Prayer Request

A very sweet lady and friend at our school has battled cancer for 14 years and for the most part has managed to stay very healthy and active. The cancer, at times, was considered to be in remission. Unfortunately, the cancer has spread to her bones so she is undergoing chemo again. She has two young children, a sophomore and a 7th grader. Will you please pray for this dear lady?

C. is such an inspiration to me. She is one of the most positive, encouraging women I know and always has a smile on her face. I miss seeing her pull in to the school parking lot as I'm leaving. She always had a big wave for me. She just battled an infection and had to be hospitalized but is now able to be at home. The chemo is really taking its toll on her body, as you can well imagine. One of the most difficult parts of this is that she can't have any visitors for fear of germs etc. I will be sending a card in the next few days. I will also be taking the family a meal in a few weeks.

I want you to know about a great internet tool for scheduling meals. I just learned of it this week.

It's called Food Tidings

From the website:

Food Tidings exists to simplify the process of organizing meals for friends or family members in a transitional time of life. For someone who has just had a baby, recovering from surgery or injury, grieving the passing of a loved one, confined to bed rest, and almost anything else, receiving dinners from loved ones can be very comforting and helpful.

From all I can tell it is very easy to navigate. If you are the one organizing the meals you simply have to fill out a short form and have your email addresses ready to go. An email gets sent out to everyone on your list and they follow the link and sign up for a date that is available and suits them well. It was a piece of cake.

Here is the FAQ page.

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

Would you please pray for C. and her family at this time?

James 5:16

The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

Whole Wheat Pasta

Have you made the switch to whole wheat pasta?

I have heard it is delicious and that you can't tell a difference.

But I have a problem. I stand in the grocery isle with great intentions and all I do is stare at the pasta. And I freeze and then then I buy the same old stuff that I've bought for years. Usually Barilla.








Can you recommend one? I don't shop at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, just your average, typical neighborhood grocery store.

Please help. :)

Are You Going

to Ligonier's West Coast Conference?












I just checked the website and it says that only overflow seating is left.

We have been interested in going for months and then our church pastors and elders offered to pay for half of the registration fee for anyone from our church interested in attending the conference. Isn't that generous and a great idea?

We are taking our three oldest children ages; 16, 15 and 13. I think they will really enjoy the teaching and be challenged in many ways. Um, I will be challenged too. :)

Check out the schedule.

And the speakers. I'm soooo excited!

So, will I run in to any long lost friends (lurkers) or bloggie friends?

I sure hope to! I've already sent off one email to Susan.

I won't do that live blogging thing (like many of the man blogs) while I'm there but you can sure expect a Twitter or two.

I Guess That Means No.

Janet: So, Lauren, did you have a good day at Kindergarten?

Lauren: Oh, yes!

Janet: Have you made some nice friends?

Lauren: Oh, yes!

Janet: Hey, Lauren. Do you feel a little sad? You know, miss Mommy a little?

Lauren: (snort, gasp) ARE YOU KIDDING ME?


As you can see from the conversation above, the transition to Kindergarten has gone smoothly.

She loves it!






















Here is the whole gang.

Not bad for 7:15 AM, eh?

Hannah, 11th
James, 9th
Danielle, 7th
Sarah, 4th
Lauren, K

A Big Day

For Lauren and Mommy.

Today is Lauren's first day of half day Kindergarten. She has been so excited to start school. Lauren's snack and water bottle were packed and ready last night. Her backpack was by the garage door and ready to go. I walked her to class, helped her get situated and kissed her goodbye. No tears, she was busy playing with large wooden blocks.

And then I had to walk back to the car. ALONE.

I also had to walk in to the house. ALONE.

I did these things with a big ole lump in my throat. My feelings are very mixed. This is the first time in 16+ years I've been alone in my house without a baby to nurse or a child to teach or a toddler to chase. It is surreal. I feel sad, glad, relieved, exhausted, encouraged and ready. I am ready to start a new phase of life eating Bon Bons on the couch. Oh, I kid. I never liked Bon Bons anyway.

A few other thoughts.

Some of the mom's think it's funny that this is my first Kindergarten experience and I have 4 older kids.

They can't believe I have 5 kids. Although I'm nothing compared to the M. family, they have 10.

I think maybe I'm the oldest Kindergarten mom. Maybe.

And last but not least....I'm cleaning my bathroom, shower and all. :) Scrubbing it to death. It hasn't been done in 16 years. I kid, again.

TTFN.

Two Olympic Thoughts

STUD

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















Unlike the women, the men wear clothing when they play beach volleyball. ARGH.

Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat

Singing "Lucky"

I'm equating lucky with blessed for this song. :)




I love, love, love this song!!

Their voices sound absolutely perfect together.

What do you think? Do you like it?

