I am going to admit a dirty little secret... BooMama has challenged us to admit what TV candy we watch....I admit it -- I watch avidly.....

America's Got Talent!!! (ok -it's not THAT bad! Pick your jaws up off the floor, and clean the soda off your monitor, I'll wait...)

Yes, it is a D-list imitation of American Idol, with Piers Morgan (the Simon-esk Englishman) , Brandi (a Paula like bleeding heart), and David Hasselhoff (WTH???) and dear Regis Philben as host! OH MY WORD! Hilarious fun!

The winner of the talent competion will get 1 MILLION dollars. My question is, really, do these people really believe their performances are WORTH 1 million dollars?? One guy balanced a stove on his chin -- all in good fun - but worth a MILLION? I don't think so.

You MUST watch just to see what this guy wears~ but Don't miss the oldest male stripper - or Snow White! (OH MAN Piers and David LOVED her - and pulled Brandi away from the buttons to continue watching her)

Then there is REAL talent! Bianca blew away the judges and she's only 11! This guy has talent - I hope Circ sees him. There were a few others but there are not pictures to link to.:-(

And last but certainly not least (and also not coming back) you can't have missed the Dancing Cow!

In the interest of fairness - I NEVER watch these reality type shows (Survivor, American idol, the bachelor/bachelorette, the apprentice).

Ok - Once I watched a season of the bachelor the one in New York with the guy from Sliders... Also I did like that one with Monica Lewinsky - "Mr. Personality". OK disclaimer over.

Oh yeah -- I am ALL OVER the Star vs. Barbara thing! I watch The View almost every day (and I can LISTEN to it on the radio in the car!). And I am SOOOOO on Barbara's side (which I know now not only does she read my blog, but is also breathing a BIG sigh of relief that I think she's right)

So I am Finally participating in CherrioButt's Peek Inside Me Weekly!

My favorite subject! How I met my Hubby.

The year is 1991 --

Z.Cavariccis are hot (I however am shopping at Kmart much to my embarrassment)

New Kids on the Block love is coming to an end

M C Hammer "you can't touch this" is coming and so are the parachute pants!

Banana clips and slouch socks (in layers) are cool

and I looked like this --



Yeah - I got strange looks for that shirt then too! But it was my favorite one!

The girl in the picture with me is my friend Heather (yes we were The Heathers - remember that movie??)

On the first day of high school , she drags me into the building telling me I just HAVE to meet this boy with the CUTEST ears! Yes, his ears! They got all red when he would get embarrassed - she found this adorable - for me, she wasn't interested in him.
SO, she pulls me into school (apparently she had told him she had a girl for him) and calls him from down the hall.

He sees us coming, AND RUNS THE OTHER WAY!!! Oh yes he did!!! Eventually he came over to meet us....



Adorable isn't he??

And as proof that I WAS adorable back then......



Yes that is a BLACK AND WHITE TV (and I had to walk 6 miles to school uphill in the snow, both ways......).

We dated on and off - and had our first kiss on the soccer field outside the school... Sweet I know...

We have had our ups and downs, breakups and other "loves" but we had our very own Happily Ever After on June 6th 1998



The End?

FIRST AND FOREMOST
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT!
----- CAVALIER TELEPHONE SUCKS!!!-------
DO NOT USE THEM!!! They have screwed up our service again! And while you're at it - VONAGE IS NO BETTER!!!!!! RUN FROM THEM BOTH!!!!! Pay a little more for reliable service! You get what you pay for!!!



Ahhhhh all better... Now then....

I AM SOOOOOOO ITCHY!!! We went to a local farmer's market and play area (it has a playground, animals to feed and a farm market) for play time today - we've had SO MUCH rain that I just had to get the kids out of the house.

Between yesterday at the $3 place (picture an arcade with mini golf and a fast food playland on steroids!)and today at the playground, everything I saw a momma belly I got MORE ITCHY. I am really wantin' another baby. REALLY. But we HAVE to get our third floor finished before we have one (and no actually gettin' PG will NOT motivate my DH - my GREENHOUSE is not done yet!, and we've been working on the third floor for 3 YEARS!!) So I really have to get on him (no pun intended) to get a few things done around the house so we can work on that.

