wednesday hair post 2

i've posted before about my beautiful tangled girl, boo.  well, more than once i'm sure.  but none of you will believe what happened to her the other night.  monday night, to be exact.

now i'm sure you could guess!

this was kinda her end product.

this being the worse part!!!

this was my i'm-so-mad-i-can't-think-straight punishment.  look at all that hair beside her!  i tell you, locks for love has some pretty dumb rules/guidelines for the hair they'll take for wigs because that pile would've made a GORGEOUS and FULL wig!!!  it felt like a wig when i picked it up and threw it in the trash...

and here's the hairdresser's logical fix to my screw-up "fixing" boo's.

 it's a good thing she's cute, but we're both really sad she doesn't have long beautiful locks anymore.  :( 

really really really sad!

so, needless to say, it seems as if ALL my hair posts are going to be do's from the past since now ALL MY GIRLS have short hair!  or... maybe i'll figure out some totally cute do's for short hair!  ???  we'll see.  it might take a while.  boo hasn't had this short of hair since she was about 3 months old!  but, on the good side (because we should always take a look on the bright side of things), my two nieces have short hair too (because they're about starboy's age-ish), so all three girl cousins could get together to be triplets with little short hair-do's! 

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

gratituesday -- my Judge

i've been doing a lot of reading and studying of His Word.  something that has been pressing me lately is the fact that God is never changing.  i love that. 
something that i'm thankful for this week for gratituesday is my unchanging "God is a righteous judge..." (Ps 7:11).  as He speaks to me and convicts me of sin, i have no one to answer to but Him in my conviction.  "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge." (Ps. 51:4) 
one of the labels in my posts is convictions i hold.  i want to point out that i am not putting my convictions out here for you all to uphold and i will try NEVER to judge others on convictions i hold.  they are MY convictions the Lord has put on MY heart.  i share them to 1.) be accountable, 2.) show His work in my life, and 3.) be real in who i am.  i don't like to be fake.  i am sinful.  but i have a gracious and loving Father who i've given my life to.  that Father can teach me and judge me.  people can too, but those judgements won't matter to me. 
"The Lord reigns forever;  he has established his throne for judgement. He will judge the world in righteousness;  he will govern the peoples with justice."  (Ps 9:7-8)
Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

what a day

we started week 1 of VBS for the summer.  i found a few morning schools, so i have aleemay, jones, and boo attending this week.  it's from 9-noon.  who knew i'd have to wake the kids and hurry them up to be somewhere by 9 am?!  well i sure did. 
we celebrated jones' birthday yesterday with some family and last night he slept outside on our trampoline with adejay.  i don't think they went to sleep until about 11:30 or maybe as late as midnight.  needlesstosay (yes, that's all one word) i don't think we'll do that again!  but, i've already said that once this summer so who knows...  of course he won't have another birthday this summer either... so maybe that'll help me be firm in my word.
while the littles were at vbs, i came home and started adejay on piano lessons.  i taught her all the basics i could think of, but then decided we'd need to purchase some books to further the education.  i mean, i could draw out my own book... but i just wasn't sure if it'd save time or money.  and, well, i'm frugal and realistic!  so, we went out and bought her three books.  a theory book, a practice book, and a performance book.  :)  yeah!  finally!  i've been talking about giving her lessons for about... 6 years at least.  and we've had a piano for at least one year!!!  anyway, so now it's happening.
on our way to the music store, we drove past a fresh accident and my heart broke.  it was a motorcycle accident and the victim was laying on the street.  thankfully emergency vehicles were there taking care of him, but it really gave me a sick feeling.  so i took it as a teaching opportunity to my pre-teen-almost-old-enough-to-drive daughter...  and i prayed.  and i'm still praying for the poor dude. 
the kids did alright at vbs.  we're doing it again tomorrow.
the kids also had a muddy blast outside in the hot hot sun today.  our sprinklers aren't working, so i had the hose watering the dry grass.  well, that's what the purpose of it being on was.  apparently it was making mud and kids all wet instead.  but whatever.  same thing, right?!
i have lots of pictures to download and upload from yesterdays birthday celebration.  that'll be fun.  you'll have to wait for that.  maybe a tuesday post???
i put the kids down earlier to bed tonight because they were all really tired.  or i was.  either way.  and i fell fast asleep...
so why am i up now?  well, that'll have to wait for another post.  a wednesday post. 
Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