Happy Birthday Sweet Sarah!

My little peanut is 10 today!

She is very excited because today she gets her ears pierced. She is also a little nervous about how much it might hurt. I pinched her ear lobe a few days ago to give her an idea. Hmmmm, she wasn't so sure about that.

Sarah picked Carolina's Mexican food for dinner and has requested the yummy, slightly undercooked, chocolate chip cookie bars with vanilla and mint chocolate chip ice cream. Whatever Sarah wants, Sarah gets. :) It's her day!

I love you Sarah Hope. You are a precious gift from God.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

My Kind of High Heels

Aren't they cute? They are Sketchers.

These are high for me but I love them.

They are very comfortable too!

I found them at Seaport Village in San Diego last week.

You can find them here and for a fraction of what I paid for them. :(

Roaches Are Of The Devil!

It's monsoon season in Arizona. Temps drop slightly and the humidity goes up and for whatever reason THE FREAKS COME OUT AT NIGHT!

Two nights ago I found one in my bathroom near the shower.

This morning I found one "mostly dead" on the kitchen floor.

HUGE. DISGUSTING. SEWER ROACHES.

They are satanic, I tell ya.

And why on earth does Hollywood think they are cute? It really irritates me that in two recent movies these nasty bugs actually made it to the big screen.

I had the heebie jeebies during Wall-E and Enchanted when I had to look at them.

















NOT CUTE!

I hope they didn't get paid much.

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

In true copycat fashion, I added Twitter to my sidebar and I can text to it! Woot. I'm psyched.


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

I am blessed to be going to San Diego tomorrow. A friend invited me to stay in her sister's condo. For free. This free kind of thing doesn't usually happen to me so we are super excited. Four of us will be gone for five days. We will spend three entire days baking in the sun on beautiful Coronado Island in front of The Hotel Del Coronado. Sweeeeet. I will be texting to Twitter but I don't think I'll have access to a computer and Internet. We'll see.

TTFN and thanks for the comments on the last post!

Have I ever told you how much I love comments? ;-)

Your Turn

About one month ago I did a Meme about me. :)

I want to know about YOU!

If you feel like playing along tell me five random things about YOU!

Ready, set, go! Delurk.

Switchfoot

Only a few of the kids have seen Prince Caspian.

I will wait until it comes out on video.

I absolutely LOVE this song by Switchfoot though.

Enjoy.

Perseverance

Photo taken at Yellowstone National Park, near the Mud Pots


Hebrews 12 1-3:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

One of my favorite verses.

May we finish strong.

Ahhhhh, Yellowstone

I love this place.

It is beautiful beyond words.


















Here we are in the Teton National Forest, at a lake, and behind us is the "back" of the Tetons. There was a deer across the street grazing on some grass.






















Old Faithful. It went off twice while we were there (about 75 minutes apart) and the second time was bigger than the first. I guess it built up pressure. (?)
































The hot springs. That's boiling water my friends!

As the water is heated, its temperatures rise well above the boiling point to become superheated. This superheated water, however, remains in a liquid state due to the great pressure and weight pushing down on it from overlying rock and water. The result is something akin to a giant pressure cooker, with water temperatures in excess of 400°F.

We were totally obsessed with waterfalls. What would you expect from a bunch of desert dwellers? :) Their power was humbling.

















A bison. Not zoomed in at all. We were on foot and he could have cared less.


















Click to enlarge and smack dab in the middle of that meadow, just beyond the yellow wildflowers, you will see the top of a grizzly bear's furry back and to the right another one. Possibly Mama and cub. Dave spotted these guys and I forgave him for everything he's ever done to hurt me. He was my hero. teehee. We watched them eat and walk casually through the meadow. Unfortunately (?) they walked in the opposite direction of our car. We were standing on the bumpers, hanging out the windows and I do believe a child was standing on the roof of the suburban.


















Here we have a darling little black bear playing near a creek. This was just off the main road that goes through Yellowstone and cars were all over the place and people were jumping out just to get a look and a few pictures of this little guy.

I sincerely hope you have had or will have the opportunity to visit this national park. It is a great family vacation. I can't wait to go back!

Jackson, The Town

Hello! I'm home, just busy.

Our vacation to Jackson, Wyoming was wonderful! I was at home in Jackson and could have stayed for another two weeks.

The weather was a delightful 80 degrees and sunny.

The mountains were both rolling, green and drastic and rugged. More on that later.

The town of Jackson was darling. It reminded me of the town I grew up in, Minocqua, Wisconsin. I called Jackson "Minocqua on steroids".

I'll post pictures over the next few days but don't worry I won't drag it out like I did the D.C. pictures. LOL.




















Downtown Jackson

















"The Square"






















A famous bar in town. Donna could do very cool things with this photo.






















