does it matter???

i really could be the only one, but i'm just curious here... does anyone else think that it matters which side is down and which side is up when you're eating things like sandwiches or burgers??? 
just so ya know:
we had hawaiian chicken sandwiches for dinner tonight and i flipped mine up-side-down so that my tongue was touching the pineapple and cheese and the chicken was on the roof of my mouth.  it was SO MUCH BETTER that way!  seriously.
i know it makes a difference with pb&j sandwiches, but i don't eat them often enough to tell you the "right" way. 
and with meat and cheese sandwiches, if the cheese is on the bottom (tongue side) it's better just because then it doesn't stick to the roof of your mouth on accident. 
just so ya know.

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

yesterday's post gratituesday - blessings

is it redundant to say i'm grateful for blessings?  i don't think so.  and even if it is, i guess i don't mind being redundant.  we are told in scripture to be thankful: 
1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV --Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Ephesians 5:20 ESV--Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,        
Psalm 107:1 ESV --Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!         

Colossians 3:15-17 --ESV And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.            

2 Corinthians 9:15 ESV --Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

Psalm 105:1 ESV --Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!        

Psalm 106:1 ESV --Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!        

Philippians 4:6 ESV --Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.        

Psalm 118:1-18 ESV --Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free. ...         

Colossians 4:2 ESV --Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.        

Colossians 3:15 ESV --And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.        

Psalm 30:12 ESV --That my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

Psalm 9:1-2 ESV --To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David. I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.        

Colossians 3:17 ESV --And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

those were just a few.  (seriously.)  but the truth of the matter is that blessings are everywhere.  they can be anything.  we pray for specific blessings, but sometimes God's will is different than what we're thinking.  here's a great song that's really popular in our house.  please listen to it's lyrics.  it's a pretty tune too, but it's the words that touch me. 

so, this week i'm so very very very thankful for all the different blessings in my life.  i realize that that's what this gratituesday post is all about, but i want to put a blanket thankfulness for ALL the blessings that God pours down on me.

in honor of veteran's day this friday, last night we were invited to the olive garden restaurant for dinner.  my husband served four long years in the marine corps (a long time ago).  he served overseas for 2.5 of that and was camped out in Somalia, Africa for about 8 months.  he doesn't get much recognition for his service, and he's fine with that, because that's not why he did it.  but i kinda mind... he sacrificed a lot in those four years.  not just materially, but emotionally, and morally as well.  a lot of it he doesn't like to recall.  i think that it deserves recognition EVEN IF the service isn't "all that much."  it's still a service to all us free united states citizens.  there are so many veterans like my husband that just went back to civilian life and didn't take advantage, or didn't get the benefits that're out there. 

last night's dinner was the very first real benefit my husband has received from serving those long 4 years for our country.  in retrospect it wasn't much, but to him it meant a lot.  i meant a lot to me.  we were treated like royalty.  honestly, i've never experienced that.  i've never had the money to "earn" that sort of treatment (especially at a restaurant).  i've gotten free meals before, but never to the extent that 3 managers come to check on us, 2 very attentive waiters cater to our every beck and call, plus we had appetizers, entrees, and desserts (to take home even, nonetheless).  we and the kids got whatever special drink we wanted (which was chocolate milk for the kids, but otter pop treated them each to a shirley temple... so they'd know what they were) and were just honored and treated special in every single way.  we kept saying "thank you.  thank you so much.  thanks..." and instead of the normal "you're welcome" their response was always "thank YOU!" 

gratituesday opportunity to thank the Lord for ALL the blessings He gives me.  even the hard ones.  i want to thank Him, in the same way that we were thanked last night for my husband's service to our country.  i want God to feel that i am honoring Him and treating Him special in EVERY SINGLE WAY!  He gave us the greatest service, in dying on the cross.  He has already given us the most precious gift out there, in accepting our sinning souls into heaven instead of damning us to eternal hell.  Thank you, Jesus.  Thank you for EVERYTHING!

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

saturday

• hubby's home.
• took the family to the discovery center.  the local nurses and some drs brought the operating room to the center.  = SO MUCH FUN!
• took a 6-year-old to an ice skating birthday party.
• relaxed just a little bit.
• gonna get some pizza
• take the kids to the "fun place"
• relax while they're there.
• come home and cuddle
• watch a movie

that sounds fabulous doesn't it?! 

