WELCOME TO NANA'S BRAGSITE

A Few Of My Favorite Things to Remember

2012-01-03T19:11:00.000-08:00

A few things from the past few months that I want to remember for the future, so I'll memorialize them in my blog. These are from times I've spent with grandchildren, the funniest people I know. ;)

Emily: Can I have some hot tea with honey? (She wasn't feeling well.)
Me: Sure, would you like milk in it too?
Emily: Could I still have honey if I have milk?
Me: Yes, you can have tea, honey AND milk.
Emily: Sure!
She drank the tea and brought me her empty cup.
Emily: That was really good, could you give me the recipe??
Me: Uhhhh, sure! Water, a tea bag, milk and honey?
Me: (Laughing on the inside.)

If Ally gets bored at our house, she always starts to ask when mommy is coming, and if Jamie is on her way to my house to get her. I always ask her if she's bored at my house and ready to go home. She always nods yes, then always says, "I wish I could spend the night here tonight!" Huh? Those things just don't go together, yet the conversation always goes this way.

Recently I was taking Devon with me after church and, as I got into the driver's seat, I hit my kneecap which was so painful I could barely breathe for a minute. Devon asked me what was wrong so I told him what I'd done and that it really hurt. He looked very sympathetic and said, "Oh. When that happens to me, I just handle it." Well, all-rightey then, I guess I just need to handle it. ;)

When spending the night with us, the first child up has some nice alone time with me (like at 6:00 a.m., good thing I like mornings). Rylee was first up with me recently and we were sitting in my chair together, watching cartoons. Rylee is our super lovey one, Jamie says she feels her love language is touch and words of affirmation and I have to agree. Rylee looked up at me, stroked my face lovingly and said (and I quote), "You have the biggest mouth in the whole family. And the biggest tummy. I love you Nana." Oh my word, I couldn't stop laughing and the only reason I wasn't totally offended was she was, in her 4-year old mind, trying to be loving and compliment me. Seriously, she says outrageous things like that when she is trying to give an amazing compliment and I guess she thought that did it for me. Problem is, I probably have one of the smallest mouths in the family, but she was probably spot-on with the tummy comment, lol.

I guess I found some fun things for all the grandkids, except Nate. He's talking so well for barely two years old, but isn't telling me the stories and cute stuff yet. But I love, love how he sings with the kid's worship CD's in the car, and sings with anything that catches his attention. Like the other day when Big Bang Theory was on and he heard the "Soft Kitty" song - he sang right along with Sheldon and Penny, hilarious! (Kind of like his Uncle Josh who, at this age, belted out Budweiser songs from commercials on TV while we were grocery shopping, ha!) Nate gives the biggest, tightest hugs these days, and is getting to be super lovey lately. As my (probable) last grandchild, I'm enjoying those toddler hugs and all that goes along with it.

Sharing Christmas

2011-12-18T17:27:00.000-08:00

I have no idea if many people read my blog since I'm sporadic about posting, but let's see if anyone responds...

What is your favorite Christmas carol, and why?

What is your favorite Christmas memory (funny, sentimental, touching, anything)?

**UPDATED TO ADD**

My favorite song is O Holy Night, it's been my favorite for years. One of my funnier memories is when I was about 17. My parents bought a fake tree, which was really ugly (fake trees in the 70's were terrible!). I hated the tree and missed my real tree so while they were out with friends one night, I bought a huge, fresh tree, undecorated the fake tree, put it away and redecorated the fresh tree, all before they got home. When they came home, my parents looked a little surprised but their friends thought it was great! ;)

Happy Birthday Nathan!

2011-11-11T14:25:00.000-08:00

This and That

2011-11-10T19:03:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in awhile so for the sake of looking back someday, I'm doing a random blog of "stuff." Of course it will probably involve a lot of grandkid talk, I won't be able to help myself, so let's just start with them. If you are on FB with me, you may have heard some of this but I wanted to keep it for all posterity.

Devon: Devon is 5 and in Kindergarten this year. This boy is going to be fun to watch grow up! He is calm and easy going, but also can be quite stubborn. He is a sweet boy. Not what you always think of for boys, but he is. He just started karate (because as he will tell you, soccer is just boring) and he loves it! It's fun to watch him in class, he takes it seriously and concentrates hard on the moves. Josh is also taking him to the bike trail to learn how to ride more. He's still on training wheels but mostly because he hasn't had a lot of time on the bike. His latest funny story (and only funny because he was okay at the end) was the other day when Josh took him to the Sundial Bridge to ride while Josh was on rollerblades to stay up with him. As they were approaching the bridge, Devon "forgot" to turn his wheel toward the bridge and instead was slowly headed for the embankment. Josh was yelling, "Turn the wheel Devon, turn the wheel!" If you know Devon, when he gets in a predicament like this one, he freezes. So there he was, in slow motion on the bike, heading right for the edge. Josh is yelling, "Use your brakes, use your brakes!" But since he was frozen, he did nothing except slowly tip over the edge and "ride" straight down the hill. Josh had to get stopped on the roller blades and get down the hill to him. Luckily he had only a scratch and was shook up a little. So glad he didn't get hurt! We went over a week ago to help Josh and Devon put up there Christmas tree. Steve had to do some electrical stuff and Devon told me, "Papa can fix anything!" So true Devon, so true!

Nate: He turns 2 on Veteran's Day. He goes nuts over garbage trucks and fire trucks, but if you get him close to them, he's a little intimidated. As time goes on, if Nate and Rylee team up, Jamie and Mike are in real trouble. Mommy has found him down the street after he escaped the house, walking a 4-foot brick wall. In their previous 2-story house, Mr. Daredevil Nate liked to get on the desk upstairs which is about 1 foot from the ledge going over the stairs (refer to the picture above - to the left of him is a drop of about 15 feet)! He has learned to pull up anything he can stand on to get into things on counters. He is truly the reason baby gates, door locks and cupboard locks were made! He is curious about everything and obviously wants to experience life, on his own terms. My favorite thing he does is if you sit down on a chair or the floor, he fills up your lap. Ever try to organize a shoe closet with a little one glued to your lap? ;) He's learned to sing along in the car with the girls to all the praise songs, so sweet. He's a lot of fun but believe me, he keeps you on your toes!

Rylee: She turned 4 in August, plays soccer, and is in pre-school this year and enjoys the social scene there. They aren't teaching them as much there for some reason as they did the other 2 girls when they went so Jamie is teaching her to write her alphabet and how to sound out words. She's a very huggy girl, and very sweet. But like her brother Nate, you have to watch out for this one. She's very independent and does whatever she believes she can do. She rode up to Jamie a few weeks ago on her bike and told her she wanted her training wheels off. Jamie took them off and Rylee got back on the bike, took off down the driveway and never looked back. She is the one who, when we are out and about, will take off on her own to see something. She has no fear of getting lost and if you do "lose" her, she will tell you she wasn't lost, she was taking a walk. So I'm always head-counting her when we go places. (I'm a constant head-counter and my family knows this about me. But in my defense, I am usually with 4 to 5 grandkids at a time and it pays to head count!) I truly believe if we couldn't find Rylee at the mall sometime we could just drive home and she'd be there waiting for us. This is the girl who was in a friend's pool with all of us sitting on an air mattress just behind me, and wearing floaties. I was doing my typical head counting as Jamie and I talked and when I got to the air mattress, there it sat empty except for 2 floaties. Cue in heart dropping here as I looked in the water and saw her in the deep end, about 3 feet from the top with her eyes wide as can be. (See why I"m a head counter?) She just figured she could swim like Emily and waited for her opportunity to quietly slip away. Scariest moment of my life. Hers too, except 30 minutes later, as I'm holding her in the pool, she was trying to get the floaties off again. As I said...she believes she can take care of herself.

Emily: Emily is in the 4th grade and plays soccer and is a girl with many facets to her personality. She secludes herself in her room with her books, her microscope, her computer games, but is also happy out riding her bike with her friends. She's extremely helpful whenever asked and is kind to her siblings (usually) and to her friends. She is oblivious to the concept of being popular and can't understand why kids won't play with other kids who are into the popularity thing. Yet, the kids in her class all like her. She's very intelligent and discusses topics I don't even know about. The scary part is, when I tell her I don't know the answer, she tells ME stuff I don't know. She's a voracious reader and besides fiction, she loves poring over books on the US Presidents...volcanos and tornados...the science of the body, etc. After she reads them, then you get a summary from her as she tells you all the facts in the books. Amazing, seriously. For Christmas, we are getting her books on rocks. She has a passion for collecting unusual rocks and knows all about them and how they formed. Did I mention she's 8 years old?? Gone are the days at 2, 3, 4 years old when she told me all kinds of interesting (and hilarious) stories because this girl has a big imagination. Thankfully, I blogged a lot of the stories.

Allyson: Allyson is 5 and in Kindergarten. She also plays soccer and loves it. She is our people pleaser. Every teacher loves her. All the class loves her. She is helpful and is our rule-follower. She's also fiercely competative. As in, tears rolling down her face if she loses a game. I recently bought High School Musical Dance for Kinect. Emily (being so much older) got it down fast and got A's (your points are grades). Ally kept getting C's and to say she wasn't happy is an understatement. Ohhhh, the drama! But in true Ally style, she's determined to win so she works and works at it. I think she's our singer, she sings very seriously with the praise songs in the car. She is very picky about her clothes, hair, etc. The other kids aren't big on shopping but Jamie and I have learned that when shopping for Allyson, you have to take her. We think she'll love something we got and she'll surprise us most every time. Steve and I have a membership at the YMCA, which has an indoor heated pool. The kids love going there but Ally has a fear of the pool and of drowning. She asked me the other night, "If I wear floaties, will they really work?" I told her yes and a minute later she said, "Well, if they didn't work, would you save me?" (Oh my, she really has to ask??) I reassured her I would save her in a heartbeat! She said good and smiled. So funny... Another sweet story that's SO Ally is last Sunday at church, she and Emily were begging to go home with us. We'd been with them most of the week-end and I had to get my house cleaned so I was hedging because, can you believe it, I fold easily. I told them, let me ask Papa and see what he says and if he says yes, we'll come over and get you. Emily said okay and moved on. Ally said, "Well, Papa really loves me so he might say yes." I was about melting in a puddle at that point when Jamie stepped in and said no, we're going home. Nana has things to do. Oh the look of hope in Ally's eyes. And yes, she did ask Jamie later if I had asked Papa, and if he said he loved her. Haha! But really, I'm just so glad they all still love coming over that much. I know there will come a day when it won't be that special when they have bigger fish to fry. So...I'll take it for now.

Josh is still doing his running (which is his passion), but he's added in biking to help out the leg issues he has with running too much. He and Steve will be heading down to Monterey soon for a half-marathon in Monterey. Next September he plans to do the Tour de Tahoe (about 75 miles) on the bike with Steve, who did it this year. I think my niece and her husband may be joining them too, lots of fun! He is slowly looking for a house to buy as it's the perfect time to buy your first house in this housing market.

Jamie and Mike moved in August to a house that is so much more suited to them, especially being back to a one-story house again. Mike is a Farmers agent and Jamie, as you can guess with 4 children, is a stay at home mom. Except she doesn't do much staying at home between soccer, working in 2 classrooms, school activities, etc. Jamie and I have recently taken up sewing, it's been fun. Our first project was making Emily's Halloween costume (prairie girl). We've moved on to "real" clothing now.

As for Steve and I, we're plugging along. Steve's tests from UCSF all came back with great results so once again, we are putting the cancer diagnosis away on the shelf and moving ahead with life. We had to forgo our vacation in October (work issues and my mom was still struggling with things at that point, but she is much better now), so instead we booked a 5-night Western Caribbean cruise for January and are going with Steve's sister and her husband, Fred and Leslie. We are also taking off Thanksgiving week as Steve had time to use up for 2011. We're looking forward to doing whatever we want...sewing for me, maybe a bike ride or two for Steve, doing all the Christmas shopping, etc. It's been almost a year since we took a week off so taking 2 weeks within 2 months will be SO nice!

We are now baking for our church's cafe on Sunday mornings. We have to be there at 6:00 a.m., but we are enjoying doing this. It's something different than we've ever done at church, and it's something we can do together. Sean, the head honcho, has given me lots of liberty with the baking menu so I'm having so much fun with it! It lets me get my baking desires quenched, but I don't have lots of pastries sitting at home where I'll eat them.

My job is going strong, I work for such a great firm who treat us well. I know someday our bosses will be retiring and I may not have this job, but I'm enjoying it for now and feel blessed to have it. Steve is with Yellow Book. While it's a far cry from his dream job, he is just grateful to be employed in this shaky job market. We are still praying for a job that fits him better and that he can fully enjoy. In God's time...

So there's life these days with us. Nothing big yet always special because we have been so blessed with our family, friends, church and jobs. So I guess that's what makes it special to us every single day.

This Season of Life

2011-10-06T20:44:00.000-07:00

As pretty much anyone reading this blog may know, the last six months have been long and hard, making me realize that we have many seasons in life. Some of them are fun and amazing, some not so much!

The next few paragraphs are honestly laid out, some of it not pretty to reveal about myself, and most importantly are not reflective of anything about the person needing care. They are in a position where there is no choice, they just need the help. But in talking to other caregivers, and of course googling it, I've learned that maybe I'm not a terrible person. There are just certain feelings and emotions that go along with being a caregiver, especially if you are new at it.

This new season I've been in has taught me lessons about how all-consuming being a caretaker can be with my mom's back surgery, then her metabolic breakdown. (I'm calling it a metabolic breakdown, you know, because I'm a doctor and I know these things.) While working and maintaining my normally full life, I unexpectedly had to begin caretaking for my mom, doing all kinds of things she's always done for herself like getting a handle on her finances for bill-paying, making sure her dog was fed, doing her laundry while she was in the rehab center, fielding many phone calls and visits, getting her mail, taking clothes, etc. to her each day, visiting, making calls to her doctors and care team, problem solving for her at the center if her meds weren't right, etc. This was a new season for me. I have never had to "take over" someone else's life for them.

At the same time, my "normal" life was carrying on without me and I realized just how tunnel-visioned I had been (and had no choice but to be) when I finally got to spend some time with some of my grandkids. Allyson was talking to me when I realized she was missing a top tooth! I asked her when she lost her tooth and she told me how it got hit and then it was so loose her mommy pulled it. As silly as it may sound, that made me sad. Whenever they've lost teeth, I've either been there (Papa is the tooth-puller in the family), or they've called me to tell me when it happened. That was one of the "I want my life back" moments I had. But reality was, Jamie knew I was so swamped with things she let this one go (as was right). But it made me realize just how out of the loop I was in my own "normal" life. When my dad passed away after 15 years of emphysema, my mom told me that one day she and my dad had discussed how his illness affected both of them, as he became more housebound and hospital-bound, so did she. She told him, "You're illness is my illness too." It made sense to me even then, but it makes even more sense now. She never minded being his caretaker, but the reality was what I've learned: it affects your life even if it's not your illness.

Here's what I now know: while you are glad to do what's necessary for them, the truth is, it's draining...all-consuming...and overwhelming. I won't lie, there were days when I was stressed, tired, and just wanted my life back. But there are no quitters in caregiving. All of those feelings are normal for caregivers, the odd mix of happy to do it, yet not wanting to do it. It's like having a baby for the first time - other mothers can tell you all about how you will feel, what you should know, etc. But you really can't understand it until you do it.

I wasn't sure if I'd actually post this, I started it to put my thoughts on paper, but then changed my mind. So why did I put this on my blog? It's for those of you who haven't been in this position, but may be down the road. Maybe it will be helpful to you because in the spring, I hadn't experienced this season yet. I was unenlightened. What I've learned is that this is a season of life. Our feelings are what they are, we don't choose them. What's most important is what you do, not what you feel.

My mom is home now and doing well, but odds are it won't be her last time needing help. But now I feel more prepared because I've spent some time in the caretaking world. And now I know how to approach better the next time, and even have some ideas about how to make some changes so we are better set for it.

And may my next season of life be on a cruise ship! (Okay, that's already set up so I can say that, right?)

Making Hard Decisions

2011-09-24T06:01:00.000-07:00

The past 2 weeks have been hard, unusually hard. My mom has always been on the go, the one who takes care of her neighbors, lives alone and, at the age of 79, still worked 10-15 hours a week. But this summer has taken it's toll on her starting with a 5th coiling for her brain aneurysm, then terrible back pain for weeks on heavy pain killers that resulted in her back surgery in July. She was just getting some strength back when she started massive headaches and neck pain. She just spent about 6 days in the hospital on pain killers with many tests run, her blood pressure staying abnormally high most of her time there. They ruled out everything imaginable and called it hypertension issues. Once they found a medication that finally controlled the hypertension, she was sent home. At home, she went steadily and very quickly downhill. She slept all day and was barely functioning.

Yesterday we ended up back in the E.R. On the way to her doctor's office (where we started before the E.R.), she told me she didn't think she was going to make it, that her time was near. It was strange to be sitting in a car at an intersection and having your mother tell you that. What do you say to that? As I looked around the other cars driving to lunch, or to work, or wherever, I wondered how odd it was that everyone was going about their business while my mom told me she felt like she was slowly dying. Then I realized that on other normal days, when a driver has turned in front of someone else, or seemed to think they were the only driver on the road, maybe they had something else going on in their lives. Really, who thinks about that about the hundreds of other cars we encounter when driving somewhere?

My opinion on what's happened to her (of course I'm no medical expert) is that between her last procedure at UCSF (with anesthesia), then all the pain meds leading up to her long back surgery and recovery (again with anesthesia), then this crisis with the hypertension issues and more pain meds, her body had had enough and she just couldn't bounce back. I think she had no reserves, especially with eating basically nothing, and things just started shutting down. Again, a guess on my part, but it makes sense to me.

Last night we had to put my mom in a rehab hospital, basically a nursing home. Her worst fear. She's always said she never wanted to go to one. But I had to make the hard choice. I'm her daughter, I'm the one the only child of hers that lives here, so it fell to me. My brother and I, along with support from my hsuband, made the decision together, but I had to tell her, I had to explain why. She was good about it but told me she didn't want it.

I really think if I had left her at home in hopes of getting better, what she told me in the car would have come true. She has eaten less than a whole meal in the last 10-14 days. She wasn't drinking any water or liquids without me pushing. She couldn't even take her meds on her own. And I have a job I can' walk away from so she was on her own a lot, which worried me. So I had to make the hard decision and put her where she could get the medical intervention and support that I couldn't give her.

It's hard being a caretaker, and hard to make decisions about another human being when you know that's not what they want. I walked out to my car with feelings of relief and guilt, quite the strange combination. But relief was stronger because in my heart, I knew it was the right decision for her for now.

I have great respect for caretakers and hospice workers. It's a hard thing to do, it's draining...and consuming. The people who do it for months for loved ones, or the hospice workers and nursing care facilitators who do it for life, are heroes in my opinion.

I told mom last night that with this support, her job is to start eating, getting fluids down, and get her strength back so she can go back home, get back to her life. I hope this is actually possible for her. She's always rallied and gotten back to it before. I hope I didn't give her false hope but the fact is, she needed to have hope.

So we wait...

Our Life These Days

2011-08-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

For the sake of looking back, I wanted to blog about life these days, where we're at, what we're doing. Kudos to you if you read this. ;)

This summer was absolutely nothing like I had planned. I'm sure God smiles down on me when I decide exactly how things will be in my life. Apparently I still haven't learned that my plans don't usually work out the way I picture them. I waited through winter and a wet, cold spring for the arrival of summer. I was so sure I'd be back on the bike doing 35-mile bike rides and losing another 15 lbs. That was the plan and I couldn't wait for it to happen! Not.

About the time the weather finally got nice, my mom was down and out with a serious back problem that ultimately required surgery. My life was all about work, mom, family, mom, work, mom, you see the pattern. By the time summer got started, we spent weeks attending doctor appointments, then pre-surgery appointments, then her surgery. She is just now somewhat able to resume her life. So, we jumped from early June to early August and I have a dusty bike. Just enough time to GAIN 10 lbs in 5 months because (as is my norm) I ate my way through stress, exhaustion and frustration. My place was helping my mom, I needed to do that and I'm glad I did. It just wasn't the way I pictured my summer.

Steve, on the other hand, has been riding 100+ miles per week and kept his weight off. He's focused because with his cancer, it's critical that he does it that way. I'm just impressed that he's done it.

It's also a summer of changes for my "kids." Josh has been looking at houses in hopes of buying his first home. Our housing market is very depressed here so it's a great time to buy your first house. Not such a great time to sell, so we are stuck where we're at for now, but my dream is to sell and move into Redding so we're near everything we do...work, grandkids, church, etc.

Jamie and Mike are also moving this week to a house that better fits their family. They'll be so happy to be out of the 2-story house with no yard and no driveway (they live in high-density housing right now).

