Surprise

I promise this will be the LAST post having anything to do with my birthday. :-)

About 2 months ago I emailed Donna and asked her to help me close down my blog. She wouldn't do it, she said if all I do is communicate with my sisters that is enough. At that time I had three long distance sisters reading my blog and it was a great way to keep in touch so I decided not to close it down. Our discussion made me think hard about why I have this blog. In a nutshell, I want to share my life with my sisters and my internet friends. I want to encourage, edify, laugh and communicate but more than anything I hope to share the love of Christ with my readers.

All that said so I can post these pictures for my sisters to enjoy.


Uncle Mel and Nancy


Janet and Janice











Nancy and Bink (yes, that is his nickname) took Dave, Janice and me out to dinner on Monday night. We met at a nice restaurant near Carefree. We had a very special surprise waiting for us at our table. Uncle Mel. He is our father's older brother and just turned 80 years old. The three of us were shocked and thrilled. We couldn't believe Nancy pulled this off. Uncle Mel lives in Carefree during the winter months, his home is only 10 minutes from this place. We had a delightful visit and I had the privilege of sitting across from him. That means I got to look in to those beautiful Greek/German eyes, admire his lovely white hair and soft olive skin for two whole hours!! When I look at Uncle Mel I see my own father. They didn't look that much alike to be honest but he is his flesh and blood, his brother. Our father would be 78 years old.

Family, friends and famous!

Wow! Seventy one comments from mostly strangers. I am (almost) speechless.

I would like to thank Donna for sending all of her readers my way. See, it pays to know someone.....someone who is very special, very dear, very wise, very Godly and so very kind. I love you, Donna.

Thank you all for making my 40th birthday so much fun. I admit I was obsessed. At times I would just sit here and click refresh. It was amazing and fun and silly. I am humbled by your kindness and thank you for taking time out of your day to say hello and happy day.

In one day, I heard from three sisters; Donna, Cindy and Janice, about 50 internet 'friends' and one famous person, again thanks to Donna. Donna sent Phil Johnson (of Pyromaniac fame) an email and asked him to comment on my birthday post. Isn't she bold and isn't he kind to have responded? I am a huge fan of The Pyro's work, writing and sense of humor. In case you haven't seen it, the comment is in the March 24 post. Darlene is his lovely wife, who really needs her own blog :) You will be blessed and edified by reading Pyromaniacs. Pay them a visit if you haven't already.

THANK YOU AGAIN AND AGAIN
HAVE A BLESSED DAY!

Love Janet.


How beautiful a day can be
When kindness touches it!
~George Elliston

The Greek and The Dane turn 40!

Today, March 27th, we officially celebrate our fortieth birthday!! We've really been celebrating for days...

Happy Birthday to my precious twin, Janice. And Happy Birthday to me too :-)




Janice is on the left and I am on the right. Isn't that a great pic. Maybe my sisters can fill in the details of when it was taken and at whose house. Hmmm, maybe it was our house.

My dad was mostly Greek and my mom was 100% Danish. What a fun surprise to have twins that looked like each. Janice with brown hair, brown eyes and beautiful olive skin and me with blond hair, blue eyes and fair skinned. (I'll have you know I work very hard and spend a lot of money to keep my Danish looks ;-)).

We had several nicknames as little ones:

Ike and Mike
Midnight and Daylight
The Greek and The Dane
Jan and Jan
'A' baby and 'B' baby

I was also called "Tiny" by our housekeeper. I was very skinny as a little girl.

I would love to get a record number of comments today just for kicks. Forty would be amazing! I am not to proud to add to the number if necessary :-) So, say hello if you wouldn't mind.

Here are a few more pictures for your viewing pleasure. This is what I saw when I went to my workout at 5:45 am. This is the work of my sil Melody and her two children.

"To Blave"

16 years ago today I married my beloved.

Lord, thank you for giving me Dave.






To quote my husband: "but, it feels like so much longer than that!" :-0

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

UPDATE 3/24 4:00 pm Post your favorite on your blog, like Amy.

I'm a Winner

Guess what??

I participated in Carmon's blogathon and I won a $25 gift certificate to her wonderful bookstore. Thank you, Gracie, for picking my name, we'll talk later ;-P

Will you help me with my purchase?