I miss the smell and smiles of my babies, I miss the anticipation of pregnancy, I miss the nursing of my babies (of course I DO NOT miss, sleepless nights, sore "girls", braxton hicks, ciatica pain, LABOR, poopy diapers...) There are a couple of brand new babies at church and DH and I both look at them constantly!

Itchy, itchy, itchy.....


In other news,

Last night I went to help out at the church, we're gettin ready for our bible camp in 2 weeks. I got to talking with the pastor's wife - they home school some of their children (one has learning disabilities, and needs the services provided by their school district). That was great, we got to talk about curriculum choices, and what it's REALLY like, also found out there is one other family that homeschools, besides my family and The Rockhound's family. 4 families all together in our church, that should come in handy.

Casey has a follow up vet visit tonight (he got antibiotic and is fine now BTW), then the kids and I are goin to Wally world to pick up a few things.

Wild Thing's mom and I worked everything out and I will only have 2 full weeks of her, the other weeks, mom took off or dad took off of work a couple days....

TTFN!!!!

After the heavy post earlier in the day, her are some random thoughts....

1. WHAT IS IS with boys and FARTS???? He even re-words song to add the word fart into them!

2. We got our first zucchini from the garden yesterday!

3. Rain rain go away come again in AUGUST!! Ugh it has been raining off and on for 3 days I have stir crazy kids!!!!

4. I think I will try to take them to the $3 Tuesday and Thursday place tomorrow (of course so will every other mommy...)

5. DH is already home for the day and messin up my routine. ;-)

SIGH, I think we'll bake some cookies....

Church did NOT re-charge me yesterday. In fact when I left I was in a funk and stayed that way all day. We have been studying Mark....

""31 Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you."
33 "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked.

34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother.""


I get what the passage is saying, it refers to our spiritual family how His earthly family just didn't get how important his work was. That although they had good intensions, they were actually hindering Jesus work. Earlier in the passage Jesus had gone to a house and a crowd gathers...

""20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind.""

But all I could think while Pastor Jeff was talking, was what was His mother supposed to do? She hears that her Son (her baby) is not taking care of Himself, He is taking care of the needs of the crowds to the exception of Himself, He's not even getting time to eat! So she rounds up her other sons, and goes to give Him a good talking to! She's His mom! What else should she do? I understand the message (about our spiritual family) I do, but God gives mothers a job! Mary was doing her job. Our children don't stop being our children when they become adults (at least that is what my mom says!) Mothers never stop worrying about their children. I know that Jesus is the Son of God, but Mary was his MOTHER, she carried Him in her womb, felt him move,gave birth to him. She did all the things I do with my kids, changed His diapers, fixed His hurts, took care of Him when he was ill, taught him things he needed to know, and when she hears that her BABY (no matter that he is about 30 now) isn't eating and taking care of himself, she takes action. DON'T MESS WITH MAMA.

I had a hard time relating to His "rejection" of his earthly family.

Also Pastor Jeff was talking about how His family didn't get how important what He was doing yet. And about how sometimes it's hard to walk God's path, how we have to figure out is we are trying to go our own way or God's way. And how sometimes even our family is working against us (no matter how well intensioned). THAT is something I have been struggling with when it comes to our decision on weather or not to homeschool. Is it just me wanting to shield and protect my kids, or is it God's plan?
So ALL DAY yesterday I was in a FUNK. Really, I took a walk yesterday (in the rain!).

Finally at the end of the day, Dh and I sat up in bed and talked the whole thing out, Jesus' rejection and the kids. We hashed out the reasons to homeschool Thing 1 (reasons that won't go away in 2 months, such as his inability to focus on a task when here are alot of other things going on), and hashed out the reasons to send him to kindergarten (learning to work in a group, playing with kids his own age).

We talked about the possibilities of putting him in daytime art classes, possibly karate, and my ability to focus in on lessons just for him 2 day a week (while Thing 2 is in pre-school, which she will still go to)and joint classes the other days, and we made a final decision together.

Our little man will be better off at home with me as his teacher than in a group where he will have trouble concentrating and be worrying about being put in time out (something that I was able to get out of him as a fear of kindergarten).

