Wahoo & Ramblings

I have so much craziness rolling around in my head right now.  Here's the highlight reel :)

- I attended the Women of Faith conference in San Antonio last weekend.  There were some wonderful moments, and plenty I could have lived without, too.  Rode up on a bus, and it turned out that most of the ladies were significantly older, and from another more traditional church.  One lady in particular had taken it upon herself to arrange activities (announced by the ringing of a handbell every 15 min or so) including the "gossip" game ("Mary and her mother went to the mall to buy a mink coat. Pass it on!"), reading chirpy "heartwarming" emails (the annoying ones I immediately delete) and even a singalong which she led by warbling into the intercom.  Oh, how I wish I were kidding.  She had asked another lady to bring her tambourine, but she forgot (sigh of relief!) - oh, but wait! Inspiration!  We all have "shaky" things in our purse, right?  We then sang "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" accompanied by the shaking of a giant tub of Tums.  I. Cannot. Make. This. Stuff. Up. I had attended another WoF back in 2004 in Philly and wasn't all that impressed - it was more like a Jesus Pep Rally that lacked depth -- there was definitely more "meat" this time around and I did enjoy several of the speakers (Jennie Allen, Sheila Walsh, Angie Smith & Lisa Harper were great), but honestly I kind of hit info overload... not to mention my body was just tired of all the sitting (4 hour drive up, session Fri night, sessions all day Saturday, and then 4 hour drive home, arriving home about 11:30)  I also got a little annoyed with all the mini-commercials from the various sponsors. Yes, I clearly am annoyed entirely too easily.  You can see me in the group photo above - I'm the red girl in a sea of blue, because I didn't get the updated email with adjusted attire suggestions! I did manage to pick up a few little goodies while I was in the big city - found the motherlode of accessories store, and bought the kids glasses for a whopping $3 each, and then on the way home we stopped at a diner and I bought a 3 lb cinnamon roll (as seen on "Man vs. Food") to bring home for breakfast.  When A saw it, she blurted it, "That thing is as big as my head!"  Yep, welcome to Texas Li'l Lady!! :)

 In other kid updates:
* Our daughter is becoming quite the fashionista.  She layered a shirtdress (solid black) over a printed tank dress, and only buttoned the two waist buttons.  It looked fab.  Perhaps she can start advising me on my wardrobe!  I met with her teacher last week (general conferences now that we're 2/3 of the way into 1st quarter) and had a lovely report. She's doing very well academically (no surprise, there!)  but the teacher commented about what a kind heart she had, and how willing she was to help others.  Now *THAT* makes a mama's heart sing!  On a sadder note, she started feeling sick on Thurs night and we ended up in the doctor's office on Friday.  It all started with a sore throat, but her breathing was very rattly and I wanted to get her checked out - her oxygen levels were definitely low, and she ended up with a breathing treatment and steroid shot in the office just to get the inflammation in her lungs down, and 3 more prescriptions over the next few days.  So thankful for modern medicine. And insurance!
* Will be meeting with son's teacher tomorrow.  I'm really happy with the teacher he has, and while he still has a ways to go to perform at his full potential, he really is doing so much better.  He's made some friends (have another sleepover scheduled this weekend!), and also has discovered that he enjoys drawing.  He's still my little man who holds nothing back, whether it's a hug or a complaint about life :)

- I belong to a local "garage sale" site on fb, and rather than repeat last year's yard sale fiasco, I've been listing stuff on the site.  So far have managed to clear out a good pile of junk and made about $100 in just the last three days.  Yeehaw!  On a side note, it's really funny seeing what others have posted:  Hint: if you list a pair of Target shoes for $25, and repeatedly bump them with $1 or $2 price reductions and they still haven't sold in 2 weeks then I think it's safe to say that no one is interested.  Oh, and tonight someone posted a "Grime Reaper" costume for sale.  I think I deserve some kind of award for not posting a snarky comment about cleaning my bathroom...

- Our church is growing up!  It was started as an outreach across town several years ago, and as of today we're our own, independent body with its own tax ID and everything!  It's been kind of strange learning how this process works in the Methodist denomination (I could write a whole article just on that)  This was a pic that someone shared on facebook  - yes, we meet in a school cafeteria.  You can see hubby in the back (standing at the sound board)



Yawn. Will try to post more later.

Conversation with our son

We've been talking a *lot* about how important it is to do your best at school.

D came home today and proudly announced he was called a nerd, which therefore means he is smart.

(Or "Smartie Pants" is what came to my mind, but I bit my tongue.)

He then pointed out that *I* was also a nerd, and should be working and making lots of money.

We then exchanged the following dialogue, as best as this mama's brain can recall:

Me: "D, Daddy and I worked really hard to pay for things before you were born so that I didn't have to work, but could stay home with you."

D: "But you could go back now and we could get a nanny!"

Me: "But why would I want someone else to take you to school, pick you up and everything else?"

D: "Well, I like having you, but I'd like to be rich."

After I stepped away to stifle the snorts of laughter compose myself, we then had a chat about Jesus' teaching about not storing up earthly treasures.  But man, I have to admit that wouldn't mind showing what great stewards we could  be with our family's millions!

kids

I know I still haven't uploaded pics from our vacation like I promised, but I am taking a couple minutes for a sappy mama moment.

