Random Thoughts...

It's probably not an ideal time for me to blabber...I'm pretty tired and stressed out. So, please forgive me if I wander off the path a bit. :)

Wednesday was Ash Wednesday. Our pastor had us pick out a rock. Just an everyday rock that you'd find in not-fancy landscaping. This rock is to represent our sinfulness during the Lenten season. I like it. We're to carry it with us for the duration. On Maundy Thursday, he'll ask us to lay our rocks at the foot of the rough-hewn cross temporarily errected in our Sanctuary. After choosing our rocks and being marked with the cross of ashes, Erin asked me to trade rocks with her. I did. Then I noticed that her rock was dirty. I'm assuming it's sandstone. It's dirty...and the dirt doesn't go away. My first thought was that I'd trade it for a "better" one out of our landscaping at home. But I suddenly thought better of it. What better reminder of my sinfullness than to carry around a "dirty" rock. I'm hoping this will help keep me humble.

Today was busy. I got my hair cut after lunch. I was way overdue, as usual. I got it chopped, which is a good thing. Unfortunitely, I lost the rest of my perm. So, I'll have to schedule that soon. Regardless, it's still better than it was. Then the girls and I were off to Eau Claire for Erin's dentist appointment. First stop was Shopko. I'm waaayyyy overdue on new tennies for walking. I've taken two major dumps on the ice this past month due to "bald" shoes. So, I got new ones. Did pretty good considering we had only 15 minutes to shop! I found a pair of "my" brand (they make wide widths) on clearance. Whooo hooo! Then I just took a little peep for a pair of "hiking" walking shoes...one with a deeper tread for walking on snow and ice. I found a pair that was on sale, but still more than I like to spend (I'm VERY cheap). So, I called Barry for "permission". :) Permission granted, I splurged. But still, $80 for two pair isn't all that bad.

I was a bit stressed all day because we were heading to Eau Claire at about the same time "the biggest snow storm of the season" was scheduled to hit. And right on time, as I sat in the dentist, the snow started falling. Hard. We skipped the grocery shopping we normally would've done and head home. Very slowly. Most of the time it was 25 to 30 mph, topping off at 40. And for half of the 20 mile drive, I was on my own, with no one to follow. Ugh. I hate that! It took me about 45 minutes (normally it's about a 25 minute drive). But I was stressed and stiff when we finally pulled in. I can't complain though, as God guided us home safely.

I'm not going to go off on a political rant (although for the last few months I think my blood pressure has increased at least by 100%!) The only thing I'll say on my soap box tonight....Please, all of you, get informed and get the facts! A large majority of people have no idea (nor do they care) what Washington is doing to our country. The best (and most balanced) information I've found is on Fox News. And no, for all of you Liberals out there, Fox is NOT a cogg in the Republican Machine. :) Just watch and find out for yourself. And if you can't stomache Bill O'Reilly or Hannity, please just watch the evening news broadcast. And my new favorite show is Glenn Beck. He's on at 4pm weekdays (and also has a Saturday evening show). He's a bit of a drama queen and a smart butt (which I like) but he's a lot more "guy next door". If you don't get Fox News, you can check him out at www.glennbeck.com It's just driving me insane watching the dorks in Washington spend trillions of OUR dollars on PORK. They call it stimulus...but it's really PORK. Listen to this....there's an earmark in that bill with Obama's name on it. But just today, it was announced that his name will be taken off of that earmark. The earmark is still in the bill, but they just don't want us to be able to trace it back to the "no more earmarks" pres. Nice. Great. See, there I go again. I'm on my soapbox again AND my blood is boiling again. I need to take a vacation! :)

Now you've for sure had enough of my random musings. :) Oh, the cable guy came and hooked up our new HD package today. My hubby is in Heaven on earth! Now we have DVR...we are SO with it now! Now he wants to grow up to be a "cable guy". :) I think he's chomping at the bit for the weekend to come so he can play with his new remote. I guess he technically earned it, though. He got a cheaper phone/internet package so that we could get the HD cable package. Must have been important to him.....(he he he)

Ok, I best walk away from the computer now. Otherwise, all is pretty good here. Alana has a bad chest cold. Erin's belly isn't feeling the best. Amazing...I thought we'd all be healthier when we came home from school. Oh well, such is life.

Have a good weekend and God Bless!

New Work

I just realized by looking over the last few posts that I've been very lax in posting my cards and layouts as I make them. You'd never know I'm a scrapper at all! I appologize if some of the layouts are repeats...I lose track sometimes. Hope you enjoy! (If you click on the picture, you should get a bigger photo to pop up for a closer look)

This one might need some explanation. The girls were roasting marshmallows and Grandma & Grandpa's. The smoke kept getting in their eyes....so my very smart and creative little Erin figured out how to beat the smoke...with her swimming goggles! Nice!

I've been reprimanded...

by my mother for not keeping up with my blog. :) Well, not reprimanded. She just pointed out that it's been a while since I posted. She's right. I'm lazy.

Ok, what's new....

We are going forward with our home refinance...thru our local bank instead. It seems safer in these yucky economic times...and actually cheaper. So, it was kind of a duh. It will be awfully nice to have a whole half of our house payment freed up. But we'll have to be good, and not waste it.

Cassie was back at the vet for a visit on Thursday. Her antibiotics were almost gone, and she had to be retested to make sure the infection was gone. But she wouldn't pee for me. She's VERY skittish and VERY smart. She's knows when I'm up to something, so there's no chance to get the pee. I took her in to see if they could scare the pee out of her. I ended up leaving her there for a couple of hours. They had given up, and were going to extract the urine from her bladder. But when the rolled her over to do it, she peed. The vet said she was like a "water bubbler". :) That's my girl! She had refused to pee for us all day, afterall. :) However, her infection is still there, so she's on 2 more weeks of antibiotics. After that, we discuss new food (more expensive, of course.) Ugh!

