Can I go to the store in my pajamas?

"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."

Luke 5:16

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While usually running around in underwear, lately he's bee wearing pajamas (they are part of the chlothes category) AND I think those socks are from his daddy's drawer.

I'm not really sure, but I'm thinking that Underwear Boy is a little cold in this house.

What do you think?

When you give a mouse a second chance

"But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you."

Matthew 6:6

The Father is waiting to hear from you.
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We live out in the country on ten acres.

With the ten acres come lots of critters. Small and Big. Like....coyotes(that Cinnamon thinks are her friends), wild turkeys, deer, gophers (that eat up my telephone line) and mice.

Yup, the mice are here trying to get out of the cold. So they try to camp out in our garage.

Cinnamon usually catches them and "plays" with them until she kills them.

Hubster found one on Sunday afternoon and set the traps (you know, those sticky mouse pads).

On Monday morning we had a little friend stuck to the pad.

I was still in my bedroom but I could hear Adventure Boy trying to get his dad to let the poor mouse go. I mean, after all, he was still moving while stuck on that trap.

I guess AB won because he came in happy and said the mouse was gone.

Great, I can't wait to see it again.

Wednesday found another mouse on a different trap. I think it was the same mouse, but what do I know.

AB found it and was telling me the he was going to let it go. I told him no, it just needed to DIE.

Boy, was I a mean mom then. "Mom, remember that this is God's little creature."

OK, so how do you argue with that?

So I said, yes, but it's part of the food chain and it would be dead anyway if the snakes were out or if the hawks were flying around looking for food. Besides, I don't like mice, I don't want mice.

I came in to finish making lunch and AB comes in to get 'something'. I ask what it is "my tweezers mom, so that I can take the mouse off the sticky part"

AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHH.

I kick him outside, minus the tweezers, and he goes to save the mouse.

He comes running in to tell me he took the mouse off with a stick and put it in a safe place so that dad could see the mouse when he came home from work.

When dad comes home for lunch, he proudly tells him about the mouse he saved.

When we go look at the mouse in this special place AB put him in, we find the mouse..............dead!

Seems that AB thought the mouse would stay put and not run away under a plastic container.

It stayed put alright.

One mouse down, ___ more t0 go.

I just don't get it. The boys say it's not OK to kill the mice, but they sure do like to squeeze the guts out of toads.

What's wrong with that picture?

Please mommy, can we make a tree forest?

"Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet."

Proverbs 3:24

That seems to be one of my biggest problems. I wake up in the middle of the night and start thinking about all the things that need to be done, or weren't done or just worrying about things. Three hours later, and no sleep yet, I realize that if I just lay everything at the foot of the cross and pray, I'm OK. That is when I relax and go back to sleep.


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Adventure Boy and Underwear Boy had been bugging us to put the tree up. But we were all not feeling the greatest on Sunday and just wanted to rest.

So Monday, we went up to the attic and pulled down the tree.

I know, it's just tragic that we don't use a real tree.

Oh well!

So we bring down the tree, but not before Adventure Boy sees this small 3 ft one he says needs to come down as well.

I tell him that he can put it in his room if he wants.

No, he wants it in the living room next to the other one.

My OCB husband is just looking at me like "get that thing out of here, it is not going to look proportioned with the already small looking tree"

You see, we have 9 ft ceilings, but the tree we put up is only 6 1/2 ft. So there is loooooots of room between the ceiling and the top of the tree.

Doesn't look proportioned to ME.

So AB moved the smaller tree to his room, but decided he didn't like it there because he found out that Santa would not deliver presents to his room.

He thinks that by putting two trees together, he will get MORE presents.

But he saw yet another little tree up in the attic and now wants to put it next to the other ones to create some sort of tree forest.

The small tree started off with NO ornaments because I told the boys we would move it later. But I guess later never got here because now there are ornaments on the small tree as well as the bigger small tree.

Today the other tree is supposed to join these two.

Maybe I can read them The tale of Three Trees.

Oh well, it's all for the kids anyway. We'll see how long OCB husband will allow the trees to stay where they are.

Is that an icicle hanging out of your nose?

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19

Isn’t it wonderful that when you call on God he will meet ALL your needs, not just some, but ALL. So why not call on him right now?
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We don’t like to be hot in our house.

During the summer, we keep the air at 70 and sleep with the ceiling fan AND a regular fan.

