Week in Review

I feel like this has been a long week. I'm tired and I could easily sleep for days, but every one else in my house hold forbids it! I subbed every day this week. After having only 2.5 days of subbing in February the 10.5 I'm getting in March will come in very handy when pay day rolls around. It is worth it, but I find it hard to balance my duties at home, especially when all I want to do is go to bed as soon as I get home from school. So I signed back up with Fly Lady and so far I've managed to.... read her daily emails and delete them! HA!

We have a few small things going on around here that keep life interesting and entertaining.

On the interesting side of life Dade and Matia have each planted a pan full of Giant Imperial Stock seeds (flowers) and are anxiously awaiting any sign of growth. If our best laid plans do not go astray this summer, we might actually be around home long enough to grow some edible stuff. Just like the seeds, we will have to wait and see. In the mean time I'm reading up on gardening with high hopes.

In the entertaining realm:

• last night we heard someone sneaking around in the dark. Mike got up to investigate and found Matia smuggling goods from the fridge into her bed. What treasures did she have you might ask? A 2L bottle of Orangina, and a 2lb carton of fresh strawberries! Imagine the mess if we had not heard her! Oh la la! That girl keeps me on my toes!
• Last week after church Dade told me I was beautiful (as he often does, Isn't he great!). I told him thank you and said how nice he is to girls, he said very seriously, "yes, I'm nice to girls, but sometimes I tell them the truth." !!!!!!

On the baby front here's a little snippet from a post I responded to about feeling ugly when pregnant:

I stopped by the local library and found a cute and funny and up beat book that actually gave me a place to start to make myself feel pretty in some areas of my appearance if not all. It's called Frumpy to Foxy in 15 minutes Flat, by Elycia Rubin & Rita Mauceri. I found out I have some frump to deal with (shocking I know!), but I also have some Foxy hanging out in my little style world (oh yes I do!!!!) Things like: I have cute shoes, so there! I have one pair of boot cut maternity jeans that aren't holey and don't have the belt loops broken from constantly pulling them up; they look great with my knee high boots (which I spent a small fortune on and have vowed to wear as often as possible, tottery though I am). I have a huge cache of skin product samples that my gorgeous esthetician sister keeps sending my way, that I keep saving for a time when I really need it (crickets chirping, doe eyed blinking). I guess now's the time if ever there was a time duh!! Anyway this little, slightly out dated book (copyright 2005) has given me a lift this month, we'll see if it carries me the distance. Watch out world I'm one Foxy Mama!!!

As far as books and book reviews go, I've been reading a bit of childrens literature because I keep getting hooked on the book studies I have to go over with students when I'm subbing for Language Arts or English classes. I start reading them in class, but I NEVER get to finish the book and I'm constantly wondering what is going to happen next! I'm currently reading The BFG


by Roald Dahl who I always thought was actually Ronald, but now that I look closely to make sure I'm typing his name right I find that I don't know as much as I thought! Story of my life. Before the BFG was Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli.

I loved Star Girl as did the kids in the story, for a time. Unlike the characters in the book, it's my privilege as a reader to never stop liking Star Girl no matter how quirky she gets. It's easy for me to look down my nose at the narrator who is caught in an awkward position of most teenagers; to hang with the crowd or to stand out from the crowd. Yet it took me back to by gone days and reminded me of moments that flicked through my life where I wish I had been brave enough to hang out with my quirky, beautiful, funny, smart friend (or even be that quirky, beautify, funny, smart person) instead of sitting in the hall at lunch with the rest of the "gang" being coolly apathetic about just about everything. This story, about a girl who notices others and is so in tune with her own self that her style and habits are unconscious, challenges me as an adult to pay more attention to the details. What would it take to go the extra mile, or even just drop some loose change now and then for the sheer delight of some little kid who will pick it up in wonder like it's gold or something.
I've read Spinelli's Maniac Magee also, and it too challenges readers of all ages to rise above the norm and to be better than anyone expects. Spinelli uses his characters to present what real life is like, and how much better it could be. One awkward, shy, blend in with the crowd hero examining, befriending and falling for one odd ball, ukulele strumming, bunny hopping heroine represent the difference between who a person is, and who they choose to be.