We start the fall this year with a 4th grader, 2 Kindergartners, and one pre-schooler. All but one grandchild goes to school this year! Wow! Emily jumped from 2nd grade to 4th grade this year. She's very bright and since she barely missed the deadline to start a year earlier, she's actually the right age for 4th grade, albeit at the lower age end. She was SO bored in school, so it was necessary to move her up per the school principal, counselor and 2nd grade teacher. So Emily and Jamie spent a lot of the summer doing some catch-up work, especially learning multiplication tables, division, and working on nouns/verbs, etc. We all went out to Kobe's this past Sunday to celebrate all of her (and Jamie's!) hard work for accomplishing it this summer. Ask Emily any multiplication equation up thru 12x12 and she knows the answer! And, like her Nana, she loves long division, go Emily! ;)

We are back at The Stirring for church. Since our church fell apart about 6 years ago, we have really struggled with where to land permanently. It sounds so easy - just find a church and get involved. There is a church on every corner so it shouldn't be hard, right? Not so easy... For the first time in awhile, things are starting to feel like they fit. We're at church with our kids and grandkids which we love. We took the plunge to get involved and are one of the 3 bakers for the church's new cafe. We get there at 6:00 a.m. on Sundays (yes, we actually chose that shift) and start baking biscuits, scones, muffins and focacia bread before the breakfast serving starts at 8:00. Steve's also helping with the parking team (our new building came with some parking issues), then we're both done in time for church. We're meeting new people, and enjoying many that we already knew there and it's starting to finally feel like we have a church again. I know my relationship with Christ isn't the church, but it is the foundation for me to serve, worship and fellowship, a crucial part of my Christian growth so it's like coming home finally.

We have a few things coming up in September and October. On Labor Day, we're heading to Crater Lake on our motorcycles with our friends for a few days. We've done this ride once before, Crater Lake is a beautiful ride.

The week-end of 9/11, Steve and I head to Tahoe where he's signed up for the Tour de Tahoe ride. He'll do the 78 mile bike ride around the lake, a great end of the season ride that he's looking forward to. While he's biking on the tour, I'll be "forced" to read my Kindle or hang around Tahoe enjoying the weather, or maybe even doing my own little ride around the beach trail. We drive through Reno on our way to and from Tahoe and will be stopping for a visit at Scheels, which is a "must" for Steve. The last two visits we have come within an inch of buying a tandem Hobie Mirage Kayak to take home with us (they have oars and pedals both, so they're fast, fun and good exercise). The question is...will we make it back with, or without, the kayak this visit? Time will tell... We have two beautiful lakes that are about 10 minutes from Redding, not to mention the Sacramento River that's 1 mile from our house, so we have plenty of places to ride it, including our visits to Tahoe. So tempting...

We also have a week of vacation coming up in October but we're not going too far, we're flying into SoCal. From there we'll drive to Yuma, AZ and have dinner with some old high school friends that we've reconnected with on Facebook (one reason I love FB - anyone else in or near Yuma who are reading this that want to come, let me know, it'll be on Oct. 15th!). Then we head to San Diego to stay with my brother for a few days. We plan to rent some bikes for the day on Coronado Island, just a hang out kind of vacation.

So that's our life lately in a blog post. We live in a wonderful world of grandchildren with missing teeth, bike rides, short trips with family and friends, a new ministry at church that involves baking, and much more. What more could you want from life? Sometimes it really is the small things in life that are the best and I am really learning the importance of them, and of learning to count your blessings in life. There is no doubt that even with our economy, even with the frustrations we may have with our country's leadership, even with job issues and health issues that come up, and other things that throw a monkey-wrench in our plans, we are far more blessed in this life than anything else. And I am learning to keep my eyes on that!

Road Trip (aka Date) With Devon

2011-06-30T20:21:00.000-07:00

Since we planned a little road trip for Devon to enjoy, I am classifying it as our "date" together. We just let Steve and Josh join us! We headed to Reno last Saturday morning and started it off with a visit to Scheels where we did a little shopping, game playing, fudge eating, and then Josh took Devon on the ferris wheel (which Devon called the steering wheel). Josh wasn't sure if he'd like it as he hasn't done much with rides, but he LOVED it!

Next we headed to Circus Circus where we let Devon have some time in the kids' game area. It was kind of disappointing, it felt old and dingy in there. Devon won a turtle and a blue Nemo fish and then we headed over to the El Dorado for dinner at The Prime Rib Grill. They have an amazing salad bar and if you go between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m., they have a great prime rib early bird special on their prime rib dinner. Soooo good! Before we left we had to get a picture of Devon in the giant chair at the Silver Legacy.

I topped the evening off with a little shopping at Dillards and a few stores, then we checked into our hotel, headed down for a swim/spa time and headed to bed with a tired little guy!

The next morning it was breakfast at Mimi's Cafe, a little shopping at Kohl's (got some great buys), and we headed up to Tahoe where we made a few stops to walk down to the lake, eat lunch, and then head on home. The weather in Tahoe was beautiful, the lake was several shades of greens and aquas. Josh had promised Devon he would be able to touch the water off the rocks and he made good on his promise - but it meant the only way he could do it was to hang Devon over the water by his ankles. Haha! Wish I'd gotten a picture of that one!

We had lunch at Chevy's on the patio in the beautiful 70 degree weather!

We drove up and around Emerald Bay and found a place for Devon to play on a beach for awhile which left him like this after we left the beach.

Then we headed toward Sacramento for dinner at BJ's Brewhouse, then on home, ending a really fun and relaxing trip.

And Then There Was Rylee...

2011-05-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

Rylee is such a pistol! Each of the kids have their own energy and way of doing things which is what I love experiencing on our "date nights."

We left her house and the first place she wanted to go was to get her zebra at Kohls. The girls saw the $5 stuffed zebras and llamas last Friday and I could tell Rylee wanted one. She named her Rainbow Sprinkles and was quick to inform me that HE was a girl. Somehow I ended up with a cute little summer dress for her too, that's what happens when you have to walk past the kids' department to get to the bathrooms.

Yes, she has a blue mouth from her cotton candy ice cream. ;)

After that we headed to feed the ducks. Out of all the kids, I think she enjoys this the most and she's not afraid which is saying something because our local ducks and geese are a little "friendly," which can borderline on aggression once they realize you have bread in your hands. We drove up, opened the car door and she said in a sing-song voice, "Hey little birdies, we got the bread!"

While we were feeding them, they were pretty much cornering us at the door of my car so I kicked my foot out lightly to shoo them away. I guess Rylee thought I was trying to kick them and missed because she bolted out of the van and kicked a big ol' goose that was almost tall enough to look her directly in the eye! I gasped and said, "Rylee! Don't kick the goose!" She turned around and looked totally shocked that I wasn't thrilled that she let the goose have it. I had a hard time not laughing though because the goose barely budged, he mostly gave her a look that said, "Hey, what's your problem?" (Don't worry, we discussed why we don't kick geese or any other animal and the goose was fine, he seemed like he could care less as long as the bread was flowing.)

After that we got her some cute flip-flops (because a girl can never have too many shoes) and then picked up a couple of scoops of ice cream on the way home. She played a few games on barbie.com and it was time for bed, popcorn and a movie.

Of course, for the sake of reading this in 10 years, I have to post some of her random conversations:

"I want to buy a pony." (Where would you put a pony if you bought it?) "On my bottom." (Huh?) "I would sit on it and ride it." (Well, I guess that would mean it would be on your bottom. Of course I was trying to ask where she would store her pony at her house but hey, it's all in how you look at it.)

(Driving to Kohls, we see a car with a little boy in it stopped at a light next to us.) "Hey, that kid is going to get pizza!" (What kind?) "Macaroni and cheese pizza." (How do you make that kind of pizza?) "You just stir it up and eat it. But I don't know how. Oh nuts!"

(Walking through the girls dresses at Kohls I showed her a dress I liked, but she didn't.) "No, let's get that one for Jack Jack." (Jack is her friend and I don't think he'd like wearing that dress. And I don't think his daddy would like it even more. lol)

"I'm 36." (That's it, for some reason that statement came out and stood alone.)

That's about it. Like with the other two, these were laid back dates that weren't terribly exciting (except to me maybe), but for the sake of looking back I wanted to post about them.

A Date With Allyson

2011-05-03T19:29:00.001-07:00

Tonight was my date night with Allyson. I love that the kids enjoy having a special time with me, even if we aren't doing big or exciting things.

The beginning...
Ally and I took our bikes to Clover Creek trail and went around the loop once. She said the wind was too hard to do another loop so once was apparently enough. She chattered the whole way through the trail. And in case you were wondering, she really knows how to use her brakes, I think her tires are smoking by the she gets stopped! I'm pretty sure she'll go through new bike tires monthly!

After our ride, we headed to the store to purchase "Tangled," then drove through McDonalds for a kid's meal, jumped over to Rite-Aid for a couple of scoops of ice cream, then home to eat the feast in front of the TV as we watched Tangled.

The evening was light, simple and fun. She chatted at me non-stop. One of the things I notice when I'm with each of the girls by themselves is they never (and I mean never) run out of things to say. When they're all 3 in the car, I have to monitor who's turn it is to ask me a question because they all want to have their say, so I think they use the alone time to just go for it! Haha!

Some of the things she talked about were about as random as Emily's conversation recently, and changed topics with each breath...

"Nana, some turtles are green, but some are blue. (Really? Interesting...) My dad rides on this trail with me but sometimes he goes on bigger trails so he can get more extracise. (Would that be extra exercise? lol) Did you know that turtles have sticky points on their legs? (Why no, I didn't.) Nana, you should tell mommy a knock knock joke. (I asked which one.) She said, Knock Knock! (I said who's there.) Chicken! (I said chicken who?) She said, Chicken crazy grass!! (And then she wildly laughed like it was the funniest joke she ever heard! Yep, I'm definitely tell Jamie that knock knock joke next time I see her!) Nana, did you know turtles have very hard shells? (Okay, so what's with all the turtle talk?)

My "aha moment" was when she got out of the car and I saw she had a little plastic toy turtle in her hand, thus the turtle questions. Then she told me that if you dig very deep in the sandbox you find treasures like the turtle. I have to admit that when I picture digging in the sandbox for treasure, I picture what might have been left behind by the neighborhood cats.

At the end of our evening she went to bed to read during my shower. When I got out I found...

So that concludes Allyson's night with me. I realize it may not be an exciting post but I love saving these memories for reading someday when the kids are all older and going in 15 different directions.

My (Second) Date With Emily

2011-04-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's happening again. I am dating my grandchildren. Last time I let them pick the place to eat, the activity, and the place for dessert. This time it's more laid back, just spending some easy time together doing what they like, eating at home and then spending the night. The point here is time for just the two of us.

Previously it was youngest to oldest, this time we reversed it so the first one up was Emily! I wish I could say there'd be pictures but it didn't happen with Emily so I posted a recent picture from her first day of soccer. Hopefully I'll be better with pictures of the other four.

I picked Emily up after work and we headed to the bookstore because I owed her a new book. The reason I owed her a new book is that I bribe her to sing with the hand motions at AWANA each week. I know, bribing your grandchild to sing praises to God isn't really cool, but I'm okay with that. My reason for bribing her is to bring her out of her shell of shyness about it. If you know Emily, she's not normally a shy person, but for some reason she's embarrassed and just positive that the other 75 kids will all stop singing and doing their hand motions just to watch her!! Silly girl! So last week I had her doing 3 of the 5 praise songs - with the full hand motions! Toward the end of the last song I thought, wow, she's really getting into this, I'm so proud of her!! That moment was short-lived, however, when at the utterance of the final word of the last song she turned to me and said, "Now how many books did I earn for doing the 3 songs??" Oh well, she did her part and that's what counts, right?

But I digress...back to date night.

Emily picked out a reading book and an American Girl game book and much to my surprise we made it all the way up to the counter to pay without her changing her mind. She's like me, a bookstore holds way too much temptation every step of the way through the store. After we paid, we headed to Winco to get our ingredients for the dinner she wanted to make, strawberry crepes with bacon. She chose "ant logs" for a snack later (peanut butter filled celery with cran-raisins on top), Sunny Delight Punch to drink, and ice cream from Rite Aid for a treat. (Can anyone say SUGAR here?? My apologies to mom and dad for that one.)

On the way home she chatted at me with randomness in a way that only Emily can. She told me that in a book someone named their dog after their best friend's last name, so if she ever had a dog, she'd name it Wilburn after Tessa. She told me that if she ever goes on a cruise ship she's going straight to the computer lab and is staying there all day! Really? Who wants to be in a computer lab on a cruise ship?? She told me several riddles that I never got, then told me she didn't know the answers to them either. I could go on and on, but you can see our conversation stayed interesting.

Once home, we put on our aprons and made the crepes. Now this is where Emily shows how adaptable she can be. Allyson has a raging ear infection which got so much worse by the evening that Jamie and Mike were trying to find a clinic to get her into. Of course none were open after about 6:30 so while we were making crepes, I was on the computer and phone trying to find a clinic that was open while Jamie was in her car looking for one after the first one didn't work out. Emily seemed oblivious that the evening wasn't about her at that point. She finished up her crepe assembly line and sat down to read while I was doing my computer thing. I love that girl, she's just versatile that way, even saying, "Ohhhh, poor Ally!" Hugs for Emily!

After Ally's situation was handled, Emily's crepes were ready. She asked if she could eat while she watched a movie. She chose one I had taped in our bedroom so we got her situated on our bed with crepes and punch and started her movie. Yes, I actually let her eat all of it on our bed because I'm Cool Nana. I have a reputation to maintain!

She finished dinner and we headed to Rite-Aid for ice cream, then back home to finish her movie. After that, she browsed through her books, telling me about all the games in the book and how they worked. Because it was a work night for me, that was the end of date night. I think I fell asleep before she did. She's a night owl so I let her read to her heart's content. I returned her home before work the next morning.

Next up...Allyson, and we already have a plan. (Must remember camera...)

Fifty-Somethings versus Technology

2011-04-23T15:46:00.000-07:00

A text I sent to our friends Gloria and Gary (G&G) today had me laughing harder than I've laughed in awhile so I thought I'd blog about it. It may be one of those "you had to be there" things but I'll document about us 50-year old techy-challenged people here for all posterity.

Steve and I decided to invite Gary, Gloria (above with us in the picture) and their son Jaret over for our family Easter dinner, they're really family anyway. ;) So I texted them and this is what it actually said:

"I can't remember what u have planned but the 3 of you are welcome for Easter dinner tomorrow at 5:00. Just Jamie's family and my mom and having ham & scalloped potatoes."

What I didn't realize is that G&G didn't know that if you text too many characters, it goes to a second page signified with a "2/2." So the message they actually saw was:

2/2 d potatoes

Gloria started laughing and said "huh?" So she sent me a message that said, "O...I so don't get what this means???

I got her message and was puzzled so I read my text to Steve and asked if he thought it was unclear? He said no, it makes sense to me, so I texted back:

"It means that you, Gary and Jaret are welcome to our house for Easter dinner if you are interested. And like the rest of our family events with the kids, it'll be a rootin' tootin' loud time!"

Unfortunately, they were still looking at only page 2 of each message (not realizing page 1 even existed) so they saw:

2/2 rootin tootin loud time.

At this point they were about double over laughing and wondering, what the heck?? Gloria texted me back, "Jenni, I need a translation, can't figure it out."

Again, I'm thinking, why is this so hard, I don't get it?? So I realized it was time to just call her. When Gary mentioned seeing the "2/2" first, I realized what happened, I explained it, and we had a good laugh at the whole thing. I didn't really know at that time what parts of the messages they had actually seen so when I was at a red light on the way to the store, I popped the messages up and realized they only saw "rootin tootin loud time" as my supposed "clarification" message. Then it really hit me how funny the messages must have seemed and I couldn't quit laughing - as in driving down the freeway with tears in my eyes - and no one else with me in the car.

So I get to Winco, now composed, and run in to get the few things I needed and it hit me all over again, which meant I started laughing out loud as I walked through a crowded aisle in Winco. I'm sure I looked like a crazy mental lady who talks to herself so I composed myself and was very happy to check out and leave.

So now you know what happens when technology meets the fifties! And if the story is only funny to the four of us, thank for reading it anyway. ;)

Who My Grandchildren Are, In My Eyes

2011-04-17T16:03:00.000-07:00

As the kids get older we see more and more of their personalities. Jamie and I have have talked lately of "ten years from now" and wonder if we'll be right about who they might be as young adults. So here's my take on them based on what I know today.

EMILY - "The Professor"
I am almost convinced that Emily was reading a book in-utero. She reads almost like she breathes and tells me about how tornados and volacanos happen...about the U.S. Presidents...about how a dragonfly lays its eggs underwater...and more. Recently Emily was reading on the couch while Allyson was asking Jamie what ladybugs eat. Jamie said, I don't know, I think maybe grass? Without looking up, Emily said in a monotone voice, "Aphids," and kept reading. Mike looked at Jamie and said, "She's right." Ha! I pretty much trust Emily's opinion on those things over my own. Her mind moves faster than her tongue can talk and her imagination is amazing. Oh the stories that girl has thought up over the years, and she lived in a mermaid's world as Ariel (minus the red hair) for the longest time, lol! She's also very good at the role of "teacher," and has helped other kids memorize verses in AWANA, and she's a great goalie/defense soccer player too. Overall, Emily is a steady and true friend in her friendships and is never critical of others (well, except maybe her sisters on occasion). I see a lot of compassion, curiosity and imagination in Emily, she just amazes me! I see her as a teacher or professor someday.

ALLYSON - "The Sports Star"
While Allyson feels that school is her fairweather friend and is already living for summer vacation, this girl loves all things sporty. She gets goal after goal in soccer, she's the one who could ride her bike about as far as I can, and asks about playing baseball. Yet she's all girl. She lives in her favored skirts, detests wearing pants, and is still into anything princess. Ally is going to be our family's prayer warrior, she already prays with compassion and has heartfelt requests on the behalf of others. She adores her friends and is very social. Allyson plays soccer, reads her books, shows us new things she can do with a big smile on her face. Seriously, that girl grins all the way through her soccer games, she's so cute to watch! I think she'll be everyone's friend, great in her faith in Christ and prayer, and I'm predicting she'll be an attorney because when she asks for something, if the answer is no, she'll ask "why not" 50 different ways until you just see it her way to get it over with! She is sweet, bright, loves to sing with music in the car, my kind of girl!

DEVON - "The First Honest Politician?"
Devon has a sweet, gentle spirit most of the time and seems to make friends with everyone around him. He loves to help whether it's cooking with me in the kitchen or helping Steve with "tool time" stuff around the house. He is at his best when he's one-on-one with adults and is pretty fun, and funny at times, to talk to. He has had a passion for super heroes since he was old enough to have an opinion and I have run out of super hero gift options for him. ;) Kids at his pre-school are drawn to him and he seems well-loved by his friends - probably because he is the same way toward them. He can be a bit of an informer, but he's diplomatic about it, not a "tattler," maybe some politician in him? He and his daddy read the Bible together every night they're together and daddy says he loves it. As for prediction for his future, he's more of an unknown. So far he's not super sport driven although he's starting to shine in soccer lately, he is smart and very well spoken (he is Josh's son after all), and he does well in school. I think he's so well-rounded and easy-going that there's not one thing that stands out to tell me what he might be as an adult - unless you can be a super hero in real life, ha! But he is one of our more huggy, lovey grandchildren when it comes to affection and time together, maybe the makings of a super husband someday? So my description of Devon is content within himself, loving, and a truly great friend.

RYLEE - "The World Explorer"
Rylee truly has no fear of living life to its fullest! Last summer just before her 3rd birthday, in a matter of a handful of seconds while the adults were packing up to leave the beach in SoCal, Ryleee "slipped away" from mommy, daddy and Aunt Tricia and made it a loooong way down the beach before a lady found her and took her to a lifeguard. When daddy found her with them, they thought she was 5 because she talked and handled herself so well. She had told them her name was RyRy (we call her that) instead of Rylee and when they asked Mike her name/age to be sure it was his child, they almost didn't believe Mike that she was actually not even 3 years old (silly since she's so tiny!). As they walked back towards the family Mike asked if she was scared that she was lost and she said, "I wasn't lost, I was walking!!" That's Rylee and the way she views life! She is 3 going on 30, can hang with the big girls and if she asked for the car keys I wouldn't be surprised if she knew how to drive! She is silly, super loving and huggy, and waaaay too cute for her own good. Her best talent is waiting for her opportunities quietly and then slipping away to do her thing - and it isn't always what she should be doing! She will probably never have trouble handling herself in life, and will always make the most of life. Overall, she is fearless, yet sweet and loving!

