SiLLiNeSS!

1.) We have a ritual in our house~a rite of passage of sorts. Whenever a child becomes tall enough that opening the freezer door bonks them in the head, they are growing up. This becomes a HUGE show between mommy and daddy calling through the house for one another with loud and dramatic (fake) crying about how “our dear baby is growing up!” They can never wait for this moment to come and test it over and over many times, thinkin’ they should be tall enough already before they actually are~LOL!

2.) From Hazel last week: “Dad, who wakes the sun?”

3.) At the dinner table one evening my darling threatened the boys with knuckle sandwiches for their behavior. Preston didn‘t skip a beat before asking, “Aren’t I allergic to those?” HA HA!

4.) Allen and Jamie have been discussing Tony Hawk’s jumping of The Great Wall of China at great length, about how people have tried and failed, but he was successful on a skateboard. PLEASE pray for my children! Now Jamie has gotten the great idea to jump that same wall one day on a unicycle….

5.) Hazel went in and woke Allen this morning by stroking his hair and face while cooing, “Poooooor Allen… Pooooor Allen…” When he opened his eyes she smiled, put her face REALLY close to his and whispered, “Read a book?”

6.)  So my darling turns to me while we’re driving this evening and jokes, “You wanted me to go to Jared and get you a diamond for Mother’s Day?”  I look at him like he’s CrAzY and reply, “You better NOT!  Now if you want to spend that same amount of money on yarn….” 

7.)  This isn’t SiLLy, but my Jamie is sooo incredibly SWEET!  I went in to kiss him goodnight one evening this week, only to find him sobbing uncontrollably and TOTALLY crying HUGE crocodile tears!  AW!  “What’s wrong?!!” I asked him.  “I’m so sorry~you might not get a Mother’s Day present, because Allen balled it up!” he cried.  (In Allen’s defense, he says he didn’t realize what it was~he wasn’t trying to be yucky!)  He immediately found comfort in the fact that HE was better than any Mother’s Day present I could ever receive~my Mother’s Day is SET!  He thanked me, hugged me, and rolled right on over and went to sleep.  Poor thing’s eyes probably stung~LOL! 

TAGGED twice~YAAAHHHOOOOOOOOO!

The lovely Terra and Amanda have both tagged me, so I think I need to do this thing!  and y’all know that for real I like these things anyway…. 

 

Now Terra got me a good while back with the Excellent award~*THANK YOU!* for thinking I come anywhere near that, girl!  I did want to point y’all to two blogs that I really, really like and deem worthy of an award for bloggy Excellence.  The reason I chose them is because they are written by men, and honestly, men don’t get recognized much on my blog.  I am very careful about internet communications of any kind with males, as I know of too many real life stories of marriages falling apart from this.  I would never want to communicate regularly with a guy out of respect for my darling!  I’m not trying to say anyone is interested, I’m just sayin’…  SO~here are two blogs I do pop over and read from time-to-time that more than deserve mentioning: 

http://monarchbfly.com/

Apostolic Messenger

 

Now onto the present tag!  The rules are: 

• Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
• Share seven random and/or weird things about yourself~the second tag is for six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.  I’m combining them, because although I’m weird enough to have APLENTY to fill these, I can’t think of them all at once….
• Tag seven people at the end of your post and include links to their blog.
• Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1.)  I prefer toe socks.  My favorites are from East Bowl, because they’re like regular socks~meaning they don’t have scrubby bottoms and aren’t knee-high.

2.)  I have always wanted a bidet.  Funny~I see now that East Bowl has those, too!

3.)  I always get online when I’m cooking pancakes.  I make a lot at once and cannot seem to time the flipping well usually, but while on the internet they come out PERFECTLY *every* time! 

4.)  As you’ve probably guessed, our computer is in the kitchen.  My online time is *usually* when I’m cookin’.

5.)  I am a crunchy, very conservative, Christian, right-wing, eco-friendly, crocheting, mountain dulcimer playin’, Bible-thumpin’, home birthin’, extended nursin’, homeschoolin’ attachment parenter who likes trash TV.  Blending all these things makes me pretty weird….

6.)  I don’t consider myself to be a great mind.  I would like to be much smarter!  There’s just never enough time in the day to add much more.  I have a looong list of things I want to accomplish in personal study, but I’m already trying to fit in all the above…  LOL!