So it's definite. We are a homeschooling family.

My life did not turn out the way I expected it.

In high school, I expected to go to college, and possibly become a TV anchor person or lawyer. I was going to get married and have kids, but I was going to have it ALL!
Then, I got way to involved with boys, goofed off in school, and really thought I would end up pregnant. Didn't do that either. (whew!)

Where am I? I didn't go to college, had some schooling , a min career, and am now home with my kids. I will NOT be going back into the workforce anytime soon. I am a mom of 2 and getting a little itchy for more (but we have GOT to finish renovations first)and I am going to homeschool. My ideal life is soooooo different than what I had planned back then. I want a farm for goodness sake! A FARM people (can you have a farm without animals? I don't want to clean up poop!).

A few of the women who's blogs I read have been dealing with contentment, and faith. I did not get what I expected AT ALL. But I did get it all.

"Our Family is Changing"

This observation was made by my husband over dinner. Our son had spontaneously decided to say a prayer before dinner (not something I had instituted - just because I felt strange and it is hard to get little ones to not eat until the prayer is done). He had said a prayer before snack at pre-school and that was what her recited. But he's NEVER done that before. The Lord moved him to tonight. :-)
OF COURSE after he said a prayer, Thing 2 had to say a prayer of her own. DH was floored. Hence the observation. It's not a bad thing, it's a wonderful thing. When he said it he had a look of awe and joy on his face. It's really nice, we are growing in our faith as a family.

Then, at bedtime, Thing 1 did not want to read a "story" he had me read from their children's bible. We read about Jesus' experience when he was 12 at the temple, his baptism and the sermon on the mount. Their bible makes the stories short and paraphrases a little but they really got the message about letting your light shine. Thing 1 really asked a couple really good questions and had a good little talk. WOW!

They are growing, and I am a blessed mama.

**OMWROTFLOLPMP!!!!! The spell checker wants to replace CROCKPOT with CRACKPOT!!!!**


MY computer is fixed!!!! YAY!!!! And we moved my computer upstairs so I can use the 'puter to homeschool the kids. We introduced the computer to the kids tonight (really - our son is 5 and had never used one) WHAAA HOO!! They LOVED it. They took turns doing worksheets from Starfall and playing games there, as well as using a game from Brighter beginnings - a Muppet Baby one. The kids did great!

I am still scared of homeschooling - I have been reading alot, but once in a while I read about that "perfect" homeschool mom (you know the one, teaching 8 kids, dinner in the crockpot,laundry done in a timely manner and PUT AWAY,having time for her bible study, the hubby who has time to do daily bible devotion with the children and takes time everyday to check in with each child for half and hour), or read about all the curriculum choices and "stuff: I can get to help teach my children - nevermind the Christian curriculums available!!!! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! Overwhelming to the extreme! I have to find some places to get used curriculum cheap (any hints??)

I am STILL using DH's puter!! WHY?????? Because he hasn't fixed mine yet - if it was his computer it would have been fixed within 24 hours! But mine??? grrrrrrrrr

WHY IS THAT????

Marj -- definitely want to find other kids to play with. Social is one of the reasons I want to keep him home, he is a bit out of step with other kids in our neighborhood (because we don't watch action hero Gi Joe/power ranger type shows, don't play with toy guns...) and I think he was getting a little picked on over it in Pre-school. That is why I have GOT to find the other homeschool moms here. Apparently alot of the girls who are homeschooled got to Thing 2's dance school!

Also I found a great new art center very near my house to enroll them in art classes and the boy in karate (they offer dance too but we like Thing 2's dance school)My IRL friend email me off list and I'll tell ya where it is.

In other news, my poor fur baby Casey has to go to the vet today. He got a puncture wound in his paw and it's gotten infected. I have tried to clean it and treat it - but it's not getting better- so give a tiny prayer for him, and my wallet! I hate vet bills.