Even the boys have gotten used to this. Although, I think theirs is more for the noise the fan makes. It just helps drown out the noises happening outside.

During the winter, we try not to turn the heater on because then it gets too hot.

I know, we are weird.

Since we still don’t have our fireplace hooked up yet, that is not an option.

So we wait until it gets REALLY cold in order to do anything about it.

The boys usually just walk around with blankets around them and sleep with 9 blankets on top of them. Not only do we still not turn the heater on, but the fans continue to blow.

When the inside of our house starts looking like this. Or when the boys start dripping icicles out of their noses, then we know it’s time to turn the heater on.

Our thermostat said 60 and the boys teeth were shattering every time they talked, so we were nice enough to turn on the heat to 66. Hee Hee

I’m sure it’ll get back up to 70 outside soon, then I can turn my heater back off. But I guess that since it’s been below freezing at night, we’ll keep it on. I just might have to turn it down to 65. Ha Ha!

The 4 wheeler and the kids

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

Philippians 4:6

This past weekend was a time that we all used this verse.

We got to my sister and brother in laws house Wednesday night. A loooooooong trip because we had 2 men, 3 women, and 7 children with one of those being a 3 month nursing child.

Thanksgiving day started off as any other day. The turkey and ham were in the oven, the kids were running up the stairs so that they could slide down head first. Or running down the stairs trying to race each other.

We women started to cook some of the food, but we didn't have much to do because my organized sister in law had whipped everything together the day before and all we needed to do was just stick the casseroles in the oven. No one had any idea how convenient that would later be.

The kids got bundled up to go play outside in the cold and damp 31 degree weather. But they didn't care how cold it was, they were going to ride 4 wheelers.

They had been out for about an hour when I decided to go take pictures.

Each of the three men out there had two kids each. One in front and one in back. I didn't have a good feeling about this. I had already told my man to go slow.

About 2 minutes after they all had gone into the woods on the 4 wheelers, I hear a man's voice loudly yelling.

I turn to look and it is one of my brother in laws-Dan. My first thought was that they were playing a joke on me. The only one I saw was Dan. No other sounds or voices.

I looked up to the house to see if anyone is up there then look back at Dan. He's coming out of the woods yelling "my arm, my arm came off and I had to put it together, I need to get to the hospital"

I of course don't have my glasses and can't see too far. I start picturing him without his arm and his arm on the ground somewhere. I yell up to the house for Mindy to call 911.

Dan is holding his left arm close to his body with his right arm. Yelling "I need to get to the hospital, my arm, my arm is broken off and I need to get there"

By this time, I could tell he was in shock. His face was awfully white and he was talking continually. Some of it not making sense.

I walk him around the front of the house to wait for the ambulance. He continues to walk down the road. I call out to him and he says that he sees the hospital and he's got to get there. I walk over to him and bring him back home.

Mindy is worried about the food, the kids are all freaked out and terrified that their uncles arm is going to have to be cut off or something, the men are still out back with the 4 wheelers trying to get kids off and everything back where it belongs.

Dan is still yelling painfully and still trying to walk to the hospital. I tell Mindy that she probably just needs to take him herself. So we load Dan in the car and off they go.

The ambulance did show up about 5 minutes after they had left.

Dan had a boy in the front of the 4 wheeler and a girl in the back. While they were riding, the boy wanted to go faster and put his hand on the throttle making it go fast on a hill. This caused the 4 wheeler to lose control and fall on top of them.

Somehow Dan caught this monster toy and the kids were OK. But his arm got caught and snapped.

The Dr's told him that his arm was broke in two between the shoulder and the elbow and that it was just laying there. He stayed there to wait for the surgeon. Mindy came home to eat the meal that she had prepared but we had somehow managed to cook.

We ate, loaded up the kids and went to go see Dan. The kids needed to see that he was OK. That he wasn't going to die or lose an arm.

He had surgery Friday. They put a plate in his arm and had to pack it down with some bone from the bone bank. I didn't even know such a bank existed.

It was a Thanksgiving that I'm sure no one will forget. It was a wonderful day despite the accident. We sure had a lot to be thankful for.

Are we there yet?

"Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see.

Matthew 12:22

Isn't it wonderful to know that Jesus healed the man right then and there. He didn't wait to put him on a prayer list then to take it out 3 days later and say "oh yeah, I've got to pray for this man". So we should be like Jesus and don't stop at the praying part, we need to take it a step further.
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We are getting ready to go to Loren's sisters house in St. Louis Missouri. We are meeting up with his other sister and his brother in Tulsa then following each other the rest of the way.

