Thursday, November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving



As I was putting the turkey in the oven this morning, Cameron, my 4 yr old asked me if I went out and caught that turkey. I just laughed out loud. Then last night Carson and I were setting the table for today and I was out of napkins. He found some camouflage napkins left over from Cameron's birthday and insisted we use those. I quickly informed him that they did not match and we were not going to use them. He then replied that if we use those napkins we could not only celebrate Thanksgiving but we could celebrate Adam (my nephew) while he is at war. So you guessed it we are using camouflage napkins this Thanksgiving in honor of Adam who is in Iraq.



Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and may the Lord bless you and your families.

Blessings,

Linda

Monday, November 19, 2007

Surgery

If the Lord leads will you please lift up my Father in law as he has surgery on his arm today. My mother in law as she takes care of him and my nephew Adam who is in Bahgdad.

Thanks so much and have a wonderful day in the Lord.

Blessings

Linda

Sunday, November 18, 2007

LORDY, LORDY, LOOK WHO'S FORTY!!!!























I can’t believe it is my sister, Sandy’s 40th birthday. She certainly does not look it but of course they are saying that 40 is the new 20, like brown is the new black. I don’t know who “THEY” are but I will take THEIR word for it since I am already a year into the 40’s decade myself. Anywho. I have inserted several pictures that are reminiscent of her life. The jeans logo cracks me up because I remember my mother saying she was not going to pay for designer jeans when she could buy some perfectly nice ones at a more realistic price. Well Sandy saved her money and bought those jeans. She was so proud. I was jealous because I could not fit in them way too small for me.
I also remember that she would forgo birthday cake and want a Lemon Merenge pie instead which was always yummy. She was a cheerleader in high school and one of the prettiest I might add. She was and still is very photogenic. She was voted most attractive by her classmates. As wonderful as she sounds in the past she is a totally different and better person now. She loves the Lord. She is creative. A very gifted artist. She is a wonderful mom and wife. I really believe she and her husband run one of the most organized homes I know. She brought a wonderful man into our family when she married Steven and they have three great boys. She loves people and teaching them to paint. I know it thrills her to see the success that so many of her students are having in her classes. She is a hands on mother. She does not know how to say no very easily so often times she has volunteered for way too many things that all seem to be due around the same time. She is a terrific bowler and she makes some awesome homemade crescent rolls. She is very dear to me and I love her very much. Sometimes she will remind me of something she did when she was younger and I don’t have any idea what she is talking about then I remember that in high school it was all about ME so I don’t remember a lot of went on with her or my other sweet sister, Debbie. Definetly a regret I will carry always. Sandy, I hope as you read this you know how much I love you and how truly blessed I feel to call you my sister. I hope you have a great day and welcome to a new decade
Love you,
Linda.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Happy late birthday party to you!!


My baby, Cameron is 4. He turned 4 on Sept. 28th. I promised myself he would have a birthday party this year as the last years we have just done family birthdays for him seeing that it is during soccer season and we seem to be always traveling during that time. Well here it is November 15th and guess what??? He is having a party tomorrow afternoon at a local party place and he cannot wait. We picked the cake out yesterday and he is anxiously awaiting getting to sit in the birthday boy chair in the party room. He does not know the difference in the time frame. He does know it is not his birthday but it is his party.
Chandler started indoor soccer last night with kids from his high school. It's just fun for them to get together and play before the actualy school soccer season starts. Indoor is fun to watch and the guys seem to have a great time. It is sort of like playing street soccer only with a ref. Carson is still practing for basketball. His team has not started games yet. They have all been doing pretty well in school so we are thankful for that. I am looking forward to some time off next week to get things back in order around here. The hardwood looks great and so does the carpet now of course I have to paint but I am really going to pace myself and just do a little at a time.
Have a blessed day,
Linda

Monday, November 12, 2007

Happy Birthday Jill

I could not figure out how to change the date as I prepared this last night for this morning so Today the 13th of November is Jill's birthday not the 12th as my post header displays.

Today in honor of Jill's 40th birthday her husband, Doug, is my guest columnist.