As I start thinking about homeschooling I realize how much of my day is teaching, now really ya think a former pre-school teacher would have noticed this before but of course I didn't. Thing 1 wants to paint his room and add murals of the moon, comets all kinds of space stuff. So we got a GREAT book by H.A Ray (curious George) about the constellations It is GREAT!! I LOVE IT!! We also got one called 1000 facts about space - we picked them up at Barnes and Nobles - great books with vivid pictures! And now my 5 and 3 year olds know who COPERNICUS is!!!! Oh yes they do! HA! Learn THAT in kindergarten! (am I terrible or what??)

Ok - off to the Art museum to pick up his artwork, then to get a carrier for the fur baby! TTFN

OK I am going to out myself. The thing that I have been thinking and praying about is.....

I am 80% sure I have decided to homeschool my kids. I live in a fairly good school district, but one that is highly concerned with TEST SCORES which irks me to no end. Thing 1 completed preschool, but had a few problems socially, and has a hard time sitting still for long periods of time and paying attention. I can see that this will be a problem in school. I truly;y think he will be the kids that gets picked on. He is not a rough and tumble little boy, he likes to play, but he is also very sensitive and artistic.

I have found out that my area is apparently a hotspot for homeschoolers, so I just have to track down some in my area. I have been looking into the law and our state requirements (and we happen to live in one of the states with tougher homeschool laws - but still not much to do). I feel that I can handle the requirements.

I am a little overwhelmed at the curriculum choices, but I will just have to babystep my way though that. If this doesn't work out I can always enroll him in school, right?

I am still a little conflicted, I want to be sure it's the right choice for him and not just the"easier" choice for me. But really, who knows my child better than me? One on one (or two on one) is much better than the 25 to one ratio in the classroom.
I find myself rationalizing both sides of the coin. I guess I have more thinkin to do.

WE SAW CARS!!!!! For Father's Day we "took Daddy" to go see a movie.

IT WAS SO CUTE!!! You have to know that I have married into a Nascar family. There were ALOT of inside Nascar jokes that you would not get if you aren't into racing - and I am sure I missed a bunch that my FIL would laugh himself silly over. We went to church and Cars then I let DH take off for a few hours and play with his RC cars, than he went out to dinner with HIS dad. Very nice. He came home really relaxed.

Jessica, I am going to get a passionvine tattoo across my back. They are weird and wonderful flowers beautiful and ugly but produce amazing fruit - just like my kids.

Well, it looks like I WON'T be losing my job after all. Wild Thing's mom waited too long to start looking for a nanny. I am not unhappy about it. I will go from watching her 2 days a week to 4 days a week for 5 weeks and it will be a blessing financially. Tattoo here I come!!

I don't have a problem with blending her right into my plans - I run errands with the three kids as it is. Even the grocery store.

Giving my 2 weeks would not really work out well in this situation. Wild Thing's mom and I are friends (she's the atheist I am trying to get to church) and they live 3 doors down from me. Also I talked to her about it again, and it really seems as though she was just trying to make her life easier and not that she had a problem with my care of her daughter. That I do understand. I am pretty sure I will be done child care altogether after the summer anyway. She is looking for a 5 day full time pre-school for her DD and mine is only going 2 mornings a week (plus a dance class another day)Thing 1 will be in kindergarten 5 mornings a week (it's half day in this area).

Wow! There's a light at the end of the tunnel. Losing the extra cash will stink. I keep it aside for my garden stuff and little extras for the kids (happy meals, toys, quarters for the rides at the mall) that way they (and I) got the little extra things that just were not in the budget. Also when we are REALLY tight I use it as extra grocery money (or only grocery money).

I know that God will provide. I also know he has been nudging me in a certain direction, which may mean some big changes in the next year or so. His plan is greater than mine, I will listen to my heart and pray on it lots more before I post about it here.

MY 'PUTER DIED!!!!!!! I am using DH's computer until he can resurrect it. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Jan - the advantage of raised beds is twofold - your soil warms up a little faster - and if you have really crappy clay soil like I do - you can get good gareden soil and build up instead of trying to amend (fix) concrete and rocks. ;-)

I realized something - I don't have alot of pictures of my garden here. So - let's go!


WELCOME!

This is the front garden - I have Delphiniums (the blue things) out here that are not supposed to be hardy here - they are for me! Behind them is a Contorted Filbert which I LOVE!!