With those deep thoughts, I'm off to spend the weekend shopping with my mom, play grounding (in doors it's still to wintery for me) with the kids, reading about fashion and gardening, teaching Sunday school and trying to FLY in spite of the CHAOS around me.

God is great, Life is good, People are crazy!

I'm an emotional girl...

I'm an emotional girl
I cain't help myself
Sometimes I laugh, Sometimes I cry
Sometimes I do both and I don't know why.... (Terry Clark)

Sometimes I get pulled over for speeding and I cry my head off in front of a very uncomfortable Peace Officer before heading to school to tell Jr. High students what to do.
If I could have stopped blubbering I certainly would have, but I couldn't. I knew I deserved the ticket, I know better than to speed (but to be honest I thought the speed limit was just a tad higher than it actually was, so I was only going a tad higher than the speed limit in my head, so I wasn't speeding a lot on purpose ~ except it was actually quite a lot because sometimes the world inside my head doesn't match reality...ya know????). Knowing better doesn't seem to stop the tears of remorse, of annoyance, of "what am I going to tell my husband", of embarrassment, of raging pregnancy hormones. Nothing stops tears, until they just stop coming on their own. At least that was my experience this morning.

What I learned from all this is...

• the particular back road short cut I was taking isn't really a short cut because the speed limit is 80KPH.
  
• Crying doesn't get much sympathy with cops (I think it's been done too many times before) though this guy was kind and knocked $50 off my ticket.
  
• I can get to school on time without speeding, if I avoid getting a speeding ticket!
  
• Mistakes happen and then we move on.

Portion Control

This week I have relied heavily on two muffin tins that hold 4 muffins each as my go to for feeding my kids healthy meals. They help me in so many ways:

1. They keep portions child sized
2. They inspire me to provide variety because there are 4 holes to fill
3. They help me make left overs interesting to the kids.
4. They remind my kids how much I love them (they are heart shaped)

I use the muffin tins for every meal some days. Today for breakfast the kids got a heart full of oatmeal, 2 hearts full of whole fruit, 1 heart full of pistachios.
Last night it was a heart full of roast beef, a heart full of green beans, and a heart full of corn. I put a small blob of ketchup in the other heart and a glass of milk to go with the meal. I'm not always as healthy unfortunately, the other day our lunch consisted of a PB & Honey sandwhich, vanilla yogurt with sprinkles (ooh la la), 2 fresh home baked chocolate chip cookies, and some orange segments. Yep a bit to much sugar in that one, but at least the portions are small.
Check out this button for other muffin tin ideas:

Reminiscing

I've been blogging almost 3 years now. This isn't a specific anniversary date, but I was just perusing the blogs that I visit and remembering when I first started venturing into bloggy land. Honestly, at first I felt snoopy and guilty. I felt like I had no right to be looking at people's pictures and reading their stories but they fascinated me so much that I couldn't stop, which made me feel more guilty. Then I realized that this is a way to get stuff off one's chest, and to find like minded friends, to encourage and be encouraged. The welcome mat was out and I entered into a whole new world of words, beauty, controversy, intellect, candidness, and art. Within my four walls I have found an outlet for my thoughts, and I get to share my worries, questions, achievements and failures as I choose. This is so where I belong.

I just wanted to take a jaunt down memory lane and give nod to the big time bloggers that have blessed my world:

Embrace the Chaos is the first blog I ever read. Holly kindly invited me over after I sent her a message at Sparkpeople.com I was mesmerized by the faces of her adorable girls and her knack for decorating cakes. Her commentary on her life lived out gives me the impression that she is actually speaking to me. I have laughed out loud so many times, yet found myself crying as she shared her personal challenges and causes that are dear to her heart. This girl has got passion! So fun to read and keeps me motivated.