Loren is pretty excited. Well at least he WAS excited until he got sick. I'm really not looking forward to driving 8 or more hours while he's sick. That's all I'm going to say.

The boys are still excited. Zach is even coming with us. That's a shocker because now that he's 18, he doesn't want to go places with us. I wonder how he'll feel an hour into the road trip when he realizes there is NO mute button to quiet the boys.

The boys packed their own bags and here is a description of what they packed. We are going to be gone 3 nights and 4 days.
6 underwear
4 pajamas
4 white t shirts
3 boxers
4 shorts
5 jeans
too many to count shirts
lots of socks to count as well (some don't even have the pair, I can hear them in the drawer saying 'don't forget me')
a BOX of toys filled with Lego's, action figures and can't forget Thomas the Train
a sleeping bag
a blanket
2 pillows
the entire collection of DVDs

This is just from one boys suitcase. The other boy has the same amount of stuff plus a little more.

Maybe I can leave them up there for a while. They have enough stuff :)

I on the other hand haven't packed a thing.

Because I'm a procrastinator and I work better under pressure. I'm sure that I'll be packing until the wee hours of the night getting ready to leave bright and early the next day.

Usually our road trips take a turn for National Lampoons Vacations, so I'll keep ya'll posted.

Who keeps shutting my door?

"That's why I urge you to pray for absolutely everything ranging from small to large. Include everything as you embrace this God-life, and you'll get God's everything."

Mark 11:24

When I pray, I usually pray in general. But God wants us to pray for specifics. It doesn't matter how small the thing is you are asking for, that is what he wants to hear.
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Seven years ago, we bought a front load washer and dryer. They are wonderful. I especially like them because I can let my laundry pile up and then wash lots at one time.

When we first bought them, we lived in a house that had the laundry room as you walked in the garage door.

I noticed that the water would set on the back of the washer door. So I would leave the door open a little just so that the inside could get dry.

I just had ideas of mold and gunk hanging out inside my washer waiting to take over my already dirty clothes.

But as I would leave it open a little at night, by the morning the door was closed all the way.
Some little washer fairy would visit my house.

When we moved into a house that had it's own laundry room, I thought "Great, now I can leave the door open ALL the way and not have to worry about Loren shutting the door"

WRONG!!

I would open the door WIDE after washing and "someone" would shut it. I really thought I had left the washer fairy at the other house.

Just the other day he approached me and said he read or heard somewhere that we need to leave the door open to the washer because mold and stuff could "hang" out there.

HMMMMM!!!!

Then my friend was telling me that her husband had been getting headaches and sinus infections. This started about the time that they went to go "mud out" some houses when some towns flooded earlier this year.

Their shower had been leaking and there was mold growing behind the walls. She kept telling him to tear down the shower so that they could redo it, this would stop his headaches.

Months passed, he decided to go to a "specialist" because we wives are not "specialists".

What do you think the DR. told him? Yup, he's allergic to mold!

HMMMMM!!

Can anyone tell me the moral of these stories?

Anyone?

What's that on your lip?

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express."
Romans 8:26

I read this in a book "God hears more than words. He listens to the heart". That's so true. When you don't know what to pray for, God knows. We just lost a member of our church. She lost her battle with cancer. I don't know what to pray for. I don't know what to say, but I know that God knows how I'm feeling and He will work through me.

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Well, Fall is officially at my house.

How do I know?

No, definitely not because of the weather. Oklahoma weather is so unpredictable. We're still in the 70's during the day and we reached some 30's at night. We still have a couple of days left that we'll hit the upper 70's where we can still wear shorts, then without warning, we'll be wearing our coats with our shorts.

Two reasons fall is here.

One.

I have a HUGE hon kin' fever blister the size of a softball on my bottom lip. I always get those when the weather changes.

They look soooo nice on me too. I can't wait to let my friends see my new accessory!!!

Second reason.

Noah's asthma is here. He's got seasonal asthma, but it stays for a while. Poor kid is either drugged up, having breathing treatments or lathered with Vick's.

It actually is scary when your 4 yr old is trying to breath to no avail. He just never complains.

Underwear boy is taking a break right now. But I'm sure that when he feels better, he'll come back with full force.

