I Heart Faces - Someone I Love & Burst of Red

Day 5 & 6

This is the man I love. He is a Godly man.  He is a hardworking man and an outstanding father.  This man is very good to his wife!  I love so many things about him and one of those things is the fact that he can doze off in the midst of our swirling household long enough to let the kids decorate him. 
 

I Heart Faces - Shadow Play

Day 4

This is a Christmas tradition in our home.  We bring out all our winter stuffies and set up a snow scene at the top of our living room windows.  The scene varies from year to year but a few things remain the same: the penguin with the green hat always goes for a belly slide, and a lighted evergreen garland is hung around them.  I love how the little lights peeking through the boughs casts a playful dance of light and shadow.

I Heart Faces - What You're Reading

I do read actual books, novels, paperbacks, fiction and non-fiction, however, if I am being honest with myself (and you) this is what I read the most of.

And, yes, my laptop is held together with a cardboard box.  Don't judge.

I Heart Faces - Elf

The only elf on my shelf likes marshmallows, M&Ms, Pop Tarts and syrup on his spaghetti.

On Thanksgiving each year I bring out all our Christmas movies.  There are twice as many as shown here.  We watch the bejeebers out of 'em until January 1st when they go back into the vault (otherwise known as the bottom of the book shelf behind the box of random electronic parts).  Being able to only watch them one month out of the year makes them that much more special.  In fact, it would seem, that's what makes most things about Christmas special.

 

I Heart Faces - Me

So here I am, with my camera.  It is nothing special.  A Sony Cybershot with 3x zoom and 7.2 mp.  It takes nice pictures.  No one buys my pictures or pays me to take pictures.  We just do our thang capturing memories (sometimes inventing or recreating them) as they whoosh by.  Like my camera _I_ am nothing special.  I don't mean that in a self deprecating way.  A Christian, wife, and homeschooling mom.  A manager at a pizza joint. There are lots of us still in use, albeit, a little out dated.

The Big Year

The Big Year. It's a movie. With lots of birds in it.

It got super bad reviews from critics. I don't know anyone who saw it. I only knew about it from a snippet in my bird mag. I heard no buzz on the street about it actually being good, but you know what... it was.

The Big Year is based on a true story (which was first a book by the same title) and stars Jack Black, Steve Martin and Owen Wilson in the lead roles, but it really had an all star cast. There wasn't one character where I wasn't saying or thinking "hey that's the guy from..." or "wasn't she in...". The movie follows the happenings in each of the leading mens' lives while they attempt a Big Year.

A big year in the birder's world is when an individual takes a year to travel the United States accumulating as many different bird species sightings as possible. Its all done on the honor system, there is no prize (maybe endorsements), and the only real gain is the experience of the journey and realizing your passion. That is what character's are trying to figuring out.

Beside the fact that there are no explosions or special effects and that it is totally clean (PG) I am not sure why it didn't get better reviews. It could be that we, as movie goers, are so over stimulated and used to overproduced, high priced, 3-D fantastical shlop that we don't recognize when a film is just simply good. It's not deep. It's not heavy. It's just simply good.

I should warn you though. I may be slightly biased. I am a birder. Nothing compared to the peeps in the movie. I mean, my life list is probably around 120, whereas in the movie it is over 700 IN ONE YEAR! That is amazing! I am content to see what flies into my neck of the woods and if I happen to see something special on a trip then that's cool too. I don't have the drive nor the money to travel for a year at a break neck pace to rack up a bird tally, but it sounds like fun.

The movie has a lot to do with the birds and the strive to find them so if you could give a rip about your feathered friends then you may want to skip the film. That being said, George said he enjoyed it and he only looks at birds when I yell to him from the window, "GEORGE COME LOOK AT THIS THERE ARE LIKE FORTY NORTHERN FLICKERS IN THE DRIVEWAY!" To which he replies, "uh huh neat."


If you have seen it... did you like it?

If you haven't seen it... give it a try.

What is This?!

**crawling in with my tail between my legs like a dog who finally responds after you have been calling for 15 minutes (or in my case, 8 months)**

Hi.

So, just where have I been? In a word...



