OUT

Well I finally made it OUT of the house.

I took WeeklyAd to the doctors and am OUT $20 just so they could tell me that it's viral. That's better than strep I guess but I was hoping to go OUT and get an antibiotic and have her feeling better by tomorrow.

While I was OUT, I drug my niece OUT with me (she stayed IN the car with the kiddos) so that I could run into the store and grab the Meredith Andrews CD. I thought they were OUT of it but then finally found one last lonely copy somewhere on a shelf OUT of place.

Nothing better to get me OUT of a funk than great praise music.

I also donated money so that a Bible could be shipped OUT to a soldier for the 4th of July. Very cool idea! I was OUT of time and could not personalize the message but I trust that the message they write will be good and heartfelt and the soldier will be blessed by it. My heart truly goes OUT to soldiers and their families! I am so thankful for them!!

okay, I'm OUT of here.

IN

I am finally IN the mood to blog a little.

Maybe it's because I am stuck IN the house today.

WeeklyAd woke up with a high fever and pain IN her eyes and head.

Can't believe it might be the flu IN our home again.

All I wanted to do today was get INto FamilyChristianBookstore.

I've wanted the Meredith Andrews CD (The INvitation) for so long.

She is my new favorite artist IN the Christian Music World.

Hope WeeklyAd feels better! Until then it's Meredith Andrews on the INternet.

Just got this link....it's INcomprehensible.

INconceivable.

Be INformed.

"Trafficking thrives in the shadows, and it can be easy to dismiss it as something that happens to someone else, somewhere else. But that's not the case. Trafficking is a crime that involves every nation on Earth, and that includes our own..."
~ Hillary Clinton, who also called trafficking a "grave problem" in the United States.

Gleaning From Others

These are excerpts from other blogs that I read. They have caused me to stop and think, to pray, to rejoice, to cry, etc. I have not asked permission to quote them so I hope the original "posters" don't get angry but rather see it as a compliment. Their words have blessed me. There are so many.....here are a few of my favorites.

"Praise the Lord!
I will thank the Lord with all my heart
as I meet with his godly people.
How amazing are the deeds of the Lord!
All who delight in him should ponder them.
Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty.
His righteousness never fails.
He causes us to remember his wonderful works.
How gracious and merciful is our Lord!" Psalm 111:1-4

"This girl who lived inside of me and wanted to be better, not because of the accolades, but because of the most exquisite peace that came going where He led me. Trusting Him relentlessly, with great joy." ~Angie

"Do you ever get that feeeling... where you are so close to God that you just want to sing to him forever? Where you can touch it and swim around in this pool of amazing awesomenessessess! You just want it forever but soon you get back into routine and it kinda fades away! That knife in your side, and were the piece of your heart which was once full falls to the ground feeling because you miss it so much!
Thats the feeling that i get when i am in worship and thats one feeling i hope all of you feel at least once in your life! It is so incredible!" ~Hannah

"I have loved you with an everlasting love. therefore, I have continued my faithfulness to you." ~Jeremiah 31:3

"The times in my life when I've been in the lowest valleys are also the times in which I have experienced the heights of spiritual growth." ~MckMama

"Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him..." ~Psalm 37:7

"From experience: what a blessing it will be to your children to be perceived as insiders but be able to advocate for outsiders. What a challenge it will be for them to understand and take joy in their identity in Christ. How painful it will be for them to experience being different. What a gift it is that God has had your children specifically in mind before the beginning of the world, to reflect his image in a unique way that no one else can." ~Claire (commenting on Grace's post about her bi-racial boys)

"How can this be
A love so unfailing
Reached down and lifted me
From ashes to beauty

And you invite me in
Doesn’t matter where I’ve been
Your arms are open wide
There’s nothing left to hide

You invite me in
Doesn’t matter who I’ve been
Your arms are open wide
Holding me to your side"
~Meredith Andrews
(You Invite Me In)

Festivals

We had a great time this past weekend celebrating our community's LibertyFest. We went to the parade and then the festival and fireworks. This was the first year that WeeklyAd's dance company was not in the parade (they had another day of recitals that day) but the kid's school participated again this year and HomeAudio was able to ride his bike. It was another great parade, fun festival, and fantastic display of fireworks!

Jazz Dance 2009

Here's my little mover and shaker~



Ballet 2009~

This was from the dress rehearsal (hence the teacher walking across the stage and the girls watching each other so much). Also, WeeklyAd stands still a lot as there are a lot of rounds in this particular dance.



Another great (and HUGE) recital this year!

Grumpy

I'm tired and cranky and discontent.

But we are all healthy and love the Lord and I can't really complain.

Except that I have been complaining a lot.

Sorry honey! Thanks for loving me through it!

Seriously, I miss my Bible Study! I'm not doing too good on my own.

I haven't worked out in 3 days...but I've lost 3 lbs. in those 3 days. Go figure.

Finally made it to the pool today and it was wonderful!

LittleMiss loved it!

We will be there a lot this summer.

VBS today. 2 tiny babies all to myself to care for. Precious!

Still on a role with healthy eating.

HomeAudio had a marshmallow and hot dog last night (at a friend's house after 10:00) and after I exclaimed, "what in the world!?" He replied, "it's the only real food I've had in over a week."

I've agreed that they can eat whatever when we are at other's homes but at home we are sticking to the plan.

It's not organic, just lots of fruits and veggies and nuts and oats and protein.

Cutting out as much sugar as possible too.

Sheesh, this post is longer than I had planned.