So be prepared everyone.

Empanadas anyone?

We made some empanadas the other day. Yummy! For those of you that don't know what they are, they are baked turnovers filled with something sweet.

I fill them with sweet potato because that's the only way my boys eat sweet potatos. But you can fill them with pineapple, cherry, strawberry or whatever else floats your boat.

So gather up your ingredients, and your helpers and let's make some.

First, you clean off your kitchen countertop.
Then you gather your ingredients :

For the dough
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup shortening
12 TBL water

Filling:
whatever you want. I open a can of yams, add some butter and brown sugar and microwave it.

Mix your dough and make small balls.

Roll out your balls to flat round tortillas. (They can be crooked tortillas)

Put filling in the middle of each tortilla.

Then you break up fights because your kids want to use the dough balls as weapons to knock each other down.

Then you make sure that the tortillas they are making are free of snot, fur (Noah says he has fur and not hair, just like the dog ), and dirt from when the dough ball accidentally fell on the floor.

And you don't put the above said tortillas in your batch to bake.

You roll the tortilla over the filling and seal the edges. Prick the top of the turnovers with a fork to allow steam to escape. Or else the turnovers will blow up in your nice clean oven.

Bake them at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until browned.

Entertain kids by letting them eat raw dough and using dirty used snotty, furry dough as play-doh.

Wait until the empanadas (turnovers) are cooled off before you bite into them. See all the yummy stuff inside?

"I'm coming pretty little scrumptulous empanada"

Glow with me

The boys found a some glow sticks that I had bought when they were on clearance after Halloween.

I should have never bought those things in the first place.

They opened them up after lunch. We still had some school to do so I asked (told) the boys to put them away until after school.

AB decided to hide his in his pants and play with it while doing phonics. I've already mentioned that he's ADHD so this is actually not a good idea because all he can concentrate is the glow stick.

After telling him twice to put it away, I become the Hulk teacher during the third time and grab it and throw it on the floor.

This turns ON the stick and OUT comes the drama. Girls aren't the only ones that can turn the drama on.

During our trip to karate, UB decides he wants his on as well, so I oblige.

Everything was going well until UB started complaining that his tongue was burning. I asked what he had done -"nothing"
I asked where the glow stick was -"here"- in it's full capacity stage glowing brightly.
I asked again what happened and he answers with his mouth full of saliva
"I on't no. I only oot i ongue on e ick."

Grab some tissues and spit it out boy. No blood, no eyes bulging, he's fine.

We get home I make dinner and while washing dishes I notice there is blue glowy stuff leaking on my counter top. Well, UB had bitten this thing ( I guess it look like a sour punch straw) and had bit a hole in it. I wasn't told because he knew he'd get in trouble.

Then AB confesses and says that while biting his green glow stick (he's trying to sharpen his teeth like dogs do) he busted his as well.

On the couch.

So the moral of the story is, if you get your kids glow sticks, make sure they are edible or made out of medal.

It's my Anniversary and I'll cry if I want to!

Happy Anniversary to us! Happy Anniversary to us!
9 years ago I married my soul mate.
I'm sure there were people that didn't think we would make it this long, but 9 years, a couple of gray hairs(not very many), some added inches to our slim physiques(maybe some pounds), two children(seems like 4), and many happy days have made these some wonderful years.

OK, so now here is a prayer that I found in a newspaper.

Dear Lord,
I pray for Wisdom to understand my husband;
Love to forgive him;
And Patience for his moods.
Because, Lord, if I pray for strength, I'll beat him to death.
AMEN

It's just a joke people, lighten up! I'm sure he says the same prayer for me.

My tan is darker than yours

"What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen."

Hebrews 11:1

Have faith, God will answer your prayers.


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We call Isaac our little Mexican boy and Noah our little white boy. We can say that because I'm (for all the technical people out there) Mexican-American and Loren is indeed a white boy.

Isaac is by no means dark complected, but he has a nice olive color that people seem to go pay big bucks for at the tanning salon. In the summer, it turns darker.

Noah just burns. Doesn't tan. Just burns.

Well, yesterday in science we were learning about genetics. I was trying to explain to them that brown eyes were dominant over blue eyes, just like theirs were brown like mine and not blue like their dads.

Isaac says "Noah doesn't have as brown eyes as me. It's because he's not as much as a Mexican as me."

