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Memories of Easters Gone By

Today I'm thinking of how this is Gabe's 3rd Easter.
Which makes me think of his first & how little he was. And how cute they were.
Which makes me think of last year & the fun we had with a 3 yr old & a 1 yr old.

And it just makes me so grateful, that God has blessed us so.

They Don't Call it Good Friday For Nothin'!

The kids were more excited than ever to dye the eggs for Easter.

Everyone has to have their turn at adding vinegar,

adding food coloring,

struggling with the lid...We decorated the eggs in many different ways,
by coloring on them, writing our names,

drawing crosses, drawing Jesus complete with crown of thorns,

wrapping them in rubber bands, to make stripes,

adding glitter, stickers, etc.

These were voted most artistic by moi:

(note: my soccer ball made the cut)

And Good Fridays are for resting with Dad.

Seeing the new life this season will bring.

(can you see the birdhouse, attached to the tree?

Dad & Flynn made this last year & this year it's

becoming a home for some birds who found it today)

Good Friday is for singing praises, HOSANNA in the highest!

Making our own palm branches & waving them to the words I cry when I hear Flynn sing,

"Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna to the Son of Da-a-vid.

Hosanna. Hosanna. Hosanna in the highest!"

What Christ sacrficed for us has always been so valuable,

but oh, how much more meaningful to see the story learned by my children.

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

And Jenn, you will soon have to wait no more, for this orange box,

is on its way.
loaded up with goodies for the boys
and you.
Look closely here & see some photos of Jenn's "boys" (all of them)

that I stole off her myspace page & doctored up a bit on photoshop.

How cute is her boy??!!

Hello Lover

Two weeks ago, my day (week, month, etc.) was made by Hip Mama's Place when I won March Mom Blog of the Month.

And Oh. the. Bag. I've won....Oh the bag. Brought to me via Mr Postman straight from Shop Suey Boutique. (my new fav online shopping wishlist source) -- try to tell me you don't want this.

When FaithHopeLove Mama nominated me, she knew it should be mine because it's orange and...well...I'm Orange Momma.

Check out the space... I literally took the contents of my 'old' purse & dumped into the new one.
Look at orange bag, laying there, so coy.
"Take me out, show me off!"
"You got it Orange Bag! Let's go, let's go!"
Orange bag, be mine.
I love the orange bag.
I want to marry Orange Bag & have babies wallets with Orange Bag.
Peek-a-book Orange Bag.

Okay, so Hot Hubby thinks I fell out of the back of a pick-up truck at some point in my youth...he still can't believe I'm this crazy by nature.
But I just love this Orange Bag & everyone who knows me knows it was pure fate & love that I won a bag, that happened to be orange, but dearest Lord, it's so me.

Excuse my appearance in the photos (no make up) taken by my 4-year old (fuzzy, unfocused).

By the way, Hip Mama's Place has giveaways all the time in addition to some of the savviest stuff I've seen in a while. Also, lots of organic goods. Go there, and nominate me again your favorite blogger for April's Mom Blog of the Month.

You Think YOU are Tired...

Better Build an Ark

It's day 3 of constant raining. There is a flood watch & quite frankly, I think our feet are beginning to web.

I wanted to share a bit about Flynn & her growing awareness of what Christ went through for us.

I was showing them the video, Rez the Rock that Rolled, which I recommend for the three & older crowd. It's very cute. Good music too.
Anyway, I watched her face as the crucifiction scene emerged. She instantly looked surprised, then her bottom lip started to pooch. And as her eyes welled, mine did as well.
She refers to the soldiers as 'bad guys' and I try as best as I can to explain the idea that it happened so we can be forgiven.

Not a lot of time here, I'm babysitting for a friend who was in a bind with her regular sitter. We're understandably quite busy.

And I will be posting some photos later today of my rad orange bag. Yes, I said rad.

Try to stay dry.

Weekends Are For ...... Rest?

Not this family.

It's for go-go-go.

Fun & friends & parties.

Aidan's First Bday party.
Flynn & her growing up buddy, Alex.



These kids can get after the pinata.
Esp my girl.


Candy!!!!!

Finally, boys to play cars with!

Then, Momma got to go to a bday party for her friends.

Heather turns 35 & we celebrated in true best-friends-since-3rd-grade fashion.

By shopping for six hours.

No, I'm not kidding.

I will only do that for my Best Friends since 3rd grade.

Then, after running running running,

I came home to this beauty....

I'll show more photos of her tomorrow. Gracing my shoulder.

Everyone needs to rest (I pause for an empty uterus ache)

on the day of rest...

The end.

The prayer of a righteous man tike availeth much!

We were leaving the allergist's office the other day, when I was clicking carseats.
That's when I heard her muttering, "God, please make me better. Jesus please."

Wanting her to expound, I pretended ignorance,
"What sweetie?"

"I'm praying. Because I don't wanna wheeze anymore."

And if you don't believe in the power of prayer (especially by a full-of-faith four year old),
know that her condition went from really bad to perfect, in less than an hour.

Amen!

And The WINNER Is...

BECAUSE 'TIS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN RECEIVE...AND BECAUSE I CAN'T KEEP A SURPRISE FOR ANYTHING, I'M GOING TO ANNOUNCE THE WINNER BEFORE HER LOOT IS 'TOGETHER' & PHOTO'ED.





Here we go!





You ready?





Okay, here it is:











True Random Number Service




Random Integer Generator




Here are your random numbers:12




Timestamp: 2008-03-13 02:37:47 UTC

© 1998-2008 Mads Haahr Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional Valid CSSWeb Design by TSDA







#12, That's YOU, Jenn! My pal from my bible college days.







