaning in hymns.

Since The Meeting was so far away and we only went about every six weeks, we also occasionally attended a Baptist church in our hometown. However, I don’t remember much about going there. When I was eight I responded to an alter call during a revival meeting and prayed the sinner’s prayer. I know that at that time I was already a child of God and looking back I realize that at that point I was separating my faith from that of my parents and claiming it as my own.

When I was ten we moved. We tried a few churches in the area but didn’t call any home. The Meeting was where we continued to attend as often as we could. When I was twelve I was baptized by an elder of The Plymouth Brethren. It was not an earth-shattering occasion for me. I didn’t come up out of the water beaming with light as I had expected, but I was glad I had made that proclamation of faith not only to others but to myself.

Having an older brother who walked on the wild side gave me the opportunity to get all my experimentation out of the way while I was in junior high. Seeing what smoking, drugs, and alcohol did to my brother was enough to keep me on the straight and narrow. Besides, the temporary fix did nothing for me in comparison to the grace I felt when I took my sins and concerns to Christ. That being said, during junior high my walk reached a plateau. For the next four years I attended youth groups like Campus Life and Airborne on a pretty regular basis but still with no local church home to speak of my growth as a believer in Christ was minimal. I had grown complacent and lazy in my spiritual walk. God was never absent from my life but I had begun to try and walk beside Him instead of following His lead.

Then my junior year in high school my family started attending New Covenant Baptist Church. It felt good to have a local church body to worship with and again my spirituality blossomed. I remember partaking in the Lord’s Supper for the first time, not having done so before because of The Meetings strict guidelines regarding the sacrament. I remember examining myself and feeling guilty, yet relieved for Christ’s death on the cross. I found a new understanding of what He had done for me and an overwhelming feeling of debt and gratitude. For about two years I could not contain my tears while taking communion. Over time my guilt and sorrow grew into and praise and reverence.

In college I started attending a Bible Study lead by Bill Jackson. The group was about a quarter of the way through a study of the life of Christ at the time I joined them. In hindsight, I see that God placed me in that study to keep me grounded and my spiritual life in tact. I was attending College full time and held a full time job at McDonalds. The friends that I hung out with the most were not Christians (although they had believing parents) but they were not troublemakers either. I could not get them to come to Bible study or church with me however, I felt the Lord (and their parents) wanted me to be close with them.

I graduated college with an AA in Liberal arts but I didn’t know what I was supposed to do with it. At the time I worked at Luckys and Blockbuster, neither of which I wanted to make a lifelong career of. I had many interests but nothing I wanted to go to school for because I was tired of school. Adding to my confusion was the fact that all my close friends had moved away. I had lots of acquaintances from church and Bible Study but my packed schedule of the last three years had kept me from starting any close relationships. I was lonely and frustrated not only for lack of close friends but a lack of companionship, too. I had been praying for the right guy to come into my life for a long time. However, God saw fit to make Himself the only man in my life through high school and college.

It’s not like I didn’t have crushes or a desire to have a boyfriend. It just never happened. All of my friends had boyfriends and companions through out the years and to tell you the truth I sort of felt left out. It sounds silly now, but I can remember at twenty years old thinking I was going to be alone forever. During this time I prayed that I would surrender every part of my life to God in a way that I never had before. I prayed to God that He would not just be a part of my life but that He would be my life. I prayed that He would fill the void I had from isolating myself from others, and that if it was His will that I be single the rest of my life then His companionship would be enough for me. The words of Fraces Havergal’s hymn became my fervent prayer: Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee. That seemed to be the prayer God was waiting to hear from me.

About a week later God sent me my knight in shining armor. I didn’t see it that way at first, but that is another story. My Love and I had our first date on May 25th 1997 and eleven months later on April 4th, 1998, we were married. It was pouring on the day of our outdoor wedding at The Biblical Gardens, but God was faithful to show us that He was in control by parting the clouds and bathing us in sunbeams during the ceremony. It was very surreal.

My relationship with God blossomed once again under the spiritual leadership of my husband. We grew together through the Monday Night Bible study and through the ministry of Family Radio. Together we fell in love with the doctrines of grace and were exposed to the teachings of Martin Luther and John Calvin. Our first year of marriage probably represents more spiritual growth in my life than everything I had learned up until that point. We came under new convictions almost on a daily basis and became more and more conservative in our faith.
New Covenant Baptist was not a conservative church and we began to feel uncomfortable attending there. We longed for a traditional, conservative service with expository teaching and after visiting a few congregations we ended up at Cedar Ridge Baptist on our one year anniversary which also happened to be an Easter Sunday. The focus of the sermon was Ephesians chapter two. It was music to our ears to hear a pastor preach of sin and redemption straight from God’s word. Within a year we became members, My Love was made a deacon and we were asked to teach the junior high Sunday school class and assist the youth pastor.