NATHAN - "The Family Chef"
Nathan is the first child that has forced Jamie and Mike to put child locks on their cupboards. If he can reach it, he will. If he can't reach it, he will find something to stand on to reach it. Jamie came downstairs to find him on the floor, surrounded by (don't gasp) all sizes of knives. Steak knives, dicing knives, you name it (thus more child locks at their house). I'm starting to think he can get to anything. He, like Allyson, has his own language. We used to call Allyson's "Allynese," so I guess Nate's is "Nathanese." He has a full conversation with you and if you answer him with anything, he nods his head, says a few more things, says yes and moves on. Pretty funny! He is all boy which is nice for mommy and daddy after three sisters before him. He is a climber and has had a few bad goose eggs on his head for it. He will probably be the first to have stitches or a broken bone. It's too early to tell at 18 months where he's headed in his personality, but so far he's stubborn but sweet, busy but funny, and loves him some mommy!! If I had to guess based on his short 18 months, I'd say someday he'll be a car dismantler, and he'll do it by hand! Haha! But seriously, I'd say Chef because he is fascinated by everything you do in the kitchen, and loves to play with the knives, measuring cups, etc. (Don't worry, Jamie doesn't intentionally let him play with the knives, he's just talented that way on his own!)

Randomness x10

2011-03-12T07:05:00.000-08:00

1. This is the first time I've ever wanted winter to be over and for warmer weather to get here. I'm ready to get back on the bike, ready for the gloomy, dark days to go away, and for the cold/flu season to go away. (Of course the warm weather brings in the allergy season, so I may not like what I wished for.)

2. Things with Steve have been hard lately, he's had a reaction to his medication but we didn't realize that was happening for awhile so things have been tough for him physically. He's been weaning off the meds all while having a bad cold. Today was the first day he's looked and acted like his old self and to that I say, "Welcome back to my hubby!" (Not that I'm calling him "old" when I say his old self. I wouldn't do that because I'm older than him!)

3. Family is the best. What would I do without them? The grandkids keep us busy and laughing, who could want it any other way? I love that Emily puts her name at the top of her papers at school as "Dr. Littau." I love that Allyson always, always wants to spend the night at our house like it never gets old. I love that Devon, who used to be the quiet one, now has a running monologue in the car with me where I can't get a word in edgewise. I love how Rylee looks so innocent, tiny and sweet but she is actually a little dynamo who thinks at least 2 steps ahead of me all the time! And I love how Nathan is so "boy" among the 3 sisters he lives with - although we are laughing at how much he likes to comb our hair and "cook" with the play dishes - lol!

4. Sometimes I wonder what God thinks about our world right now. There are so many blessings we have in our lives, so much beauty He created for us to enjoy, but with all the changes that are happening so rapidly in our country, in our world, I say, "Really? This is the plan?" Am I the only one that does that? It's a good thing He knows where all this is going in our world because sometimes I'm left shaking my head, wondering how this could be what He intended. But if you read Revelations, you know it's heading in the right direction.

5. Jamie and Mike will celebrate their 10th anniversary next month. I can't believe 10 years have flown by that fast, which made me realize that after the next 10 years fly by, my grandchildren will be 18, 15, 15, 13, and 11. Wow! I don't even want to think how old I'll be in 10 years. ;)

6. We've got a few motorcycle trips on the books with our friends, Gary & Gloria, for this summer. We're sure hoping they actually happen, last year they all fell through due to life happening. I don't think there's any way to prevent that from happening so we'll see how that works for this summer.

7. I love how my son can be a wealth of wisdom and encouragement when I get a little down by Steve's health or job situations from the past. He is a great encourager to me at times. (In fact, all my kids are great encouragers for us at times. I guess in adulthood they become friends, not just "the kids.")

8. I still think it's sad that we don't all blog more, and the most blog entries get very little comments any more. I love facebook but you can't document life's happenings there to enjoy down the road. I'm thinking about having my blog printed out so I don't lose all the fun stories of our lives I have documented in there.

9. I never thought I'd have more texts in a month than my daughter. After all, I was the one who told her I didn't think I'd use it enough to pay for it.

10. If I was going to get a new car, with gas prices nearing $4 per gallon, should I get a small, gas-efficient car? Or the truck with a travel trailer that I've been wanting, one that will fit all the grandkids? What do you think? (Not that I'm getting one right now, just thinking on it...)

10. My husband probably thinks he married a travel agent. Every time we get home from a cruise or a vacation, I'm already showing him great deals on another cruise or trip. If it were up to him we'd never go anywhere, not because he doesn't want to go but because he's not the planner that I am. Okay, hyper-planner, I know I'm a little over the top on the planning end of things. But I will say, I had to almost drag him on our first cruise and now if he had his way, that's all we'd do on vacation!

A Catch-Up Post on Christmas, Vacation and More

2011-01-24T20:51:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged anything from Christmas, our vacation, or Allyson's birthday. For the sake of keeping memories, here it is! Christmas was like all our past Christmases, full of family, food, gift opening, and more food. Our life is blessed by wonderful family!

So about our cruise... Steve and I felt that this was probably our best vacation yet. We did what we wanted, when we wanted, and just enjoyed our time together. We flew out of Sacramento with our Kindle and Galaxy in hand. It was so nice to chat a little, read a little, then chat some more, it made our long day of flying go by quickly.

We got to our hotel in Orlando early in the evening and found there were several good restaurants just across the street so we had dinner at Tony Roma's, and then a leisurely breakfast at Cracker Barrel before we caught the shuttle back to the airport to hook up with our transportation to the Disney Cruise Terminal. I think we only spent about 20 minutes at the terminal before we boarded the ship, heard our name announced as we boarded and realized we were "there" as Steve puts it. One of the reasons he loves cruising is once you board the ship, you don't worry about where you're staying, what you'll eat, or having to travel to get somewhere.

Goodbye Florida, Bahamas here we come!

So of course the first thing we did was eat, then we strolled around the ship while waiting for our room to open up. Once our room opened up, we realized we'd been upgraded from our inside room to a larger room with a porthole, and that our travel agent had sent us a bowl of fruit (thanks Ron!), and Disney had sent us some second-time cruiser gifts (thanks Disney!). What a nice surprise!

Our first night was spent getting to know our table mates. We had two couples our age at our table, one from South Carolina, Ann and Frank, and one from Arkansas, Cindy and John. They were great people, easygoing and fun to eat with. (We saw them here and there and hung out a little with Ann and Frank during the cruise.) Then we headed to our showtime. Disney puts on Broadway quality shows, there was lots of Disney themed entertainment that you would love at any age. Then (thanks to still feeling the California time change) we headed to the Rockin' D for some fun where we participated in a scavenger hunt and then watched The Marriage Game with 3 funny couples. We loved the couple who had been married for 52 years, they were great! The scavenger hunt was surprisingly fun, each team had a number and the host yelled out, "Bring your team number up to me with (fill in the blank). She yelled out things like "a man wearing women's shoes," or "a sock with a hole in it." At one point, Steve was up there with our number wearing lipstick, a purse and a woman's bra. (Not mine! Our teammate, in her 60's, fumbled under her sweater and there it was! I wasn't going there! Haha!) Don't worry, nothing risque happened, this is a Disney ship after all! ;)

At dinner one night:

The second day was all about snorkeling on Castaway Cay. The weather and water was perfect and we had a wonderful time. We swam about 5 feet over a manta ray, we had a small school of fish following our feet during a lot of the snorkel time, and swam through a large, impressive school of fish. That was eerie and amazing all at the same time as there were at least hundreds (if not a thousand), fish all around us.

The third day was at Nassau. We were going to take a taxi to check out the Atlantis, but after a pretty hairy experience with the taxi driver who was strong-arming people to get into his taxi, we bailed out of his cab and went to Senor Frog's instead. What a fun place, it involved a congo line, balloon hats, dancing on chairs, etc. It overlooked where our ship was docked and I really enjoyed watching another RCL ship coming in, it's amazing how they can turn those ships in such small spaces!

The ships at port from our table at Senor Frogs, ours is the middle ship:

The fourth day was our second day on Castaway Cay. It was a windy, cloudy day and we had to leave a little early to outrun a thunderstorm, which we didn't manage to outrun all the way. (We got a really nice "lightening show" late at night just as we were going to sleep, it was actually beautiful to watch the light show bounce off the water out of our porthole.) The snorkeling wasn't good that day so (darn) we had to go to Serenity Bay, the adult area where we did some hammock time with our "books," and enjoyed the BBQ. Apparently at the adult beach, you get steak and a few other things you don't get at the family beach BBQ. Then we headed back to the ship and went to the movies. We saw "Tron" and "Tangled" in 3D while we were cruising.

Our last day was a day at sea where our ship basically sailed in a rectangular pattern out in the ocean, not too far off some islands. That day we used the spa, read on lounge chairs, ate (of course), and watched our last Disney show. We also booked our next cruise since you get 10% off if you book while you cruise, plus $100-$200 shipboard credits. You can't lose since you can cancel anytime, change the date/location/ship at any time, and keep moving your date until you want to book for sure, so we booked a cruise with a "fake date" for now in hopes that in about 2 years we can do a family/friends cruise for anyone that wants to go. (Yes - that means YOU if you're reading this!) We said goodbye to our dinner mates, packed, and then sadly, it was over.

Our first day back home we celebrated Allyson's 5th birthday at Leatherby's with some ice cream (Allyson is not a fan of cake). It was low-key and fun, perfect for two jet-lagged people!

Allyson and Bella have a true friendship, they just love each other!

Then last the first week-end we were home, Josh ran his first marathon, we were really proud of him! I can't imagine coming even close to doing something like that!

After the marathon:

So there you have our latest life events written down for all posterity! Thanks for hanging in there (for those still reading this)!

The Forever Plan and Some Randomness

2010-12-21T20:51:00.000-08:00

This post may be similar to one Jamie is doing but I wanted to blog some of it for memories later one. It's Christmas season and it really felt like Christmas on Sunday when we watched the girls in their Christmas program at church. There was a man who told the story of Christ's birth as though he was the owner of the inn and stable where Jesus was born, and then Emily sang a solo verse to the song, "The Friendly Beasts," and did a great job!

But there's always something fun that happens at these programs and this year it was with Rylee, our 3-year old granddaughter (anyone surprised?). During the second service, Rylee didn't want to repeat her performance from the first service so the teacher held her on her lap while they all sang. Unfortunately, Rylee and her teacher sat next to the table with the advent candles which had been lit during the service and while the teacher was distracted by a little boy next to her, Rylee blew...and blew...and blew until she blew out the first candle. A few chuckles ensued by audience, and the kids kept singing. A few minutes later she got another chance at the candles and blew out the second one. Haha! The guy next to me was laughing so hard as I was whispering loudly, "Rylee! Rylee, no!" The guy commented that hey, it WAS Jesus' birthday after all, so blowing out candles was to be expected! Here's a picture just before she blew out the first candle.

We also just celebrated Emily's birthday as she turned eight. Eight! Wow. She had her first "friends" party where she invited classmates. Jamie put a lot of work into the whole thing and it was worth it, Emily declared it her best party ever! Next month, Allyson turns five, and my own "little girl" turns 29, her last year in her 20's. Time really does march on, doesn't it?

We also enjoyed taking Emily this week-end to see Chronicles of Narnia, then to lunch at Red Lobster, her favorite restaurant.

I was doing the last of our Christmas shopping last night (it was crazy!) and had to fight my way through traffic in the rain, finding a parking space, working my way through store aisles, and then standing in lines. As it went on, I found myself getting tense, tired of the people who seemed to forget they weren't the only ones in the stores or on the road. Then I realized that I was one of those same people who were frazzled, wanting to be done, wanting for the sea of people to part like God parted the sea in the Bible. On the way home I was thinking how silly things can get at this time of the year with the shopping, worrying if I really got each person something they would really like and use. And then there's the endless gifts that pour into my office like See's candy, cookies, fudge, and on...and on...and on. I find myself eating it even when I'm not hungry. The thrill of Christmas isn't the same as it was as a child when the tree was all it took to make it feel magical. Now things just feel rushed and frazzling.

Then today I saw a picture like this one on a blog and read that THIS was God's Forever Plan for us, the greatest gift of any gift ever given. (Idea borrowed from another blogger, hope she doesn't mind!)

It's not about eating 3 pounds of See's candy, or finding the that one perfect gift for each person. There is no perfect gift, the only perfect gift is the one that was given when Christ came into the world in the form of a tiny baby who came to save us and everyone around us and that's what I want to think about the rest of the week. Presents are fun and I love watching my family open what we've given them, and it's especially great if they are excited about them. But most often, within weeks, if not days, we all move on and most gifts are used up and forgotten for the most part. But God's gift to us is the Forever Gift and brings with it the gift of eternal (forever) life.

Steve and I wish you all a most blessed Christmas as we dwell on the birth of Christ, the truly perfect Gift.

How Bathtime Goes Down At Our House

2010-12-04T08:12:00.000-08:00

First Nathan's bath, he gets some splashtime by himself first before he has "help" from his sister.

Next up Rylee joins him.

Allyson was the last one out of the tub and while I was getting Rylee dressed, she unplugged the tub, got out...and didn't shut the door when she came out. I heard her yell, "Nathan!!!!" And then she was laughing while I heard a thud. This is what I found.

Nathan decided the water looked inviting and jumped right in - PJ's and all. I didn't have back-up PJ's so I did what any good Nana would do. I went to Gymboree and bought him new PJ's.

Never a dull moment around here...

Sadly It's Been 3 Months Since My Last Post...

2010-12-01T11:30:00.000-08:00

I think it's so easy to stay in touch with everyone on Facebook that I don't blog. I like to blog because it's something you can go back and read, see where you were in life, enjoy the pictures, etc. So here goes a catch-up blog, even if no one reads it I'll be glad I did it later.

A lot has happened in the last 3 months, nothing unusual or big, but here's a quick catch-up.

Steve's been back to work since August and while we're still not sure how we feel about the it, a job is a job and he's happy to be working, especially since unemployment benefits are again in question for everyone.

Steve and I are still working on the diet/exercise thing and doing pretty well with it. I really enjoyed the bike riding as we're blessed to live in a place with a lot of beauty and great trails. And hills. If you get on a bike you quickly realize how many hills Redding has!! And best of all, Steve's cancer numbers have gone down due to his weight loss and exercise regime. Two of his blogger friends with MM recently passed away, strangely enough both on the same day. I think that brought it home a little to us both that Steve has MM, but yet he looks and feels relatively healthy so it seems so unreal at times and that's not a bad thing. We just live our lives like we always have.

All in all, things are well in our household!

We're now in the holiday and birthday season at our house, I think we have non-stop celebrations happening from my mom's birthday on 11/21 clear thru to Devon's birthday on 2/23. (There are 7 birthdays within our immediate family during that 13 week period, not to mention Thanksgiving, Christmas, and a few trips to UCSF for my mom during that time!)

Emily and Allyson want to do the Christmas program this year again so I think I'll be working with them on it this week. Emily will read the story of Christ's birth, they'll lead the adults in a few Christmas songs, maybe a few memorized verses to be said, and serve a Happy Birthday Jesus cake. We tried it last year for the first time and due to Steve's last minute hospitalization before Christmas, we never got it really prepared. But much to the (hidden) laughter of all of the adults, Emily coordinated it on her own. They wore princess dresses and little blankets as head coverings (with Rylee at 2 yrs old in only a sadly low-hanging diaper), and they sang 2 songs and Emily read the Christmas story of the birth from one of their Bible books. Hilarious!! But it's a wonderful memory of what they did, and all by themselves! Here's a couple of pictures from their performance:

In 2011, we have several things planned. Steve and I are leaving on a cruise in January, right on Steve's birthday. We can't wait to snorkel on Disney Cay!

Josh is running his first marathon in January, and one in April is possible too. Steve and I went to Monterey with Josh and Devon recently for his first marathon but less than 24 hours before the run started Josh took a bad turn with a virus and we ended up canceling and heading home - to say he was disappointed was an understatement since he'd trained for months for it. But before he "dumped" down, we took Devon to the Monterey Aquarium. I'd say it was really nice but we weren't there very long as Josh was spiraling down at that point. But we got a few pictures before we left.

Devon and I tried walking in Forest Gump's shoes at Bubba Gumps.

Steve will be training for the 100 mile Wildflower Ride on May 1st. And we and our friends are getting ready to plan a couple of coastal motorcycle rides, hopefully to San Luis Obispo and maybe up the Oregon Coast. So lots of good things are already in the works. One of these days, the four of us hope to trailer the bikes to Arizona, rent a house in the Flagstaff area, and then spend a week riding to the Grand Canyon, to Sedona, maybe even to lower Utah.

We had a nice Thanksgiving week-end, full of family time. Dinner was at our house with the 11 members of our family. Friday was a day for Steve and I to get several very overdue home projects/cleaning done, then we had dinner out together. Nice and relaxing. Then on Saturday we had a lunch birthday celebration for my mom, then back to our house for the kids to help decorate the tree, have even more pie, and a ham and scalloped potato dinner.

Was this Devon's ballet move as Josh helped him hang an ornament up high? =)

Sunday Steve and I took in an afternoon movie, "Unstoppable." And on Monday I went back to work to get some rest!! =)

So...there you go, the long version of my short update! Maybe I can get another post in before another 3 months go by this time!

We wish you all a very Blessed and Merry Christmas to you and your families!

Back to Normal

2010-09-04T11:35:00.000-07:00

Kids are back in school...husband is back to working again... Things are starting to feel "normal" and it's nice. Somehow, though, September snuck in on me, this summer seemed to go by pretty fast.

Steve is immersing himself into learning the ropes of his job, working some longer hours but finally saying it's been fun. Such a relief after the the last nightmare job he endured. After a year off work, it's strange not to be able to call him when I want, to have him do last minute little things around the house, etc., because he's at work. But no complaining here!

Our fall schedule is shaping up quickly. I'm taking this week off for some at-home R&R. Mostly I'll be keeping my house up, making real dinners, and hanging a lot with family. Sometimes these kinds of vacations are the best!

We have a few things planned between now and Thanksgiving, one of them being we'll head to Monterey with Josh and Devon in November for a half (?) marathon that Josh is doing.

Then after Christmas we leave (on Steve's birthday!) for Florida to set sail on a 5-night Disney cruise. We got a killer deal that I stumbled on and it will be our first time having an inside cabin (unless Disney were to surprise us with an upgrade...yeah, we're not counting on that one). We're especially excited as 2 of the days are at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island in the Bahamas. We plan to spend those days snorkeling and enjoying some beach time. There's always the secret hope that at least some of our kids/grandchildren jump on board (no pun intended), but I'm doubtful that will happen. But if I think positive... =)

Steve and I have still been hitting the weight control and exercise trail. Steve's lost all his weight and is at a great place both in weight and fitness. On top of that, his cancer numbers were great at his last visit and we hold hope that it will remain that way for a long time to come. I am about 1/2 to 2/3 done with my weight loss - not sure where I want to end it yet. But I have really enjoyed getting back into cycling again - even if on a moderate level.

All in all, God's blessed us and we feel like we're coming somewhat full circle right now. I'm looking forward to my favorite season, fall, which is just around the corner!

Look at this - a whole post and no grandchildren updates! Next time...

Now That I’ve Dated My Grandchildren...

2010-08-30T19:29:00.000-07:00

What did I think about the dates? I’ve been asked that by a couple of people....

Devon and Rylee were much the same, easy-going and just enjoyed the flow of the evening whereever it ended up going. They never questioned where to go even though I told them in advance they could pick what they wanted. As long as it was their turn to go on their date, they were happy. They both LOVED feeding the ducks and I was surprised at how they went to kids’ section in the bookstore, picked up a few books, and sat down to read them quietly. Devon was the sweetest little gentleman about everything, I think he thrives on one-on-one time. Rylee was all about hugs and telling me several times that I was her favorite princess nana. (Haha!) Devon informed me that daddy could come on our date next time, and then added Steve, Allyson...(name the whole family) to the list that could join us.

Allyson was excited for her turn and has been the most vocal about “next time” and all the options/choices that she’s now thought of. The funny thing with her is that she was the one who worried the most about “what’s next” on the date. I often heard, “But what are we doing after ...(fill in the blank). And she kept asking why were we on a date, and why did her sisters not come with us? I think in some ways she was gypped because when we realized the pottery place wouldn’t be open long enough to do our pottery painting before they closed, I had to “suggest” the movie instead (which was her first choice). But that set us back on time because we still had to eat, get a treat and shop. So I felt like we rushed her treat and the shopping. But the important thing is I don’t think she even noticed.

Emily was fun on a whole different level. Going on 8 years old this fall, we had great conversations about older things like movies, friends, school, etc. Emily also seemed to love the on one-on-one time. She also enjoyed the idea of dressing up and got a few compliments from people on how beautiful she looked. She ordered her own dinner, she ordered the pie, and she went with the flow when we had to eat the pie out of a box on a bench, in fact I think she loved that part. And while she thoroughly cheated at mini-golf, she was giggling so hard while she was cheating that I didn’t even try to say we had to play by the rules because I was just enjoying hearing her sweet giggling. And we were about the only ones in there so, who cared! I teased her a lot about being a cheater during our pie time which just made her giggle more!

So the biggest thing I learned for future? I will pick an activity (and maybe include dinner) and invite them to do that activity with me (or Steve and I). I think when given the chance to do the choosing, Ally, Devon and Rylee were too young, and Emily wanted to do all of them so much that she couldn’t decide and I think she was relieved when I made a couple of the decisions.