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

speaking of dynamite... i can sure light up a room!

now this is a real life anwat post!  in fact, after it happened i had to call someone and get some info... and i was too proud to admit what had happened.  i was just too embarrassed at my stupidity.  here.  i'll just tell you what happened. 
it started with a shower and doing my doll boo's hair.  it's finally getting long enough that not only does it need done (because it's been that way for a couple months now) but now it's even long enough to DO it!  yeah!  yeah for growing hair!  yeah boo!!!!!

so, this totally could've been a hair post.  and that's why these photos were taken... so, maybe they'll make a hair post too... but not today.  those are on wednesday.  and very infrequently, if you hadn't noticed.
anyway, the cute little 3-1/2 year old was so precious that i thought i'd pose her and take a few pictures that weren't focused on her hair and where i could position her in the poses that I think are cute and would hang well on a wall.  so, i looked around and decided the fireplace would make a great backdrop.  but, it'd make an even better backdrop if it were on.  so, i decided to light it.

i should back up and say that we've been having trouble with our furnace.  well, if we don't use it, the pilot light goes out.  our garage is quite a pile-up... so lighting the pilot isn't as easy as it should be.  the weather has been warm and cool and just a little cold and then warm again.  we've only turned the heat on once this fall (when we discovered the problem) and only for a day, but then it warmed back up.  yesterday it was cool enough that the heater should be on, but the pilot had gone out again.  since the mr. is in pennsylvania, i just decided we could beef it for a night.  i put our extra winter blankets on all our beds and we were fine.  i had THOUGHT about our fire place last night... but it's caused us problems (ex. the smoke alarm or co2 detector goes off every time we light it and/or it gives me a headache after about 10 minutes) ever since we moved in.  that and since we've always had little hands (and little brains) living with us, we just figured it's safest to not use the fireplace. 
anyway... all that to just add a little substance to the story i guess.  because i wasn't going to light the fireplace for heat.  just for looks.  and just for the picture.  so no biggie. 
well, otter pop had to buy one of those fancy lighters with a long bendy lighter-stick-thingamajig to light the pilot back then, so i decided that lighting the fireplace would be a good chance for me to get to use it.  it looked cool!  (if my word description doesn't work for you, that link should show you what i'm talking about.)
i turned on the gas just a little and put the long bendy-thing down by the fake logs.  (that could totally be a line of a joke, but i'll resist.)  i pushed the "you should start" button but nothing happened.  (that could too.)  anyway, i tried again and again.  hmph.  i guess i'll have to turn the gas up.  so i did a little and tried again and to no fire.  so, i pumped up the gas all the way and then decided that maybe it'd be "bright" to light the long bendy-thingy before i stick it by the fake logs.  so i push all the right buttons and click the "you should start" button and... BOOM! 
the fire place was ablaze.
and so was my face.
and hair.
and seriously, i flew back about five feet without any effort on this big pregnant body.  i landed a few feet in front of my little kids waiting [in terror now] for their picture to be taken. 
i put my hands up to my face and felt singed eyebrow hairs.  i rolled my eyes at my complete stupidity.  oh my gosh... how dumb could i be?!  i turned the gas way back down and got the fire looking about normal and then turned to the kids.  boo had this look of amazement on her face and she wouldn't stop looking at my eyebrows (or what i thought was my eyebrows).  i asked her if i looked silly and she nodded, her eyes not leaving my face.
it was about then the smoke detectors went off.  if you want to make total chaos in a totally chaotic environment, throw in a high pitched beep that no one can ignore!  i opened the doors and the close windows and it shortly turned off.  boo had ran to the hallway (the LOUDEST place possible) to get away from the noise.  starboy had just somehow hidden under the great big 50 lb. love sac. 
i gathered them back to reassure them that everything was ok.  i closed the fireplace and tried to get boo into a posing position.  she kept telling me to please get away from the fire so it didn't burn me up again.  :(  i told her it was all ok now.  i swept the ashes away and sat there to show her.  she just wouldn't have it. 
when i finally got her in front of the place, she looked cute and perfect except the look of terror on her face... and the fact that she couldn't TURN her face from the fire to look at the camera!  and then when we were just so close (well, not any closer than i just described)... the smoke detector went off again and this time boo went up in tears!  i chased her with my hands over her hands over her ears and told her to sit in the kitchen instead of the hallway.  i also told starboy to follow her.  and i also gave up on the photo session.  turned the gas off, put all the fire equipment up, and decided to go see what was so eye-catching about my disastrous face. 
this is what i found:

yep.  it wasn't just the eyebrows.  apparently my eyebrows must've been highly overgrown and shaggy, because they don't look harmed hardly at all! 

i hadn't done my hair yet, and since i had braided it yesterday it had a million fly-aways that decided to just burn away.  this picture was taken after i had thoroughly patted away all the singed hairs that were just floating above my head.
yeah.  this is a real story.  this is the real me.  you can tell because i'm not even fake enough to smile at the camera when i'm really just not feeling the smile!