an anwat pet-peeve

any time i tell you that i have a pet peeve, i'll preface it with something like this, "i don't have too many pet peeves, but i have one i'll tell you about that's been driving me crazy!" 
so, plant that preface here.
yard sale signs.  we must live in a great neighborhood for yard sales because our corner post is always filled up and down with colorful yard/garage/moving/estate/art sale signs.  it's not the signs that bother me.  they're colorful and pretty and unless they have obvious mis-spellings, they're just easily tolerable.  it's when they stay there all week long, for weeks and weeks and weeks! 
really folks, it doesn't take more than about a half hour (at most, that's if you're a crazy sign planter that places signs a mile from home.) to go and take down your signs at the end of the sale.  i realize there's a lot of cleaning up to do with the sale and all, because i have in fact put on one (or three) of these glorious
sales... but thirty minutes?!  is that really too much to ask?! 
well how about the fact that if you don't, you're littering!  does that bother you enough to do it?  paper is litter.  cardboard boxes are litter.  whatever you use isn't nature.  it's litter!  go pick up your trash people!!! 
come on!
so... if you've been involved in a yard sale lately (like this year) and you haven't removed your street-side advertisement, go do it.  because no one else is going to do it for you.  and it'll only take about thirty minutes (at most).  and if you don't, you're littering! 
but i love you.  thanks for reading. 
Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

if you're wondering

if you're wondering what's for dinner this week, you can just skip on over to this post and forget the title because i FINALLY went grocery shopping YESTERDAY and so we'll just bump that good guy on over to this week! 
sorry about the lame friday food-post this past week, but if you'll try the recipe you won't think the post is as lame as it looks.  :)  no, really.  try it.  go ahead. 
Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

such an awesome week!

we had such a great week to start out summer (officially).  the weather has been so warm and nice... the chores are getting done... the kids are smiling... the mom is happy!
i wish i were on the ball enough to get pictures of all of our fun activities and then even moreso do get them uploaded to the blog daily.  but, that's what wishing is for i guess. 
today i'm going to try and take some good pictures of aleemay.  tomorrow will be another kid.  the next day another.  and so on.  and so forth.  the pictures on my wall seem like a LONG time ago (and some of them are). 
tomorrow we will celebrate jones' birthday with a little bigger group.  my mr. has a long day on wednesday, not getting home until after 9... so we celebrated without him but tomorrow will be better.  jones keeps saying he's not really 5 yet because no one came to celebrate.  :(  i didn't teach him that, that's for sure!!!
ok, gotta run.  gotta start in on some of the day. 
enjoy life, folks!  don't pile on so many activities you can't see the happy moments.  summer is beautiful.  life is fun.  people are distractions. 
Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

friday food-post : loaded baked potato salad

it's almost saturday and i haven't posted for today's friday food post.
here's the recipe for the awesome potato salad.  that's all i've got.  :)  enjoy.  it's delish.  i'll post pictures some other time. 
Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

JONES, our 5-year-old

in october of 2005 i found out that i was pregnant with a baby as i was just getting used to life with a baby.  aleemay was only 9ish months old...  i cried.  i couldn't believe what was happening.  how could i have a baby when i had a baby?!
nine months passed. 
i had a baby.  this baby was jones.  we were thrilled to add a boy to our family.  since nine months had passed, my baby was now a toddler and nearly potty trained.  a baby was perfect for us!  we never would've guessed!!!
june 22, 2006 jones was born to us at 12:14, right after noon.  he was 1 perfect pound bigger than his older sis, 8 pounds and 7 ounces.  he looked JUST LIKE HER though, except he had a cute little dimple in his chin, and well, he was a boy. 
he was a sweet babe.  he didn't have a butt.  we called him "longbottom" for quite a while.  he pooped and peed all over me for the first several diaper changes.  and i mean all over me!  he ate well.  he slept well.  he cried well.  he cuddled extremely well (he still does).  and as i described above, he pooped well too.  what a great baby!

he's grown.

and grown.

and grown some more.

here's a series of pictures when jones was just about 2 (april of 2008)... actually about the same age that starboy is currently.

isn't that just the sweetest?!  he hasn't changed an iota.  seriously.  well, ok, maybe a little.  but hardly!

THAT's my boy.   well, really it's otter pop's boy!  he's OURS!!!!!

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

wednesday hair post 1

i have dozens and dozens of hair pix from when i was pregnant with starboy.  we spent lots of hours in the bathroom doing hair!  so, for the first several weeks of these hair posts my kiddos are going to look quite a bit younger. 
on the plus side of that... this one in particular is of a little 1 year old's head.  so if your little dolls are younger, these will be good for you.  of course not every 1 year old has as much hair as my little princesses have had, but still.  now her hair's down to her butt... so...
anyway, here's the pix:  this is boo (if you couldn't tell or have guessed already) 

why i didn't take a frontal picture is beyond me, but if you look closely in the first picture you can see her reflection in the mirror (kinda).  :) 
this do was easy but still cute.  boo looks the best in pig-tails so a lot of her do's are pig-tails in  different variations. 