Elk antler arches. Dani and Lauren posing for the picture.






















Top right is our room at The Rustic Inn. We had a great view and a little creek right behind where I'm standing.





















Great local BBQ joint. Love the name.

On The Road Again

Buffalo in Yellowstone National Park


We don't usually travel this much.......but here we go again.

Next destination: Jackson, Wyoming!!

We are going with my sister-in-law, her hubby and their three adorable children. Our families/children do very well together and we have wanted to do a road trip for years. They go to Jackson almost every summer (they have family there) and this time we're tagging along.

We are driving. Yeah baby. It will take 1 1/2 days. Our first night will be spent in Provo, Utah.

Please pray. :-O

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

"We" had a little mishap with my digital camera. "Someone" left it "somewhere" and I don't believe we'll ever see it again.

So, based on Ree's recommendation and the fact that I did not win her contest, I went out and bought this:




















It's the big one. 10 mega pixels, 4X zoom and a nice big LCD screen.

I snapped a few shots late last night after the 100 minutes of battery charging. Already, I can see a difference in color and clarity. Hmmm, are we talking about diamonds here? I digress.

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

I am so excited to get on the road.

I feel like our children are growing so quickly and before we know it they'll be off to college and/or married. I decided that we'd better do some memory making and travelling before everyone is out of the house. The DC trip was a given, as we always go to the business conventions. This trip, however, was planned and schemed by my sister-in-law and me.

I don't think I'll write any posts while I'm gone but I will probably pop in and visit Quiet Life. It's the best place on the net.

I've Been Tagged

by Staci at Writing and Living.

Here goes....

What was I doing ten years ago?

My kiddies were 6, 5, and 3 and I was 8 months pregnant with #4. I'm sure I was having a heat stroke and spending a lot of time in our pool. Life was good and I was ready for another baby!

Five snacks I enjoy

Poore Brother's Jalapeno Chips
Cookie Dough Ice cream
Pretzels
Buttered popcorn
Diet Coke


Five Things on My To-Do List Today

Get car washed and vacuumed.
Make several phone calls.
Do laundry.
Take a shower!
Clean up after 4th of July party.


Things I Would Do If I Were a Billionaire

I would give a bunch away to various ministries and missionaries. I would buy two new houses. One here in Phoenix and one in the mountains up north or maybe one in San Diego on the beach. I would drive something other than a kid toting, gas guzzling, road hoggin' SUV. I'm thinking BMW. Now I'm really getting materialistic so I'll stop. ;)

Five Jobs I Have Had

Gift Shop girl (?)
Aerobics Instructor (back in the day)
Lifeguard/swim teacher
Physical Therapy Assistant
Programs Coordinator @ American Heart Association


Five of My Bad Habits

Creating and keeping piles of paperwork
Not making my bed in the AM
Not keeping my kitchen floor clean
Drinking too much Diet Coke
Procrastinating


Five Places I Have Lived

Wheaton, Illinois
Minocqua, Wisconsin
Tucson, Arizona (Go Cats)
Dallas, Texas
Glendale, Arizona


Five People I Would Like to Get to Know Better

Donna :)
Laura
Junebug
Amy
Susan
Ree (never hurts to try)



Five Random Things About Me

I am a fraternal twin and the baby of seven.
I have a degree in Nutrition & Exercise Physiology.
When my children grow up I want to take up tennis (again) and play golf with my husband.
I want to rock babies in the PICU.
I love Target and hate Walmart.

Please feel free to copy and do this on your blog even if I didn't tag you. Or leave some of the answers in my comments.

Have a blessed day. Stay cool.

The National Cathedral

It's hard to believe these pictures were taken only about 30 minutes apart. Look at that sky! We walked back to the hotel in pouring rain and a thunderstorm.

My last post about Washington DC.

Phew.

Happy 4th of July

Show The Flag
Edgar Guest

Show the flag and let it wave
As a symbol of the brave;
Let it float upon the breeze
As a sign for each who sees
That beneath it, where it rides,
Loyalty to-day abides.

Show the flag and signify
That it wasn't born to die;
Let its colors speak for you
That you still are standing true,
True in sight of God and man
To the work that flag began.

**********

Having a picnic? Watching fireworks?

Have a great day!

Burt's Bees

Super Shiny Lip Gloss is super indeed!





















Do you use any Burt's Bees products?

If so, which one do you just love?

I am loving the lip gloss this summer. I have it in the lovely pink color that is pictured above. I'm not a lipstick girl so this is nice because it moistens and adds just a hint of color. And I think I taste just a bit of peppermint but it is not in the ingredients so I'm not sure what I'm tasting....maybe my breath mint.

Ok now, tell me in the comments. What do you like of Burt's??