My time at Cedar ridge was a tremendous time of growth and conviction. The Holy Spirit convinced me that I was being selfish with my life and my husband and I was convicted to stop taking birth control. This was a huge step of faith for me because, even though I always knew that I would have kids, I didn’t really want to give up my independence. The words “take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise” rang through my heart. Three months later I was pregnant only to find out that at eight weeks I was going to miscarry. I was devastated. My Love and I read James 1:2-4 many times over and found peace in knowing that God was perfecting His work in us.

Five months later I found out that I was going to have another miscarriage. This miscarriage was the first real trial of my faith. Never before had I felt so distant from God, however it didn’t take long for me to see that God was using these pregnancies to show me what a blessing children can be and how much He was going to entrust me with by making me a parent. He used them to change my heart from not wanting to give up my independence to having a strong desire to take on whatever challenges He would send.

When I became pregnant for the third time God put other distractions before us that didn’t leave time for worry. As My Love and I continued to study and grow it became apparent that our beliefs did not align with those of Cedar Ridge any longer. When we made this known to the elders we were asked to step down from all leadership positions which at the time felt like we were being persecuted for our faith by our church family. Even though our hearts were broken, we continued to fellowship with Cedar Ridge until K was born. Shortly after, it became obvious that we would not be able to sit under the teachings that we disagreed with so much. We left Cedar Ridge and began attending Covenant Reform Church.

Although we found Covenant Reform Church a little dogmatic we loved the traditional service and thrived under the expository sermons. We would probably still be there today if it wasn’t for the fact that they hold to infant baptism and we do not. I praise the Lord that He gave us another option by forming Crossway Fellowship.

The trials that come with having four young children seem to cause more character building than spiritual growth. However, it does cause me to remember on a daily basis that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. God has brought me back to the basics through my attempts to teach my children about Him and each day I am reminded of his love for me and the faithfulness He has shown me.

Since coming under the teachings of the reform faith one of my favorite verses has become Lamentations 3:26. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. Although I received my salvation before I could remember I quietly wait to see how the Lord will continue to guide me in the working out of my Salvation through my marriage and my children.

By His Grace

Loved to Death

The story behind this one is that at Christmas my pastor asked if I had any Christmas type poems he could read during the church service. I didn't. So I thought I would get a jump on Easter just in case he asked again. I know its a little early for Easter but then there is no time like the present. It's dedicated to my mother because I presented it to her on her birthday as a gift from the heart.

Loved to Death
Dedicated to my Mother
Who has died to self many times on my behalf

King of all kings, Lord from on high,
He became common but for to die.
He rode in a king then was sold for slaves cost.
He gave up His glory that I not be lost.
Betrayed, accused, beaten and shamed,
For the sins of man this king would be blamed.
His body was broken His blood was shed,
A crown of scorns placed on his head.
“Forgive them Father they know not what they do.”
He was speaking of me, was He also of you?
For with each sin I pierced His hand.
But before His Father blameless I’ll stand.
Death could not keep Him, he rose from His grave.
As He told His disciples, He came to save.
Now ascended to reign on high,
He is my advocate in the sky.
Also, within me, a still small voice.
Not by my doing, it was His choice.
To save a wretch so wicked and lame,
But now in God’s eyes we are one in the same.
Thank you, my Brother, for enduring that day.
For dying that in my heart you might stay.
Thank you, my Savior, for rising up,
For praying for me and drinking that cup.
Thank you, my friend, for dwelling in me
And causing this one, so blinded, to see.

By His Grace

E.

E.

E and me.

E and I?

I will be me.

You are an E.

Not E of me.

You are EF.

See?

I have E.

Little E of me.

You are not of me.

Thankfully.

So you are EF.

(Say it "F")

When I speak of E - That is E of me.

When I speak of EF...aha...that is you.

Understand?

Not hard to do.

Summing Up 2006

Every year, in January, I write and send our family newsletter. I do it in January because I figure everyone is busy enough around the holidays (including myself) to sit around and read a boring homespun editoiral of the past year of our lives. Un fortunately for my blog fans you are not getting the full effect of the letter due to my privacy complex and the fact that I still can't post pictures. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy.