Work to do tonight as tomorrow is my first meeting with the Regent Board of our school.

I'm officially a Regent in July but will be sitting in tomorrow.

Yes, I'm nervous. But it will be good. except the 6:00am breakfast they asked me to come to. That can never be good.

Goodnight!

Summer? Fun

Is it really summer?

We are still stuck in the house and I'm still craving a pumpkin spice latte so I have a hard time believing that summer is really here!

Just a few photos from the last few days~

Collecting and Painting Rocks~
I totally cheated this time and gave them paint pens!


HomeAudio's Entry for The Flip Flop Contest at Old Navy~
"A Sandal For All Seasons"~


Reading Time~



HomeAudio's Photos~
I think we may have a photographer on our hands!~

Two Days

Our friends traveled to New York for a business/Anniversary trip this week and we have the privilege of keeping their beautiful girls for them for a couple of days. They are so adorable and perfectly well-behaved! Of course WeeklyAd has loved having another girly-girl friend to play with and LittleMiss and HomeAudio have been fighting for attention from little K. HomeAudio just adores little ones and LittleMiss thinks it's great having someone in the house that is just her size! And me, I've enjoyed watching them all play together and laugh and interract. And of course, I've been taking lots of pictures!

Birthday Celebration

Here are pictures from the day WeeklyAd's class celebrated her birthday. She has a summer birthday so we celebrated it the last week of school with donuts and orange juice for breakfast.

First her teacher prayed for her~


Then WeeklyAd passed out the chocolaty treat~


Then the teacher wrote down nice things that the class had to say about WeeklyAd. They said things like merciful, trustworthy, pretty, God's friend, nice even to mean people, good citizen, a gift from God, and more. It was very sweet!~


Finally, they sang Happy Birthday with some very silly motions~


I sure am going to miss her teacher and classmates! It was just a fantastic year for WeeklyAd with lots of friends and one of the best teachers I have ever known!

Working Out

For HarleyGirlDee~ the workout master who is such an inspiration to me!

I will post again about working out.

I have now officially worked out the past 11 out of 12 nights. I took one night off as the video requires you to do so...or maybe they say work 6 out of 7 days a week because they know most people will take a day off? I don't know!?

I have done the video 7 out of 8 days and have been to the gym with my older sister about 7 times in the last 12 nights. Confused yet?

So basically there are some days that I have done the video and been to the gym. This has been helpful because every other day the video is strength/sculpting (weight training) and then I can get cardio done at the gym with my sister. The other days on the video are cardio days and so there are a few times that I've had double cardio workouts. I figure it doesn't hurt since most people do 3 to 4 to 5 to 6 times more cardio than that on any given day.

Though I haven't lost much on the scale (yes, I've heard muscle weighs more than fat), I do feel tighter and strengthened and sculpted a bit more. However, as one who is inspired by the scale dropping, it has been hard to not be so frustrated. I did finally measure the inches of my arms, bossom, waist, hips, buttocks, and thighs.

Wednesday, I will measure again and hope against hope that the measurements have gone down and I can be inspired by loss of inches rather than loss of pounds (or lack thereof). We'll see.

Under-Where

Have I ever shared with you how horrible the first five minutes of WeeklyAd's mornings are on school days? No!? Well, misery loves company so keep reading!

After waking WeeklyAd and jubilantly proclaiming that it was the last day of school, she groggily responded, "hooray, no more wearing underwear!" Um, hello, we wear underwear in the summertime too dear child.

Quite simply, WeeklyAd hates/dispises/dreads/ wearing underwear (and yes, I've tried them all!). She screams and cries when I put it on her, she sneaks into the bathroom to take them off and cram them into her pockets, she crammed them into her shoes before, and she adores pajamas because I finally gave in a long time ago and told her she could wear pajamas without them. sigh.

Once I explain to her, again for the gazillionth time, that she IS going to wear underwear, and I get her clothes on her (while she's howling in my ear at 6 in the morning), we head downstairs for breakfast and she is totally fine and ready for school. But those first five minutes are a nightmare!

Immediately after school, she strips down and puts on pajamas. Heaven forbid we have somewhere to go where she needs to get dressed again because then the nightmare begins all over again. double sigh.

Today she got her wish and has been in her bathing suit all day. Maybe she will get out of wearing underwear in the summer?

Hello There

I think the Flu is finally gone. From our home. It's still circulating around the school and within school families but hopefully it is on it's way out for good.

HomeAudio won a contest and was supposed to go to McDonald's on Monday for lunch. Unfortunately he was still home recovering and missed the trip. His response was, "now I don't get the joy of seeing the bus fit through the drive-thru!" He didn't really care about leaving school or eating McDonald's or anything else but seeing how in the world the bus would make it through the drive-thru. Obviously the bus did not go through the drive-thru and I personally believe it's impossible. Ya think?

WeeklyAd's response to this week has been "the party never ends for me!" That is the truth! We have had party after party around here. It's been exhausting trying to keep everything straight but at least my party-girl is enjoying herself.

I HAD to get out of the house one night last week and called my sister to see if she could meet me at the gym. That hour brought such refreshment and adjustment in attitude that we decided to meet the next night...and the next...and so on. I also borrowed the Biggest Loser video from my neighbor and have been working my way through that at home. It's been a very good, satisfying, painFUL week but I'm thankful for the accountability of another gym member (my sister) and the convenience of working out at home. I hope to keep it up!

That's about all for now. I have some pictures to post tomorrow...after yet another party!