Birthday’s can be difficult. Milestone birthday’s can be devastating. To some more so than others, but to most people…they really seem to matter, to an extent, anyway. (How’s that for covering both sides of the fence?)

That is most people, except my wife Jill @ Who Could Ask for Anything More. Today is her 40th birthday and my co-conspirators I call BFOJ’s (Blogging Friends of Jill’s) have allowed me the distinct honor of being a guest columnist.

My hope is that wherever my wife goes within her circle of BFOJ’s today, she will see this message and know how much she means to me, not to mention how much the BFOJ’s think of her for letting a grizzled hack like me hijack their fantastic and very personal blogs.

Rather than do the traditional acronym exercise (J = Jazzy!) or the “40 Things I Love About My Wife” entry, I thought I would share the four most wonderful things about Jill -- the things that make me love her more every day.

She loves my older kids – Not everyone who marries into a new family will connect with the entire crew, but Jill never missed a beat. With my older kids, she accepted them and loved them – at first simply because they were my kids – and now because of who they are. She treats them with kindness, respect, gives them guidance on chores and other responsibilities, but is very respectful of their mom and never tries to “mother” them. She educated herself about Bay’s food allergies and is very cognizant of his limitations when planning and preparing meals. Rarely a day goes by that she doesn’t make a special version of our family meal just for him. Many times Jill has invited Kendra to come along to the salon to get their nails done. At 11 years of age, Kendra has always gravitating to older girls and more mature activities and this is a special way for them to spend time together.

She loves my parents - I can’t say I was ever really “close” to my folks in the sense that I sought them out for advice about life. So I wasn’t sure how that dynamic would play into my relationship with Jill. She has such a kind heart for that generation and quickly threw her arms around my folks and loved them unconditionally. Since we first met, my Mom has passed away and my Dad has endured a mountain of health issues. Through it all, Jill has been a steady, loving partner. In fact, on the occasions when my Dad visits, we have to make some alterations to the house to accommodate him, his wheelchair, his walker and his personal needs. Jill not only goes with the flow of the décor disruption, but lovingly plans meals that my soon-to-be 82-year-old father doesn’t get as often as he would like. It’s amazing how a simple plate of fried eggs and bacon can light up a proud man. My favorite time of our visits is in the evenings. Jill typically beats me home from work and when Dad is in town, they have usually already cracked open a new bottle of wine. Dad isn’t afraid to ask for service and Jill takes great pleasure in keeping his glass full. It is a precious time.

Her patience – Full disclosure: patience is not my strong suit. In fact, it is probably my greatest weakness and barrier to volumes of peace and happiness. That said, I find myself much more patient in the last four years in so many areas of my life (hmm…coincidence?). If you look up the word PATIENCE in the dictionary, you see a picture of Jill. Despite the chaotic nature of our house, I have rarely seen her react with desperation. In fact, I just see her continuing to raise the bar. As my patience has improved, she get even MORE patience. Her thoughtfulness and patience with Adam is uncanny…not that all mothers’ don’t have that nurturing gene…but even after a solid 10 minutes of whining about something that I find unintelligible…Jill merely says (for the umpteenth time)…”Adam, use words to tell Mom what you want.” She is amazing.

She makes our house a home – Imagine buying your first home together…and it’s already 27 years old. Granted it was in good structural shape, but the majority of the décor was stuck in the 70’s. Over the past two years, Jill has developed a beautiful vision of how our house should look…how it should become a home. We started with dark wood throughout and some of the most exciting beige paint you could imagine. We’ve progressed to vibrant colors, amazing window treatments and bright open spaces. The original kitchen was hideous, but is now a show place. The powder room was engulfed in mind-altering striped wallpaper but now looks like a museum exhibit. She goes bits and pieces forward as time and budget allows and every step of the way she is filling the gaps of her master plan. We’ve both said that this home is the first, last and only one we will ever buy and we joke that our next stop is either the Retirement Home or the Funeral Home. We want a home in which we can build family traditions and memories and one that the kids will want to bring THEIR kids to. We want to grow old right here. Together.