7.)  I love, love, LOVE people!  I mean, I *REALLY DO!*  There are SO MANY ideas that go with this that I don’t know how to express it all.  Let me try with this one teensy aspect of it:  I love to watch “WifeSwap”~something I’ve been afeared to tell y’all~LOL!  The concept of living a short time in another’s shoes is *exciting* to me!  (I would never do it unless my own children were teenagers.)  I sometimes learn A LOT from this show and love the changes for the better that often occur in each family, but I also am disheartened by how much animosity and condemnation is shared by the participants towards one another’s way of life.  I just do not understand why people cannot embrace one another for how they’re different, why the focus has to be on what they’re doing wrong according to another’s way of doing things.  I could never think so much of myself as to believe I’ve got it all right!  As a matter-of-fact, ruling my own spirit and managing my own sin is a full-time job~I don’t get how that should point outward.  Does that make any sense? 

I am tagging:

1.)  My Dizzle 

2.)  3rsandahug

3.)  tam

4.)  Sherry

5.)  Ellie

6.)  Missy

7.)  Shari

8.)  Shelly~Hazelcreek~changed her blog over~OH which one is it?  I’ve been outta the loop! 

And while I’m here, please let me give a shout-out to Shirley.  She won a crocheted dishcloth from me and tickled me pink with her post about it~with pics! 

 

(((((HUGS)))))  sandi

Weekly Prayer

Please continue to remember others in prayer!  I’d personally ask please for grace in getting an extension from the city for our house painting and repair~and then that we’d get a fire lit under us and DO IT!  (((((HUGS)))))  sandi

 1.)  From tam:  I just don’t want to delay in living. Living for Him. Living out His will. There is so much to do. So much for Him.

Amen to that!!

2.)  Your request goes here~please leave a comment so we can pray for you! 

SiLLiNeSS!

1.) We had the most lovely serenade on our anniversary from our children. I mean, no such day would be very special without a rendition of “Love Stinks”~especially sung with great enthusiasm from your two-year-old! LOL!

2.) While visiting my cousin I discovered that he and I both squeeze our fries. What I mean is, we can tell by their appearance or feel how they will taste, and we may separate them. This is very interesting, because we have not spent lots of time together….

3.) Along the same vein, my darling and my Jamie eat Crackers and soup the very same way~take a bite of soup, take a bite of cracker. Preston, Hazel and I crush them into our soup. We all live together though….

4.) Hazel has had her toenails painted for the very first time, and OH! What FUN! We soaked our feet together and then I started with mine. “I LIKE IT!” she squealed. Then I found a pale pink and did hers, only she hated when I would pause to wipe a little off of her skin. “THIS ONE!” she’d urge. TOO CUTE!

5.) We experienced a very, very successful week on our revamped schedule, and I have hopes of it carrying us through the summer. The night before though Jamie came and told me, “We gotta drop the schedule!” He was not excited about getting up a little earlier than usual~LOL!

6.) Allen has inherited my mixed up understanding of names. One of James Brown’s most popular remixes has become to us, “Pay the Monkey” (“Ain‘t it Funky“). This leaves my darling shaking his head and muttering, “I love my boy, but he has achieved a level of whiteness that even white people can’t achieve…” LOL!

7.) My darling treated Hazel and I to a trip to Claire’s so she could pick out her very own toenail polish. She picked out the most beautiful shade of pale, metallic pink. Then she tried on pink purses and stood in the mirror modeling them and talking to herself for like, fifteen minutes. OH did EVERYBODY think she was adorable~she is SO FUNNY!

Little Golden Books

Okay, I think everybody in the world is familiar with these EXCEPT for me~LOL!  I’ve just started checking them out and am slowly working on building a collection.  Our Ben Franklin has them for $2.99, so we get one here and there as we are able and will check some thrift shops too.  I am SO enjoying them with Hazel and Preston~they’re favorite so far is THE POKEY LITTLE PUPPY.  I really like THE BIG BROWN BEAR, which we checked out from the library.  Too cute!  I’m searching for LITTLE MOMMY and hope to get NURSE NANCY and DOCTOR DAN in the future.  HOW in the WORLD did I miss these?