Seriously. I really only have time for one addiction and the instant gratification of FB is overwhelmingly powerful. AND THEY HAVE GAMES!

For a long time I was caught under the sea in FishWorld but now I have surfaced on a deserted isle in Island Paradise. *sigh* I know, I'm pitiful.

Really. The login page should just be a giant, flashing warning from the
Surgeon General.

WARNING

Using this site may cause extreme emotional connections which are not easily broken. User may become dependent on the opinions of people whom they have never met. Those who use this site may experience a withdrawal from other more productive activities and/or websites. Also, one may develop an overwhelming urge to create for oneself a cyber life involving crops, cafes, fish, barns, pets, tikis, cities, plantations or mob connections which have no real bearing on ones real existence whatsoever.

** turning away my face in shame **

:-/

Facebook also has live chat! Its like talking on the phone but you are typing... You know about this right?! I can hold a conversation with someone with out them hearing my kids screaming in the background. AMAZING!!!



I am not dissin' the F to the B... it has its purpose in the grand scheme of cyber things. However, it is time consuming and, at least for me, has become a great diversion away from the only journal I have been successful at keeping up for more than a week. And, since I have been gone from the blogosphere for about eight months I will endeavor to spend the next few posts catching up on what I failed to journal about. Hopefully, for your sake, if you choose to partake, I will pull off being mildly entertaining in the process.



Oh, oh, oh... By the way, I would like to give a shout out to those of you who continuously nagged... er... gently questioned when I would return to blogging. Kellie, DaNella, Linda, Andi, Becky, Laura, Tabi and a few others... you know who you are. Thank you for missing me and my humble blog. It is, in essence, my first cyber love/addiction (even before the AI boards). You, gentle readers, were my first emotional connections , and yours were the first opinions I became dependent on. I missed you too.

I'm back :-D

Give Him a Hand

If your kids are like my kids then they love to paint. Nothing in particular, mind you. The verb paint is used loosely to describe the act of slathering innocent reams of printer paper with as much wet, sloppy color as they can hold.

Yes, I said reams. I have REAMS of painted paper. Piles. Mountains. SO in honor of My Love's birthday I decided to utilize my wealth of water color paintings. We started with making some hand prints...

...and putting them together for a birthday banner.

No birthday is complete without a handmade card. No pun intended :-p

Happy birthday My Love. You are the light of my life. I love you truly, madly, deeply.

So, gentle reader, what do you do with all that excess "artwork" your kids create?

No Flying Allowed and A Random Dozen 3

My poor Marli learned the hard way that humans... no matter how enthusiastically they flap... are NOT made to fly. Her maiden voyage off the ladder of her brother's loft bed landed in a an itty bitty walking cast. Healing should take about four weeks. Its a tiny little crack on the toe end of her fifth metatarsal... er... the wee littlest piggy. Look at her little bones... they don't even touch yet. Oh they are so cute on the inside as well as the out... sigh.

We ARE fearfully and wonderfully made.

She was so brave too. From the doctor to getting the x-rays to being fitted for the cast she never complained or cried. I think she rather enjoyed all the attentioin and being carried everywhere.

Anyway, because of Marli's adventure I am a little late in putting up my Random Dozen. Once again Linda @ 2nd Cup has given my brain something to chew on...

... here's what it spit out. :-p'




1. Which is worse: a long, boring meeting or standing in a return/exchange line after Christmas?

I can not remember ever being in a long boring meeting... I can, however, remember being in some overly long completely boring collage classes. I must honestly say that in comparison to those classes I actually enjoy standing in the return/exchange line after Christmas.

For one thing, I am the type that has no qualms about striking up conversations with strangers for my own entertainment. That is totally looked down upon during lectures in a classroom. Another thing is that after Christmas EVERYTHING is half off. It's the perfect time to take back that ugly, green, turtle neck sweater, complete with twinkling lights, that my out of state (and mind) great aunt sent me and grab myself some bargains with the store credit.

The only bargain I ever got from those long past, too boring for words classes was an open eyed nap for the price of tuition. :-p

2. Except for maybe Rosie O'Donnell or Ann Coulter, nobody likes confrontation, yet we all have to deal with it. When you feel cornered and defensive, do you "bite back" or become passive aggressive?