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

tampons: dynamite or candy?

we watched a smidgen of AFV tonight and there was this clip of these two boys who found a tampon out in their lawn (???), unwrapped it, and were convinced that it was a stick of dynamite.  this humorously reminded me of my own boy/tampon story:
jones flooded our bathroom a few weeks ago by using too much tp.  that was such a disgusting mess!  i had an old box of tampons sitting behind the toilet on the floor because that bathroom doesn't have any storage space.  when i was cleaning the mess i just threw the whole box away because i didn't think it'd be safe to even assume they might be ok... if you know what i mean. 
anyway, jones is responsible for emptying the bathroom trash cans.  he came up to me the next day with a wrapped up tampon and a smile on his face. 
"why did you throw a whole box of these away?"  he asked
"because you flooded the bathroom and they got all poopy gross wet.  they're no good anymore," i replied.
"oh,"  he sighed, as he remembered the mess.  "what are they?  candy???"
...
"no, sweetie.  just throw them away."  is all i could answer through muffled giggles and smiles.  if he only knew.

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

what's up, doc?

on sunday, my love otter pop, flew away to philadelphia, pa for a mechanic's training class.  he gets back friday night... late! 
sunday was alright.  it was different than most sundays, but we went to church and my parents came over to celebrate starboys birthday... so we were kept busy to keep our minds off the missing mister.
monday was fine too because i had my dr's appointment in the morning and it was starboys birthday, so we really kept busy monday too.
but monday night i had two bad dreams.  the first one was so bad i really didn't think i'd be able to go back to sleep.  i've never actually woke up screaming before... i've woke up crying before, but not literally screaming.  but i did monday night.  well it was tuesday morning, really.  (3:30am)  then i had another bad dream after i finally did go back to sleep... so that sucked.  when i have bad dreams all i want is my hubby.  i almost called him too because he would be in bed sleeping... but i didn't.  i just prayed.
tuesday went along fine.  the kids that i babysit have been sick.  they didn't come monday or tuesday.  however, i still watched an extra two tuesday morning for the volunteer swap i do at the school.  maybe i haven't said, but each tuesday i either volunteer in aleemay or jones' class, or i watch the lady who watches my kids' kids so that she can volunteer in her daughter's classroom.  it's really nice.  i really enjoy it.  little boo has made a best friend with the little girl too, so she really looks forward to tuesdays with her "my best friend".  they're really cute together too.  for such young girls, they play REALLY well together! 
i had another heart episode tuesday morning.  that's the first one since i've been on the heart medication.  i called the cardiologist, but didn't hear anything back...  they called and got all the info and were going to call me back, but didn't.  so, i don't know what to make of that.  it was a pretty shaking episode, so i wonder what's next...  thankfully i was on the phone with a sister, so i felt safe through it. 
after the girls got home from school we went to the girl scout store to get aleemay her little daisy tunic and patches.  she's really excited about that.  she's loving her first girl scout experience!  and little boo said, "i want to be a girl scout like aleemay when i get bigger."
the boys are doing well, but i think they miss their daddy the most.  jones asks every night when daddy's getting home. 
we only have three more days... we can do it!  i just hope he doesn't have to work on saturday when he gets back.  i really miss him!

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

gratituesday - autumn

i LOVE the colors in a city full of trees!
i LOVE the crisp fresh air.  the air that's cool enough that if you leave the window open a crack, you REALLY have to cuddle.  the air that's cool enough that in the morning you want to wrap up in a blanket or a big fluffy robe.  the air that's cool enough you think twice before running out to the mailbox without shoes or a jacket.  ... yeah, that crisp fresh fall air!
i LOVE the mums that are so colorful and pretty while it seems everything else is dying.
i LOVE the trees showing personality.  some keep covered.  some keep green.  some turn yellow, while others get red, orange, yellow, and brown.  some turn bright red, while others darken to a deep purple.  some shed their tops first, others shed all at once.  i like the ones who seem modest and cover their "crotch" as long as they can.  the trees really have great personality this time of year.
i LOVE fall!  i LOVE autumn! 
i LOVE the harvest. 
i LOVE the foods.
i LOVE the smells, the spices, the baking!

God is so perfect.  He knows just what to do.  ALL four seasons are so wonderful to watch and be a part of.  i am so thankful for this time of year.  the time of year where we're reminded to be thankful.  what a great time of year!  thank you, God, for autumn... and what a pretty name, don't you think?!  autumn...  ;)

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