? ? ? Interview Time ? ? ?

Here are my questions for the following 8 brave souls who volunteered to be interviewed:
Penless Thoughts, Jen in MS, Lori B, Jane-Jane, Just Mom, Erin, Ginger and Adopted As His Own

1. How would a good friend describe you?
2. If you could go back in time, say 10 years, what is something you would tell the "you" of 1997?
3. How do you determine or evaluate success?
4. What were your most/least favorite subjects in school? Why?
5. What are your hobbies? What do you do in your spare time?
6. Describe the most rewarding experience of your life thus far.

Okay, you should answer at least five of the six questions. Next, post to your blog along with an explanation and an opportunity for fellow bloggers to be interviewed. When others comment, asking to play along, you'll create 6 questions for them to answer and so on and so forth. Thanks for playing along, I can't wait to read your answers - this certainly could get interesting! ;-)

Is this normal?

All I can say is OUCH! I don't know how Quintin does this, but he can walk the whole way across a room with his toes curled under. This just pains me to watch. :-O

Are his toes double-jointed?

Should I be any bit concerned?

ouch...ouch...ouch...

Interview with Momma Roar

Tracy did this interview the other day and asked if anyone wanted to take part. I volunteered myself and here are her questions, and my answers. I enjoy these types of posts because they random and not things I would write about, but it gives you, my fans, a better idea of the ramblings and what-have-yous happening in my mind, as scary as that may be! Tracy says I must answer at least 5 of the 6 questions - so, here we go.

1. If you use a dishwasher, do you rinse the dishes BEFORE you load them?

I do use a dishwasher, but I do not rinse the dishes in the sink before loading them. I do, however, run the 4 minute rinse cycle on my dishwasher if I am not ready to wash a full load! So, technically, my dishes do get rinsed before being washed - just not by me!! Gee, I really love that option!

2. Would you rather read a book or watch a movie?

I would rather curl up with a book and let my mind escape into new places and experiences. But, in the real world, I'd settle for the movie because it takes less time and I don't have to try to find my place after one of the kids pull out my bookmark.

3. What does your perfect day consist of?

I guess I could be really selfish and say it would consist of breakfast in bed, a back massage, pedicures, manicures and the like. But, again, to come back to the real world, I consider a day here pretty perfect if we can enjoy a few meals at the table together, enjoy some family time together, get some jobs crossed off the "to-do" list, and, well, let's just throw in the back massage for fun!!

4. Pick a song that best describes you.

This is really hard. I thought about MercyMe's "No More No Less," but I don't allow myself to be that transparent. Then, I revert back to "They're Coming to Take Me Away," but again, it isn't that bad! I even tossed around The Carpenter's "We've Only Just Begun" thinking of our homeschool journey. Is there a song titled, "Ask me a week after I publish this post, because then the perfect answer will come to me?" If there is, that would be the song that best describes me. My wittiness often comes a day late and a dollar short!

5. If money were no object, where would you live and what would you be doing with your life?

I don't think I could choose just one place to live. I've lived in the same small town all of my life (with the exception of my college years) so I would not want to stay in one place. I see myself traveling with my family and learning on the go. We'd pack up in an RV and travel. After seeing everything accessible by road travel, we'd trade in the RV for a private jet and travel the world. Homeschool a la hands-on fieldtrips!
BUT, if my children were grown and we were empty-nesters, I'd be suntanning on the beaches of Bermuda and reading a book - only having to worry about T removing my bookmark!

6. Share one surefire way to get to your heart.

You mean besides chocolate and Pepsi?

If you are interested in being interviewed, let me know in the comments. I'll respond by asking you five questions and I'll try to be more creative than my last attempt at random questions - considering I took them from blogthings! You can then post your answers on your blog and invite others to join in the creative-funness! Thanks for your questions, Tracy!

Crazy Girl!