 

Yesterday an ice cream shop here did a special where you could get a scoop for .31~and you could get up to TEN scoops per order!  Naw, I didn’t get ten, but we all had a really great time.  We ended up at Barnes and Noble, as we had ordered HEAVEN FOR KIDS (our current devotional) and another of Allen’s homeschooling books.  We also left with a Strawberry Shortcake splurge~and OH!  You should have seen my Hazel with her book in one hand and her bill in the other.  I tell you the truth, her entire gait changed, and you could see she thought she was a big girl and awfully mature.  I only know this because I recognized it~I remember feeling that way myself as a little person.  Isn’t that funny?  I don’t remember much else!  HA HA!  Anyway, it was really a joy to watch her buy her book.  That book prompted a Strawberry Shortcake online search.  We printed out a few coloring pages and drooled over some finds~like a Strawberry Shortcake watch and clock and scooter and cami set~OH how much FUN we had bumpin’ around on the internet together, Hazel squealin’ all the time.

 

As the weather get’s warmer we get the pleasure of hearing the ice cream truck coming, and we ABSOLUTELY LOVE our ice cream man!  He has been around for years and remembers Preston’s allergies and that Allen likes sour things~he’s really neat!  Every once in a while someone different will come around, but we wanna stay faithful to our guy!  He and his wife are expecting a baby in September, so I’m on the lookout for something to crochet for them.

 

It’s a beautiful day here, and I’m looking forward to meeting WomanofGod at the playground with my crochet in hand.  I have several more things to add to my list of completed projects, but I think I have forgotten right many of them~LOL!  (((((HUGS)))))  sandi 

Just an update….

While I’ve been crocheting Mother’s Day gifts for my Moms I decided that I’m head-over-heels for cotton yarn.  I think if I were to hoard a yarn stash, it would be cotton.  It’s so versatile, and I’m ALWAYS making dishcloths.  I’d like to venture out and try grocery bags and rugs and afghans and more with it….

 

Well, I think I briefly shared that we revamped our schedule.  We used MOTH as our guide again, and OH the PEACE!  LOL!  We’ve been sick a lot this year it seems, and each time it kinda knocked the wind out of our homeschooling sails.  OH the attitudes and behaviors that ensue from ALL of us when we’re wandering around aimlessly~for that’s what it feels like without our schedule in place.  Like we’re missing the mark, because we don’t know the goal.  This is week two, and while I’m more tired than I’ve ever been in my life, it is very, very rewarding!

 

I have something very embarrassing to share.  WHY, oh WHY do I feel the need to share it then?  I don’t know~I just can’t help myself.  We spotted a little parking lot carnival today from a quick mall stop.  I was immediately *excited*~I mean, this is the thing childhoods are made of, right?  My darling took us over there (because of MY exuberance!) with an idea of the boys enjoying a ride and a funnel cake. 

 

When I saw the price of ride tickets, I was okay.  When I saw that on top of that it was $2 a person to get in, I was ready to turn around.  My darling said it was okay, so in we went.  It was the *most horrible* experience!  The guys at the games were *very* pushy.  Come and try to pop this balloon~it’s free to try it!  Then they try to rope you in to win a prize.  We won one of those silly snakes with our $2, and I told the guy we were on a budget when he tried to push us further to win bigger prizes.  So another guy up the way sees our snake and says he’d love to give us a better prize but for all the children this time~try popping one of my balloons.  While you’re led to believe you’re trying the game, the darts are put into your hands again and again~and then afterward you’re charged $20 for each balloon popped~including the one he popped for you when you missed.  Four-inch, $5 stuffed stupidity is given to the kids~$5 a balloon now, and mama is MAD!  I tried to say we didn’t want the prizes; my darling said it was okay.  I think he saw I was beginning to FREAK OUT!  We then find that all the rides are three or four tickets each, so we don’t even have enough tickets for all the boys to ride one ride~and we’ve already spent a lot of money.  He is ready to leave, and I am too~in tears.  We gave our eleven tickets along with a warning to someone just coming in as we were leaving.

 

HI!  I’m sandi, and I’m a sucker.  Everyone can see me comin’ it seems.  I had to pray A LOT in the van~for my anger and for the game-leader who I felt misrepresented himself.  HOW did a kid’s carnival meant for family fun turn into something like this?  I’ve been to many, and I’ve NEVER been treated this way.  Didn’t see it comin’!  Everyone was sooo aggressive and even used trickery to take your money, by saying one thing and then doing another.  I just find this extremely sad and am working through my emotions~I was really mad at the guy, but truthfully, I was the one gullible enough to be taken. 