Noah pops up and says " No, I'm a white boy!"

So I have to come in the conversation and explain how they are of mixed breed (in friendlier terms of course).

Isaac then says "Yes, but I'm actually white underneath this tan. I'm just waiting for this tan to go away, then I'll be white."

Poor kid. I guess I should tell him that the only thing white he'll ever have is his hiney that never gets any sun.

Man's best friend

"O God, let me sing a new song to you."

When your prayers always seem to be the same, sing a new song. Just worship God in a different way. Find bible quotes or words from worship songs. Just praise Him!

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My boys always leave trails behind them. Like when they come inside and start taking their shoes off, then socks, then UB boys starts taking his pants and shirt off. The clothes is at the entrance of the laundry room, but not quite inside the laundry room.

Then they can't remember where they leave anything. So they start asking, "mom, have you seen my shoes?" And my comment can't be anything less than "well, last time I was wearing them I left them outside for the dog to play with"

Most of the times things just stay where they are when they stripped. I really don't think they notice me standing there while they throw their clothes on me as if I'm a coat rack. I don't think they notice me when they start looking for stuff and don't remember that the coat rack got dressed with their clothes.

I don't even think they would notice me if I were to drop dead in the middle of the floor. They would just walk around me or over me or rather yet, use me as a trampoline.

I think the only time they would notice me or anything about me is if I'm dead on the floor and they start smelling something bad. THAT would be the time that they would probably look down and say, "mom, you stink" and just go about their merry way.

At least I know Hazie would notice me because she would think that I'm laying down to play with her.

Yo quiero mi mama!

Adventures of Underwear Boy!

"Every good and perfect gift is from above"

James 1:17

UB is one of the wild boys. But his sweet innocent look with those big brown eyes makes me melt all over.

For the last couple of days UB has been doing some crazy things. For example, when I go check on the while they are playing outside,
I ask UB "Why is Cinnamon's back all wet?"
He says "Because I tee-teed on her?"

I guess he asks because he wants to test me to see if I know the correct way things happened?
I do have eyes behind my head you know, and besides moms know everything.

So then I ask UB "Why is the little dog wet?"
He says "Because I tried to give her a bath?"
"With what?" I ask because the water hose is not squirting water
"With my kool-aid mom" man, I guess I don't know everything

I come back inside to try to finish the 10th project I've started for the day. When I hear UB come running inside the house running away from his brother.
"What's going on?" I ask
"AB is trying to get me mom"
At this point I know something happened.

AB comes running in and says "Mom, UB threw a screwdriver at me and hit me on the back"
UB looks innocent and says "I just wanted him to play with me mom"

I send them outside again. When I go outside AGAIN to check on them, the quiet outside is just not normal, I find them digging a hole and UB is trying to fill it up with his tee-tee. I guess even superheroes have to pee a lot.

I stay out for a while and read the newspaper when I look up and don't see UB. He disappears because he is a super hero after all.

I get up to go look for him and when I open the back door, there is wet stuff all over the floor. My first thought is that it's pee, but then I see UB walking towards me with no shirt on. This is the conversation that happens.
Me- "Why is this floor wet?"
UB - "Because my water spilled"
Me- "Did you clean it up?"
UB - "Yes, I had to use my shirt because that's all I could find"
Me - "Your good clean shirt?"
UB - "Duh mom, It's not clean anymore I had to use it to clean the water up so that you won't get mad at me"

Then this is pretty much the way the rest of the day went.
He broke something.
He tried to glue it back again with tape.
He harassed the little dog.
He tried to ride the big dog.
He threw his toys all over his room trying to find that one little toy that is on the bottom of the toy box.
He threw more stuff at his brother.

But the best part was when I was tucking him in and he had his arms around me and giving me kisses and hugs. When I tried to break free from his hold, he said "not yet mom, I still have 300 more hugs and kisses to give you"

Thank you God for my good and perfect gift.

Personal trainer for hire!

"Trust in God. Lean on your God!

Isaiah 50:10

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The cows next door have been complaining of losing weight. They say that their personal trainer is working them like a dog. They say that they are not allowed to stand still for long periods of time. They even say that their babies are being told that they have too much baby fat.

Their owners have told them they are losing too much weight. They don't have enough meat on their bones for America to eat.

So the personal trainer has been fired and they are now on a high fat diet filled with grains, special fattening grass and what not.