Only problem now is they all think now that the rotation is done, I’m starting it all over. Now. Uh...no. Not for awhile or it wouldn’t be special.

And I’d be broke. =)

My Date With Emily

2010-08-27T20:38:00.000-07:00

I picked Emily up and found her to be in her favorite dress, she looked beautiful! And off we go in the car!

We headed out the door to Cattlemen's where she ordered ribs. She sat next to me in the booth and talked the dinner away while we played the kids coloring sheet with tic-tac-toe, etc. We got on the subject of movies and somehow the movie, "The Sound of Music" came up. I told her I was her age, 7, when I first saw it and that I was in love with Christopher Plummer, the male lead. I also told her that he's probably about 75-80 now in real life and she said, "Wow, it must almost be his turn!!" (His turn meaning his time to go to heaven. Haha!!) She also told me that watched it at Tessa's house so I asked her if she loved it (because I did at her age). She said, "Yeahhhh, but I fell asleep watching it." So much for sharing the experience of watching this movie with Emily if she was so into it she fell asleep watching it! =)

Here's Emily in front of Cattlemen's, demonstrating her moves in the game of Twister. Don't ask, I have no idea how we got on that subject.

Next up - black light mini golf! She wasn't sure she'd like it but I assured her that Tessa (her friend) loved it and I was sure she would too. She was hilarious, giggling the whole time, and cheated like crazy! But she assured me it was okay to cheat, haha! We were about the only ones playing so we just relaxed and did it our own way. (This was the best my camera would do in the black lights for some reason.)

Then we headed to the bookstore to shop. She loves books so I figured she'd have a couple of them picked out in to time but nope! We were there forever! I finally had to tell her if she didn't pick books out, we wouldn't have time to go for her dessert at Marie Callendars! She had one of her two books picked out, but I actually had to pick up 3 books I knew she'd been looking at and tell her to pick one of them so we could go have pie. I think she was actually relieved to have that pressure taken off her.

So on to pie time! On the way she told me she wanted lemon pie. When we got there, it turns out whole lemon pies were on a special so we were going to buy a whole pie, eat a piece, then she could take the rest home. But MC doesn't let you do that, if you're seated you pay full price for the pie (dumb!). So I gave her a choice, eat one piece or buy a whole pie and take it home to eat it. She wanted the whole pie, but didn't want to eat it at home, so the when the girl at MC said she could give us forks and knives to eat somewhere else, we went outside to the bench and dug in! Turned out to be a pretty fun way to have pie!

So this concludes date nights! This is the wordiest date post so far but for anyone who knows Emily, and the fact that she's the oldest and has deeper discussions, there was just a lot more to say.

I never got a date with Nate but I doubt he'll realize it! Maybe Steve and I will take him somewhere alone with us soon...

A Date With Devon

2010-08-22T12:52:00.001-07:00

I picked Devon up on Friday for our date night. He was such a little gentlemen, what a sweet little boy! Out to the car and we're off!

First on the agenda was shopping at Sports Fever for something "Miami Dolphins" to put on his daddy's 30th birthday cake.

Next up was dinner at the mall atrium, he wanted an orange juice at Orange Julius. I got him an Orange Julius and explained it's even better than orange juice. He took and drink and said, "You're right, it's MUCH better than orange juice! =)

I was giving him a few choices for an activity and he locked onto feeding the ducks, which surprised me. At the end of the night when I asked him what his favorite part was, it was definitely feeding the ducks. I need to take them all more to do it, so far it's been a hit.

Devon chose the bookstore to find his special treat. We walked in the front door and he told me, "I know where the kids books are you, I'll go there and you go to the old books." (I guess I'm designed to the old people's section? LOL And no, I didn't let him go alone there either, because I'm the protective Nana that way...)

This is what he chose at the end of the trip to the bookstore for his treat.

Last up, Coldstone for some Oreo cookie ice cream with gummy bears and sprinkles.

When I took him home he asked if we could do it again, but this time it would be okay to bring daddy...and Papa...and Allyson...and...the list went on. That could be one expensive date!

Now we're up to Emily's date! Aren't you loving all these posts? I do, they're so much fun to go back over time to read and see how the kids have changed!

My Date With Allyson

2010-08-19T21:27:00.001-07:00

I had a great time with Ally, it was a totally different experience with her compared to Rylee. Rylee went with the flow and enjoyed the experience. While she was relaxed and had fun, Ally seemed a little bewildered about why it was just the two of us going by ourselves and she asked me several times, "Nana, why are we having a date??" =) We started out at All Fired Up to paint pottery only to find out they were closing so as an alternate, she chose to go to see "Toy Story 3" at the movies, which she'd already seen but said she still wanted to do.

Here we are, getting ready to go!

Here she is in the lobby at the theater. She liked the movie but was scared in several parts. When she was getting scared over a scene, she'd say, "I canNOT believe that just happened!!"

After the movie we moved on to Taco Bell, de ja vu with Rylee's night. What can I say, we like Taco Bell!

For her date "memento," she chose shopping at Claire's as there apparently was a toy cell phone she's had her eye on. I was worried it didn't "do" enough fun stuff, but she loved it and talked to mommy on it all the way home.

To end the date, I gave her a choice of a few places and she chose a chocolate cone at Dairy Queen. Simple, but easy!

And the date ends! It's been fun so far seeing how differently they react to our little date time. I think Rylee was happy to have it be just the two of us, whereas Allyson would have been happy with just us, or with all the girls coming along.

Next up, Devon! Where will we be going...?

Nuff Said

2010-08-19T07:18:00.000-07:00

A Date With Rylee

2010-08-11T20:54:00.000-07:00

Tonight was Rylee's night for a date all by herself with me, we had a great time. It was so nice to spend one-on-one time with her! I think she liked it too, she was relaxed, fun, and when I asked her if we should bring Emily and Ally next time to feed the ducks she said no, just me!

First we walked the Sundial Bridge...

Then we fed the ducks. They pretty much mobbed us and by the end were nipping at Rylee's fingers. She didn't like it but kept feeding them anyway by hurling pieces of bread at them, pretty funny.

Then on to Taco Bell for her beloved "chos," (nachos).

Some time at the bookstore. I wasn't sure if she'd love this part but I had to convince her to leave, she could have stayed all night. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree there, Jamie and I both love reading!

Here's her "haul" from the bookstore, a book and a stuffed owl that she carried around the whole time. As we were leaving, she changed her mind from the owl to the book so I put the owl on the shelf and said, "Okay, let's pay for your book." We walked away and she said, "Where's my owl?" What can I say, she has the most innocent blue eyes and somehow I ended up buying the owl too. =)

And the finale with ice cream at Cold Stone, hers a nice shade of blue (cotton candy).

I loved the night, very relaxing and enjoyable spending time with just Rylee. Next up, Allyson!

Happy 3rd Birthday Rylee!!

2010-08-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

Rylee is 3 years old today, happy birthday to one of the cutest, sweetest and most independent 3-year old I know!

So much personality...

And so beautiful, inside and out, we love you Ry Ry!

This One's For The "Real" Mommy Who Misses Her Kids

2010-05-26T15:27:00.000-07:00

We're watching the the girls and Nate for Jamie and Mike's Championship trip in San Diego. We got them on Sunday so I had to put my "Nana hat" on the shelf and dust off my "Mommy hat" to wear because you can't be "Fun Nana" for 7 days straight or they'd be ruling the house instead of us! (I've also decided that keeping the house picked up is overrated so I'll reserve that for next week when we are once again kidless.)

Jamie is hoping for some pictures of her kids (especially her baby boy? ha!), so I'm posting a few here, which were not easy to get with 4 fast-moving kids! Even Nathan is rolling from one end of our living room to the other. He was by the TV when I went into the kitchen, and I found him a few minutes later by the front door! And add a very, very busy puppy into the mix and you have photographic chaos! But...here's a few for you Jamie!

Have you seen my mommy??

And you're sure she's coming back?

Well...at least my sisters are here too.

And there's food here too! Okay, life is good!

Having a little time on her scooter before the rain hits...

Ridin' with the big girls!

Emily, trying to evade the camera on her scooter...but I got her!

If Papa won't let you pick all the flowers, try to fall in them instead. =)

And here you see 30 pounds of T.R.O.U.B.L.E!!

Emily's big line for the week: "Nana, you know what??" I hear this the entire ride, to and from school, every day. And you never know what you'll hear. Ha!

Ally's big line for the week: "Why not?" I also hear this often; pick a scenario in your mind and it will fit.

Rylee's big line for the week: "I happy!!!!!" She uses this when the puppy is in trouble, when Emily's crying, when Allyson is told not to complain, or to get out of trouble when you tell her she needs to do what she's told or there will be a time out. So cute, and when I'm Nana again, her "I happy" will fix everything!

I have had a few "grandparent" splurges. Like Rylee getting cereal when she didn't like her dinner tonight. That doesn't happen with mommy and daddy, the rule is you eat what's on the table or go hungry. That was the rule back in the day I was the mommy but now I'm Nana so I break the rules. Makes sense to me!

Emily's Story

2010-05-05T19:58:00.000-07:00

This is a Draw and Write form Emily printed this week-end at our house, I found it on my computer after she left. She wrote her own story on the poison dart frog. I was amazed how well she did for a 1st grader, yet it was cute to read too, so I thought I'd share.

Notice she points out the tongue (tongnghe) eating the food in the picture. Oh, and her frog has 2 little feet and 4 arms, with flower buds for hands/fingers. LOL

The story (in case you can't read it) goes like this:

This posion (poison) dart frog is really dangores (dangerous). They have poision! They can kill anything! They usuly (usually) eat flys and other frogs! Humuns (humans) in the rainforest kill the frogs and put the posion on their arows. Stay away froum (from) these creathers (creatures)! I have told you to stay away from this frog. One more thing they have enough posin (poison) to kill ten men!

Science v. God

2010-04-18T13:17:00.000-07:00

I got this as a forward and enjoyed it. Wish I thought "on the ball" this well if were asked these questions. And I checked it out on snopes.com, it's origin was "false," but the responses are still great ones to the questions.

"Let me explain the problem science has with Jesus Christ." The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

"You're a Christian, aren't you, son?"

"Yes sir," the student says.

"So you believe in God?"

"Absolutely."

"Is God good?"

"Sure! God's good."

"Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?"

"Yes."

"Are you good or evil?"

"The Bible says I'm evil."

The professor grins knowingly. "Aha! The Bible!" He considers for a moment.

"Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?"

"Yes sir, I would."

"So you're good...!"

"A prudent man profits from personal experience - a wise one from the experience of others"

"I wouldn't say that."

"But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't."

The student does not answer, so the professor continues.. "He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?"

The student remains silent.

"No, you can't, can you?" the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.

"Let's start again, young fella Is God good?"

"Er...yes," the student says.

"Is Satan good?"

The student doesn't hesitate on this one. "No."

"Then where does Satan come from?"

The student : "From...God..."

"That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?"

"Yes, sir."

"Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?"

"Yes."

"So who created evil?" The professor continued, "If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil."

Without allowing the student to answer, the professor continues: "Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?"

The student: "Yes."

"So who created them?"

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. "Who created them? There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized.

"Tell me," he continues onto another student. "Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?"

The student's voice is confident: "Yes, professor, I do."

The old man stops pacing. "Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?"

"No sir. I've never seen Him"

"Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?"

"No, sir, I have not."

"Have you ever actually felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?"

"No, sir, I haven't."

"Yet you still believe in him?"

"Yes."

"According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?"

"Nothing," the student replies. "I only have my faith."

"Yes, faith," the professor repeats. "And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith."

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of his own. "Professor, is there such thing as heat?"

"Yes," the professor replies. "There's heat."

"And is there such a thing as cold?"

"Yes, son, there's cold too."

"No sir, there isn't."

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain.

"You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero
(-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it."

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

"What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?"

"Yes," the professor replies without hesitation. "What is night if it isn't darkness?"

"You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?"

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. "So what point are you making, young man?"

"Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed."

The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. "Flawed? Can you explain how?"

"You are working on the premise of duality," the student explains. "You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it."

"Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?"

"If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do"

"Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?"

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

"Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?"

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.

"To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean."

The student looks around the room. "Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?" The class breaks out into laughter.

"Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelled the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir. So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?"

Now the room is silent.. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable.

Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. "I guess you'll have to take them on faith."

"Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life," the student continues. "Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?"

Now uncertain, the professor responds, "Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God.

God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

How To Take a 2-Year Old Potty in a Public Bathroom

2010-04-06T18:47:00.000-07:00

When a 2-year old gets "the look" on her face while sitting in a restaurant, you know exactly what’s happened. An accident of the “poo” variety.

You casually get up so as not to alarm the child and make things worse by making them squirm, and you walk said 2-year old to the bathroom, scan the stalls to make sure no one else is there to witness the un-pooing of the child (that part is important), pick the stall that looks the cleanest, and enter the stall with the 2-year old and tell her, “Don’t touch anything!”

Any! Thing!

(Nothing good ever comes from telling them that because then they MUST touch everything as fast at they can before you can stop them. Why do we even bother saying it??)

Next dilemma. How to get past the tennis shoes/socks/jeans/panties to get to said “poo.” Without, of course, dropping the poo all over the bathroom floor. Here’s the recipe I came up with:

Take off shoes and jeans. Set aside.

Stand 2-year old on potty seat, one sock-covered foot on one side, the other foot on the other side (the seat looked clean – let’s hope).

Look over the shoulder of the 2-year old as you carefully peel back the backside of the panties until the poo drops into the potty.

Make sure the water from the poo doesn’t shoot back up into your eye when the poo hits the water.

Oh yes it did. The water shot right back into my eye. And they don’t provide eye wash stations in public bathrooms. I’m still trying not to think about it. Sigh.

Oh, and let’s not forget the blog about Papa’s potty experience with Emily and Allyson, which is a warning to all Papa’s and Grandpa’s watching their granddaughters. Alone. Without the help of the mom or the Nana, who are allowed in the women's bathroom.

For your remembering pleasure (you'll have to cut/paste the link, it wouldn't load):

http://devonemyallybragsite.blogspot.com/2007/10/papa-watches-girls.html

The Folded Napkin

2010-04-02T08:24:00.001-07:00

(I found this on a blog I visit regularly and borrowed it - and yes, I did tell her that I was borrowing it if she doesn't mind. Ha!)

"Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen." John 20:6-7

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection?
I never noticed this...

The Gospel of John tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes.

The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded and placed by itself.

Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.

She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!"

Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other disciple outran Peter and got there first. He stopped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in.

Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side.

Was that important? Absolutely!
Is it significant? Yes!

To understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about the Hebrew tradition of that day.

The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew the tradition.

When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that is was exactly the way the master wanted it.

The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished.

Now, if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table.

The servants would then know to clear the table, for in those days the wadded napkin meant "I'm done."

But if the master got up from his table, folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table,

Because.......

The folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back!"

He is coming back!!!

Happy Easter everyone - HE IS RISEN!! AND HE IS COMING BACK!!

To Divorce, or Not To Divorce

2010-03-29T20:38:00.000-07:00

Did the title make you wonder what's happening at our house???

Steve and I were talking on the way to Reno last week-end about healthcare and what to do if we end up with really bad healthcare after this Obamacare stuff is in effect. (And no, this is not a blog to discuss the political mess (uh, I mean political stuff) that's been going on.) Steve was turned down for VA benefits because he has a working wife...and owns his home..and he made too much before he was laid off.

He smiled and said, "If I divorce you and put the house in your name, maybe then I'd qualify for VA benefits!" I said...what!!!! (He was kidding, of course, but hey, everything would be all be mine, mine, mine!! Ha!)

So I smiled back and said, "So we would just live together in sin then, huh?" We laughed about it, talked about the "what if" factor and I told him, "I'm going to blog this!" So here's the question to you all on Christian and moral ethics...

-- If it's the only way to get decent healthcare for his MM, would divorcing me to do it be wrong?

-- Would it then be wrong to live together and still consider ourselves married?

-- Would Christ still say we're married?

Are you laughing yet?? (Don't worry, we're not actually thinking of doing this, just a funny thing to give thought to...)

But the sad truth is, what if it was that or no treatment because Obamacare won't give him the only treatment that will work? Because the treatment that's currently working is very expensive and our only hope was our insurance policy that we purchased when Steve was laid off, the one that we may not be able to afford once the cost for it goes sky-high.

The future could get very interesting in this world today...

But he's not getting out of the last 30 years of marriage on THAT technicality!! =)

Random Stuff (Warning: A Bit Long…)

2010-03-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

Not much new is happening these days, but as I type that, I wonder why we always seem to be so busy if nothing’s new? I used to have more kid stories than I could keep track of to tell about on my blog but I can barely remember any these days. And I know why. Having 4-5 kiddos under 7 years old at my house is way too much busyness for me to be able to actually listen, much less retain, most of the stories I used to blog on. I need to keep some paper nearby and jot things down now, I guess.

Let’s see, about Steve... His doctor appointments have settled down, he’s down to a blood test every 3 months to keep an eye on his levels, so no more barrages of doctor visits for now. He’s still unemployed and, thanks to this wonderful economy we’re living in, it’s likely to stay that way for awhile barring a miracle job from God, which is always possible.

As for me, no big changes. Family…work…family…work…i.e., normal life.

Lucy (the pup) is doing great and is a little W.I.L.D thing! She is living up to her breed type, highly active, but she’s doing well. We can now take her on walks to tire her out since she’s handling the leash/choke chain well and that’s been good for her, and for us too. We are blessed to live where there are many beautiful trails to walk on and many of them are dog-friendly. We’re thinking of going to Fowler Falls to walk her to the falls, then picnic in this beautiful weather. A pix of her before we move on to the important people... =)

We’ll be heading to South Lake Tahoe for a few nights soon. We’re staying in a condo owned by my sis-in-law/bro-in-law while Jamie & Mike attend another Farmer’s event. It will be beautiful with the snow, view of the lake, etc. Steve and I are heading over a day early for a “just us” night in Reno first, so we’re looking forward to that too.

We’ve had some great weather lately, sunnier and warmer days. It has given us the opportunity for some motorcycle trips with our friends, Gary & Gloria. With a young puppy, we can only do short day trips right now, but Steve’s working on a nice dog run for longer day trips. And, we found a great boarder for her stay with so we can do some motorcycle trips to Crater Lake, Tahoe and the coast this summer. We’ll also be going (not by motorcycle) to San Diego for a week in May, staying with my brother Mark, for Jamie & Mike’s yearly Championship trip. We’ll mostly hang out on the beach with the kiddos, maybe do Sea World and who knows what else. So we have some fun mini-trips coming up between now and summer.

Emily has dance with a recital in a few months, I loved watching her practice a few weeks ago, she seems to love it! Allyson has also started soccer so there will be weekly games to go to for her. She’s really adorable in her soccer clothes, picture below (that I stole from Jamie!).

Devon...

We’ve had Devon over a little too. Josh recently bought him a blue racecar bed, which he loves. I asked him the other night how he liked his new car bed. He looked confused and said, “What car bed?” I said you know, your blue car bed that daddy got for you.” He said, with patience as though I was just a little stupid, “You mean my batman bed?” Oh, I stand corrected.

Nathan...

We had Nathan’s first sleep-over last Friday, along with the girls, and it was busy at our house! He slept until 4:45 a.m., then fell asleep again, just 5 minutes after Ally got up so there was no going back to bed for me. She walked out from the bedroom when she woke up and instead of saying good morning, she stopped, looked at me and said, “I don’t like going in the deep water in the pool, I only like the little pool.” All-rightey then, we won’t make you go in the big pool. What big pool? A little later I asked her if she dreamed about swimming in a pool and she looked at me like I was crazy and said, “Nooo.” Maybe I am crazy.

Allyson...

Ally also loves to ride her scooter with Emily in the front yard (or “ard” as she calls it). It’s a new thing we’re letting them do together (which is hard for me to do), they can go about 8 houses down one way on the cul-de-sac, and about 5 houses the other way, where I can see them easily. The problem with Ally? She purposefully stops at the mailboxes to see if there are bugs on the ground. She’s deathly afraid of bugs, but she stops to see if there are any. Then she runs home upset, leaving her scooter where it fell. I’ve had to escort her to get the scooter back and told her if she wants the privilege of riding her scooter in the front, she can’t leave it down the street. Let’s just say she didn’t make it playing in the front after the next scooter ride because the girl just can’t seem to stop herself from making that stop at the mailbox. Silly girl…

Emily...

Emily's so much fun these days, she writes stories that crack me up, but are amazing for her age too. She is a smart little cookie, that one. She was asking me when I would take her back to that place that had the fish tank, the one where she always cried because she didn’t want to go to the daycare center. I was thinking…church? No. The gym near our house? No. Then I remembered, it was the YMCA gym I used to go to in Redding. When she was barely 2 years old. I couldn’t believe she remembered that place, the fish tank, how she cried. She said I should take her back there and she’d be fine this time.