I am sooooo passive ... not aggressive at all... just passive. Go ahead, blame it all on me, I'll take the rap if it brings about peace and order.

3. Do you know anything about your genealogical background? (What country, culture, ties to prominent historical figures, or other stuff.)

On my mother's side I am Pennsylvania Dutch of German descent. A quiet people of huntsmen and crafts women.

On my fathers side I get more German and lots of deep, dark Scandinavian. And by deep and dark I am talking Vikings. My paternal relatives grow out their beards, and don their horned helmets to take part in a Scandinavian festival every year. They wear fur and roar and pillage and plunder on a viking ship shaped float. I've seen pictures... its not pretty.


4. What is the quickest way a person can endear him/herself to you?

Babysit for free. :-D

5. Cake, pie, cookies, or ice cream? (Note there is no "all of the above" option. You must choose one. Feel free to elaborate on flavor or memories tied to this dessert.) If you'd like, you can share a recipe, but you certainly don't have to.

I could live off ice cream. Denali's makes some killer flavors like Bear Claw (dark chocolate, fudge and caramel swirls and chocolate covered cashews) and Extreme Moose Tracks (chocolate ice cream, fudge swirls, and dark chocolate filled chocolate cups). Sinfully good.

6. Females: Do you regularly change your handbag to coordinate with your outfit?

This is going to be such a let down to some of you, but I have used only two different purses in the last 12 years. AND they both look pretty much the same. I had a small, tan, knit bag before I had kids, and now I have a large, tan, knit bag that holds all the stuff I carry for the kids.




7. Are you task-oriented or relationship-oriented?

I must be task oriented cuz I'm not sure I know what being relationship oriented means.

8. IHOP, Bob Evans or Cracker Barrel?

I have only been to IHOP... I think I would prefer one of the other two. ;-)

9. Have you ever left a movie in progress in a theater? Why?

Nope. We are pretty careful about what we go to see at the movie theater. And once I've paid ten bucks to watch something I'm. Going. To. Watch. It.

10. What is one area of life in which you would like to develop more discipline or organization?

The kids' schooling. I'm getting there, but I know I'm still lacking in some areas. We flip flop from one subject to another depending on our mood. Sometimes I even let the kids choose which subject they want to do next. Its worked so far though. Kiah is reading everything she can get her hands on and trying to be extra good at math because she is going to be an astronaut... and "they need to be good at numbers ya know".

James is a little more challengling but he does the work I put in front of him... eventually. He wants to be anything that allows him to drive a vehichle with sirens.

Sometimes our sit down school day lasts two hours other days it will drag on forever... Seems to me it should be a little more regular but, then again, LIFE is not regular.

11. Was middle school fun or painful?

I only remember glimpses of middle school but they can all be rated neutral to good. Certainly not painful, so I choose fun.

12. What is your favorite Fall beverage?

Eggnog. It is so yummy. I don't like the fancy homemade stuff. Just give me the artificially flavored, packaged in a cardboard carton, always on sale, eggnog. MMMMmmmmm.

A Random Dozen

What would I do without my 2nd Cup of Coffee? ;-)

So as not to leave you all wanting more :-p I give you my answers to Linda's awesome new meme.

1. What is something that you have changed your mind about either recently or over a number of years?

Four words...

...The quiver is full.

2. Choose either subject, but does your a) church b) job feel more like a dental chair experience or an easy chair (recliner) experience?

This is going to sound terrible but considering the amount of high pitch whining I hear at church and the fact that I haven't heard a complete sermon in approximately seven years I would have to equate my church experience to a dental chair. Its not the congregants or the pastor whining, lol, its my kids. "I'm hungry, I need to go potty, he keeps touching me, she pulled my dress, are we done, can I go play".... and on and on and ON. I'm not really complaining... just stating the facts my friend, just stating the facts.

Last Sunday I took at least five trips to the bathroom during the one hour sermon, never once relieving myself mind you. I cleaned up a bathroom accident once pre-sermon and once post sermon... one puddly, aaaaaaaaand one not.