A better shot


the mailbox side


Come on Back to my back yard - my favorite place, remember, this yard was empty but for a swingset when we bought the place. Watch out for the hot air balloons~


The veggie garden (it's to your right as you come up the ramp. See the greenhouse? It hasn't gotten far. Gotta nag DH a little. Too hot to use it now anyway.


Feeling Corn-y


rabbit food - salad greens and broccoli (strawberries in the tires)


The right side of the deck - DH built me this seating area. I have alot of kitchen herbs in it. Basil, garlic chives, pineapple sage,peppermint, spearmint and chocolate mint- they make great aromatherpay when the kids make me crazy.


The left side of the deck I have soooo many plants here! Cherry tomatoes, peppers, annuls, canna , moonflower vine, black eyed susan vine..... You name it!


Keep panning, you see my houseplants, cacti and succulents


Our pond! The first thing we put in when we moved here. It's home to tadpoles, snails, and fish. I have moonvines here, along with canna, iris and sweet potato vine. To all you southerners - yes that IS Air Potato vine - but I promise you our winters kill it.


On the other side of the pond and the gate, is the shed and it's gardens and Pop-pop's garden. The windmill and bricks (along with some of the plants) came from my grandfather's house. He passed a year and a half ago. He is sorely missed.


The shed garden extends all the way back. I laid those bricks myself! No help from DH! The kids play area is back here and will be mulched soon.


The top of the left side garden. I put this wall in too!


The bottom half and out other family member! Casey is our grateful stray. He refuses to be a total house cat, he lives with us but goes outside frequently (he has all his shots, his flea and tick protection and collar and claws! He's our mouser)


There's more! but I'll save it for later! Ya'll come back now ya hear?

So, I may be losing my job.

I don't know how I feel about it. I provide Child care for my neighbor's little girl - Wild Thing - I actually share the job with her grandmother - I have her 2 days a week and Nana has her the other 3 (there is also a baby sister - I do not watch her. I just don't enjoy little babies - plus when she was born, I had 2 friends expecting and both approached me about watching the babies. I could NOT have handled both babies, this was before my Zoloft- manna from God (no I'm NOT kidding!)- so I told both no - since I didn't feel right taking one and not the other - and I really don't care to take care of babies - my babies are fine - but I don't love caring for babies in general (I mean the work it takes for little babies! I love babies in general - I just don't want to provide childcare for infants)

I digress. So Wild Thing's mom told me last week that she may be hiring a nanny for the summer. Her mother is going away for 1 week in June, the month of July and 1 week in August. I told her I was willing to take the baby for those weeks (she is almost 1 now) and the 7 year old - that would have also required picking him up from camp, it would have required ALOT. Just the baby is alot when I have to take the girls to dance camp and Thing 1 to bible camp in July. So she was trying to find alternatives. Jennie was willing to take the baby (she enjoys infants more than older ones) and she was willing to take the 7 year old since she has one too and they could keep each other busy. But then, Wild Thing's mom would have one here, two there, and it would be complicated, so she's looking for a nanny.

She says it's not me or my care of Wild Thing, but that she is concerned that it would be too much on me and Jennie and that it would cost her the same to have a nanny in the house (which is true). I just kindof feel like it was the "it's not you it's me" speech. Sigh.

BUT - here's the other kicker - if she can't find a nanny we'll have to figure it out between Jennie and I anyway. On the one hand it would be nice to be done watching Wild Thing, Since it ties me down a little, BUT the extra $ was nice to have around. If I am done watching her I can do more with MY kids, like volunteer at the Bible Camp, focus on what Thing 1 needs to do for kindergarten and work on the summer project he wants to do (paint murals all over his room - space theme - we could "homeschool" all summer about it) Not that I couldn't do those things with Wild Thing here - If I have something to do I just take them all with me. (part of the reason I am not afraid of having another one sometime)

I KNEW that I would be ending this job soon. It just seems abrupt somehow.