Here's my Elle-Belly! Here's Elle asleep on her bedroom floor - and yes, you can see she does have a bed! She gets out when she has a messy diaper. She gets a new diaper, the wipes and a change of clothes. Why she picks out the new clothing is a mystery to us. Then, instead of letting us know she's messy - she falls asleep.Wake up sleepy-head! Here's Elle cleaning. Again, when she wakes up from her nap she doesn't say anything, she just busies herself with taking the wipes out of the box. She hasn't done this for a while so maybe she's finally learned that she should stop pulling them out! And, here she is taking a much needed cleaning break. This girl cracks me up - she is just a photo op waiting to happen. If you remember, I don't drink coffee - so I'm not sure where she got her inspiration for this photo! These last few are of Elle playing with her dollhouse. Through Elle's play, you can get a pretty accurate idea of what I do during the day! ;-)

Oh, look, here's Mommy rocking Baby!

Wow, what a long day, time for bed!

Just to make myself look better clarify, this dollhouse is not equipped with a washer/dryer, but I find it funny that it came with a computer! Even the kitchen is rather basic - so this mommy is really limited to what she can do during the day!!! :)

**Update**

Please go here to find out more about printing, posting or purchasing Maggie's artistic interpretation of Beth Moore's Columbia commission.

Isn't it AWESOME?

2nd update - Maggie has given permission for this to be published on blogs again. You'll notice it now has a watermark.

I think it is so awesome - I wanted to update this post...again! he he :)
5/7/07

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

The picture had to be removed.

From Magnanimity:
So…here’s the bad news: due to the above, it (the graphic posted on Friday) is currently available for printing, posting, or personal use without permission from the authors, and from LifeWay. And, one huge favor, if you’ve posted it, would you help all of us by please removing it. That would help everyone involved act responsibly. I’d so love to hear from you equally in obedience as I did in celebration. Spread the word. God bless you richly."


***********************************************************************
The above is Beth Moore’s Columbia Commission (An Artistic Interpretation) by
Magnanimity. To read more go to the Living Proof Ministries Blog.

Thank you for letting me share this Maggie!

A*ndre*a B*oce*lli sings El*mo to sleep

This was on Ses*ame Stre**et the other night and I couldn't resist posting it. I have always loved his voice (An*d*rea Boc*el*li's is good too - har har har).
Funny story: After watching this episode, I gave the children baths and afterwards I was trimming their toenails. Quintin was counting each one in true "Count" fashion - 1 toe*nail trimmed, 2 toe*nails trimmed, and so on. He had the biggest smile on his face as he continued counting because he knew he was making his mom laugh!
So, do we watch too much Ses*ame Stre**et? Nah...

Do you have a favorite S*esame Stre**et moment?

The Four Promises of Forgiveness

The Four Promises of Forgiveness: Powered by Hebrews 9:22

"In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and
without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."

Forgiveness may be described as a decision to make four promises:

"I will not dwell on this incident."
"I will not bring up this incident again and use it against you."
"I will not talk to others about this incident."
"I will not let this incident stand between us or hinder our personal relationship."

By making and keeping these promises, you can tear down the walls that stand between you and your offender. You promise not to dwell on or brood over the problem or to punish by holding the person at a distance. You clear the way for your relationship to develop unhindered by memories of past wrongs. This is exactly what God does for us, and it is what he calls us to do for others.

Taken from The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict by Ken Sande, Updated Edition (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 2003) pp. 209. Clicking on this link will take you to the Peacemaker bookstore where you can download the first chapter of this book for free .

Food For Thought
Do you sometimes find yourself breaking (or tempted to break) one or more of the Four Promises of Forgiveness sometime after you make them? That's a very normal experience--and, believe it or not, it's an invitation from God to draw closer to him. The key is remembering and applying Hebrews 9:22. That verse tells us that in the universe there is only one source of durable forgiveness: the Cross of Christ. "Without the shedding of blood," the verse says, "there is no forgiveness."

For a time, we may be able to forgive someone out of our own willpower or our human desire for reconciliation, but eventually even our best efforts will buckle (yes, even when they're buoyed up by the Four Promises). If we want our forgiveness of others to "stick", we ourselves need to "stick" continually--to the Cross. So when you sense a long-buried hatchet rising to the surface, don't dwell on those thoughts. Instead, dwell on Christ's forgiveness of your own sin. The more real that becomes for you, the less real temptations toward unforgiveness will be.

**********
I found this to be such a powerful email for me, that I wanted to share it today. Holding grudges is something I am working to break. Doing so is like building a wall between me and another person, and it is nearly impossible to talk openly while the wall is there. God doesn't keep a record of my sins; when he forgives, he forgives completely, tearing down any wall between me and him. I need to do the same.