1. this one starts with two half-ponies/piggies.  i started boo's up even closer to her bangs because i've never wanted her to have a ton of bangs, so her whole life she's had some pretty natural layers from her head growing so fast her bangs are always new hair growth and the old bangs get pulled back.  so her first ponies have to be all those short layers.
2. then you slice off another section behind/lower for another set of piggies.  when you put them together you'll take the opposite upper one to add into the tail.  (so now you'll have an x)
3. you'll do that two more times (or more or less depending on the amount of hair you're working with) with the final piggies hanging in the back with at least two x's above it.  (boo has 3, but one is on top of her head)

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

gratituesday -- rose colored glasses

i'm happy that i'm able to feel happiness. 

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

responsibility, or lack thereof

we had a message on sunday about taking responsibility.  it was pointed out that we, as christians, should be the most responsible humans out of everyone, because ultimately we are accountable to God for everything we do.  yes, everyone is accountable for their actions, but when we're representing Christ... we should do everything possible to represent Him well is all i'm saying here.
at the very beginning of time, we -humans- were given a whole lot of responsibility (Gen. 1:28).  we were DESIGNED for responsibility!  when we have it (whether in your family, your business, your community, life, anywhere), we feel good.  when we do well at it and live up to it, we feel happy.  and when we neglect it, we feel guilty, depressed, and unfulfilled. 
when one acts irresponsible, blame is shifted, guilt is felt, and conflict is ALWAYS present. 
this point brought to my mind the tv show "celebrity apprentice".  now, i'll throw in a disclaimer here, that i'm not a huge tv fan, but i have a handful of shows that i enjoy watching.  somehow celebrity apprentice appeared on that list.  this last season this lesson of irresponsibility leading to conflict was HUGELY apparent!  in the show, donald trump gives out assignments for each team.  the team has to pick a project manager.  that project manager leads the team in completing the assignment.  the manager is responsible for the outcome and therefore, if his/her team wins, that manager gets some money for the charity of his/her choice.  there were some managers who when confronted with the fact that they didn't do as well as they could have, shifted the blame to someone on their team.  then there were a few managers who when they were confronted, admitted that if something wasn't completed up to par, it was ultimately their fault because they were in charge of their team.  as a manager it was his/her responsibility to complete the task, so even if it was one of their team mates that did a poor job, it reflected the manager and therefore was the manager's fault, not the team player.  every single time the manager blame shifted and said it was not his/her fault tempers raised and conflict rose.  but when the managers would act responsibly, the room would quiet and you could just see the respect given to him/her. 
here's the second point of responsibility:  when one shirks responsibility, they're in turn leaving it for someone else.  when you don't do what is asked of you, it's not like it doesn't need done... someone still has to do it.  don't leave for others to do later what you can do now.  (-my new teaching point for my kiddos.)

*) anytime you see, feel, or hear blame being shifted (it wasn't my fault) or an excuse being made (for any reason), you can be sure that a responsibility isn't being met.  so think about that... 

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

what a great weekend!

yesterday was my mommy's 56th birthday.

i'm so happy who my mom is and how she raised me.  she was a wonderful mother.  she IS a wonderful mother.  she is one of the smartest women i know with a work hard, get-it-done personality.  she didn't have a lazy bone in her body as she raised her four kids and worked full time, coached softball some years, cheered endlessly for endless seasons of sports for all four kids.  she has a spirit of competition, adventure, and fun.  she is an amazing cook and a great baker too.  she loves her husband and her kids, but most importantly her Lord, Jesus Christ. 
happy birthday, ma!  you're the funnest, greatest ma out there with a great attitude and a good outlook on life.  thanks for being such a wholesome example to me and now for the next generation including my kids!

today is father's day.  i think that father's hold such a vital role in life.  i'm so glad that my heavenly Father gave me a stellar earthly father for me to grow up under.  i'm so thankful that He chose such an awesome father for my kids too.  both my brothers have become happy and hunky fathers as well. 
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

menu for father's day week

• beef stew
• meatloaf with my new awesome baked potato salad (i will definately post about) and green beans
• pulled pork sandwiches  tried this a while back and it was AWESOME!  it smelled awesome, it looked awesome, and it tasted awesome!!!
• stuffed shells with fresh green salad
• chicken fettucini alfredo with broccoli and garlic toast
• swiss steak with bisquits
• double layer tacos
• lamb and rhubarb

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  

friday-food post : thai chicken tacos

thai chicken tacos... it's what we're having for dinner tonight.  i've never had them, but they look yummy.  here's a link to the recipe:  LINK 

stay tuned for the actual post (which will be this one, but edited with photos and tips, and everything but the aroma)

here are my thoughts on the dinner we just devoured: 