SO here is the story on THIS

-- At Great wolf Lodge - there is this animatronic show- It consists of trees that talk and wiggle, a raccoon, owl, 2 squirrels, a "little boy"(the thing is like 5 feet tall a chuckie wanna be!) and Yellow Feather (aka - Bride of chukie). The critters "find" the little boy lost in the woods and proceed to sing him song about Mother Earth and how there is "nothing to be afraid of" in the woods. We went with another Christian family, and Jennie (my best friend) and I could not HELP but whisper little comments to each other the whole time. "yeah , nothing to be afraid of - until you step on a snake! - or eat the wrong berries - or meet a BEAR!--" We Were So Bad! Then there is thunder -- and the "little boy (chuckie wannabe)" say - why does Mother Nature have to be so loud? Jennie whispers -"Cuz FATHER GOD is pissed off that his work is being attributed to Mother Earth!" *snort* These dolls are the wierdest looking things - they are CREEPY looking!

The water park was REALLY cool! There was a waterslide that went UP! Ok - the raft would go up on a conveyer belt - but still it was up! And FAST!!! And there was one they called Coyote Canyon - but we all called it the Toilet! YES! You go down a tube into a big bowl and go around the edges a few times and then go down another tube and out! Really -- you get flushed! There was a wave pool, toddler pool, lots of slides - the kids all had a blast.

We also went outlet shopping and on the way home stopped at Pocono Snake and Reptile house. A small petting zoo and reptile house So here they are -- the backs of their heads anyway!

First - a BIG PIG!! He was greedy! I thought he would climb out of the pen!


Thing 1! Feeding Pygmy goats


Thing 2! Feeding the bigger goats (there were deer in here too!)


Are they cute or what???!!! ;-)

HONEY! I'M HOME!!!!

I think there will be a couple posts today - a lot went on before I left - I am still sorting thru it all.

Vacation was soooo fun (except for the Native American Bride of Chuckie Animatronic show -HA! I have pics- more on that later) I mean really - indoor water park - what's not to love??

First and Foremost, June 6th my Baby graduated from pre-school!! Thing 1 will be a kindergardener in the Fall!!! The graduation was - well, cute and weird. They had them in caps and gowns, the kids put on a little show, and then they handed out diplomas - imagine trying to get 100 kids to keep still (in a church) while they handed out "diplomas" - I say "diplomas" because they were a PROP! It was just a rolled up piece of paper! WHA? Then they had 2 more days of school.

YES - you read me right - AFTER they graduated - they had 2 more days of school! LOL! I guess that was the only day the church (the preschool is in the basement of a church) had avaiable. Wens. and Friday were playdays anyway.

And if some of you out there think that you are Mommy of the year - NO WAY! It's all me! (doing my princess wave) I didn't know school let out an hour early on the last day and his teacher had to CALL ME TO COME AND GET HIM!!!! Yes - I AM mother of the year.

Wensday, Thing 2 had her last day of dance class. We had a big party with cake ect afterwards. Soooo fun! She really doesn't realize it's done - and since she has dance camp next month she'll be fine. (it's a week long for a hour each day)

I have a few other things to say -- but the Things want to go out and play......I'll post more later REALLY!

BLOGGER IS MAKING ME CRAZY!!!!!

Anyway - had the interview with Jennifer Margulis, it went great - she is such a nice person - I really enjoyed talking with her.

At this point I forget half the stuff I was going to post - so we'll start fresh after I return from VACATION!!!!!!!!!

Wha- hoo! Tomorrow we leave for Great Wolf Lodge! Yay!

ARGH! Blogger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wil post tomorrow sometime!

LOTS happened today. I have to tell you all tomorrow!

It's our wedding anniversary! 8 years!

Gonna celebrate! ;-)

Sunday service was lovely. We had 3 baptisms one of which was the Pastor's own son. He started to tear up as he was talking about his joy at being able to baptize his children.

Also - before Church my DH did the sweetest thing. I was doing my hair , getting ready for service, and Thing 2 comes in the bathroom, he got the brush and detangler and brushed her hair for her. A small thing really, but I've never seen him do it before, and he usually leaves that kind of thing to me. I cannot tell you all how sweet and touching it was to watch my love brush my baby's hair (even if she insists she's a BIG girl)

I just can't think of much more to write tonight. We got our phone service back. Thing 1 graduates form pre-school tomorrow night. And we are going here for vacation this weekend! YAY!