There are obviously many more things that make Jill the woman to whom I have given my heart and want to give my life. She is the woman I dreamed of marrying. She is sweet, but tough, Honest and direct. Kind and loving. She gives without request or expectation. She nurtures with care and patience. She loves unconditionally.

Truly…I am blessed. Happy Birthday, Sweetheart.

What a great weekend. We made it to the State finals yesterday morning and in double overtime we were able to score and ended with a 1-0 victory. For the fourth time Chandler's soccer team has managed to win State. It was exciting and nail biting for us. It is always anyones game and fortunately for us it was ours yesterday.
Back to reality for us as soon as we got in the car to drive home. Chandler had to study for a huge English test all the way home and as soon as we walked in we had to move furniture. Our bedroom, Chandler's bedroom and our living room all had to be emptied. I am anxiously waiting for the call from the workers to tell me they are on their way to lay the carpet and hardwood. We are out of school today so this was the best day for me to have them come. I hope they call soon.
I am looking forward to getting to spend a little time at my favorite blogs today.
The kids are still sleeping so I figure I will blog surf for a little bit and then have some quiet time.
Have a blessed day,
Linda

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Long time no post.....and YES I know it is a long one

Well I have decided to quit posting that I am busy because it seems to be all I say. So lets just let it be understood that I AM BUSY and that is the end of it. Each and every one of you could make the same statement and I don't want to come off as complaining so on with my post. haha
Teaching has been fun for me. I have really grown to love these little children whose parents have entrusted me to be a part of their education experience. The little girls are sooo girly. I love it!!! They are sooo sweet to me and feel bad that I only have boys. Several of them have invited me to come over to watch girly shows since that does not happen at my home. The little boys are precious and are all boy!!! Everything becomes a gun or sword and is pow pow, of course we are not allowed to let that happen so I have to encourage them to find something else to play. They are loud and fidgety(not a word) I feel very much at home with them because there are not many calm, quiet moments around here with 3 boys and two dogs.
I feel blessed to have been given this experience. I know my dh would probably argue that because he has to hear the other side of me working part time and that is that I am not able to get anything else done around here. I used to be a perfectionist about my home then I had 3 kids and I settled for picked up and maybe really clean a few times a week now I feel like I am just blessed to get every one where they need to be on each day with everything that they need to have. I know this is just a season and I pray that the investments that I am making in my children's and my student's lives will be substaintial. I mean really do my boys care that my house is "eat off the floor" clean or would they settle for picked up and me playing with them?? My house is stuff and while I do believe we should teach our kids to take care of the things we have been blessed to have I don't want them to ever feel that our "stuff" is more important then they are. I have not always had this mentality but I am thankful I finally got it. My younger two will benefit from this but my oldest will probably need therapy. haha
We are off tomorrow for the soccer state championship. Chandler's team has won this 3 times in a row and not to sound greedy but I would love to see the team win it for the 4th time. We have one of our biggest defenders sick right now and if he even gets to play he will be weak. We also have a player that got a red card last game so he has to sit out our first game. Not great circumstances to play under but all teams go through these types of situations so we will just have to see how it plays out. My dh and I love to watch this team play. We have been so blessed by our coach and all of the parents. This team is truly a TEAM. No superstars, everyone is needed and they all know that. It has been fun to see my son and the rest of the team really have each other's back on the field and to see the relationships they have formed off the field is exciting as well. I have been told that teams are not always so special. Meaning that the players may be good but the coach is degrading to them or the parents cannot get along. I don't know what goes on anywhere else but I do know we have a wonderful coach, great players and great parents and my dh and I feel very blessed that the Lord put our son with this team and it's is a long story but it truly was the Lord that placed him here.
I will let you know how it all pans out but would love to have you pray that our team plays their best and that no one on any of the teams this weekend gets hurt. I also am praying that if it is in God's will that we will win and if it not that the boys will be gracious in losing.
Tonight we get to pack for the weekend and then move furniture out of 3 rooms since the carpet and hardwood are being laid Monday. Any creative ideas on keeping the kids and dogs off the floor for 24 hours???? Short of moving out for the night I am not sure how I will be doing that but I know it is doable(sp)
Hope a great weekend is in store for all of you.
Blessings
Linda