Parentisms: Words and/or situations that apply to you simply because you are a parent.
Autorockus Calamitus – The clothes dryer is continuously clanking due to the pockets full of Hotwheels and “pretty” rocks which are added to each cycle.
Whinintoafiticus – When your child realizes whining isn’t working and he decides to throw a fit instead. All children are born knowing that this works especially well in a public setting.
Noddis Oftenidae – A condition where one’s head will continuously drop in a nodding fashion while the eyelids close in a weary manner, often caused by lack of sleep due to early mornings and/or wakeful nights.
Pottytalkuscannotavoidicus – A condition where a persistent stream of potty talk (not to be confused with filthy language) flows through your home. This condition is unavoidable where there are two or more children in diapers and at least one in the midst of potty training.
Forcedum Procrastinatious – The act of being forced to appear as if you are procrastinating when the truth is that you simply do not have the time or the energy (or the brain cells) to complete projects by an expected deadline.
e.g. Your Christmas decorations will be doubling as your Easter decorations.

Dear friends and family,

Is it 2007 already? I don’t even know where to start. I seem to be suffering from a loss of time, lack of energy and fading creativity. As our good friend HC put it, “You used to be funny.” I am definitely suffering from Forcedum Procrastinatious. My Christmas decorations are still up. I’m aiming to have them down by Valentine’s Day…Easter at the latest…Definitely by the Fourth of July. First things first, though, I have to get the news letter done.

M(named after her Grandpa M) was born on Tuesday, October 3rd at 11:50am weighing in at 7lbs 15ozs and 20 inches long. She came into the world with dark hazel eyes and a head full of thick brown hair (Finally one that at least looks related to me). God has been merciful to us in that she has been our easiest baby so far. She took right to sleeping at night and fell into a nice routine during the day. She just loves the swing and with her being #4, I use it without guilt. At four months she is smiling, flirting and ahgooing with anyone who will stop to ahgoo back. She hasn’t given us that first laugh yet but Mommy can tell she is right on the verge. We are praising God for such a happy and healthy little girl.

If E had anything to do with it, M would have laughed the day she came home. E is two years old as of the 28th of January and loves to be the ham in every situation. She puts Shirley Temple to shame with her head of bouncy blonde curls and the ability to put a smile on our faces. Her favorite word is fhieee(fly) and she will repeat it continuously until Mommy scoops her up and flies her around the room. Now, along with fhieee, she knows pin(spin), trow(throw), dump(jump), shing(swing) and up…up…up…Needless to say, Mommy has very tired (but strong) arms. When she isn’t trying to get a laugh or “fhieee”ing E is climbing. Climbing the chairs, climbing the couch, climbing Mommy (who is climbing the walls)…if it will hold her weight, E will climb it.

Being all boy J also loves to climb, and, being all boy, he must then jump from the top of whatever he has climbed. Not only does J love to climb and jump but he also loves to talk. He is very inquisitive about everything from what cars eat to what birds talk about. At three and a half he can out talk any one I know even when he is pretending to be a crocodile. One morning K and J were playing in the girls’ room and I heard K scream and start to cry. She informed me that J had bit her. I asked J if this was true and his reply was a very matter of fact, “Well, I am a crocodile.” Mommy just couldn’t argue with that logic. J, even though a rambunctious boy, is still my most sensitive. He often asks, “You’re happy Mommy?” and no matter what I reply he always says, “I love you, too.”

Besides avoiding bites from local crocodiles, K can be found dressing her Polly Pocket, coloring, or putting together puzzles. Puzzles are K hobby of choice for the moment. She is very good at them and rarely needs any help. K also loves to do school, which is great since she will be officially starting kindergarten this fall (home school of course). K is so grown up now being all of five years old. She even had her first real birthday party with five of her friends. I tried to talk her into a princess party or Tinkerbell or even Hello Kitty but she would hear nothing of it …She wanted Dora the Explorer. Dora decorations, Dora cake, Dora presents… I even persuaded My Love to dress as Swiper the Fox to try and foil the treasure hunt, but he was run off by all the girls yelling, “Swiper no swiping!” It was a blast! In addition to loving puzzles, school, and Dora, K loves to help with M and I love having an extra set of hands when I need them.