I am currently reading (very slowly)

The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

Chosen by God by R.C. Sproul
















and

Desiring God by John Piper

That gives you an idea of what type of reading I enjoy.

So, give me a few suggestions.

Maybe I should have Carmon just surprise me with $25 worth of books. Wow, that would be fun.

Please don't suggest long Russian novels (hehehe) or the latest book on paedobaptism (jk) or a racey romance novel. These are just not my thing :)

Hope to hear from you.

PS We need to get the comments up and runnin. March 27 is a national holiday and I'm going to copy my sister and see if I can get a record number comments. For me that would mean 10. har har har.

Persecution

I found this today on foxnews.com Read this.

Please pray for this man and give thanks to God that you are able to worship freely.

***********

Carmon is doing another blogathon, this time for Persecution Project. Be sure to visit her tomorrow. She will be posting every 30 minutes and it is fun check in on her from time to time.

Laundry Fun!

UPDATE 3/16
No need to go to the archives. All of the pictures are up on today's post. Look at the new ones and don't forget to vote!

Be sure to pay Mommy Life a visit and look at all of the laundry pictures. Go to the archives and click March. The girls are creative and absolutely darling. The contest ends tomorrow and then the voting begins.

I have my favorites. The mommy that superimposed herself in to the picture three times, that one is my all time favorite. Can you see the Nutrimill in the background?

My next favorite it the doll that is bending over and her bum is sticking up in the air. Now that is a brave woman but the next picture tells us why she can do that...she is small enough to fit INSIDE her washing machine!!

I am always whining and complaining about my laundry situation to Donna. She offers some good advice on occasion and usually a little teasing too. :-)

So, what are your favorite laundry products?

Mine are Tide, Bounce and Clorox Bleach. No substitutes. No way.

Off to the city of Lost Wages

That's Las Vegas for those who have never heard it called that appropriate nickname.

Why on earth, you ask?





We have an opportunity to go to the Nascar race to cheer on the new driver of the Interstate Batteries race car. His name is J.J. Yeley. He drives the #18 car. My hubby and I thought it would be fun to take the 3 older children to a race but I insisted that it must be a race with a hospitality tent. That meant we would either go to the Fontana race track or Vegas. We were too late for California so we have to go to Las Vegas.

The reasons I insisted on a tent are:

1) the crowds at a Nascar event are ROUGH, not your average homeschool group
2) we will be served food and pop
3) if we get tired we can go to the tent and rest and watch the race on the TV
4) they have nice pork-a-potties (that's what my children call them)
5) in case of rain we can take cover!
6) we will most likely meet J.J. Yeley and Joe Gibbs, they usually come to the tent for a while and sign autographs. I especially like Joe Gibbs. He is a man of great character and of Christian faith and he is not afraid to tell you so!

I have only been to two races in my life so I only consider myself a mild redneck. My husband thinks I'm a big redneck because I don't wear ear plugs and I usually watch the whole race. I have to admit, I love the speed of the cars and the roar of the engines.

I have warned my children that while we are touring Las Vegas that if at any time I scream "close your eyes" they must obey immediately and not ask "but why Mom?".

I would appreciate your prayers. Lauren had a fever on Wednesday and Thursday and now has a nasty cold and I have been sick with an upset stomach for two days. It is rather difficult to do laundry and pack for 7 while hunched over in pain and in bed most of the day. I'm worried about Sarah who will be staying with friends and those who might get it while we are traveling. The supplies are in the car; garbage can, wipes, paper towel and ziploc bags....use your imagination.

See ya when we get back. Ta Ta.

Tagged Again!

Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so:

1) Renewed Day by Day
2) Montana Maiden
3) Irish Hills
4) Dominionfamily
5) Just Janet

Select Five People to Tag
1) Donna
2) Amy
3) Diane


Feel free to ignore this tag if you want. :P

What were you doing ten years ago?

I was 29. I was 7 months pregnant with my 3rd child. My first daughter was 2 1/2, my second child (my only son) was 18 months old and I was a busy mama! I stayed home a lot and cared for my babies. We were living in our first home.