A Holy Experience is where I go when I need to pour some wisdom on my soul. Ann paints a picture with words and tells a story with her photography that leaves me breathless every time. So gently does she call her readers to take up their cross and follow our Savior. She reveals the life lessons she takes and opens her shy heart to probing readers' eyes because it helps her and us to draw nearer to God. On days when I'm feeling selfish and lazy and apathetic I tend to skip past her post, because I know I'll hear a still quiet voice encouraging me to lay aside myself, to get up and work for the Lord with all my heart, mind and strength, and reminding me that the battle is already won for me so I need not give up. A holy experience indeed.

Kicky Boots I stole Kicky Boots off of my sister in law's blog roll one day when I wanted more friends. Amanda makes me hoot with laughter. Even when she is talking about something serious she makes jokes that lighten the topic. Her hyperboles are legendary, and she's not shy about telling things like they are (with just a teeny tiny bit of exaggeration to take the edge off). I always feel like I have loads in common with Amanda (except that she is tall and beautiful and citified, knows her way around a camera, and is funny). We both have 2 small children with another one on the way around the same time. We both know people in Regina, different people mind you....and.... actually that's pretty much where we are similar, but still I feel a kinship with her as do about a kabillion of her other loyal readers. I know Amanda is going to write an awesome book someday and then I will stalk her and make her sign my copy. Until then I just comment on her every post and check every day to see if she's written anything new. Hey, it's where I get my kicks.

Deutschland is a little place I found when I was trying to escape my own reality one day. We had just moved to our little acreage and were living in our travel trailer for what seemed to me an indefinite amount of time. When you live in a small space with toddlers and a husband sometimes a person needs a little room to breath. One night in particular I put the kids to bed early, said some terse words to my poor DH and ran off with the keys to the SUV and the lap top. I drove 20 minutes to the nearest town that had a Safeway with WiFi and (because they were closed by the time I got there) I sat in my SUV and web surfed. Ahhh, even now I can feel the bliss it was to read a whole blog entry without someone asking me for something. That is when I hopped onto Tish's blog. It was the names of her children that peaked my interest and the lovely pictures of her family and her genuine soul seeking in writing that made me continue to read. Tish is so real, and so cool and so inspiring that I'd follow her anywhere. Lately I've followed her to Ethiopia and back and bit my nails and prayed and worried and rejoiced as she and her neato hubby Bob adopted 2 African angels.

There are many more inspiring blogs and if you just check out the sample I've described for you you will understand why I'm so addicted to reading blogs, and why it is so tough to unplug. These people seem so real to me, like I've met them face to face. If only that could be. Some day we'll meet in heaven and we'll party it up big time. Until then my mission is just to convince each and every one of them to get a button for their page so I can collect their buttons! Yep, I'm a true blogging geek, and I love every minute!

Mop Top

Matia is overdue for a hair cut. Any style suggestions from any one out there in bloggy land?

For that matter I could use some style myself. Any suggestions?

Movement

Today I felt M3 moving. So far I haven't had many suggestions for baby's nick name. So in my head I keep calling him/her M3. NOT BM3, for obvious reasons!

Anyway, I'm starting to feel kicked around and poked fun at, in a good way.
I've been looking forward to feeling baby move because I'm still feeling barfy and I need some reassurance that everything is going well.

Now I need to get some movement on my part. My house is still very messy, and my kids are still watching too much t.v. and my DH is getting meals, but they are hit and miss at best. I need to get off the couch and stay out of the tub, but honestly, right now I'm an object at rest and you know what those tend to do (aren't I a smarty throwing a little physics into my post! Just goes to show you can be anyone you want to be on line!) I've stayed up too late again tonight, so I'm not sure what my prospects for becoming an object in motion are, but I'll make a list before I go to bed and we'll see what happens from there.