In addition to caring for the kids I still squeeze in some time to help at Campus Life. I bring snacks and host staff meetings, although, we have switched from home cooked meals to pizza (What a lifesaver, thanks S and A). One of the highlights of my year (besides giving birth…again) was entering some projects into the county fair. I entered a poem, a children’s story, a toy I made from felt and a scrapbook page. Everything I entered placed and the scrapbook page even took best of show. It felt good to get so much positive feedback and to reaffirm that I still have other skills besides changing diapers and constructing Mega-Bloc towers.

My Love has gone back to school. He is enrolled in Colorado Technical University online to earn a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. The good thing about him being in school online is that he is home and he will be done in one year. Once he is finished he hopes to find a job in code enforcement or something similar. The bad thing about him being in school online is that it consumes a lot of time. His days are very long usually starting at 3:00 in the morning. By the end of the day he is exhausted but he is maintaining a 4.0 GPA and we are praying that God will make all his hard work and effort worth it in the long run.

In the pet department Flip still takes the lead closely followed by the Three Whiskerteers (Our cats, Booger, Daphne, and Twigs). This year our furry pet family was joined by three corn snakes: Red, Candy, and Mocha. Red is all red and orange, Candy is white with red and orange markings, and Mocha is grey with brown and black markings. They are beautiful and they each have distinct personalities but are all very curious and enjoy being held. They are each about three feet in length and are about as thick as a man’s thumb. Fully grown they can reach up to six feet but usually not in captivity. Ours have about another year of growing to do. Flip and the cats watch them intensely as they slither around their cage and the kids love to hold them, with our help still of course. (Right now, as I write, I am smiling while wondering how many of you are squirming just thinking about snakes living in the house).

2006 held many adventures for our family. Starting in January we began attending a Reformed Baptist home church. It is small and intimate and full of people who love the Lord and want to know His Word. Someday we hope to be large enough to require a building, but for now the leaders are satisfied with spiritual growth. In May we took our annual trip to Fort Bragg and decided to swing by Oregon on the way to see Grandma V and Grandpa P. While visiting we dragged them with us to the Portland zoo. It was the kids’ first zoo experience. We had a very full day of dodging raindrops and looking for sleeping animals. After Oregon we met up with my parents in Fort Bragg. We had a great time, as always, playing in the sand and chasing waves. We also saw plenty of waves in June while camping in Tahoe during Crossway Fellowship’s (the name of our church) first annual family camp. Family camp will probably replace our annual trip to Bowman Lake (Sorry J, M, and D…We have to go where the plumbing is. However, we will make our best efforts to eat SPAM at least once a year in your honor). Later in the summer K and J both took swimming lessons. Everyday for two weeks they had a great time wearing down the patience of their swim instructors. After that the rest of the year was a blur until M was born. Once we settled into our new routine, K started attending Awanas. Whew…just writing about it makes me want to wipe my brow and take a nap.

2007 is upon us. And only eleven months to go! Time sure does fly when you’re having babies. Please pray that each day our strength in Christ will be renewed, and as we busy ourselves with kids and school and life that we will be able to enjoy it, and occasionally have a chance to catch our breath.

By His Grace

Back On Track

OK...here is what happened. Somewhere along the line our computer picked up a hiccup and it would suddenly boot us off line with out warning claiming a WIN 32 error...whatever. After a session with the Geek Squad it was determined that nothing could be done but to wipe the system and start over. AYE!!!!! What a hassle. However, not as much of a hassle as getting halfway through a post and then finding out that you're no longer online and have no chance of getting back on without a reboot.

Now everything is all better. Our hard drive is clean...we have a new provider...and most importantly, I've been typing for at least five minutes and I'm still online! Maybe I will even be able to post pictures now. At any rate, I hope to be posting on a more regular basis.

Thank you and good night.

Steve Irwin, more of a rant than a tribute.

I have been meaning to write a tribute for our dear friend Steve Irwin for a long time and just haven’t had the time and energy. I still don’t, but I had a mocha frap and I’m wide awake and since there was a special about him tonight on Animal Planet, I’m in the mindset.

When My Love and I first heard that Steve had been killed by a stingray we thought it was a hoax or at least an exaggeration. Maybe he looked dead when they pulled him from the water but then he got to the hospital and was treated and a full recovery was expected.

No such luck, however. As more and more reports came in containing the circumstances of his death the reality of it began to sink in. We were both heart broken; for his family, for his friends and coworkers, for his mission, and for ourselves. We loved The Croc Hunter and had always planned on visiting the Australia Zoo someday to meet him in person. We wanted our kids to meet him. We wanted to experience his passion and personality first hand. We both shed a tear for the loss of this great person.