What were you doing one year ago?

Trying to lose weight. Pretty much the same stuff I'm doing now.

Five snacks you enjoy

1) Poore Brothers salt and vinegar chips

2) brownies

3) diet Coke

4) ice cream

5) yogurt (relieves guilt)

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics

1) Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts

2) Jesus, Take the Wheel by Carrie Underwood

3) Brick House by The Commodores (hehe)

4) September by Earth, Wind and Fire (it's my sister's fault)

5) Hymns and praise songs

I had to have a little fun with that one, sister Cindy and Cindy @ Dominion Family.

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire

1) give plenty to my church and the needy within

2) help out a few family members, give gifts to other family members

3) put an addition on our house (kitchen)

4) buy a 'date' car, something that doesn't' hog gas and fit 8 people. ;-)

5) travel

Five Bad Habits

1) I drink way too much diet Coke

2) creating and maintaining piles around the house

3) sitting at this computer

4) not making my bed in the morning

5) procrastinating

Five things you like doing

1) exercising (love/hate relationship)

2) baking sweets and fresh breads

3) drinking diet Coke

4) watch my children play happily

5) shop, yup, it's true

Five things you'll try not to wear

1) big hoop earrings

2 ) jean mini skirt

3) bows in my hair

4) Keds

5) tight jeans

Five favorite toys

1) iPod nano

2) Bosch

3) computer

4) hair brush and curling iron (?)

5) the laundry machine

While you're at it...

Please pray for this precious little girl.

Her name is Candace

Pray! Pray! Pray!

A new baby is on his way!


Amy will most likely have her baby today!!

Her hubbie posted that they were going to the hospital.

Be sure to pray for them :-)

Kitchen Tagged

Donna tagged me with this kitchen meme.

1. How many meals does most of your family eat at home each week? How many are in your family? Around 17 meals. 5 children, 2 adults.

2. How many cookbooks do you own? ?? 20

3. How often do you refer to a cookbook each week? 2 times

4. Do you collect recipes from other sources? friends, internet. I love Food Network

5. How do you store those recipes? scribble them down on whatever is available, leave them laying around the house or shove them inside my recipe basket.

6. When you cook, do you follow the recipe pretty closely, or do you use recipes primarily to give you ideas? I always follow the recipe closely, obsessively.

7. Is there a particular ethnic style or flavor that predominates in your cooking? Italian and Mexican.

8. What's your favorite kitchen task related to meal planning and preparation? Cutting veggies and using my favorite food chopper.

9. What's your least favorite part? Unloading the dishwasher, that is why I pay my son to do it.

10. Do you plan menus before you shop? Sometimes. :-0

11. What are your three favorite kitchen tools or appliances? Pampered Chef food chopper, Henkels knife, Bosch.

12. If you could buy one new thing for your kitchen, money was no object, and space not an issue, what would you most like to have? A remodeled and larger kitchen. Hey, money is not an object!!

13. Since money and space probably are objects, what are you most likely to buy next? Tortillas for dinner tonight.

14. Do you have a separate freezer for storage? Yes, it is a full size refridge/freezer and it is in the garage. Holds extra milk, soda, water bottles, Eggos, frozen pizza and a giant turkey that I'd better use soon.

15. Grocery shop alone or with others? I can get out alone now that the children are older but I usually have a little helper or two.

16. How many meatless main dish meals do you fix in a week? Just a few. We like meat.

17. If you have a decorating theme in your kitchen, what is it? Favorite kitchen colors? French country, bird houses, roosters, black appliances.

18. What's the first thing you ever learned to cook, and how old were you? Like Donna, cookies.

19. How did you learn to cook? My sisters. XXOO

20. Tag two other people to play. Want to play? Let me know where I can read your answers. You can answer any or all of the questions in the comments if you don't have a blog.

NOTE: That is not my kitchen in the photo. I would like a kitchen like that some day though. I would even cook, clean, bake bread and possibly sleep in that kitchen if I had it. ;-)

Warning: Bragging ahead

Avenue of Poplars by Vincent van Gogh



was Hannah's inspiration for this lovely poem


The trees are bare,
I feel the cold chill of the air but the
wind does not blow.
I hear no sound, the snow silences the sound.
The white make me feel as if
I am black with nowhere to hide.
The trees reach towards the heavens, but I feel
like I am the roots grasping down into the soil of despair.
Falling?
Perishing?
Growing?