Lately I have encountered a couple women who seemingly do nothing but complain about their children: laziness, bad grades, stubbornness, potty mouth, etc.  And sometimes it's all too easy to join in with my own examples of motherly frustrations.

But truly, I would hate to imagine how dull life would be without our goofballs.

I love their amazing enthusiam for life, the eagerness to try new things (D charges in, while A will hang back a moment but you can see it in her face how much she wants to join in!).  The hugs that nearly knock a person over.  The excited accounts of things that happened at school.  The corny jokes. The times they gather around a pile of Legos and play amazingly well together.  Their tender hearts, bruised by a hard situation or laid bare when we pray together.

A friend and I were talking earlier this week about how incredibly difficult parenting is - the continual battle between letting them grow and learn from the scuffles vs. fiercely protecting them from the big bad world.  I know this will be even harder in the years ahead - won't be long before D is in middle school! {yikes!!!}

But truly, I am so blessed.

Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift? 

The fruit of the womb his generous legacy? 

(Psalm 127:3, The Message)

Orzo & Rice Mediterranean Salad

Had some friends over for dinner last night, and I concocted this salad loosely based on a couple different recipes.  It was quite tasty if I do say so myself, and just wanted to document it so I can remember how I made it when my hubby asks for it in the future :)

1 box Uncle Ben's long grain & wild rice, prepared according to package directions
1 pkg orzo, cooked and drained (this is pasta that's shaped like big pieces of rice - I did 16 oz because I wanted a big bowl)
3 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 cup carrot, chopped
1/2 c green pepper, chopped
1/4 c onion, chopped
2 Tb capers
2 Tb slivered almonds
10-12 oz of marinated artichoke hearts with oil
3 oz goat cheese (this was the last thing I added - it was still tasty, but the goat cheese added a perfect note of creaminess)
black pepper
Olive oil and/or vinegar if desired

Dump it all together and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.  I happened to have a jar of marinated veggies that included not only artichokes, but also roasted red peppers, hearts of palm, & baby corn.  It would also be really good with mushrooms or olives, but I didn't happen to have either on hand.

New School Year

Friday

Son had surgery this week. We went in for for the pre-op blood draw on Monday and he didn't exactly enjoy the procedure, so I was a bit concerned about how he'd handle surgery on Wednesday.  Prayed a lot for him, as well as for MY state of mind so that I could be supportive rather than making it worse.   Everything went very well.  He had tubes inserted in his ears (the type that are designed to stay in 2-3 years) plus had his adenoids removed at about 8:30 am.  We were home before 11:00, and he laid on the couch watching Top Gear.  This picture was taken at 2:25 pm after he chowed down on a bowl of cherries.  Yes, he's doing just fine :)  Still waiting to see if getting all that fluid out will help with the hearing issue, and if not, we'll most likely be getting him some sort of amplification device.

Took the kids to meet their teachers this morning and drop off school supplies - so happy to have those piles outta here!  I'm happy with the teachers the kids have, although both of them are disappointed to not have many friends in their particular classes.  AWANA starts back up next week as well, and both kids are also interested in doing karate, but I think we're going to hold off on that for a few more months.

In other big news from the D house: we have become pet owners.  The kids have been wanting something forEVER, and D had recently taken to catching lizards (the rule is that he can capture 1 in the morning, then release it before bedtime).  A likes the idea of animals, but is still quite fearful of most of them, which is yet another reason that I'd like to have something around.  Really wanted to move up to something fuzzy, but not quite ready to commit to a dog or cat.  One trip to PetSmart later, and we now own 2 gerbils.  The one you see here is Spike, and there's also a black one named Rocky (who's definitely quieter - amazing how I'm already noticing the rodent's personalities!)  The biggest challenge thus far is letting the poor little guys have quiet time away from their overly loving owners...

I still have a ton of other pics from the summer - kids activity camp, 1 day VBS program & trip to San Antonio.  Perhaps next week when I turn my little darlings back over to the school district for several hours each day!

And a final bit of silliness on this fine Friday: it's kind of tough to tell your kids not to play with their food when Daddy is building a snowman out of the mashed potatoes and brisket!

Summer drawing to a close...

The kids will be headed back to school in 9 days - :) and :(

We just got home from a mini-vaca, but before I share pics from that guess I should update stuff from June and July.

 

• When we drove to Arizona in June, there was a small fire on a hill in the distance, and our son was convinced that it was an active volcano
• Drove through Devil's Canyon on the way to Mesa, and our daughter was excitedly telling us that she learned about this place in school.  "Um, honey, I'm pretty sure that was the GRAND Canyon."  Yeah, that might be right...
• Took a little trip to the mall to visit the Lego Store, ogle the Hello Kitty merchandise, and ride the escalator.
• One of the kids managed to snap a picture of me :)
• Cousins, plus MIL and her kids
• Celebrated nephew's birthday, including covering him with silly string and giving him a model rocket that was slightly above his previous experience
• Kids had friends over, so lots of swimming, watching movies, nerf war, etc.
• When cleaning her room, A decided she'd rather just wear everything rather than put it away
• Issues with our sprinkler meant a flooded backyard.  Also had to replace one element from our pool pump.  Sometimes home ownership stinks.
• out to lunch, and the restaurant had a really good balloon artist who presented our kids with a motorcycle and a dolphin
• Off to the shooting range, too (Hi, Grandpa!  Wish you could've joined us!)