Now there is a personal trainer that needs a job. Anyone need someone to make them work out like a dog?

She'd lick all your pounds away!!!

Scooby doo, where are you?

Pray continually.

1 Thessalonians 5:17

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We went on a field trip this morning. While driving back home, I was behind a hearse that had the licence tag "gonhome". Then on the side of the window, it said "the land of oz hearse gathering".

This hearse was behind me at first, then it passed me, then it was in front of me, then I guess someone woke up in the back of the hearse, because it slowed down and I had to pass it.

Then I look back and it's gaining ground on me again. While it is passing me, it stays driving along side of me. I'm thinking that maybe it wants to go home with me, but I'm not really sure.

The driver and the passenger of the hearse were laughing and having a good 'ol time. I on the other hand, was not! I'm already driving 75 on the turnpike, but at that point I was willing to drive fast just to get away from the party hearse.

It finally finds an exit and I am able to go home (my home) safely. I thought that maybe I was in a scooby doo mystery.

Never fear..................UB is here!!!!!!!!

The dentist

And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 18:3

Then innocence of children is very noticeable when they pray. They thank God for everything, from having a good day to the vegetable garden growing. My boys sometimes pray for the strangest things, in my opinion, but when I start to think about it, that is the way we need to pray.

We need to pray like children. They are all about honesty and simplicity. Maybe we need to think more like them.
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We had a family dentist appointment yesterday. Sadly, Hubster and I hadn't been in years, but for the boys it had only been a year. I know that's still a while, but at least it hadn't been years.

We get there and since we had never been to this dentist, I had mounds of paperwork to fill out. Form after form of what I really couldn't understand. I was just making sure I didn't read words like - death, sell kids, display teeth.

We waited for over an hour for the dentist to call our names. The boys enjoy going to the dentist. At their last dentist, they got toys as a reward. So they were wondering what kind of prize they would get and maybe they could get two. They were also fighting over who was going to go in first.

When the nurse came out, I think she was shocked to see two little boys running to her and both asking "am I first?"

But no, it was me.

It wasn't a bad thing. My teeth are apparently in good shape. And the reason the wait was so long out there was that the dentist was actually doing the cleaning. I've always gone to dentists who have a hygienist do the cleaning and then they do the looking, but not here. He did both. I actually liked this because I didn't have to wait extra for the looking in my mouth.

The boys were after me and we ended with Hubster. The boys were extremely excited because they didn't get a toy, but they got something better. Stickers of course. And they each got a plastic colored bag that looked like a pencil holder, filled with a toothbrush, dinosaur toothbrush cover, toothpaste, floss, purple teeth coloring tablets AND an hourglass.

They were ecstatic and couldn't stop saying how this was the best dentist they've been to and wanted to know when they could come back. It's always nice when your kids enjoy going to the dentist. Wait until they grow up and the dentist has to use the grinder to clean their teeth.
That will be fun.

I think the receptionist was actually glad when we left. She kept looking nervously at us. These boys talk ---a lot! You can't get them to stop. They find something to talk about then they both compete over who is going to tell the story the loudest. Telling them to use a quiet voice doesn't work because to them what they are using IS a quiet voice.

They also kept jumping up to ask if it was their turn to see the dentist.

They were little mexican jumping beans.

There was one time when the boys went in to use the bathroom. Then a lady went in after them. BIG mistake. She came out and told the receptionist that the toilet was leaking because there was WATER on the floor. Hubster and I just looked at each other and knew right away.
That's when we both just wanted to leave. Isaac just looked at us innocently, but sheepish.

So it was no surprise when she was VERY HAPPY to tell us bye! Almost like, don't let the door hit you on the way out happy.

Fast food to go

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark; Jesus got up, left the house

and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed."

Mark 1:35

I don't have a certain time that I get up and do my devotions. Sometimes I do it in the mornings, sometimes during the afternoon or sometimes it's at night. But I have noticed that when I don't pray, my day is just not right. So on those days I just stop what I'm doing and then pray. My day gets better from that point on.
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One of my irks is when you go to a drive thru and there is a customer in front of you that forgot to get the memo that it is a FAST food restaurant.

Here is a conversation between a food board with a speaker (SB) and a customer (C)

SB - "Welcome to (insert favorite fast food place here) order when you're ready"

C - "Yes, could you hold on a minute?"