Congrats to my dear Hannah who won 3rd place in our school's poetry writing contest!

Funny Little Girl

I teach my very young children a few Bible verses right off the bat:

Eph 4:32

32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.


1 John 4:7

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

James 1:20

20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.


In addition to learning and memorizing verses, the little ones (and big ones) have been taught what it means to provoke one another. And provoking is indeed a bad thing. In this context, I think of it as teasing, pushing things too far, not stopping when asked etc.


Merriam Webster
Provoke

1 a archaic : to arouse to a feeling or action b : to incite to anger
2 a : to call forth (as a feeling or action) : EVOKE b : to stir up purposely c : to provide the needed stimulus for


It was 7:15 am on Wednesday morning and Lauren (3) came running down the hall yelling "Mama"!!

"Yes, Lauren" I said.

"Mama, James is REVOKING me" Lauren said

I responded "well, that James is a bad boy, isn't he?"

She just cracks me up. She's 3 ???!!!

It Works For Us

Last summer was My Summer of Washing Towels 2005. It was bad. Beach/pool towels on top of the normal towel usage of a family of 7. Imagine it without any order or organization. I cracked the whip on the situation in the middle of the summer. By then, if a child left a beach towel wadded up outside or in their room that was precisely the one they would use the next time they went swimming. If they forgot to take their towel out to the pool....oh well, you'll dry quickly, it's 150 degrees out there. They learned to hang their pool towel on the fence (it will dry in 5 minutes here) and then it could be folded and put back in to The Container for Pool Towels.

My next project was the girl's bathroom. It was a problem area also. Towels were found under the bed, in the closet, in the bathroom, on the couch...I think you get the picture. Enter JC Penney Catalog! Big, beautiful, colorful, monogrammed bath towels and on sale!!. This is going to work, I just know it! The hardest decision was who was going to get what color and then to pick the monogram color, they didn't have much to choose from. The towels arrived via UPS, our favorite, crazy lady driver, we washed them and they were hung in descending order by age. We love the way the look and feel. We had to tackle one more obstacle. The towels didn't seem to make it back to their assigned spot. Hubby and I decided to enforce a form of discipline that seems to work well with older children. Hit em in the ole pocket book. After a period of grace and reminders, a warning was given and POW, if your towel is found on the floor, it's time to pay up!! I am glad to say I am not getting rich off of my children's failure to hang towels back where they belong. So far, so good.

hqplcf

Sue, aka sister sue, I turned off word verification just for you.

Actually for me, in a desperate attempt to get one more comment.

Hope to hear from you Susie (c:

Front Yard

Donna told us to post a picture of our view from our front door.
Look at how cloudy and gloomy it is today. It is only 61 degrees right now. Brrr.
Not a drop of rain.
See the pretty Ash with the light green leaves!

Lauren and Blankie

Lauren got a hair cut yesterday and Blankie was fresh and clean, smelling of Tide and bleach, so I took a quick picture.

"Blankie" is very precious to Lauren. Blankie is a girl, usually spends the day in bed (oh, the life) and is best if she is dirty, smelly and cold. Not sure where the cold factor came in but Lauren does not like Blankie to be hot and she doesn't understand why I have to wash her.

I bought Blankie and a matching outfit at Gymboree when I was 9 months pregnant with Lauren. I also bought a darling little boy version. My friend was in charge of washing what we needed and taking back the one we did not need.

Lauren forgot Blankie at Grandma's house on Saturday night. Dave and I were too lazy to go back and get it so Hannah gave Lauren a blanket that was special to her when she was a little girl. Thankfully she slept through the night without a fuss...Lauren, that is ;-)

Someday soon Blankie will have to go away for awhile because with Blankie comes thumbsucking. Oh, that will be a sad day. She's my baby after all.

Happy Valentine's Day

and (((HUGS)))


I wish for you a day full of wonderful things!
Happy Valentine's Day.
Love Janet