PETA would have us believe that he got what he deserved and that it serves him right for “disturbing” the animals. They want us to think that Steve manhandled every creature that he came in contact with and that his interactions with the animals stressed them. I even read reports from animal activists the day after his death criticizing Steve’s work, his zoo, and his way of life – that he profited at the expense of animals. Well I say, CRIKEY, give me a break. I had never before seen any nature show where the host didn’t grab the snake by the neck and squeeze it to keep it from biting. Steve usually got bit if that is what the animal decided to do. He didn’t squish them under a stick or trap them under his boot. He picked them up, kept the heads at a safe distance, and became their friend. He loved the animals, he kissed the animals (right on the lips), he was one of them and they knew it.

As for his zoo…I don’t think that PETA realizes that most of the animals in the facility would be dead if they weren’t there. The animals kept captive in the Australia Zoo probably lived better than Steve or his staff. Most were there for the sake of education and conservation. Would you animal rights people rather have two healthy, beautiful, rare animals well taken care of in a captive setting or none of those animals at all? And whether or not Steve made a lot of money is of no consequence since most of it was dumped back into research, conservation, maintenance, and providing for the animals that were exhibited. Kind of like a parent setting up a trust fund for a child. Who could criticize that?

Steve Irwin just seemed like a great guy, albeit a little crazy. That is what made him so great though, he was crazy, he knew it and he was not the least bit ashamed of it. He was crazy about what he did for animals. Teaching the world to respect them, preserve them, and not to fear them. Even though I saw no evidence that he was a Christian, I believe that the world was blessed by his short life on it. My Love and I were blessed to have him in our lives and we will miss him.

Thank you, Steve.

By His Grace

Spit Happens

So J, E and I (as in me) were left home to fend for ourselves as My Love went to pick up K from Awanas. We kept busy for a time by going through the toy basket and crawling around on the floor. I found Gumby and gave him a voice and with him got J to review his colors and animals and shapes and so on. However, J is three and a half so his attention span shifted, rather quickly, to wanting a video. Since Christmas, the video of choice has been Cars. If you haven’t seen it, do. It’s great for the whole fam. Just be aware that some younger kids might balk at the end of the tractor scene and Lightning’s dream sequence at the Cozy Cone afterwards. Anyway, I said, “No.” much to J’s disappointment. To distract his brain from the agony of denial I started blowing spit bubbles (OK…the first one was an accident but we won’t go into that). For the next ten minutes, I kid you not, J and E took turns popping my spit bubbles with their fingers. They were laughing hysterically. Gumby even got to pop a few.

I guess my point is if you need to distract someone, kill some time, or even if you find yourself in an awkward situation, try blowing a spit bubble. I bet who ever you’re with will smile…even if it is in disgust.

Privacy Reminder

If you haven't noticed I don't use the real or full names of anyone on my blog. I am not weird I just like to be mysterious...No, really I enjoy my privacy and like to respect the privacy of others.

On that note it has been very difficult to be honest about all this weight stuff because not only is it a very personal detail it is also embarrassing. So if you know me personally, please don't feel like you have to discuss any of these personal things with me face to face. I would prefer to think that you don't know about them at all. Unless of course I bring them up. Then you can act as if its the first you've heard of it. Yeah, that's what we'll do!

Another exception to the rule would be if you wanted to shower me with compliments about how funny and entertaining my blog is even without pictures (yet) or fancy graphics. You could also mention my great writing skills and how you can't believe that I don't get paid to do this. And don't forget to rave about my dry, sarcastic, yet charmingly witty sense of humor...oh, you could go on all night...but you digress...

back to reality...I think its just me and my biggest fan (I love you, My Love).

Squishability, 10

So my best friend A just had a baby on the 29th of December. He is the most beautiful, perfect little man I have ever seen. Ok...I mean besides mine, but even so, mine always came out so fast that they were purple, swollen and bruised. Try to picture a child spawned by Rocky Balboa (just after the the big fight) and Mr. Magoo. Seriously. Especially M. I have a picture of her when she was only a few minutes old and it brings to mind the line, "Violet, you're turning violet, Violet!" She looks like a little blueberry wearing a onesie.

Anyway, A's new baby is very handsome and oh so squishable. Congratulations A & J!!!