SB- after 3 minutes "Just order when you're ready"

C - "OK, I'd like to place two separate orders please. On the first order I'd like a #1 with no onions and no tomatoes, oh and could you add some cheese and also some mayonnaise. No, wait, just mustard, but only a little bit."

SB - "would you like to super size it?"

C - "ummm, welllll, I guess"

SB - "what would you like for your second order?"

C _ "I'm not sure yet, just a minute"

so while C thinks about what to order, my kids are wondering what is taking so long and the line is getting longer with irate customers wishing they could get their food FAST!

C - "OK, I'm ready now. I'd like a #3 with extra pickles and only one tomato. I would like to add jalapenos but make sure they are not the ends. Oh, and I know it says it has bacon but could you make sure that it really has bacon? "

SB - after repeating orders "That will be so much for order #1 and so much for order #2 "

C - "Wait, I need to order a shake to order #1. Is this going to take long? Because we're kind've in a hurry."


AAAAAAAGGGGGHHH, I guess I really didn't need to eat here after all. In the meantime, I think I'll leave these people a note and put it on their car, "This restaurant serves FAST food, but only when you ORDER fast!"

What did he just say?

"Your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!"

Matthew 6:8

When you don't know what it is you need. God knows.
When you think you can't pray because you don't know what to say. God knows.
When you think you just can't go on anymore. God knows.

He knows what you need even before you know. He loves you and He will do anything for you.
Rely on God and let him take care of you. He will help.
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The phone man was here trying to figure out what was wrong with the phone line that runs to my alarm. You see, I'm a chicken and I need that alarm turned on at night. Especially when Loren is not in town.

I was outside with the phone man while he was trying to explain to me what he found wrong with my phone line. Apparently, I'm not feeding my gophers enough, because they are eating my phone line. I think it's just because they are too scared to come out of their holes because Cinnamon will kill them. So they just stay underground trying to find food and when they have eaten all they can, they start on the phone line.

While talking to this nice phone man, underwear boy (better known as little boy) opens the garage door and yells loud enough for even the cows in the pasture to hear,
"Mom, get your big fat butt back in here!"

Umm, what did he just say?

My face started to burn, I think I was actually under tanning lights or something. The phone man suppressed a giggle and I said in my June Cleaver voice, through clenched teeth.
"OK, buddy, I'll be in in a minute"

I really don't remember much of the rest of the conversation, because I was thinking of all the things I wanted to do to underwear boy. You know, should I hang him upside down from the ceiling fan? Should I duct tape him on the wall in his underwear, those kind of things.

When I came in, I took care of underwear boy. No, I didn't hurt him (too bad). He's still up and about trying to harass the little dog, so I guess he's OK.

Queen for a moment

"Children are a gift from God"

Psalm 127:3

Most of the times I have to remember this verse to be nice to my kids when they do something they are not supposed to. Or when they break things that aren't theirs. But yesterday I saw it for what it was.

The boys were playing very well with each other. I thought some aliens had replaced them with these nice, caring and sharing boys, but they were actually the real boys that I gave birth to. They were playing walk the dog. Noah has a stuffed dog named Juneo who is a small beanie dog. Isaac has a stuffed boxer dog that is of medium size. They had "collars" made of string and whatever they could make into strings and these "collars" were tied to the dogs and they were "walking" or dragging these dogs around the house. Of course, it also had to do with what they were dressed up as and what they were using as dog houses, but at least they were using their imagination and being nice during the process. Anyway, I just wanted to bottle up their innocence at that time.

I always thank God for my children, but I guess I don't do it enough. I know I don't do it for the right reasons but I know that God knows my true feelings. So whether your kids do the right thing all the time or mess up every now and then, just remember that they are God's gift to us.
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I like to go grocery shopping by myself. Not that I don't love my children, but they pick at each other and use the merchandise at the store as a weapon. Doesn't matter if it's a can of green beans or a bag of rice, it's a weapon. I also don't want Noah to use the bags of chips as a trampoline. So I'd rather go alone.

The only time I can go alone is in the wee hours of the morning or late at night. I prefer the wee hours of the morning, that way I can treat myself to a bacon egg and cheese biscuit from Braum's afterwards. Yum!!!!

So yesterday morning I went to my favorite place in the world. Wally world. It's the only place in town open at 6am. It wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. Of course, I'm just excited that I'm alone. I know, that's sad when you can be excited to go grocery shopping, but you've got to take it when you can get it. I got all my shopping done quickly and even had a little time to look at some of the Halloween stuff they were marking down.