Rylee...

And Rylee…I think she’s going to be an interesting one to watch grow up. She marches to her own drummer for sure. We were at Big League Dreams last night watching the 2nd half of Jamie & Mike’s game. Out of my eye, I saw Rylee starting to head around the corner to the playground on her own with no one to watch her, and she wasn’t bothering to tell anyone she was going. Because Rylee’s just self-sufficient that way. I caught her just before she rounded the corner and called her back over to where we were sitting. She heard me, turned around and said, “Awwww, man!!” Is she really just 2 years old?? The other day I came in to find her changing her baby...

I had a great “Nana moment” last night. I was taking Rylee and Nathan home for Jamie and Mike’s double-header game, Emily and Ally were given the choice to go to the game and play on the playground during the game, or come home with me (because at that point, I didn’t plan on going to the game). They chose to come home with me and really, I was surprised. They’re getting older and I figured coming to our house would definitely come second to Big League Dreams, a more exciting option. Made my day!

Nana and Papa’s house rules!! (At least until tomorrow…)

Below are a couple of pictures of the kids' room that's (nearly) finished, another of Devon at his birthday party, and one of the Littau kiddos.

Whew!! Congratulations, you made it to the end of this post!

Happy 4th Birthday Devon!!

2010-02-24T17:28:00.001-08:00

Some of the kids look so different since they were born, but like his daddy, Devon looks very much the same - just older. Happy Birthday Devon!! (One day late...)

Life Lately, God Hitting Me With A Brick, And More

2010-02-05T20:25:00.000-08:00

Nothing big is happening, at least nothing that everyone doesn’t already hear about on facebook, so my blog has been neglected. If the kids tell me funny things, I’m usually too busy to retain it and forget most of it when I have time to blog. I think my older blog entries will always mostly be about Emily and her stories. But then, Emily’s imagination is unlike anyone’s I’ve ever known! =)

Lucy (the new puppy) is doing great on learning, but let’s face it, a puppy is a lot of work! Allyson and Rylee love her, and we appreciate the work-outs that Rylee gives her to tire her out. She pulls her all over the house on a tug toy telling her, “Come on! Follow me!” Devon doesn’t see her much but seems kind of neutral to her. Emily, not loving her so much! She doesn’t like dogs that bark or run after her, or are prone to nipping or licking. I think all those things describe everything about a puppy so there’s not much love there on Emily’s side. But tonight she voluntarily petted her, through the top of the crate. Progress...

Steve and I are maintaining. Steve’s MM is on the slow ride and per his doctor, we’re putting it aside for now and living our lives, and we’re good with that. Thanks to our lovely economy, and especially here in our area, there are literally NO jobs to be found. Unless you consider minimum wage at Burger King a job, and even those may not even be found easily. It’s pretty discouraging at times, we pray about it, Steve’s looking, but nothing. I’m just curious to what God has up his sleeves for us. Does God have sleeves?

Devon’s 4th birthday is in three weeks, in some ways it’s hard to believe he’s 4 and yet sometimes, he and Allyson seem like they’ve already been 4 and should be turning 5 years old. Probably because they’re both on the taller side?

It may sound strange, but I miss the UCSF trips we took in December and January. Not the part where sat at UCSF with masks on our faces and Steve was getting poked and prodded, but the parts where we walked around San Francisco, ate at nice restaurants, shopped, and just enjoyed traveling together. I think we’d would really enjoy driving (leisurely) across the U.S. someday. I’ve actually seen very little of our own country so going from here to the east coast by car would be so fun to do.

I recently heard a sermon about being quiet and listening to God, really hearing what he wants to say to me. Now there are definitely times I hear God speaking to me, but to be quite honest, it’s usually when he’s hitting me over the head with a brick to get my attention. I don’t seem to naturally “hear” God by just sitting and letting him talk to me. I’ve tried, but one of two things usually happens:

1) I sit quietly and wait to hear Him speak to me. Shortly after that (and I mean shortly), my mind strays and I wonder what I should fix for dinner. Or I suddenly remember the one thing I forgot at the store. I don’t mean to let my mind wander. It just does.

Or…

2) I sit quietly and ask Him to speak to me. Shortly after that, I get an “idea” in my head about how to solve a problem, or something that He wants me to do. Then I immediately start wondering, is that actually from God? Or is it just something I want to do and hope it’s from God? What if it’s not from God but from me and I take action I shouldn’t? Or what if it’s wishful thinking on my part? Then I decide it’s probably safer to assume it’s not God speaking to me, that way there can be no trouble.

Now that might all sound a little comical, but it’s also truthful. How do you really stay quiet and “hear God?” Because I just don’t seem to have that down, even after this many years of being a Christian. Am I alone in this?? Is there a book I should read? Should I get counseling from someone who has a degree in listening to God? I’m pretty sure God must get either frustrated with me, or laughs at me. (Does God laugh at us? Or with us?)

There's nothing better than riding alone in a car with a little girl singing her heart out to songs like, "Take My Heart O' God," in her clear, 4-year old sweet voice. Puts a smile on your voice any day of the week!

Emily and Rylee are spending the night tonight and it's the first time (at least at my house) that Emily has been on the phone with a friend from school for awhile now. She's on my bed, on the phone, and they're watching I-Carly together. As I walked out, she told her friend, "This is so cool! Oh, and Nana, could I have a snack please?" I think we're growing up! Not too fast, Emily, please not too fast.

Happy 4th Birthday Allyson!!

2010-01-10T15:42:00.000-08:00

Today is Allyson's 4th birthday (same birthday as her mommy). She's growing up so fast, what a beautiful sweetheart!

Never Again

2010-01-09T17:09:00.000-08:00

After losing Jessie, and then Bubba, in the last 8 years, we said we were done with pets for a long time. And if we did ever have another dog, we'd get an older dog because we'd NEVER have another chewing/untrained puppy that took a lot of work!

Please meet never.

She will be our new Brittany Spaniel, who's a bundle of energy and sweetness, and we'll be getting her in 10-14 days when she's old enough to leave her mama!

Since we have said many times we will NEVER have another puppy, we've actually considered calling her Never. But I love the name Lucy and feel pretty stuck on it. Would anyone like to vote on their choice for her name?

Also, no comments or laughing at us is allowed either. Josh. Jamie. Mike. You know who you are!

Oh, and I blame the Scarbrough's for showing their puppies on facebook, and Joel and Leslie for getting one!! Shameless enticement!

And Devon who told us that we HAVE to get another doggie, and Allyson who informs us that she is allergic to cats, but NOT to dogs and that she really wants a dog! That's why we're doing this, it's the only way the grandkids will have a dog.

Yeah, that's our reason. Really.

If you have a name proposal, just hit the comment button and leave it here! If we choose that name, you'll win the prize of poop-scooping our backyard for a week! (In case of a tie, each winner gets their own full week for poop-scooping!)

Or she might just be Lucy.

Happy New Year and 10 New Year’s Resolutions!

2009-12-31T19:24:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve at our house, movie night with 4 kids, watching 'Up." We'll be ringing in the New Years with 6 sets of closed eyelids. =)

Now, on to my 10 New Year's Resolutions:

1. I resolve to eat better so I can lose weight….

Unless we eat out…or there are cookies within a mile radius…or I get anywhere near Leatherby’s Ice Cream.

2. I resolve to shop less…

Unless I have to drive by the mall. Or Kohls. Or Target. And maybe even Wal-Mart.

3. I resolve to spend a little more time with my quite-needy cat…

Unless the grandkids are over. (I’m not sure this is resolvable.)

4. I resolve to cook more often, and to cook healthier when I cook…

Unless I am out of time to cook, and only if the recipe is 5 ingredients or less. Or if there’s a good restaurant nearby. ( I could use a cook/housekeeper.)

5. I resolve to blog more, and facebook less.

Well…I am going to try and blog more, but let’s be real, facebook has me in its grip.

6. I resolve to dress better, maybe get out of my jeans more often…

Which hinges on being able to do number 1, above.

7. I resolve not to buy so many books…

Unless Karen Kingsbury puts a new book out. Or Nicholas Sparks. Or Jodi Picoult. Or…insert many more names here.

8. I resolve to start walking/jogging and/or working on completing the Couch to 5K.

Which also hinges on number 1 above. Oh, and maybe on number 4 above too.

9. I resolve to paint the kids’ playroom with the paint I purchased 6 months ago.

When I have a week off work, and I’m in the mood. Who am I kidding, those two things will never coincide!

10. I resolve not to make any more New Year’s Resolutions…I rarely keep them anyway.

I think this one is the one resolution I can keep!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Christmas Pictures

2009-12-29T17:52:00.000-08:00

We had a great, crazy, lazy, Christmas with lots of food and laughs. The food was great and the kids' last minute Christmas program involved the reading of Christ's birth by Emily, and the singing of Hark the Herald Angels Sing, sung by 3 girly wisemen (or wisegirls), one of which was Rylee who was wearing a low-hanging diaper, but she didn't care, she was singing like the big girls and was so proud! Devon boycotted being involved in the whole thing, which maybe made him the true wiseman? LOL This was our first year trying this, but the planning part of it got interrupted by an adventuresome ambulance ride to the hospital by Steve on Christmas Eve. I figured the idea would hold for next year, but the girls still wanted to do it their own way. And really, it was much better that way! We're doing this again next year for sure!

So...enjoy some pictures (which may look similar to some of Jamie's, but I wanted to document them here too).

The kids lined up, ready for Santa Josh to hand out the gifts.

Rylee all dressed up in her Christmas gifts.

The four kids at the end of Christmas Day before they headed for home.

And leaving you with, of course, one of our littlest baby angel, Nathan.

Power of The Naughty List

2009-12-22T19:24:00.000-08:00

Allyson and Rylee sometimes fight over toys, each hanging onto half of the toy with both insisting they "had it first!" Of course, since I didn't see it, I never know for sure. I ask them who had it first (dumb question, I know). Rylee gives me a blank look and says, "What?" Allyson, of course, always says that she had it first.

So, it came up again last night, a fight over Lion (a favorite stuffed animal). They had a tug of war in the hallway over it. I had just seen Rylee holding it so I strongly suspected that Ally was the snatcher, so I asked, "Ally, who had it first?" And then I added, "And tell me the truth because you don't want to be on Santa's Naughty List!" She dropped it like a hot potato and said, "Rylee had it first." And then she just walked away.

Wow. Gotta love the power of The Naughty List!

2009-12-17T15:58:00.000-08:00

Happy 7th Birthday Emily!!

2009-12-04T13:48:00.000-08:00

Emily turns 7 this Tuesday and we celebrated with her tonight. She's not our baby any more...

Decking the Halls

2009-12-04T13:18:00.000-08:00

Last week-end we had our little helpers show up to help us decorate for Christmas and to play with the Christmas train. Here are a few pictures...

And while he didn't come over and decorate, here's a picture of Nathan, just becasue he's so sweet.

Re-creating My Deleted Blog Titled "Delivered "Perfect," From God To Us" - And a Few Other Things

2009-11-18T08:05:00.000-08:00

I blogged something in a soft, sentimental moment after holding Nathan for awhile the other night. Holding a new baby affects your brain in funny ways and shortly after I read what I posted, I decided to delete it. It is still showing as a new blog on everyone's blogroll and I've been told maybe I should re-create it, so here it is, although quite different from the first time through. I added a few other things from a blog entry I had already started. Hang on for the ride, it might get wordy!

THIS-N-THAT
I've loved having a new grandson, we're almost even now with 3 girls and 2 boys. Who wants to volunteer to make it even?? Yeah, I didn't think I'd hear, "Me, me!"

I love hearing Rylee tell you that Nathan is HER baby. Her baby named, "Two."

I love seeing Ally looking at him with a smile as she call him "her." And when I correct her she still says, "Well, I want it to be a sister, a girl!" Uh, no, God gave you a brother. A brother named, "Nafum." (Which is also how Devon says his name.)

I love how Emily is still Emily around Nathan. She gazes lovingly at him...and then goes and reads a book. It will take more than a new little brother to get her away from those books! And she actually calls him Nathan and is so happy she got the brother she asked Santa for last year, even though Jamie said last December that there was NO way that was happening. (Don't you just love having to eat your words, Jamie? Ha!)

I will never, and I mean NEVER, pray for patience again. I must have prayed that awhile back because apparently God is taking my learning process seriously! We wait and wait for the elusive job (Steve has one pending but I'm working on not getting overly hopeful, thus causing a serious fall to reality). We wait and wait for the call from UCSF, hoping that it comes so we can get it done before (and if) the pending job comes through. (Since I started writing this, we got the appointment, so another thing answered!) We are at least done waiting to find out if it's a boy or a girl! (It's a boy. Just in case you haven't heard. Okay, everyone's heard, I just like typing "boy.")

I'm thinking that God's decided if He teaches me about patience all in one shot, I'll never ask for it again. He's right, I won't be asking again for a long, long time. If ever.

I love facebook but I'm sad that so many of our blogs have been so neglected. Facebook is an amazing way to stay in touch daily, but the stories, feelings and pictures on blogs last forever.

Okay - on to the re-creation. Don't say I didn't warn you, it's a bit sappy...

The Deleted Blog "Delivered "Perfect" From God To Us (re-created to the best of my ability)

I was holding Nathan the other night and thought about how he had that fresh, new baby smell and feel. He just looked and felt so perfect.

It made me think about how he was born in a perfect state*, with his whole future laying unwritten, waiting for him to fill the pages. No sin, no regrets so far. Yes, he has a natural sin state built in, but so far he's too young for that to really show. (*Disclaimer for the sake of the blog entry: I say "perfect" knowing that none of us can be perfect, even a baby.)

God delivers these little babies to us in nearly perfect form. They haven't had a broken arm or had their first scraped knee from a fall. They haven't hit their sister, lied to their parents, or driven the car without permission. They haven't experienced regret, or guilt, or insecurity. They are basically born in a state of near perfection, a state they won't experience again until they meet Jesus in heaven someday.

At first I thought how sad that we're born so perfect yet we're doomed to have those things in our future. But I also realized that this is an imperfect world that we temporarily live in. The lessons that we learn from these things are good for us in order to successfully live our lives on earth fully the way God intended. Mistakes will come, but so will joy. Many say it's in the toughest times that you grow closer to God, and it's true.

If Nathan doesn't tell a lie, how will he know the joy of forgiveness?

If he doesn't fall off his bike, how will he learn to perservere to the reward at the end when he rides his bike by himself?

If he doesn't have regrets, how will learn for the next time?

Can you imagine staying in the newborn perfection state? Yes, they're blissfully unaware of real pain, stress, and of sin in general. But to stay in that state would mean not growing physically, spiritually, or emotionally.

So...as much as I would love to bubble-wrap each of my children, each of my grandchildren, my husband (you get the picture), it would be denying them what it feels like to take some risks to grow and accomplish great things, and to find joy in what God has given us.

So I have to watch them take off on their bikes, even if they have scratched up knees and elbows while they're learning.

Or watch them make bad choices so they can learn from them.

And then to have the joy of watching them grow up and become adults who love God and their families, and to pass those same lessons on down to their own children.

So even though they were delivered nearly perfect from God, soft, sweet, and unmarked by life, they have to grow up and experience things, both difficult and joyful, before they can return to God to become perfect again, perfect through Him, for all eternity.

And that's my prayer for them, every day.

Wedding Day Pictures

2009-11-08T14:44:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures from Kris and Diane's wedding. I mostly have pictures of the bride and "her girls" because I didn't get out to where they took the guys' pictures. It was a beautiful wedding!

Fun on Friday

2009-10-30T09:26:00.000-07:00

I "borrowed" this from another blog, thought it was cute...

Fall at Our House (and belated cruise pictures)

2009-10-24T13:58:00.001-07:00

I love the colors of fall and probably enjoy decorating for fall more than Christmas. I don't go as all out as Christmas, but did a little today. Here are some pictures from our house today, along with a few belated cruise pictures from the pictures we had left after the camera malfunction.

Fred, Leslie and I in the solarium as we floated through the icebergs in the Fjords.

A picture down the main street of Skagway with our ship in the background.

The next two pictures are of Steve/Jenni and Fred/Leslie in front of the Red Onion Saloon in Skagway.

Jenni checking out the ice berg that was brought onto the ship which was later carved into an ice sculpture.

Looking at the glacier from the solarium on the ship.

More Stuff

2009-10-20T12:58:00.000-07:00

I love the fall weather, my favorite time of the year. I love the colors and the cool weather coming in, with some warmth in between. Our tree is beautiful this time of year - for a whole 4-5 days. Then the leaves all turn brown and drop in about a week's time. But it's pretty for that short time.

Ally was wearing a heart necklace last week when she was sitting on my lap. She picked up the heart and said, "If I wish on my necklace, Bubba will come back." She put the heart to her mouth and whispered, "I wish Bubba would come back." She lifted the heart to my mouth and told me to make the wish too. I just couldn't, in case she thought it would happen if I said it would, so I had to tell her no, Bubba can't come back.

Emily's reaction to Bubba being gone was funny, so Emily-like. Jamie told her what happened while Em was doing her homework. Emily looked up and said, "Why did you tell me that?" Then she resumed doing her homework. LOL A few days later in my car, I got the harder questions: where did Bubba go, how did it happen, what happened to his body, etc. Oh my, it's not like it's an easy concept to explain, even with humans. They're gone from the body, but not the spirit (humans, not animals). For a child, hard concept. I just hope all dogs DO go to heaven so I didn't lie. =)

Devon's reaction to Bubba being gone was telling me, with a very serious sad face, "You don't have a goggy anymore." I said, "You're right, isn't that sad?" He said yes and watched his cartoon for a minute, then said to me, "You need another goggy." I said no, no more doggies for us, and said, "Yes. You need a goggy." So sweet.

Oh, and we're not getting another goggy. =)

I've put off blogging on our cruise because when Steve made an adjustment to our camera about 2/3 of the way through the cruise, we lost all our pictures on our camera. I don't have many good pictures, but here are a few:

(I'm at work, I'll add the pix later)

We had a great time and the six of us traveled really well together. (I learned that when Diane said Fred doesn't stop for bathroom breaks, she wasn't kidding!! Ha!) Steve and I spent a lot of time in the Solarium pool area where it was warm with big windows and had birds chirping, waterfalls, etc. We read in there, watched whales, dolphins, ice bergs, and the glaciers in there. It was our favorite hanging out spot. We also played lots of bingo and other cruise games, and Steve took a class on making martinis and did wine tasting. Oh, and my visit to the spa too for a massage. Loved that part. Everything was great except the sea sickness the last day (and we won't talk about that part). Oh, and the ship that took 4 days to quit rocking after we got home!

I think our next vacation will be on a beach somewhere - Maui, or Florida, or a Caribbean cruise. If it wasn't for that darned unemployment thing, it'd already be planned! But we're doing one of those next for sure.

It was pretty funny shopping with Jamie for the girls' Halloween costumes. Emily wanted to be Supergirl and Jamie had high hopes that this was the year they would not ALL be princesses! The first thing we found at Sho*pko was a Supergirl costume! Yay!! Well, it would have been yay, but Emily realized how many beautiful princess costumes there were and insisted on one of those. Next great hope - Allyson! Nope, she's a princess too, from the movie "Enchanted." (She went thru Sho*pko saying, "Mommy, I'm Enchanted!" Pretty funny.) Now it's up to Rylee!! Jamie showed her the cutest pumpkin outfit. Rylee took one look and said, "Noooooo!" Then I showed her a Lady Bug and a Bumble Bee. Same reaction, "Noooooo!" Jamie showed her a princess dress and she smiled and said, "Yeah!"

So we have three princesses this year - again. At least Emily went right past the Ariel costume. Progress!

Devon and Josh are superheroes this year. When I asked Devon what he was going to be he told me a superhero. Then I told him the girls were going to be princesses. He had a total look of disgust on his face and said, "WHY????" Cracked me up! Devon would have totally had respect for Supergirl though.

Steve and I rode motorcycles with our friends, Gary and Gloria, last Saturday, what a gorgeous day! We're leaving this Friday at 2:00 to head for Sacramento for an overnighter. We're going to Apple Hill for the apple festival. Miles of farms with fruit stands, cider, desserts, hot food, and vendors with all kinds of things to buy. It's a fun way to buy apple "whatever" you want. We're just going to enjoy the fall weather and fall colors in the hills around Placerville.

So there's my rambling post, they have to happen sooner or later... Thanks for sticking it out!

How God Speaks To Us

2009-10-18T07:31:00.000-07:00

Friday afternoon Emily and I left Winco after I bought groceries. As we got into the car I saw that Steve had emailed me on my phone that he didn't get a job that he was perfect for, they weren't even interviewing him. They got his resume, and now a "no thanks" via email. It was a job that was perfect for him, that he was fully qualified for and he would do well at and enjoy.

Yes, I had my hopes up for God to open the door on this one. We've been saying, if we knock, He'll open the door. I really thought this job was the right door.