 

Next time I’ll just say sorry, I hate stuffed animals and don’t like the prizes.  Nah, there probably won’t be a next time~LOL!  I know I’m awfully naive and have lived in La La Land for a very long time, but my eyes have been opened.  What a strange thing, after all the things we go through in life, THIS is what made me see everything in a new way.  I feel almost violated, robbed.  Okay, okay.  I know I’m awfully dramatic, too~LOL!  but it is painful and GOOD all at the same time.  A valuable lesson was learned today!  Productive family discussion ensued.  This is just another evidence of late that I’m *finally* growing up just a little….

 

(((((HUGS)))))  sandi

Weekly Prayer

1.)  Please continue to pray that Steven will be found.  http://findstevenromero.org

2.)  Your request goes here~please leave me a comment! 

I challenge you!

No matter your background or religion, I CHALLENGE Y’ALL to read Heaven by Randy Alcorn.  I have just begun, and it’s already put a spring in my step.  PLEASE come and share your reviews with me~positive and negative!  I will post them here.  All I ask is that you be respectful.  *THANKING YOU!*

 

During our walk today we got to see a bird sitting on her nest in a eucalyptus tree!  It was a thrill for us all!  Well, that and watching Hazel push her Shortcakes along in her stroller.  She even knows how to pop the wheels up to get up on the curb~LOL!  We have tweaked our schedule and are really enjoying getting lots done.  That’s all I got today….  (((((HUGS)))))  sandi

I can’t believe my baby’s TWO!

And OH what a birthday it was! TOO CUTE! I sang to her when she woke up, and we lied there and laughed and sang for a long time. “Are you my Happy Birthday Girl?” I’d ask. “Yeah, birthday gurl,” she’d say. Then as she toddled down the stairs she sang out, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY GURL!” like, “Here I come!” LOL! She saw all the pink and red streamers and balloons and got very excited. We played volleyball with them for a good while and then put on a tiara and checked out the table decorations. Allen drew *the most beautiful* Strawberry Shortcake sign for the front door!

 

Pretty early in the day she spied a wrapped parcel in the living room and was ready to rip into it. We all gathered around as she opened the crocheted Strawberry Shortcake doll I made her. “SHORTCAKES! You MADE this! BEAUTIFUL~she’s GORGEOUS! I like it!” she exclaimed and then fingered all the parts again and hugged her close~eyes, hat, hair, nose, pants, shoes… and not too long after that she spotted another wrapped parcel, but I don’t think everyone made it in there before she got it open~LOL! It was a hot pink Graco dolly stroller, and she immediately strapped “Shortcakes” in and proceeded to run us all down. “OH Hazel! Yer gonna traumatize yer baby!” I’d tell her. This sent Jamie into fits of laughter….

 

A little later on she was at the kitchen table and said, “Mama?” I answered, yes Hazel? “I happy,” came her sweet reply. OH will I remember that little, contented voice for a looong time!

 

Now our tradition is for the birthday child to make the cake with mama, but everyone was still in different stages of running to the bathroom~including the Happy Birthday Gurl. We’ll give it another go this weekend maybe. I think this birthday was berry extraordinary anyway!

 

(((((HUGS))))) sandi

Prayer Monday

Please pray for children today.  Pray for children of divorce, pray for children who are sick, pray for children who are hungry, pray for children who are bullied or abused.  Pray for children to have the courage to stand strong for what is right even among their peers.  (((((HUGS)))))  sandi

 

1.)  From isawienlady:  I have a prayer that I’m not wanting to share right now, but if you can keep us in your thoughts as things unfold! (it’s nothing bad.)

 

2.)  From Jackie:  I’m asking everyone to pray for my daughter-in-law Stefany’s father, Steven, who has been missing in a remote area of New Mexico since Monday.  He lives in Magdalena, NM, about an hour and a half from Albuquerque.  He was on his way to a doctor’s appointment in Albuquerque and never made it.  The local Magdalena police had seen his truck on a remote road on Monday, but they didn’t start trying to locate the owner until Thursday.  Steve lived alone in Magdalena and it looks like he was in the midst of changing a flat tire when someone or something interrupted him and has vanished. 

The local police started doing a land and air search on Friday but had not checked anything else like bank accounts, etc.  His truck was unlocked and cell phone missing. The state police took over the investigation yesterday.  

 Steve is 61 years old.  My daughter-in-law Stefany is about to go insane not knowing where her dad is.  Please pray that they find him soon.  I took her to the airport last night to try and help her aunt and uncle and aid in the search for her father.  Please pray that she’s able to hold up during this horrible situation.  I’m so worried about her. 

Thanking you all for your support and prayers, and I’m truly grateful.

 

3.)  Your prayer request goes here~leave me a comment!