But the best part was when I went down the frozen food aisles. If you ever want to feel "special", go down the frozen food aisles. Start at the end that has cases on either side of you, but make sure there is no one else down that aisle because that will just ruin the whole effect. Anyway, walk slow and pretend you are the queen and the food in the cases are the people cheering you on. As you walk ever so slowly (because you are the queen and you don't want to fall and make a fool of yourself) the lights in the cases turn on as you walk in front of them. Keep doing that up and down the aisle and wave from side to side as you walk or prance, or even dance. "Special" you will feel, but the clerks will think you need some serious help.

And if you are really lucky, you won't run into anyone that knows you and will once and for all truly believe that you are psycho.

It's ninja time

I finally am able to post pictures of the Ninjas. For some reason, I have been having technical difficulties. Last night, as I was trying to download my pictures, from my camera to my computer, my computer comes up with a blue screen with words that aren't in my vocabulary. I knew that wasn't a good sign, because the last time I've seen a blue screen like that was the time that my hard drive went out. I was panicking because of course I don't have my pictures backed up on a disk. But after spending over an hour with the tech at Dell support I have my computer back. Woo hoo and all my files are just where I left them.

Last night we went to some friends houses to get candy then went to a church Hallow Him festival. The boys had lots of fun. Not to mention lots of candy. We did go to Ms. Gertrude's house and she did give them some sodee pop AND they had their choice of vanilla or chocolate pudding AND she even threw in some mints. We hit the jackpot at her house!!!!

AB and Hubster are ADHD. More on Hubster on another post. For now, I will tell you about my AB. He bugged me and bugged me and bugged me until he got some makeup for his ninja costume. He had been picturing in his mind about how he wanted to look. Yesterday was a tough day at school because all he could concentrate on was his costume and the makeup that would make him a ninja warrior.

He told me that he wanted black all around his eyes. I thought maybe he had changed his mind and was going as a raccoon instead of a ninja. But I was wrong. He wanted this makeup to cover his eyes so that he could look mean. Well, who am I to tell him it doesn't look good. So before he put the black eyes on, he wanted a scar under his eye to look like if he had gotten in a fight. I spend 30 minutes trying to get this thing on right and proportion it correctly so that it could look real. Because not only is he ADHD, he is also OCB. 10 minutes on and he pulls it off. AAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!!

He puts on black and red around his eyes. Don't ask why red. I don't even know why red. So he puts his mask on and decides that the black and red bother his eyes. While we are in the car, he proceeds to remove this makeup with wipes. When his eyes start to water, he blames it on the makeup. I'm just the mom, I don't know anything. Especially when I tell him not to use the wipes on his eyes.

But we get to Lisa and Eric's and all is well once he washes it off. Now I just have to find a way to get rid of all this candy without them finding out where it went. Hmmm.



Here are the Ninjas getting ready to attack anyone that comes near their candy bowls

AB is enjoying a cupcake he got at the church party

AB and I don't much care for chocolate, but UB sure does love it. Can you tell?

Vegetable bars

"A cheerful heart does good like medicine"

Proverbs 17:22

I am constantly reminding my kids about this saying. Especially when all they want to do is gripe and complain about everything. Usually it's Isaac complaining and Noah telling him this verse. That doesn't go very well with the complainer. But eventually he will repeat it with us and he'll smile and be happy.



My problem is saying the verse to apply it to myself. It's easy for me to see when others are not happy, but when I'm complaining and having a pity party for me, I forget this. So I have to stop what I'm doing and repeat it several times and it works. You should try it the next time you are having your own pity party.

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My bff Lisa makes these for church gatherings. She finally gave me the recipe and now I make them for our family gatherings. They are quite yummy!!!!

Vegetable Bars

Bottom layer

1 can crescent roll spread in bottom of 11 x 15 pan. Cook according to directions.

Second layer:

8 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 pkg hidden valley dressing mix

Mix together and spread on top of crust

Third layer:

3/4 cup each chopped:

green onions; green or yellow pepper; tomatoes; carrots; broccoli; cauliflower

Mix and spread on top of second layer. Cover with plastic wrap and press vegetables into second layer. Remove plastic and cover with 3/4 cup shredded cheese.

If you are not a vegetable eater, don't worry, this will make you a veggie eater.