Hmmm... seems a good amount of the whining is coming from yours truly... my bad. :-p

Now my job, on the other hand, that's the easy chair. I have a college degree and I make pizzas... see what I'm saying? Its not rocket science. Great peeps, though, and it pays for groceries.


3. Kisses or hugs? I actually typed "huts," which might have been a more interesting question.

I don't mind most hugs, but if you are kissing me you better be my husband or one of my babies. Otherwise you are free to give me as many huts as your little heart desires.

4. What do you think is the biggest threat to families today?

Technology (I say hypocritically). Not stuff like running water and electric lights and the LANDLINE phone. But its getting ridiculous with the bud in one ear and the bluetooth in the other. I'm fine with the radio... anything past that gets a big fat raspberry.

5. A day after you grocery shop, you open a perishable item that is horribly spoiled. Do you take your receipt back to the store to be reimbursed or just throw it away and forget about it?

GASP! WHAT! That's cash in the trash! Having done my time as a grocery store employee I know that any store worth its weight in clippable coupons will gladly do whatever it takes to make their customers happy. I once took back a bad box of Junior Mints (they were hard) and those were just a buck. It was a big box :-O Are junior mints perishable? Apparently so.

6. What personality trait (feel free to address good or bad or both) do you notice yourself adopting from your parents?

From my dad, complacency and a twisted sense of humor. From my mom, the ability to cry at the drop of a hat.

7. How many slices of bread do you leave in the bottom of the bag when you throw it away? Two? Three? Just the heel? None? (I really want to know if you eat the heel.)

!!!???!!!

MORE cash in the trash?

I am a little baffled by this question. Does anyone actually throw away bread? Why? Whats with that? In my household of six we go through about four loaves a week. FOUR BIG FAT LOAVES and I don't buy the cheap spongy stuff either.

When my kids complain of hunger THREE SECONDS AFTER DINNER (C'mon Becky compose yourself)... a slice of bread is one of their options.

French toast once a week, eggs and toast, pb&j every other day, grilled cheeses, cinnamon toast... we eat a lot of bread.

The heels...

I used to be able to trick the kids into eating the heels by turning them inside out on the sandwich... that doesn't work any more. When Marli was a little littler she would eat them during the after dinner feeding frenzy, but she is almost three now and, in her great age and wisdom, has begun to appreciate the finer things in life.

Not wanting to be wasteful I take the heels, bag them up, and keep them in the freezer. When we have collected a loaf or two of heels it is time to visit the ducks... usually on the way to the dump. Its a day out for us. A cheap... er... inexpensive day out. Often times I become faint at the last minute and remain home insisting that the rest of the family goes on with out me (hehhehheh) "The ducks are counting on you" I plead with conviction, and off they go leaving me home ... alone. (Thank you My Love)


The heels... represent freedom. And the ducks will eat anything you throw at them.

8. What mispronunciation or usage error really irritates you?

I can't think of what bothers me but if you are irritated by RANDOMLY capitalized words AND frequently "misused" punctuation!!! Then you ??? probably won't be ONE of my followers, any, time, soon!!!!~

9. In honor of the uniqueness of today's date, what does the numeral 9 mean to you? (Any special life moments attached to the 9th? Are you the 9th kid in your family? Can you count by 9s really fast? etc.)

9... 9th...? Yesterday was the 9th? Really?

10. Does the general color palette in your closet match the colors you chose to decorate your home with?

IF my home were decorated I would totally use the colors from my closet. Navys, burgundys, deep greens, and goldenrod. Then a few surprise splashes of bright color... because it was on sale... and it was the only one in my size.

11. When you're hanging out with friends in the kitchen, do you automatically ask to help, or do you sit there and chat until the host asks if you'd like to help? I'm not implying that the 2nd choice stems from rudeness or laziness, just not a first-response like it is for some people.

I ask if I can help with the hope that they will say, "Oh, no thanks, I got it alllll under control." That way I'm free to chase my kids around their house ensuring that they don't destroy anything.

12. Let's end on a pleasant note: What do you enjoy about September the most?

The promise of Fall. The cooler weather. The shorter days. The rich colors. The warm kitchen where there is always something in the oven.

Go to Linda's @ 2nd Cup of Coffee, grab a mug, link up, and enjoy.