When I read that he got an email rejection, I admit I was upset, angry at God almost immediately. In my mind, I was telling God, "Hello! Are you up there? Do you even remember us, that Steve needs a job, that this should have been the perfect job for him? Haven't we had enough happening lately, why can't you just do this for us??"

Proof that I'm not a very great child of God, I'm yelling because He didn't do what I thought He should.

Then I heard Emily in the back seat trying to tell me something about Sampson and Delilah, while I'm driving and having my silent tirade to God. I wasn't in the mood for bantering with her but thought, it's not her fault, I need to listen to her. So I asked her what she was saying and this was what she told me:

"We learned about Sampson and Delilah (I have no idea where but probably children's church?). We learned that God takes care of us and we have to do it His way. If we don't and we do it our way it's a sin. That's what we learned about Sampson and Delilah."

My words were, "Yeah, you're right Em, you really got the point of that story!" In my mind I thought, "Was I talking to God out loud and she heard??"

No, I wasn't talking out loud, but God DID hear me. And he spoke to me through a little 6-year old child to let me know He's still there. Still in control. And he knows my pain and even understands my anger when it comes.

God speaks to me when I need it, even when I'm throwing a mental temper-tantrum.

I'm not forgotten, His ways are not mine. I may not understand them, but I can rest assured that I'm remembered and there IS a plan, even if I can't see it yet. I know this is true becuase he reminded me through my sweet 6-year old granddaughter.

Blog by Steven, his health report

2009-10-15T18:14:00.000-07:00

To those who don't know this happened very fast...Just the last few days. I had to have a blood test to check that my blood pressure medication wasn't causing problem. They found a "M" protein spike. I was referred to an oncologist for multi myeloma.

I had my Dr. appt. It is confirmed that I have MGUS or Stage 1 Myeloma. Really doesn't matter as both treatments are the same. Multiple Myeloma is a cancer of the plasma producing cells in the blood. It isn't curable but is treatable. MGUS is the pre-stage to multiple myeloma. I have further blood/urine tests tomorrow and a full body bone scan looking for bone lesions. The first step is to just be watched close. If... it is myeloma he expects a min. of a 10 year life expectancy. Plus as it progresses they have treatments from chemo to radiation to a bone marrow transplant that can extend that beyond the 10 years.

He found the "M" spike came back at a 2.9, not great but not really bad. And I have swelling someplace in my body. Both are very common for this cancer. Other than that he said I was VERY healthy and in good physical shape. All that means that I can handle any treatments that come my way in the future.

I will know FOR SURE the final diagnosis in about 12 days. There is a very small possibility that I could have to have a bone marrow biopsy. But he really didn't think that it would be necessary to came to a final diagnosis.

All in all I'm very happy with this. It isn't fun having cancer but if I have to have it at least this one I will live with for a long time.

Steven

Memories of Halloween's Gone By

2009-10-14T18:34:00.001-07:00

Wow, these little guys have come a long way...

A Memorial to Bubba

2009-10-07T17:43:00.000-07:00

We got Bubba when he was 5, right after our Springer died of cancer. He was raised from 6 weeks old by a man who could no longer take care of him due to a move to L.A. Bubba ran the downtown streets during workdays when his owner was at work and was known by our office as the dog you couldn't touch, but who also waited for treats from our office and, unknown to us, from many other businesses around us who also knew of him and fed him. He was happy and friendly, but stranger wary.

Bubba came with a police record for breaking out of his yard (turns out he was an escape artist) while his owner was at work. He rode in many police cars after they gave up writing tickets for him and just took him home.

We brought him home, cured his escaping issues and he ended up being the perfect pet. He was docile, loving and very easy-going. When my brother brought his German Sheperd with him from San Diego, his dog Shasta tried to become Alpha Female with Bubba. Bubba's response was, take it, it's all yours. He literally turned his head away from trouble.

His life was good and worth documenting here for the future, so rest in peace Bubba, we enjoyed a great 7 1/2 years with you and we miss you!

2009-09-24T18:39:00.000-07:00

Josh asked me to go to his car and get a CD for him. He was just back from having surgery. While I was looking for it I saw the pre-surgery forms. The first form was a page on how to wash your hands... REALLY??? How to wash your hands?? Is this a problem in Redding? Maybe it was special instructions on washing before surgery. Maybe it was special instructions on washing before you touch your incision?? No.. it was just instructions on washing your hands. Maybe it is necessary in San Francisco, LA, Seattle, New York, or Washington DC. But not in Redding!!! Didn't we all have mom's, sister's, girl friend's and most importantly wives? They all made sure this wasn't an issue for me!!!! IF.. I haven't said THANK YOU to those girls in my life, I'M SORRY, I could be one of those people who needed that page before surgery. Steven

Just Another Sunday

2009-09-06T20:09:00.000-07:00

Beware coming to our house, Papa has a reputation for getting thread out and pulling teeth that are barely hanging on. (Emily ended up pulling it out herself with the thread.)

Devon stood and held Ally's hand while she had her breathing treatment. (Excuse the blurry picture.)

A few backyard pictures...

The little kids were in the bathtub and Steve found Emily reclining by herself on the double swing. She was probably thinking, "I can FINALLY have some peace and quiet!"

Night night.

Bits and Pieces on a Sunday

2009-08-30T12:54:00.000-07:00

We got a new toy doctor's kit for the kids' toybox, they've used their old one until it's all broken. Today during my check-up with Dr. Allyson:

"I'm giving you a check-up, you're in the hospital. Let me take your tempa-chur." (Each time she takes it, it say"s that I'm "all better, or that I'm "weally, weally sick.") She told me, "Okay, you're all better, you get to go home now! (Pause) No wait! You have to go on a ship with the pirates!"

How do you leep from being a patient to being on a ship with pirates?? Well, in reality, I will be on a ship soon but I hope there's no real pirates!

Today's youth service went really well, our youth did a great job. Some sermons leave you saying, "That hit the mark, ouch! Some leave you saying, "Wow that hit the mark, aaahhhh." Today was my "ahhhh" moment. Like God confirming what's been happening in my thoughts/growth in our lives right now.

Our cruise is less than 2 weeks away now. This will be our first 7-night cruise. I'm excited but find myself wondering, will I like being on a ship for 7 whole days? I know I will love it, but most of our vacations we do 2-4 nights in one place, then move on to a new place for "phase two." We are hardly ever in one place for a full 7 days. Do I think I'll like it? Uh, yeah! It's vacation. On a cruise ship. Not at work or home. Cooler weather. Everything is done for me, or served to me. What's not to like?

I went with Jamie on Friday to pick Emily up from school. As we were waiting for class to end a dad walked up to wait with us. He was dressed in cowboy boots, shirt, hat, etc. and it was obvious he was a "working cowboy." I looked at all the kids' names near the door on little name tags wondering which one was his child. I quickly thought to myself that it had to be the one named "Sterling." Doesn't that just sound like a cowboy's son's name? It wasn't though, he was picking up his daughter named "Sydnee." Funny how easily we stereotype people.

It looks like I may be doing/helping with another Christmas program this year. I don't have a concrete idea of what to do yet, but will have some "brain-storming friends" helping me with it. Hopefully God helps us cook up something really good! Any body want a part in it?

Maybe this will hit someone as being morbid but I shipped my dad's cremated remains to my brother in San Diego on Friday to be put to rest in a beautiful veteran's cemetary. My dad's been gone almost 11 years now and my mom finally decided where he should be. Maybe it's just our family's sense of humor, but many jokes were flying about it this week. Like the picture of my brother taking him home on his motorcycle. Or him taking my dad to a meeting with him to "Take Your Dad To Work Day." Or when I almost put a sign on top of the packing bubble wrap that said, "Hello, my name is Don." But if you knew my dad at all, he would have been laughing the loudest of all with our joking around. That was just my dad, he had a big laugh and a big sense of humor and I really do miss hearing that.

I think all soccer should either be played (1) in October-November & March-May; or (2) only on the coast. Emily's games the last two week-ends were scorchers. And the poor kids are playing on the fake turf that is essentially chopped up tires that hold about another 15 degrees of heat than regular grass. What were they thinking? Redding is hot in the summer!

Okay, that's it. This is what happens when Rylee is napping, the girls are watching a movie in our room, and Steve's got baseball AND golf on in the living room. I'm left alone with the computer and do blogs like this.

Happy Sunday!

Finding the Right Approach

2009-08-16T12:54:00.001-07:00

Steve and I were talking about "upping the ante" on the job hunting after our cruise in a few weeks. So far, checking the internet for jobs is two clicks from useless. We were saying that it might get better once school is back in session and things pick up with people no longer on vacations. Then we discussed our next step if something doesn't pan out soon. Here were some of the ideas we bantered around:

Sit on the corner of Hilltop and Cypress all day with a billboard sign that reads:

NO MONEY WANTED
NO BURGER KING MEALS WANTED
I WANT A JOB
REALLY! I WANT A JOB
PLEASE HIRE ME IF YOU HAVE A FULL-TIME JOB WITH BENEFITS

Or...

Sending out 1,000 letters to places of businesses where he has experience that say:

"I'll work for you full-time with no benefits FOR FREE for 2 months if you'll agree to hire me for 5 years with full benefits at the end of said 2 months."

Or a different letter that reads:

"The first person to hire me for a solid job with benefits for 5 years will get a 2-week fully paid vacation to a nice condo in Hawaii to include airfare, a rental car, a condo on the beach, and $1,000 for food expenditures."

Or...

Steve can just keep looking through the internet and talking to contacts as he can reach them. Which approach do you think would work best? =)

Friday Naptime

2009-07-31T15:06:00.000-07:00

This was Rylee's first time in a big girl bed at our house, and Bubba doing what he does best - sleeping on his back with his legs in the air. I tried for a better picture, but I woke him up. Rylee hasn't moved from where I put her. ;-)

46 More Days

2009-07-29T19:36:00.000-07:00

Sailing, sailing, out on the ocean blue...and this is the actual ship we'll be on.

How will we survive without our grandkids? Or no facebook on the computer? Did I mention no grandkids for 10 nights? Or how much I'll miss being at work, or doing laundry and dishes at home? And then there's not being able to see the grandkids. Well, I will actually miss the grandkids...

I guess we'll have to figure out how to cope while we're relaxing in the hot tub...or on the balcony of our room...or while we're eating lobster for dinner. :)

So, I'm just wondering. As we drive into Redding, will we see Jamie & Mike with the girls, Joel and Leslie with Zach, and Nick with Ellyana, standing on the side of I-5 at about Oasis Road, with little suitcases packed so we can scoop up grandkids and take them with us on our way back home? Who will be more anxious? Parents who need a break after 10 days, or grandparents who are in grandkid deficit? We'll have to see...

Veterans Administration

2009-07-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

This is my first try at a blog... So here we go..

As most of you know I am out of a job for about 2 weeks now. Things are going OK except for health insurance. Very costly and we aren't sure how we are going to afford ANYTHING.. even catastrophic care is looking unaffordable. So I had an idea.. I served in the Marine Corps for over 4 years. I'll apply for veterans benefits for myself and purchase health care for Jenni. I'm out of work so... it should be just fine..That is what I thought... They use last years income to base benefits for this year. What that means is even though I'm out of work.. I don't qualify. Not only that, I won't qualify next year because I made to much before I was laid off this year. They said it was a congressional rule. That's right.. The same congress and government that wants to set up the new plan for everyone, just turned their back on a honorably discharged Marine who could use a little help. As complex as the new "reform" is we need to fined the simple to see how we will be treated if it does happen. Well, know we know. They gave me about 5 different groups I could be in to get coverage but none applied to me. What group will you be in to qualify for Obama care? I served honorably, got out, went to work, paid my taxes, provided for my family... I just don't meet the requirements they are looking for.

I guess I need to understand that the VA really isn't there for veterans but only for "some" classes of veterans. I'll do as I have always done... Buck up and be a Marine...for life...

Thanks for listening...

Steven

Last Olympic Effort

2009-07-24T14:23:00.000-07:00

As I did last time, I spurted out the gate to 61 points and due to my week-end schedule, I'm done. Does that make me a sprinter in the Olympics?

Grand Total of Points for Me: 74

New Kinds of Olympics We Could Have

2009-07-23T12:45:00.000-07:00

(61 pts.)

1. The Most Vacations Taken in a Year Olympics - I'd love to win that one!

2. Who Can Grow The Biggest Garden Olympics - I've seen Mike's garden before, he'd plant the whole park behind his house to win!

3. Who Can Cook For One Year In Only A Crockpot Olympics - I saw a blog where a lady did that, she just finished it. Amazing what you can do in a crockpot.

4. Who Can Not Miss A Sunday For A Year Olympics - Hmmm, that would make doing #1 above harder.

5. Who Can Leave Their Cars Unused The Longest Olympics - I'd lose that one first.

6. Husbands Who Clean Bathrooms For A Year Olympics - now THAT one I'd like to see happen! Except my husband doesn't do these olympics.

7. Who Can Buy The Most Items For Only $200 - I'm willing to give that one a shot, and soon!

Facebook Has Been Fun

2009-07-23T12:37:00.000-07:00

(56 pts)

I've enjoyed facebooking because I'm slowly reconnecting with some high school classmates, most of whom I lost contact with as soon as I graduated.

It's funny, as you look at pictures, some you can recognize without a second glance, others you see and think, REALLY?? That's so-and-so?? Wow. It's been sad, though, and surprising, to see what classmates have died.

I even saw my "husband" from civics class, where we had to get "married" for a semester and handle a budget, draw out of the basket weekly for life happenings (have a baby, get a raise at work, etc.). He (Richard) was a really nice guy, I never thought about dating him but in hindsight, he would have made a good boyfriend, kind and caring. He used to be our paperboy and once his dad helped him deliver the papers in the car and ran into the back of my dad's company car. Richard was so embarrassed! :)

So for that (and other reasons), I've enjoyed facebook a lot.

Things I learned on July 22nd

2009-07-23T12:27:00.000-07:00

Gotta love a lunch hour sitting at your desk with soup - time to comment and blog for the Blog Olympics!! (51 pts!!)

• Never forget to put a pull-up on a sleepy 3-year old before bed. The next morning isn’t pretty.

• Have your husband follow behind you when turning off the gas on the BBQ. There might be four burners on, not three, thus allowing all remaining propane to escape during the night.

• Half the fun of feeding your dog in the office with a self-feeder near Rylee’s bed means she has a penchant for filling her bed with dog food when she finds her way in there.

• Never trust the unemployment office. They are affected by the budget cuts, therefore so are we. Delay of 6 weeks to first check. (What do people do when they have no back-up money or even a VISA? Do they eat in soup lines and not pay their bills?? I’m thankful we don’t have that issue!)

• When three big projects are done and you are sighing in relief, two more big projects hit your desk that finish your sigh in a different way.

• Realizing:
Rylee gone missing
+ Open door in bathroom
= Water everywhere
She was filling toy cups of water and emptying them back into the sink. Except she was missing the sink about half the time.

• When Ally is in the playroom with Emily and screams like Emily’s really let her have it, it doesn’t necessarily mean it was Emily’s fault. And that works in reverse too.

• Just because they took their clothes off to put on princess dresses doesn’t mean they can remember where those clothes are when you need them to get dressed.

• Drinking tea all day at work can work against you when the bathroom is located down the winding staircase. Does that count for my exercise for the day?

Interesting and/or Funny Childhood Memories

2009-07-22T19:46:00.004-07:00

**NOTE: This is one of 5 blogs posted today. Hmmm, not counting comments I'm getting ready to make, I could win. If, that is, I was keeping score. Okay, I'm keeping score for now. 38 points.**

My grandmother taught my cousin Ann and I to smoke corn silk “cigarettes” when I was about 10 years old. She wrapped the silk from corn tightly into the cornhusk and lit it on fire. Can you see me teaching my grandkids something like that?? Uh, no.

I took my cat to the vet when I was a teenager (old enough to drive). Someone brought in two large dogs, my cat freaked out and since he was laying in my arms like a baby on his back, he peed out of fright, up into the air and right into the lap of the lady sitting next to me. We both just froze while we watched this stream of cat pee flowing into her lap. Can anyone say embarrassing??

In our D.E.C.A. club in high school we were all tested for job aptitude using written tests and manual tests for finger dexterity, etc. I was told that I wasn’t meant to be the legal secretary I planned to be. I am a legal secretary.

We had our house robbed when I was about 5 years old in Phoenix, Arizona, when we were at a friend’s house late one night. They took some things out of my room so I thought they were still in my room under my bed at night. I slept in the middle of my bed like a mummy so they couldn’t reach me from under my bed. To this day, I have to remember not to sleep in the middle, I’m well-trained to stay there.

My church choir friends and I got caught by the police in an Indian cemetery one night (on our way to youth group I might add), trying to find a grave that had thousands of candles burned on it (supposedly one for every sin that person committed). It was a sandy desert cemetery and I was driving my dad’s company car that ended up getting stuck in the sand. We used boards, which turned out to be headstones, to try and get the car unstuck when the police caught us in there. My parents laughed when I confessed. I figured I was going to be on restriction for 6 months but I think they knew I was freaked out so much, that it was punishment enough. I was basically the “good girl” in life. And for the record, I believe the policeman could barely restrain his laughter.

My brother and cousin Bill watched my grandmother wring the neck of a chicken for dinner one night. When she went inside, they grabbed another chicken to try it themselves and took turns whirling it about their heads in circles trying to, how to say it…, kill it. All we heard was the chicken making sick squawking sounds. My grandmother came out madder than a wet hen (no pun intended) and finished the job. Then she just about wrung their necks too. P.S. Those chickens were mean! When she made me go in the chicken coop once, they all attacked me!

I remember when I was 5 or so, standing in line for a shot in the arm with what looked like a gun for one of the diseases we are now immunized from (small pox?). Then we got to eat a little sugar cube that I thought was the treat for having to take the shot. In reality, it had medicine in it for polio (I think).

I remember my little brother sleepwalking when he was pretty young and peeing on the vacuum cleaner in the hallway, “flushing” it by turning the on/off switch. And my older brother, during a really big earthquake, jumping out of the bathtub and running into the middle of the street bucknaked. My mom told me to go get him a towel or something and I said, “Uh, no. He can go get it himself.” What a loving sister I was.

In my accounting class in high school, we had a dorky teacher (sorry, but he really was dorky) that wore a hearing aid. He always sat with his back to the class while we worked and there were two guys in the class that had it down – they managed to turn his hearing aid off somehow and he never heard or noticed most of the class goofing off. Not me though. Really, I was never the rebel in school.

Shopping A'la Unemployment

2009-07-22T19:46:00.003-07:00

Steve may be on unemployment, but that won't stop me from shopping! You can't keep a true shopper out of the malls, ya' know what I mean??

We board our cruise on 7 weeks from this Saturday and, of course, there's a list of things that I had planned to buy for us. The normal stuff, I need a few shirts and jeans (it's a colder cruise) and so does Steve. I need a couple of dressy wraps to match my existing dresses so that I can dress them up for the dinner, plus have some warmth when strolling on the deck at night. (Doesn't the "strolling the deck" make you wish you were going?? Oh yeah!) And Steve could use a lightweight jacket as it could rain some days. (His current lightweight jacket is looking old and in need of replacement.)

I'm taking my mom to Sacto this week-end to catch a plane to see my aunts in Spokane (one was just given 2-3 months to live with cancer, please be praying for her!). While I'm there, either Jamie or Steve will be going and we're hitting the stores but this time, I'll be scavenging the sales/clearance racks for the best buys possible. I kind of feel challenged and am curious to see what I'll end up with!

How do you normally shop:

1. Prices? Who cares!

2. Only the sales tags are in my line of vision, unless I REALLY, REALLY like the item a lot!

3. I'm an all-time scavenger, if it's not on the clearance rack, forget it!

4. It's Salvation Army and Reruns or nothin' for me, baby!

My norm is the second option, but this time, count me in for the clearance racks. I think it'll be fun!

Okay, Who's The Wise Guy That's Praying For Me??

2009-07-22T19:46:00.002-07:00

I'm a worrier, a stresser, a fear collector. It's my full-time job and I take it seriously.

But with this job thing Steve's going through (and therefore I'm going through), I feel fine. I gave me fear to God and I EXPECT His answer, can't WAIT for it. It's going to be GREAT!

So what's wrong with me? Even though I give up my fears and worries to Him, I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS still feel an undercurrent of worry and "gulp" moments. I always ride the Super Cyclone of Fear Roller Coaster at least once every day! But so far, nada. Zip. Zilch. I just feel normal and secure.

Who's the wise guy that's praying for me because this didn't happen by itself!! (Okay, maybe God answered my fear prayer, that would make sense.)

Interesting Recipe to Try

2009-07-22T19:46:00.001-07:00

Let me know if you try this before I do, it sounds really easy. Maybe a great Super Bowl Party idea?