How to correctly weigh yourself...

I can't believe I was doing it wrong all these years.

We must get the word out.

Making the Graphics

I wanted to share this since a few of you asked. This is how I make my graphics, there may be an easier way, but this is what works for me, lol. I use MS Publisher and HP Image Zone.

MS Publisher allows me to create the graphic with pictures and add the text. In Publisher, I can save it as a 'jpeg' file, by going to "Save As" and clicking on "Save As Type" drop down menu and choosing "JPEG File Interchange Format."

Once I have it saved as a JPEG, I can open it up in HP Image Zone and crop it down to size, rather than being a full page.

I hope this is helpful to some of you who wanted to know. I am not sure if it can be done in other programs or not, but wanted to share how I've learned to do it. Let me know if you make some graphics, I'd like to stop by and check them out.

Also, here is how to do the strike through:

Oh no...

The following is an ad that appeared four days in a row in a real-life newspaper -- the last three hopelessly trying to correct the first day's mistake.

MONDAY: For sale: R.D. Jones has one sewing machine for sale. Phone 948-0707 after 7 PM and ask for Mrs. Kelly who lives with him cheap.

TUESDAY Notice: We regret having erred in R.D. Jones' ad yesterday. It should have read "One sewing machine for sale cheap. Phone 948-0707 and ask for Mrs. Kelly, who lives with him after 7 PM."

WEDNESDAY Notice: R.D. Jones has informed us that he has received several annoying telephone calls because of the error we made in the classified ad yesterday. The ad stands correct as follows: "For sale: R.D. Jones has one sewing machine for sale. Cheap. Phone 948-0707 after 7 PM and ask for Mrs. Kelly who loves with him."

THURSDAY Notice: I, R.D. Jones, have no sewing machine for sale. I smashed it. Don't call 948-0707 as I have had the phone disconnected. I have not been carrying on with Mrs.Kelly. Until yesterday she was my housekeeper but she quit!

From the Good, Clean Funnies List

The Good, The Bad & The Kinda Cool

:) The Good: All the children are feeling great this week.

:( The Bad: Momma now has what the children had.

;) The Kinda Cool: I've lost 8 lbs since last week. Let me assure you first, this is not a weight loss program I'd recommend.

Lesson learned: Take the good with the bad, because you never know when something kinda cool will come of it!

I've developed a bit of an obsession a passion (quiet Ginger) for creating these graphics. A few have been labeled "silly" by some! The pictures are in a publishing program we have. When I come across a quote or saying that I really like, I look for a picture to match it - so they aren't 'originals.' But it has been fun making them and I was just REAL excited when I figured out how to save a document as picture file. All that to say - there will be more to come!

Have a great weekend friends!

Photo Exhibit by Quintin

Show and Tell

I thought this was such a fun idea that I wanted to participate. Thanks Kelli - for more Show and Tells visit Kelli's blog.

I'd like to introduce you to my first real knitting project! For me, this is a big deal, because I only learned how to knit a year ago. My mother in law taught me how while we were on a ski trip last year.

To back up a little, when I was pregnant with my oldest, I thought it would be so much fun to knit a blanket, booties and all that stuff for my first baby. I went to the store and bought a Learn to Knit book (basically a Knit for Dummies book) and I was such a dummy that I still couldn't figure it out! I was still able to nurture my baby and take care of him, even if he wasn't wearing cute little knit booties!

We were in a plane, headed west, and my mother in law taught me how to knit. I think I made 2 or 3 scarves that week alone! When we came home I was up for a bigger challenge. There is a local knit shop and the owner is just wonderful! I headed to her store and told her I wanted something basic, but wanted to go beyond a scarf.

She showed me a pattern for a purse and I believed it would be next to impossible for me to complete that. Instead of using 2 knitting needles, the pattern called for 1 pair of circular needles, basically 2 needles combined with a plastic cord. By using the circular needles, I was able to knit the entire pattern and not have to yet attempt to conquer my fear of learning how to purl.

The thing I liked the most about the purse is that it is felted. I knit it with wool yarn and the pattern has you make it really big! After I was finished knitting, I had to sew the bottom closed and then I tossed it in the washer on the highest heated water setting I had and it shrunk it. So instead of looking like a knit sweater, you can barely see the knit rows.