SOOOOO BUSY!!! The flippin phone company turned off our phone. ARGH!!!! Had nothing to do with paying the bill, stupid mixup with the DSL and cable modem (we turned off the DSL and they screwed up) SO we might have the phone back Monday. GRRR meanwhile everyone is calling my cell in a panic. sigh

Can I just tell you how excited I am to go to church? I feel soooooo silly - really - I have been waiting all week to GO TO CHURCH - me! The woman who a few years ago wanted just about nothing to do with church. The one who thought church was a stupid, man created thing , and unnecessary to worship God. Me, who also didn't do so well worshiping God, living a Christian life, and being afraid to mention my beliefs in public (even when asked!)Now I WANT to go to church. I LOVE going to church! I got my best friend and her family to join - Tuesday - I asked her if she really like it - and she said that she did, and had even mentioned it to her dad (who is a CHARACTER) and she referred to it as her church. How cool is that! She was definitely a believer, but after they had moved back to our state they had not found a church (frankly none of us had tried very hard to find one - even though we kept saying we needed to find a church). After one visit, at least for us - it feels like home - the right place. I cannot get over it.

I like it so much I had mentioned it to a neighbor- we were talking about what to do with the kids this summer, and my church has a bible camp (don't most of them??LOL!!) And she said she wanted to check it out because her son was starting to ask questions she couldn't answer. SO she wanted to find a church to help her explain things to him. Sounds normal right? SHE'S AN ATHEIST. Or at least she says she is. Her reasoning is, that she wants hear son to see what church and God is about and to make his own decision. I think her spirit is being moved (and oh mama does it need to! I won't go into it - but DANG!) We have been talking about it, she bailed on me this week, but I will be praying about her this week - I want to get her fanny back to church.

I have been reading several Christian mom's blogs Chaotic Mom, Rocks in my dryer, Owlhaven, All in a Day's work, BooMama, Children and cheerios on the loose a new favorite to add to my blogroll, Everyday Mommy another new favorite -- I am blown away by these women's ability to write about their relationship with God so easily and openly. I still sometimes feel like being a Christian is a pair of shoes that doesn't quite fit. Like I have to break them in still, you know? Scuff the bottoms and stretch the sides a bit. I want to be like them when I grow up.

I have a hard time believing God's grace covers me, I know it does logically but wow! That encompasses SO much. I can't possibly deserve it, I DON'T deserve it. But I've got it. WHY? Why Me? I try to put it in human terms of how much I ADORE my children. If I could I would worship the ground they walk on - but man there have their moments. That is how GOD loves me. Even when I am throwing a fit, working against him, fighting his will, he loves me. SO much he SLAPS me in the face with his plan. (when I think of this I think of a dear friend who God had to shake up a bit with his plan - she fought him kicking and screaming too!) So much he lets me learn from my mistakes (an BOY can I make em!) and then he gently leads me back to the path.

I am amazed at the depth and breadth of my feeling on this. I didn't know I had it in me. I am so excited that tomorrow is Sunday.

OK first and Foremost -- Did anyone see Deal or No Deal last night???? OH MY WORD!! I know it was a repeat (in fact I saw it the first time) BUT this guy was my FAVORITE constant!!! His name is Gary (Ridel I think) He was a RIOT!!!!!!! Running around the stage, hugging the girls - REALLY - If it comes on again you MUST watch him! You can't miss him - he wore HOT pink shirt! I was in stiches thru the whole show (and remember I had SEEN it!)

More Game show goodness -- LOL! Game show marathon - MAN they are tryin sooo hard to make it funny -- it's funny in a painful way. Ya know? I am still watchin it!


SOOOOOOO Now on to the cool topic First go to Three Kid circus Then come back here - I'll wait.
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K-- now I got an email from Jennifer Margulis!!

"I'm looking to interview a few moms about kids and attitude (and got
your name from your blog (following the mommy bloggers lead) for a
national parenting magazine article. If you've ever dealt with
attitude, would you be available to do a brief interview by phone? I
only need about 10 minutes of your time."

AGHH!!!!! How cool is that??? Soo I am trotting off to get her books so I don't sound like a total nut.... Anyone got one?