Sloppy Joe Turnovers

1 lb. ground beef
1/4 c. onion (you can sprinkle in dried, minced onion if you prefer)
1/2 c. ketchup
1/4 c. sour cream
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
10 oz. can refrigerated flaky biscuits

-Heat oven to 375 degrees. Brown ground beef and onion in a skillet. Add ketchup, sour cream, salt and garlic powder. Simmer for 2 minutes. Roll out biscuits (just stretch them out a bit with your hands). Place a heaping spoonful of meat mixture in the center of each biscuit. Fold over the biscuit to cover meat and seal the edges with a fork. Cut a slit on the top of biscuit. Bake turnovers on a cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Memory Test on Old TV Shows and/or Commercials

2009-07-22T19:46:00.000-07:00

I got 18 out of 20 right. What's your score?

1. What builds strong bodies 12 ways?
A.Flintstones vitamins
B. The Buttmaster
C. Spaghetti
D. Wonder Bread
E. Orange Juice
F. Milk
G. Cod Liver Oil

2. Before he was Muhammed Ali, he was...
A. Sugar Ray Robinson
B. Roy Orbison
C. Gene Autry
D. Rudolph Valentino
E. Fabian
F. Mickey Mantle
G. Cassius Clay

3. Pogo, the comic strip character said, 'We have met the enemy and...
A. It's you
B. He is us
C. It's the Grinch
D. He wasn't home
E. He's really me
F. We quit
G. He surrendered

4. Good night David.
A. Good night Chet
B. Sleep well
C. Good night Irene
D. Good night Gracie
E. See you later alligator
F. Until tomorrow
G. Good night Steve

5. You'll wonder where the yellow went...
A. When you use Tide
B. When you lose your crayons
C. When you clean your tub
D. If you paint the room blue
E. If you buy a soft water tank
F. When you use Lady Clairol
G. When you brush your teeth with Pepsodent

6. Before he was the Skipper's Little Buddy, Bob Denver was Dobie's friend...
A. Stuart Whitman
B. Randolph Scott
C. Steve Reeves
D. Maynard G. Krebbs
E. Corky B. Dork
F. Dave the Whale
G. Zippy Zoo

7. Liar, liar...
A. You're a liar
B. Your nose is growing
C. Pants on fire
D. Join the choir
E. Jump up higher
F. On the wire
G. I'm telling Mom

8. Meanwhile, back in Metropolis, Superman fights a never ending battle for truth, justice and...
A. Wheaties
B. Lois Lane
C. TV ratings
D. World peace
E. Red tights
F. The American way
G. News headlines

9. Hey kids! What time is it?
A. It's time for Yogi Bear
B It's time to do your homework
C. It's Howdy Doody Time
D. It's Time for Romper Room
E. It's bedtime
F. The Mighty Mouse Hour
G. Scoopy Doo Time

10. Lions and tigers and bears...
A. Yikes
B. Oh no
C. Gee whiz
D. I'm scared
E. Oh my
F. Help! Help!
G. Let's run

11. Bob Dylan advised us never to trust anyone...
A. Over 40
B. Wearing a uniform
C. Carrying a briefcase
D. Over 30
E. You don't know
F. Who says, 'Trust me'
G. Who eats tofu

12. NFL quarterback who appeared in a television commercial wearing women's stockings...
A. Troy Aikman
B. Kenny Stabler
C. Joe Namath
D. Roger Staubach
E. Joe Montana
F. Steve Young
G. John Elway

13. Brylcream...
A. Smear it on
B. You'll smell great
C. Tame that cowlick
D. Grease ball heaven
E. It's a dream
F. We're your team
G. A little dab'll do ya

14. I found my thrill...
A. In Blueberry muffins
B. With my man, Bill
C. Down at the mill
D. Over the windowsill
E. With thyme and dill
F. Too late to enjoy
G. On Blueberry Hill

15. Before Robin Williams, Peter Pan was played by.
A. Clark Gable
B. Mary Martin
C. Doris Day
D. Errol Flynn
E. Sally Fields
F. Jim Carey
G. Jay Leno

16. Name the Beatles...
A. John, Steve, George, Ringo
B. John, Paul, George, Roscoe
C. John, Paul, Stacey, Ringo
D. Jay, Paul, George, Ringo
E. Lewis, Peter, George, Ringo
F. Jason, Betty, Skipper, Hazel
G. John, Paul, George, Ringo

17. I wonder, wonder, who.
A. Who ate the leftovers?
B. Who did the laundry?
C. Was it you?
D. Who wrote the book of love?
E. Who I am?
F. Passed the test?
G. Knocked on the do or?

18. I'm strong to the finish...
A. Cause I eats my broccoli
B. Cause I eats me spinach
C. Cause I lift weights
D. Cause I'm the hero
E. And don't you for get it
F. Cause Olive Oyl loves me
G. To outlast Bruto

19. When it's least expected, you're elected, you're the star today
A. Smile, you're on Candid Camera
B. Smile, you're on Star Search
C. Smile, you won the lottery
D. Smile, we're watching you
E. Smile, the world sees you
F. Smile, you're a hit
G. Smile, you're on TV

20. What do M & M's do?
A. Make your tummy happy
B. Melt in your mouth, not in your pocket
C. Make you fat
D. Melt your heart
E. Make you popular
F. Melt in your mouth, not in your hand
G. Come in colors

Below are the right answers:
1. D - Wonder Bread
2.. G - Cassius Clay
3. B - He Is Us
4. A - Good night, Chet
5. G - When you brush your teeth with Pepsodent
6. D -20Maynard G. Krebbs
7. C - Pants On Fire
8. F - The American Way
9. C - It's Howdy Doody Time
10. E - Oh My
11. D - Over 30
12. C - Joe Namath
13. G - A little dab'll do ya
14. G - On Blueberry Hill
15. B - Mary Martin
16. G - John, Paul, George, Ringo
17. D - Who wrote the book of Love
18. B - Cause I eats me spinach
19. A - Smile, you're on Candid Camera
20. F - Melt In Your Mouth Not In Your Hand

I Think God Has A Sense Of Humor

2009-07-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

Awhile back, Ada at church told me she was praying for two miracles and she wasn’t letting up until the prayers were answered. God bless Ada – she is our church’s prayer warrior and we love her for that! One of the miracles was that God would work Steve’s job situation out so that he could be in church on Sundays.

Well, God has answered Ada’s prayers because Steve was just laid off at the bank. Now he can attend church every week if he wants to.

How do we feel, you ask? (Well, I’m pretending you’re asking.) We feel…unsure…relieved…worried…relieved…a tiny bit bitter…relieved…unsure…yet, relieved. As you can tell, we’re left with this very strange mixture of feelings of both fear/stress and yet relief that he’s no longer at this job.

Those close to us know that Steve’s 1½ years at this job have felt anything but secure and/or enjoyable. Sometimes we wonder why God brought this job his way, but He has his reasons. Maybe because we needed the medical benefits for Steve’s hospitalization last year? Maybe because at the time, Steve had only weeks left to pull unemployment (there were no extensions at that time allowed)? Despite the bad side, we’ve been thankful for those things. We don’t know the why’s of it all, but we sure hope He brings that miracle job soon because the next budget cut could be IOU’s to those on unemployment.

So, before my talk with Ada on that particular Sunday, my daily prayer included: petitioning God for a job that was more stable with upper management that cared about the employees and their customers, one Steve could actually enjoy going to and paid reasonably for, had good benefits, AND let him work Mon-Fri again. (I guess when I prayed I figured if you’re going to ask, ask for it all. Ha!) I also prayed that in the meantime, we were very grateful for the job that Steve had because at least he had one despite the rotten economy.

I did my best to pray for all those things each and every day, and tried to keep my faith alive that God has the plan. And He does. Just because we’re in the storm doesn’t mean He won’t provide the rainbow at the end even though we can’t see it. The rainbow He gives us may even look different that we picture how it should be, but it’s His rainbow to us nonetheless.

But after my talk with Ada, I grew accustomed to praying this: “And on Steve’s job, Lord, what Ada said.” I mean, I figured God knows my heart, why go through each and every aspect in my prayers every single day, week after week, right?

Wrong, maybe? Ada’s prayer (as far as I know) was: “For God to work Steve’s job situation out so he could be in church on Sundays.” Well, he can be in church on Sundays now. The problem is, he doesn’t have a job to be at on Monday because, well, he doesn’t have one.

So maybe God has a sense of humor and I should learn my lesson on shortening my prayers.

(Disclaimer here: This blog entry is not saying it’s Ada’s fault about the job! LOL)

Addition: I typed this at work on my lunch hour weeks ago, so I'm posting it from work. And yes, we felt this sure it was coming and this post was my feelings at the time. It seemed weird at the time that they let him go on a Sunday, but it was his last work day for his pay period, so it makes sense. Now I think it was a God-thing because it was great to be at church with family and friends who brought us much comfort and love. So thank you everyone, for being there! It really helped our day go much better!

Too Short

2009-07-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

Emily's been riding all the slides at Waterworks this week, they passed her through saying she's finally tall enough. She and I went to the top of the 3-slide area where the girl measured her before she let her on. She was about 2-3 inches too short. (I have no idea why they let her on the rest of the week.) Her friend, Tessa, went on down the slide while I walked a very sad, crying Emily back down the hill. Sobbing, she said, "But why was I not tall enough, I rode them last time! AM I SHRINKING??"

I'm sorry but it was so funny, she's sobbing, tears streaming down her face and thinking that she's shrinking, and I'm laughing.

Now you've met Not-Very-Nice-Nana. :)

The Signs Are There

2009-07-08T18:05:00.000-07:00

My rings feel tighter, my clothes are snug, my energy levels are low. It finally hits my brain and I realize something. I haven’t stepped on the scales in several months. (Subconsciously, I’m sure it’s because I’ve been afraid to see what it says.)

So last week, I stepped on the scales, closed my eyes, gathered some courage, looked down and…OUCH! That was even more painful than expected.

Now what?

Diet? I hate that word. It means that once I commit to it, I instantly (seriously, instantly!) want everything I “can’t have.” Ice cream…pizza…spaghetti…and the list marches on. I’ve been ignoring it for some time, but I know I’m in diet trouble when…

• I start buying ice cream a lot, or make ice cream runs in the evenings…

• I start stocking cereal in the cupboard (for the kids, of course. But the truth is, I love cereal at 9:00 at night and when they do spend the night, there are many things they’ll eat besides cereal.)

• I start eating bagels or pastries at work instead of my normal cup of oatmeal or Cream of Wheat.

• I start cooking more creatively, but not in a good way. Casseroles, more pastas, breads, etc.

For me, those are out of control signs. Let’s face it, I love food. It’s fun to be creative, it tastes good, and who doesn’t love a bowl of creamy ice cream, or a bowl of crunchy, sweet cereal with cold milk??

So now I’m changing things. Again. Not “dieting,” but adjusting.

No more ice cream for awhile, and the cereal goes to Jamie’s or Josh’s house for the kids. They just can’t be in my vicinity for now. Back to grilled chicken, some beef, and lots more veggies. Back to my normal oatmeal at work, and taking small portioned healthy snacks to work. Back to ice cream and cereal denial.

Let’s see what the scale has to say in a month or two. I’m not looking for miracles here, Mr. Scale, just a number that doesn’t cause cardiac arrest when I stand on you!

Do you have out of control signs? What’s your strategy when you cut back?

(Oh, and exercise?? What does that mean besides cleaning house and running after grandkids? Because I have no idea…)

Fearing No Shadow

2009-07-03T20:18:00.000-07:00

I was blog-hopping the other night before Steve got home and came across something striking. I didn’t get permission to use it as I don’t actually “know” the person, nor does she “know” me, but in hopes she doesn't mind, here is what she wrote. It was from something that her pastor said in a recent sermon, from Psalm 23:4:

“1The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

He pointed out that David is being guided by the Lord through green pastures and also through the valley. He also said that it was only a shadow of death, not death itself.

So many times we see the shadows and fear sets in. Shadows are always bigger than reality. And a shadow has no power to hurt anything! But when all our strength is being focused on the shadow, that means our back is to The Light. So if we're looking at shadows and worrying our fool heads off, just turn around and look to Jesus!”

Great stuff, huh? Amazing what you find blog-hopping!

Three-Year Olds Aren't As Gullible As I Thought

2009-06-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

Emily is playing her Wii Princess game today. Allyson has always been happy just watching her, spinning when Emily does, jumping when Emily does, as though she was playing too.

Today that wasn't enough. She wanted her own "wand," (or game controller). Since Emily had chosen 1 player on the game already, I gave Ally the inactive game controller to "play" the game. That's all it took, she thought she was playing and was in heaven.

That is, until the game recognized her "wand" and asked for player 2 to "num-chuk up," so I had to take the "wand" away from her. She was really sad so I gave her a num-chuck to use as a wand. But she's smart, she realized that Emily had a game controller AND a num-chuck. She wasn't very happy only having the num-chuck but she finally bought into it. Sort of. At one point, she held it up and said, "This is not a wand actually. We need to go to the store to get one to work for me." (Admission from a bad Nana: I had sort of lied and told her that the "wand" wasn't working so she had to use the num-chuk for her wand.)

Unfortunately, Emily is just barely ready at 6 1/2 to master this game on her own, so there's no way Allyson could do it without complete help. Since I'm doing laundry and keeping Rylee going, I couldn't just sit and play every minute, which now demotes me from Super Nana to Just Okay Nana. :)

So, Wii, here comes Allyson, maybe sooner than I realized!

Perspective

2009-06-18T17:48:00.000-07:00

This...

http://deathisnotdying.com/fullvideo/

puts my previous post in perspective.

I know, I know...it's 55 minutes long, but once you start watching it, it feels more like 5 minutes. You can't watch it and not realize that we all need to change how we look at our everyday lives because from God's perspective, we don't have everyday lives. We have a life that daily should be lived for joy and service for Him because the things that are in our everyday lives are gifts from Him, and each day we wake up, we get to enjoy those gifts for another day.

Do yourself a favor and take the time to listen to it.

So put the kiddos to bed, get your jammies on, settle into a comfy chair and listen. Oh, and grab a box of tissues too.

(And let me know by the comments or email if you listened, I'd love to know your thoughts.)

Still A Work In Progress

2009-06-12T06:48:00.000-07:00

(Disclaimer: This is a longer post than usual - and no pictures either!)

Steve and I foresee a possible situation brewing in our life that may evolve and come to life (and yes, if it happens, you’ll be able to read about it here on my blog). The situation would cause a curious mixture of emotions in us.

As usual, I am struggling with it all. I think the term “ye of little faith” pertains to me because every time a tough situation faces me, one that I have no way to try to control, I struggle with faith. I tend to over-worry and over-stress. And there’s some of that fist-shaking toward heaven that goes on too. But I’ve made peace about that with God, who loves me no matter what and understands my fist-shaking, and that alone gives me peace.

As I was driving to work this morning, giving my “petitions” to Him, I found myself feeling Him saying, you’ve been here before, remember? The end of this story is not for you to know or worry about right now. I may not understand it, but He does. Of course that feeling is still well-mixed with my need to be anxious and unsettled, but still, this is progress for me.

I have a book that Josh gave me awhile back, “My Utmost For His Highest.” It’s a 365-day 1-page devotional read. In all honesty, I don’t read it every day, or even every week. I mostly reach for it when I need comfort. Why is that? He has things to tell me on good days too, but I tend to just enjoy those days. When I got to work I thought, I wonder what today’s devotional would say to me about what’s might come, will God somehow address it all?

Yup.

It said: “At the most unexpected moments in your life there is this whisper of the Lord – “Come to Me,” and you are immediately drawn to Him. Personal contact with Jesus changes everything….and I will give you rest” – that is, “I will sustain you, causing you to stand firm.” He is not saying, “I will put you to bed, hold your hand, and sing you to sleep.” But in essence, He is saying, “I will get you out of bed – out of your listlessness and exhaustion, and out of your condition of being half dead while you are still alive. I will penetrate you with the spirit of life, and you will be sustained by the perfection of vital activity.” Yet we become so weak and pitiful and talk about “suffering” the will of the Lord! Where is the majestic vitality and the power of the Son of God in that?”

That last line may as well have said, “Where is the majestic vitality and the power of the Son of God in your fear and worry?”

All rightey-then, point taken!

As I was praying this morning, I decided to switch gears and simply acknowledge all of our blessings instead. You know what? We have a lot of them. I prayed for people so much worse off than us.

Some with Stage IV cancer, who still have young children to raise (we have our health).

Some who have lost their jobs and homes and have had to go live with relatives (we have our jobs and our home).

Some who have suffered the pain of years of infertility (we have children, grandchildren).

Some who have suffered deaths family members, or who’s families have completely fallen apart (we have our family intact and they are our biggest blessing on this earth).

I could go on, but why? All of us have blessings that should be counted daily because for every difficult thing in our lives, we all have multiple blessings to offset the one difficult thing that is our “Job” time of life.

Well, okay then! It may be time to go through another season of strife, and it might not be. But if it is, bring it on because God has our back. He never fails.

Amen.

(And if you hung in here long enough to get to the end, thank you.)

Home Improvements

2009-06-07T20:44:00.000-07:00

This spring we bit off a big bite of home improvements, which won't be complete until we paint 2 accent walls in our room and add newly painted closet doors and 2 colors of paint to the playroom.

On top of that, Jamie and Mike are adding a new backyard to their house (or playground, as the girls put it), which is already starting to look amazing. Can you say, "BBQ at J&M's soon?" I have to say, J&M's color-picking in their house have given me courage to pick more bold colors than I ever have and I love the change. It's amazing that you can learn things from the children who used to learn from you! Of course, those that know me know it's looking a bit green over here. But that's apparently my signature color.

As I'm painting, lifting, carrying, things during all our projects, I keep thinking, when will it ever get finished?? Then Josh told me the answer when I said it out loud. Never. Because about the time I go from one end of the house to the other, I'm getting tired of the end I started on. Or it's showing wear/tear. Don't worry - as if you are worrying - contrary to possible rumor, I don't change things every year, or even every two years.

So in early spring when Steve and I started saying "we need to..." or "we should...", I told him, wait, let's pick 2 big projects and when they're done, we're finished for 2009. Because it's finally sinking in to me, you can literally "project" yourself to death.

But now that we're 2/3 of the way through Projects 2009, I can say I love the new bathroom look, along with the sliders and the windows, and I'm anxious to get started on the playroom too. When I can find some more energy, that is.

Oh, but I just noticed, my kitchen sure looks like it needs a rehab. Hmmmm.....

Something Fun If You're Pregnant (Jamie, Kristen, anyone else?)

2009-06-03T17:52:00.000-07:00

I found this on a blog and wondered how it fits for Jamie, Kristen, and any others of you out there in our group who haven't admitted yet they are pregnant. (Not that I'm naming names, I'm just putting it out there in case...)

IT'S A BOY IF:
You didn't experience morning sickness in early pregnancy
Your baby's heart rate is less than 140 beats per minute
You are carrying the extra weight out front
Your belly looks like a basketball
Your areolas have darkened considerably
You are carrying low
You are craving salty or sour foods
You are craving protein -- meats and cheese
Your feet are colder than they were before pregnancy
The hair on your legs has grown faster during pregnancy
Your hands are very dry
Your pillow faces north when you sleep (how would you know, you're sleeping!)
Dad-to-be is gaining weight, right along with you
Pregnancy has you looking better than ever
Your urine is bright yellow in color
Your nose is spreading
You hang your wedding ring over your belly and it moves in circles
You are having headaches
You add your age at the time of conception and the number for the month you conceived and the sum is an even number

IT'S A GIRL IF:
You had morning sickness early in pregnancy
Your baby's heart rate is at least 140 beats per minute
You are carrying the weight in your hips and rear
Your left breast is larger than your right breast
Your hair develops red highlights
You are carrying high
Your belly looks like a watermelon
You are craving sweets
You are craving fruit
You crave orange juice
You don't look quite as good as normal during pregnancy
You are moodier than usual during pregnancy
Your face breaks out more than usual
You refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread (what??)
Your breasts have really blossomed!
Your pillow faces south when you sleep
Your urine is a dull yellow color
You hang your wedding ring over your belly and it moves from side to side
You add your age at the time of conception and the number for the month you conceived and the sum is an odd number

Probably nothing true here, but fun to do.

Nearly Finished

2009-05-31T13:51:00.000-07:00

In early April we decided on some home improvements for the spring/early summer. It's been a lot of work and we're almost done.

What we've finished so far is the front bathroom. Yeah!!!! It was a huge project, new tile, paint, new towel racks, painted all the white cabinets, new shower curtain and rugs! Here's a couple of pictures, although it looks much nicer in person.

And our new windows, kitchen, office, playroom, and two new sliders. Here's pix of the sliders (for those of you not facebook friendly).

What's left to do? Well, since you asked, we have paint and new closet doors for the playroom, and we're painting two accent walls and our bathroom water closet that houses the toilet and shower in (of course) green as it is the theme of our house. Then it's time to clean the carpet and do a thorough garage cleaning. Then we are DONE for Home Improvement 2009!