Zach is fine now. I'm still giving him, and the other two, daily doses of yogurt and pumpkin...just to maintain better health. This is Zach up to his old antics...this time, jumping in the dryer while I was throwing clothes in....

Erin participated in a "future dancers" clinic on Sunday afternoon. She had a fantastic time! She loves to dance...and loves to perform! Plus, she got to see some friends. Here are a couple of pics (I hate gym pictures!) from their half-time performance at the girls' basketball game on Thursday night (which they won, yeah!)

Alana, as you may remember is a bit obsessive about some things. Like horses, goats, and most recently, bunnies. She wants a bunny. In the house. Daddy vetoed that, of course. Anyway, she's still researching.... (the book is called "Barnyard in Your Backyard")

About a month ago, I introduced her to the "Christy" book series. I have not read them, but seeing as they were in our church library, as well as our local library, I thought I'd give them a shot. She loved them! Just like her mother...face buried in a book! I told her after she read 10 of them, I'd get the TV episodes on DVD from the library. So, we've been enjoying one or two episodes each afternoon this past week. Erin just finished "The Adventures of Peter Cottontail" and now wants to continue with the other animal characters in that series.

Oh, and my niece, Morgan, just got her driver's permit this week. Congratulations! (Please keep her in your prayers!) :) Love you, Morgy!

I live a glamorous life....

Really. I do. You should've seen me on Thursday. You would've been so jealous. There I was at the vet, after a long hard day of homeschooling, cleaning and cooking. I have two sick ones. Zach, our fat cat, has had diarreah for over a week. And Cassie, I knew had a bladder infection...as indicated by her peeing on my bed. Twice. Aahhh, yes. So there I was, at the vet. I love the people there...they're great. But they are SO SLOW! I was there for 2 HOURS! With 2 animals and 2 kids. Fun. Oh, and don't forget the sweet smelling diarreah that was dribbling down the front of my freshly laundered sweatshirt. Thanks, Zach. Yep, glamorous.

Except for church and Sunday School on Sunday, and cleaning, cooking, school prep...I took the weekend off this weekend. No going. No people. I had both afternoons home alone. I love my family, really. But when you are with your kids 24/7...well, sometimes a break is good for the soul. And your patience level. I got a couple of cards made (but it's too cloudy and gloomy today for pictures). And I finallly got my order placed at Winkflash, so I can cross that off my list. Hopefully new pictures will get my mojo flowing for some quality projects for my friend Jenn's store http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5367046

Other than that, not much new here. Been doing more reading on Charlotte Mason. Did I mention that previously? I'm thinking of switching to her method of teaching. Short lessons...done by lunch. No "twaddle" of cheap books and oversimplified text books...she believed in children reading real, living books. Lots of nature study. And narration, verbal and written, instead of tests and worksheets. Of course, we'd do math as usual.

Ok, we're off to walk the dog. It's been above freezing for a few days now, so the roads are getting cleaner and easier to walk on. After lunch, the girls and I are off to Eau Claire for groceries...and maybe to sneak a peek at the brand new Michaels that opened yesterday! :)

I can't nap anymore

and it's seriously killing me! See, I'm really not a sluff...although being a nap-taking SAHM (stay at home mom) soundss like sluffing to me. But, we're still testing Erin's blood glucose at 3am EVERY morning...and then I get up at 7am to read my Bible before the girls get up. This wouldn't be such a big problem, except that it ususally takes me an hour or two to fall back asleep after testing Erin. Leaving Mama with not enough sleep. Now, suddenly, I'm unable to fall asleep. I tried Saturday, Sunday, and now today, to no avail. Ugh.

We drove out to look at another house today...that looked perfect (except for the high price), and....it wasn't perfect. Out in the boondocks with TWO close neighbors. Not me. If I'm gonna give up the convenience of living in town, I want to look out my window (every window) and see trees, birds, squirrels, and sky. Not neighbors. The girls and I went to another open house on Saturday. That one had a very nice spot, except that it was farther from town than we'd like (20+ minutes) and the house just wasn't right.

So, that leaves us with one that has been sitting on our "side burner" for a couple of months. We like it enough to have had Mom & Dad come look at it, too. We're just struggling with the price (as it needs at least $20k put into it to make it livable for us...we're not snobs, really. But the current owners smoke, and with my sensitivity and Alana's allergies, we'd need to rip out all of the carpet and paint everything. Oh, and the kitchen cabinets are plastic, so I couldn't get by with just painting them.) Maybe I am a snob. I just figure if we're gonna mortgage our life away, the house should at least be equal or better than what we have now. Anyway.....

The girls had a dentist appointment yesterday...and then I took the rest of the afternoon to shop the thrift stores for used books. Fun times. Really. I LOVE books. :) And then we watched Lexi & Morgan (my nieces) play basketball...they won. Big. :)

I'd really like to get some pictures ordered today. My creative mojo has been MIA for way too long, and I'm hoping some fresh inspiration might get my juices flowing. Besides, I don't think I've even developed Thanksgiving pics yet. Ugh.

Speaking of inspiration, my best buddy, Jenn is kicking some scrapping butt! She's been rocking her shop on etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5367046 and has now officially added a Design Team, which I am honored to be a part of! I think she wants me more for my emotional support and friendship than my overwhelming talent...but she's kind enough to fill me with praise, too. What a good friend! Anyway, any scrappers or card makers should check out her shop...she makes adorable stuff!