I am not much of an artist when it comes to drawing or painting, but when I can create something with my hands, by myself - and it looks like it is supposed to, I get excited! Thanks for taking a look at my show and tell.

Prettiest Moms

Before I was a Mom I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn’t worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom - I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.
Before I was a Mom I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do
tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.
Before I was a Mom I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put them down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.
Before I was a Mom - I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn’t know how special it could feel to feed (nurse) a hungry baby.
I didn’t know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn’t know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.
Before I was a Mom - I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn’t know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

I don't know who wrote this or where it originated, but I thought it was sweet and wanted to dedicate it to some real pretty moms - that would be those of you reading, in case you weren't sure!

What does it mean when...

...you get excited that your flowers at the kitchen sink are blooming...

...and then you remember that they're artificial?

7 things about myself

Tara has tagged me to do a post telling you fine folks 7 things about myself. I could tell you the same thing 7 different ways, but I figure it'll be more to do that random "betcha didn't know this" kind of thing.

1. I've never had a cavity.

2. I was a cheerleader in HS.

3.I have lots of freckles and when my children first notice them, they ask I how I got my boo-boos.

4. I've done 4 loads of laundry since last night. I've set a new record. Quintin is now sick, and I even think Colin might have a touch of it.

5. Growing up I wanted to be either a teacher or a veterinarian. I gave up the latter because I got to overwhelmed thinking about having to put an animal to sleep.


6. My first job out of college was for the local YMCA. I taught PE for 2 private schools that didn't have gyms. So I would pick up the classes, in a really old 15 passenger van, and bring them to the Y. I also ran their youth sports programs on the weekends, soccer in the fall and spring and basketball in the winter. When I was hired, they wanted to welcome me by announcing my start on the marquee outside. Unfortunately, the worker in charge of changing it hadn't met me yet and didn't realize I had two names. Although it would have been nice to have two 'me's to do the job!

7. After spending one year at the Y, I got hired at an elementary school just blocks from the Y. I had driven past the school many times while traveling with my students and I didn't even know it was there.

Mrs. Goodnest

A mom was concerned about her Kindergarten son walking to school. He didn't want his mother to walk with him. She wanted to give him the feeling that he had some independence, but yet know that he was safe.

So, she had an idea of how to handle it. She asked a neighbor if she would please follow him to school in the mornings, staying at a distance, so he probably wouldn't notice her.

She said that since she was up early with her toddler anyway, it would be a good way for them to get some exercise as well, so she agreed.

The next school day, the neighbor and her little girl set out following behind Timmy as he walked to school with another neighbor boy he knew. She did this for the whole week.

As the boys walked and chatted, kicking stones and twigs, Timmy's little friend noticed the same lady was following them as she seemed to do every day all week. Finally, he said to Timmy, "Have you noticed that lady following us to school all week? Do you know her"?

Timmy nonchalantly replied, "Yeah, I know who she is."

The friend said, "Well, who is she"?

"That's just Shirley Goodnest," Timmy replied. "And her daughter Marcy."

"Shirley Goodnest? Who the heck is she and why is she following us"?

"Well," Timmy explained. "Every night, my mom makes me say the 23rd Psalm with my prayers, because she worries about me so much. And in the Psalm, it says, 'Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life,' so I guess I'll just have to get used to it!"

May "Shirley Goodnest" and "Marcy" be with you, today and always.

Feeling Randomized?

Aisha and Ginger were the only courageous souls to step up to my Feeling Randomized challenge! Thank you gals! I had done this a few days ago and it was really fun. Are you ready?

Here are my random questions:

1. What TV or movie character are you most like and why?

2. How do you like to spend a lazy summer afternoon?

3. You're stuck in Lancaster county for a day. How do you keep yourself occupied?

4. Time for a food fight...What's your strategy to win?

5. If you found a wallet with a ton of cash and an ID, what would you do?


Hmmm, between Aisha and Ginger, this could be very interesting! I can't wait to read your answers! And, please, don't think I am so creative in coming up with these questions. I stole borrowed them from blogthings!!! You know, I need all the help I can get with my recent surgery and all.