1. the kids all ate it.  they didn't love it.  however, since we ate dinner about 1 1/2 hours later than usual/planned (due to a wonderfully welcomed but unexpected guest) they were famished.
2. it wasn't very hard to make AT ALL, but it did leave my kitchen an absolute disaster.
3. it was very fun to make.
4. i was using some ingredients i had never heard of and others i'd just stayed away from prior to this recipe.
5. fish sauce isn't the same thing as tartar sauce.  it's much different.  and it smells disgusting!!!
6. shredding cabbage isn't hard at all when you have a Cuisinart food processor with a shredding attachment!
7. i thought it was a successful new recipe.  all in all, i'd rate this friday-food as great!!!

this is the raw chicken mixed with all the ingredients BEFORE marinading

and this is after. 

*also with actual fish sauce added.  (i put tartar sauce in at first because i didn't know better, so this has both fish sauce AND tartar sauce).  i marinaded the meat for about 5 hours.

this is the cabbage all shredded up.  it took about 60 seconds to shred up the whole head of cabbage!

here's the carrots, still in the Cuisinart

green onions... 1/2 cup is pertineer the whole bunch of onions.  after slicing them up like this i chopped the heck out of them so we wouldn't have to bite into onion.

here's the cole slaw prior mixing it all together.  (the dark green is cilantro.)

here's the layout

and here's the finished product with my saliva ALL OVER IT!!!

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

past menu

• beef stew with fresh bread
• grilled burgers and dogs with asparagus
• spaghetti
• enchillada casserold with rice
• super bowl crock pot casserole
• goulash (from the freezer) with cottage cheese and rolls
• floating tacos
• tortilla soup
• ramen soup (with pork from pork chops)
• basalmic glazed pork chops

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

lovin' the summer vacation

our summer vacation started a week ago.  it seemed like school lasted FOREVER!  it was a long time to have my kiddos gone most of the time.  it's so nice to have us all together again.  i love them.  we're starting a behavior boot camp to remind them how a rehself child is expected to behave.  it's quite different than how an ordinary kid is expected to behave and two of my kids have had a lot of ordinary kid influence the past nine months!!! 
priority #1:  RESPECT
priority #2:  HONOR
priority #3:  SERVICE
adejay started out the summer by trying out a new youth group and on tuesday they spent several hours practicing priority #3 at the local homeless shelter(so, pretty much i like the group already!).  the group worked in the shelter's warehouse sorting through the clothes.  she said they had a "wall-e" for clothes!  adejay has spent one day per month going to the homeless shelter to serve dinner with her nana.  this month, the nana signed up for ANOTHER day per month to serve at the women's shelter.  i love to see my kids pour our their energy and heart for someone other than themselves.  it's a good thing! 
we've been visiting the park frequently and the weather has been delightful!  not too hot and not too cold.  today we ventured out even earlier than usual and we were able to have the playground all to ourselves for the first half hour!  jones brought his bike and aleemay and adejay brought their rollerblades.  we had fun. 
i love family time and i'm so excited for this "vacation" we get for the next couple months!  i'm not going to think about the fact that THREE of my offspring will be heading off to school this fall.  i'll only have TWO at home with me...  :(  :(  :(  like i said, i won't think about it!!!
Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

ideas

i thought i could put some organization to my madness in this blogosphere.  here are some ideas.  sunday or monday i'll post my menu, because i just like to do that.  monday = meet the author.  i'll post something neat or fun or factual or all of the above about me.  tuesday = gratituesday.  wednesday = hair post.  i have tons of fun hair pictures i can post and share.  friday = food post.  i'll post a new recipe or something food related. 
those are my ideas.
they may go through and be wonderful or maybe they'll fizzle out.  ya never really know with me!  ;)

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

yesterday was tuesday --gratituesday--

after i posted last night's post, i remembered that it was tuesday so i could have posted a gratituesday post!  so, i'll do a tardy one today. 
yesterday was also flag day. 

so my gratefulness will center around the flag that flies the highest where i live.
-the stars and stripes, red, white and blue, old glory, or (if you prefer), the star spangled banner.-
i'm thankful for what our flag stands for.  i'm thankful to live in the united states of america.  i'm thankful for all the rights and responsibilities we have as united states citizens.  i'm also thankful for all the benefits we receive as united states citizens. 

in this post, i'd also like to take the opportunity to thank our soldiers for doing what they do, even if they don't have much say about it.  they signed up and they're following through.  thanks soldiers.  there is one soldier, specifically, that i'd like to mention in urgency for prayer.  his name is bowe and he's a soldier that i personally know.  he's been taken captive by the enemy and he and his family covet prayers.  please remember to pray for God's will for and in him and his family. 

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."