But I think we're taking a little break first 'cause we're tired! :)

The Final “Dump” of This Week’s Nana Stories

2009-05-20T19:43:00.001-07:00

Every day since J&M have been gone, Allyson wakes up, asks for cartoons, asks for cereal, and then asks if she can spend the night again. Every day. Same pattern. Of course the answer (so far) is yes as she’s staying for 7 nights total.

Wonder what will happen on Friday when the answer isn’t “yes.”

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

Conversation with Emily on the way to school today:
EMILY: My mom won’t let me watch Lilo & Stitch and I don’t know why.
ME: Well, I know mommy has her reasons for that.
EMILY: But other kids get to watch it.
ME: Yes, but every parent is different.
EMILY: When I have a daughter I’m going to let her watch anything she wants!
ME: But being a good parent is not letting your kids watch things you think are bad.
EMILY: Yes, but every parent is different.

What?? Did you catch that??? My words just came back to me in about 10 seconds!

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

Devon and Allyson mix like butter and sugar when they play, so sweet together. They were getting on the barstools for dinner the other night and Devon patted the chair next to him for Allyson and said, “Come up and sit here sweetie.”

Sweetie?? What a cute little guy!

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

Emily is always singing to herself when she’s out in the backyard, and normally she sings songs she makes up. Recently, I heard her singing something like this, to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”:

Special, special, special me,
I’m as special as can be.
There is no one quite like me,
I’m as special as can be,
Special, special, special me,
I’m as special as can be.

At the time I chuckled and thought, well, she’s certainly secure within herself! Then I went to her school music performance and found out it’s a song they all learned this year! :)

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

Rylee has a favorite dumping place for things she’s done with. Every time I’ve gone into the kitchen this week, I’ve found many interesting things in my sink. Sippee cups, toys, nightlights she’s unplugged (yikes!), brushes, books. I guess she thinks that’s where all things done must go. I have to keep a watch over what might be in the disposal because I found a nightlight halfway into it.

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

Rylee’s new and best word (new to me anyway) is “hey.” If you take a few of her fries to share with Allyson, she has a long, drawn out, “Heeeyyy.” Like hey, those are mine! Just like a big kid. So darn cute.

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

In the backyard, Emily said, “Nana, plants make oxygen so you can breath. Let me try it.” She leans over our planter of flowers, breathes in deeply a few times and said, “Ahhhh. See it works! I breathed oxygen!” I think we know what she’s learning about in school?

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

And last of all, the girls and I were watching the new version of “The Cat in the Hat” the other night (which after the fact I wondered if that was smart as there was some mild adult humor in it, but thankfully no one seemed to figure that out). I was watched as The Cat directed things in interesting directions, and then he released Thing 1 and Thing 2 into the mix. I thought…this is just like the girls.

Emily’s The Cat, the director of all things interesting. Allyson and Rylee, Thing 1 and Thing 2, are off on their own missions going in different directions to see what they can find to assist The Cat in their own version of interesting.

Emily runs outside and leaves the slider open which is Rylee's chance to follow her (which I try to not let happen because Rylee attempts defying the odds of falling off the slide platform), while at the same time I see Allyson heading into my room which normally means she’s foraging through my make-up drawer because she, of course, is the newest owner of Wreck’s Express and she must do my hair and make-up. (I’ve been looking rather pink lately from the powder rouge.) So while I’m trying to decide whether to check on Rylee who’s outside climbing the ladder by herself to the slide, or to go save my make-up from Allyson, Emily’s already shot back in the door saying, “I’m filling up the pool!”

What?? How can all that go on at one time?? Because it really is like The Cat in the Hat! So where’s my special machine that cleans it all up at the end? Because if I have The Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2 staying here, I think I deserve my special cleaning machine!

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

Okay – that’s it, I promise! At least until next time. Will you miss it, or are you clapping because I’m done? (Don’t answer, I can hear the clapping from here!) :)

Crepe-N-Take

2009-05-18T17:48:00.000-07:00

Emily has asked me a couple times lately how you know what you want to be when you grow up. Today, she found a book of hers that has recipes for kids and asked if she could make a recipe. She went through recipe by recipe, asking if we had the ingredients and finally found a recipe for crepes, so we went to work and I have to say, she did most of it except working around the stove. She had a great time and at the end, she announced that now she knew what she wanted to be, a cook. I told her she could be Chef Emily and open her own crepe shop, and she said, yes, but I want it to be a drive-thru, what would I call it? I said, how about Crepe-N-Take and she loved that name.
Here's some pictures of her recipe book and her finished crepes.

She said she wants to keep cooking all the time so she can be a chef. She's ready to try a lot more cooking and baking. You're welcome Jamie and Mike! :)

P.S. See the picture post below that I posted today if you haven't seen it already, the last picture with Rylee shows her feelings with no need for words.

Nana & Papa's Waterpark

2009-05-18T16:15:00.001-07:00

According to Emily, if you have a swimming pool (even a baby one)...

And a lawn sprinkler...

With the ability to sprinkle you while you swing...

You have a waterpark in your backyard.

And when you have big sisters sliding into the pool..

It makes you look like this.

So tell me again why we bought season passes to Waterworks when we have a water park at home?

Nana v. Mom

2009-05-17T13:48:00.000-07:00

When J&M go on their annual May trip, Steve and I find that Nana and Papa fly out the window and usher in Temporary Mom and Dad.

On a day when they visit my house for one night, this is what you might hear:

No, you don't have to go to bed early, you can watch a movie until it's over, no matter how late it is!

You can have anything you want for your snack, you get to choose! In fact, have two snacks!

It's okay that you splashed the bath water all over the floor, I can clean it up! Nana loves everything you do!

You can pick whatever carseat you want to sit in, you get to choose!

Here's what happens once grandparenting has to turn into parenting (otherwise they'd run right over the top of us in the first 48 hours!):

No, everyone's tired and you're going to sleep with the lights out on time!

You need to eat a healthy snack, yogurt or cheese, you had a candy earlier.

I won't tell you again to not splash the bathwater all over the bathroom, I can't keep cleaning it up and you're going to slip when you get out!

I already told you, Emily's in the back seat, Allyson in the middle! No fighting over it because I'm doing the choosing!

Aaahhh, when J&M return, that old well-remembered feeling of mom-guilt at the end of the day will go away and not visit again until next year!

A funny note, Josh told me this morning that it makes HIM tired hearing how many times he heard "Nana, Nana, Nana" when he was here yesterday. Cracks me up! And just to be fair, the girls have really been great. Ally didn't let me down, she was the first one (like I said she would be) that said she wanted to go home. When I told her J&M were still on their trip, every time she said, "Oh, and THEN we're going to Whizzlyland?" (Disneyland, of course!)

Pretty cute kids in this picture, huh?

How to Fill Your Grocery Cart

2009-05-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

I took Allyson grocery shopping with me last night. She's always been super easy to take with me. She wanted to walk so after the produce aisles were completed, I made her promise to stay right with me and I'd let her walk, which she promised to do, and she did.

But...each time I turned to reach for something I needed, I'd hear a big "klunk!" in my cart. I'd turn, look into the cart, and there lay some random item I didn't put in my cart like tuna helper or cake mix. I'd tell Allyson, don't put things in the cart unless I tell you to. And every time she'd say, "But I NEED it." And on it went, aisle after aisle. By the time we checked out, I had to watch carefully to make sure I wasn't paying for things that somehow made it into the cart to stay.

What a little shopper!

It's Happening

2009-05-13T17:26:00.000-07:00

This is officially where we'll be spending the week of our 30th anniversary...

Yep! We're officially booked with Royal Caribbean on their ship, Serenade of the Seas, and I believe two other couples may be coming along to celebrate their annivesaries too, one married 30 years like us, and one married 34 years!

Bon voyage as we leave Vancouver to see the sights of Alaska!!

(Oh, and before someone can ask in the comments, this cruise will be grandchild-free! Bittersweet, I know, but we'll have to make it work with just adults going to dinners, sleeping in, going on zip-lines in port, laying poolside with a book and drink... Yeah, we'll just have to try and get by without the kiddos this time!)

Papa's Funny

2009-05-03T08:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Steve said he might go to Emily's soccer game if the rain stopped. I told him, if you do be prepared because the girls will want to come home with you. He said, that's okay I don't mind bringing a couple of them home with me. A couple?? Let's see...

Would it be Rylee, as she's literally clinging to the side of our van, crying as they try to take her to her car?

Would it be Allyson who stands there repeating, like a mantra, "I go to Papa's house. I go to Papa's house," not moving her feet or her eyes until she's fastened in her seat - in Papa's car?

Or would it be Emily who has already opened the van door, got in, fastened her seatbelt and is ready to go while waiting for the adults to deal with Rylee crying as she clings to the van.

Yeah, Papa, try taking "a couple" home with you. (Snicker, snort.)

Friday Stuff

2009-05-01T14:04:00.000-07:00

I'll have a picture blog soon so you can see the new owner of Wreck's Express Hair Shop. For some reason, it has a new owner!

I am strangely excited about new baby Littau number 4. I was happy about Rylee, but more surprised and it took me a little longer to connect to it happening. I think I've been watching Rylee and realizing that unless #4 came about, we were seeing our last baby firsts (unless Josh is privileged to have another one down the road someday). So I think I'm looking forward to rocking another baby during a church sermon, enjoying the first smile, etc. I wasn't that surprised when he/she was announced, but rather pleasantly happy that it did happen. It will make for some crazy times around here, but what's one more?

I love the rain today, I wasn't really ready for summer yet, even though the heat will chase the pollens away.

Steve is tiling our bathroom today. It's the best to have a husband who is talented at so many things, one of the many reasons why I admire (and love) him! I can't wait until the cabinets are painted and we put it all back together. I really think I'm going to love it. (Leslie S., so would you, it's back to my green theme.)

Did you know that if you mix a little brown sugar with cream cheese, then pour caramel over it and sprinkle it with Toffe Bar chips, you can dip apples in it and experience a heavenly taste? You can, just ask the ladies group who I used as guinea pigs at women's group.

I changed my blog look. Again. Changing it's addictive, there are so many to choose from.

The women's group retreat is mostly planned. I'm excited, I think it'll be just the right amount of excitement and relaxation.

I think I work with one of the best groups of people I've ever worked for. Today was one of those days that proved it. Just take my word for it.

Worship Team last week just felt "right." Sometimes with concentrating on the music, words, etc. it's hard to actually relax and worship while "performing," (for lack of a better word). Last week I was able to sing AND worship! Great team I sing with, we're being blessed as we grow and change.

At the risk of embarrassing people in my family, I am blessed to be their wife/mom/Nana, etc. They are all special people, often you hear people say you can't choose your family, but I would choose mine if I had to do the choosing. I love them all and wouldn't change a thing!

Well, I'm getting my make-up done at Wreck's Express Hair Shop while I type this so I'd better sign off! HAPPY FRIDAY!

Always Exciting

2009-04-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

Some of you already know this, but it's always interesting when we have the grandkids at our house. On Saturday, I learned a new equation:

Emily + Allyson + Telephone + the numbers 911 = The cops showing up at our house.

Just so ya' know.

**WITH UPDATED BLOG BACKGROUND JUST FOR JAMIE! ;-)**

The Impossible Dream

2009-04-24T15:45:00.000-07:00

I went back and reread this post and wondered why am I posting this, and what do I expect out of it. The answer I came up with? I have no idea but I’m posting it anyway. That's what blogs are for, right?

At our last women’s group during game time we were all talking about Biggest Loser and how Ron’s teenage son that is still at home has so much weight to lose and that we’re hopeful Ron and Mike can help him lose weight when they get home. One of the ladies said, “He needs to just do it, it’s not that hard, you just have to get started.”

It really hit me, she’s right. It shouldn’t be that hard. You just do it. One day at a time. So why haven’t I lost the 20 or so pounds that I’ve always wanted to lose??

I’m an “I can’t do it” junkie. Most of my adult life I’ve wished for, tried for, wanted to lose (and keep off!) at least 20 pounds. I’ve lost it a couple of times, but go back to square one. And here I am, still wishing for what seems to be my Impossible Dream.

If you listen to Dr. Laura, Dr. Phil, or other well-known people, they say, “Get some backbone and discipline!” And you know what? They’re right.

But for me it still feels like the Impossible Dream. And I’m not even in the same overweight category as Ron’s son. What must he feel like? I’m sure it seems insurmountable to him because he has so far to go.

It's so easy to think, what’s the point, you just gain it back. And I look at all the people that have been on Biggest Loser and wonder, will they really keep it off? Or even half of it off? Because that’s been the struggle with me every time I’ve lost weight.

I’ve found I eat because (let’s get real here) I really like food. I want that ice cream after dinner. Or the fries with the burger, it’s not a burger without fries, right? Or something “comforting” when I’m stressed, and there’s nothing more comforting than some great spaghetti or chicken & dumplings. Followed, of course, by ice cream. ;-)

So why is it that I struggle with being disciplined? I’m not battling Tara or Mike for spot one on Biggest Loser. I’m battling the biggest threat on my own personal Biggest Loser show. Me.

So, what’s the point of this blog? I don’t really know. It’s just comical that one of my biggest Impossible Dreams is something I should be able to achieve because it is physically attainable.

So, where do I summon up this magical discipline I keep hearing about?

Have I prayed about it? Why, yes!

Have I read scripture on it, done Christian and secular diets? Why, yes!

Why is this still my Impossible Dream? What is your Impossible Dream?

Depends on Who You Ask

2009-04-19T14:57:00.000-07:00

Today I separately asked Emily and Allyson where the new baby would sleep when it was born. Here's the two answer I got:

Emily: In my bunk bed with me!!

Allyson: Well, ac-tua-ally, at your house.

Hmmm, I wonder where he/she will end up??

More of Emily

2009-04-03T19:40:00.000-07:00

Emily: I want one of those porch things that are up high like out of my window, where you can go see the stars at night.

Me: You mean an outdoor balcony, like a porch on the second floor of your house?

Emily: Yeah, I want one of those.

Me: Me too, but I don't have stairs at my house so I can't have one. I can only have a porch.

Emily: Well, why don't you move then, and get a house with stairs and you can have a porch up high.

Me: I'll never get Papa to move, he wants to stay in our house we have now.

Emily: Well, then YOU move and let Papa stay there!

Me: But he'd miss me if I moved without him!

Emily: He'll get over it.

Well, alrighty then. A two-story house for one please. :)

Randomness

2009-04-02T18:16:00.000-07:00

I guess we're going to lose Gottschalks now too. Not that I shopped there much but first it's Mervyns, Circuit City, McMahan's, Old Town Eatery, Pasta Pronto, a Quizno's, and now Gottschalks, and I'm sure I'm missing others. Now add in the new 1% "temporary" sales tax hike, minimum wage going higher all the time, etc., and I wonder how many more stores and restaurants our little town we'll lose before it's over. Will we be buying all our clothes at K-Mart and eating at McDonalds for our big night on the town someday?

I was amazed that Megan actually went home this week on American Idol, I was beginning to think she was like a protected species or something. She's a very pretty girl, seems nice, but she had a weird singing style - to quote Leslie, "Caw, caw." She was pretty brave to tell Simon she didn't care what he thought. I'm actually pretty shocked that Scott is still there too. Very nice guy, but his singing is boring, it just doesn't stand out. I hold out hope that Anoop (aka Jed) can do something to get back in the game, I think he has the talent, he's just off-track. I'm still mostly for Kris and Danny, and if Lil would pick up her game and do something to stand out again, she'd be my 3rd for the top three. I like Adam too, I'm just not a rocker fan so I'd like to see Lil get back into the game.

I had every intention of finding some great songs so our Worship Team could do some special music for Easter this year. I guess since Easter's a week from Sunday, that's not happening now. I can't believe it's almost here. How did that happen?

I've come to the conclusion that the more you go on vacation, the more you want to go on vacation. Why is that? Steve and I have been to Italy, Australia, New York, Canada, and on cruises to the Caribbean, Alaska and Mexico. Well, we've been there in my mind anyway. All we need now is unlimited money and time off work.

It's spring and we need to paint and tile a bathroom and bathroom cabinets, paint the kids' room and closet doors, plant flowers in the yard, clean the garage, etc. If I set up a work party to do all this, you'd all show up, right?

I always wondered if it would be strange to ride in an ambulance. By the look on Allyson's face when they were unloading her, I'd say, yes. (Poor baby.) And speaking of the emergency room, being there on Monday night was a lesson on the many kinds of lifestyles of people in this world. I think Joel should consider having Bridge Church move it's location and service time to the emergency room on Monday nights. I'm pretty sure it's a great missionary field as a whole. I saw strange, sad, scary, and/or hurting faces. Seriously, the waiting room was overflowing, and the overflow of people lined the walls outside the waiting room.

Okay, I've run out of randomness so that's it.

A Few Pictures

2009-03-27T17:53:00.000-07:00

I watched Allyson and Rylee for a few hours today and got some cute pictures. I realized the other day it's been awhile since I had my camera out so I snapped several today. This blog entry isn't really wordy, but has lots of pictures, so here you go! Oh - and my first blog video below of Allyson singing a Barbie song to enjoy!

Rylee on the little slide, she just looked so serious sitting there.

For some reason, Jamie said Rylee loves just laying on the ground outside. Must feel good somehow, maybe getting in touch with nature?

We never posted pictures from Devon's birthday so here's a couple of those.

The kids' room got a work-out during Devon's birthday party!

Here's about the only proof that Steve and I were at Disneyland, wish we were there again!

Just before our vacation, Jamie was over and painted the girls' toes.

I think Rylee decided it was too ticklish, she barely was able to let Jamie get them all painted. So cute!

Safety

2009-03-19T08:03:00.000-07:00

Please, please lady in the silver Honda, either put your make-up on at home or don't wear any. I watched you try to drive off the road at least 3 times on the way to work. No make-up is better than dead, or someone around you being dead. Really.

Okay, now I feel better. :)

Memorial for Mocha

2009-03-13T14:49:00.000-07:00

This morning ushered in our cat, Mocha's, trip to kitty heaven.

We got him when he was 6 weeks old, and he died at 12 years old. He was an interesting cat to have this last 12 years. We got him becauseour 9-month old cat (Peppy) died at the vet's office while being neutered (a heart defect). We really loved that cat and I took it pretty hard. Steve thought I needed to "get on the horse again" and took me (Joel, I guess this is what makes me cry. :) ) to the pet store that used to be in the mall. Out of 3 kittens, he said to pick one so I picked up Mocha, said he'd do, and we brought him home. Jamie said I warped him by crying on him all that week-end and she may be right because he was a strange cat. He loved being in your lap, yet was stand-offish and had a bit of a "tude," maybe because he was part Siamese. He had light blue eyes and couldn't see well and was skittish until you talked to him and he figured out you were family, not the enemy.

Mocha roamed our neighborhood, either getting in fights or starting them, we were never sure which it was, but he'd come home now and then looking a little beat up. Steve would fix the boo boo's, he'd mend, and we'd tell him he'd surely used up at least 16 of his 9 lives already.

Just last night, he jumped on the washer in the garage, looking for his food, then Steve found him this morning next to his bed in the garage, gone forever to kitty heaven.

RIP Mocha, we'll miss hearing your low, gruff meow. We loved you, little buddy.

What Did She REALLY Mean?

2009-03-12T20:17:00.000-07:00

I think I found the new weight loss motivator for myself.

At lunch today, Allyson walked over to me, pointed to my stomach and asked, "Do you have a baby in your tummy?" Yikes!! Jamie laughed and said that Mike's been telling them about babies in tummies a lot, but by the look on Jamie's face, I'm not so sure!

Could this be the motivation I've been looking for?? I pondered it while I ate my mint chip ice cream with hot fudge tonight...

God Things Do Happen On American Idol...

2009-03-10T07:58:00.000-07:00

http://www.iamsecond.com/#/seconds/Jason_Castro/

More of Emily and a Couple of 3-Year Olds

2009-03-08T19:30:00.000-07:00

Today Emily was asking me who my flower girl was in my wedding, which led to a discussion of who's in a wedding. Here's some of her wedding party to-be in the future:

Flower Girls: Me (Jenni) and Gloria Brantley (my friend)

Ring Bearers: Mike and Steve

Bridesmaids: Ally, Rylee, Tessa, Bella, Devon and Jack (poor Devon and Jack, they'll never get away from these girls!)

Groomsmen: None, doesn't want them in her wedding

Carrier of the train to her dress: Elijah

Groom: Not sure yet, maybe Bubba

Could be an interesting wedding!

A little while later she asked if she had to get married, to which I of course said no. She said she was never getting married because kissing a boy was yucky! (Have we really reached that age already??) Then she said she wanted to get married so (with a sigh here), she'd get married and kiss her husband. (Lucky husband, she just can't wait! LOL)

And just in case you didn't already know this, one backyard door guarded by Devon (claiming it is HIS door) and one 3-year old little girl doing the potty dance can end up with a puddle on Nana's kitchen floor. Just so ya' know. (And Ally wasn't happy about it either, it got her favorite princess dress and her shoes wet.)