Let me tell you a little about Jenn...

• She has red hair, which is super cool because it's unique. Did you know that only 1-2 out of every 100 people have red hair?



• She has three boys. Lord help her.



• She grew up in Arkansas (altho, I'm not sure how long she lived there, I only knew she came from there & had an ArKansas accent).



• She played b'ball in college & was pretty dern good. She also played volleyball in college...with me...she was good, I was not.



• Her husband has a trillion degrees - he must be smart. I did not know this about him when we attended school together. I did know that he was a maniac, and in the 'MOST LIKE TO...' series, he & I were voted, "Most Likely to be on America's Most Wanted." That could've really scarred me for life that my classmates felt that way.



• She moved from AR to go to school in MO, where I met her. Then got married & Jenn, did you move to CA then? Now, she lives in MA, home of the Volleyball Hall of Fame.



• She is a sports buff.



• She has lost 12 lbs in a month.



• She & I last talked probably 11-12 years ago. We were reconnected about two months ago & now she has a blog & I'm so glad - we won't lose touch now!

Congrats Jenn. You & I weren't like BFF in college, but I think I know a little about you & so it's been big fun to put together a basket for you. One thing was ordered last night, to be picked up tonight -- so photos will be blogged tomorrow.

I'm sorry to those of you who did not win the drawing. BUT, you actually are a winner, because you get to see these photos of Jenn & I from our '95 Messenger College days. You'll be disappointed no longer, because Lord, look at our hair. And Jenn, sheesh, we were skinny! I don't about you, but I lierally weighed 70 lbs less then. Of course, I was in volleyball & cheerleading, which seasons' practices overlapped a bit, so for a few weeks, I had a practice at 5 a.m. & one at 6 p.m.. I was running about 3 miles a day & jumproping (for cheering) a LOT each day. I was also broke & could only afford cafeteria food, which I didn't eat much of. O yah, and that metabolism thing. Ah, to be 21 again. But that's a whole 'nother post.

Meanwhile, feast your eyes:

Jenn isn't in this photo, but her hubby is (front row, leather jacket) & I'm the first white oxford from the left.

Jen's hubby Alex, posing for the famed MOST LIKELY award, along with myself & a girl named Angela (who must've tied with us?). Apparently Alex was going through a cowboy phase? Altho, it was spirit week, so maybe it was western day? I don't know, I was in my cheerleading polo. With toothpic arms.

I was excited this day because I won most spirited for hippie (how do you spell that anyway??) day. My belly button held a carnation. Yes, that's me in the reflective lenses, Jenn is on my left.

Jenn is #8, I'm #14.

This worked perfectly that our photos were aligned like they were. Like the editor on the yearbook staff said, "In 13 years, Jenn will win a drawing on Amy's blog. Then Amy, who should realize she's too busy to put so much time & effort into the things she does, will blog a bunch about Jenn & their MC days. It will make it easier on Amy who is too lazy to scan these photos & chooses to photo them instead, for us to align their photos so that they're one atop the other."

Jenn, this photo should be incentive for us to drop some weight! (which you are working on, me-not so much).

Congrats again Jenn. Check back tomorrow to see what you should expect in your mailbox!

Stay Tuned for a Winner

Thanks for entering my little giveaway. It was fun to meet a few of the hundreds of readers who had never commented. It was so fun, in fact, that I've decided to indulge mckmama & host another giveaway soon in the form of a contest - rather than a random drawing; because, well, I aim to please.

Random.org has picked a winner, however, I'd like to take a photo of her loot before I announce who she is.

Meanwhile, check out my very first post.
And read a post from my bloggiversary last year.

You'll see, I have always been this crazy.

Asthma Update: I ended up taking Flynn into the allergist yesterday, as I wasn't feeling like I was managing her asthma. I was glad I did; he heard lots of wheezing (of course) & said her left lung is 'crackelly.' Dramatically up'ed her steroids & even called yesterday afternoon to check on us.
We then go on alert where our goal is to keep her out of the hospital.
By this morning, she was so much better, I decided she could handle going to preschool.
God is good.

BLOGgiversary

Happy 2nd Anniversary to this crazy blog of mine! It's hard to believe I started recording my thoughts & the insane Perry happenings two whole years ago.

And today, I'm going to make someone happy & give a birthday gift to a random reader.

I don't have time or attention to be super creative here (Flynn's asthma has all my attention right now), so ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS:

• Leave a comment, tell me the thing you most enjoy on this nutty blog BY 10 PM CENTRAL TIME.

I will use random.org to find a completely random commenter.

THAT'S IT! Pretty easy, eh?!

So, de-lurk & let me get to know you.

The prize? Why aren't I displaying it? Because, although I have a basic idea of what it will entail, it will be personalized for the fortunate recipient.

If it's one of my friends not in this region, it will include a unique gift from the St Louis area. Like a White Castle Burger, some toasted raviolli, & the Arch. Just kidding, none of those things would ship well... Along with several other goodies. If it's a mom, it will include kid-friendly things. If neither, something special nonetheless. For certain, it won't disappoint.

Can't wait to hear from you.

PS Did you notice that the word blogGIVErsary contains the word give? I don't think that's by accident....

Now, who wants a piece of cake?

One of the Things that Makes My Empty Uterus Ache

When these two crazy kids act like they love each other.

When she sees him sleeping, she always goes, "Aaawwwww."

And when he gets hurt or gets punished, he goes running to her.

It could be the greatest thing I've ever seen.

He runs to her with open arms; she embraces him & lots of time, cradles him in her arms.

And at that very moment, I go & call Jeff's urologist to see if there's financing available for vasectomy reversals.

You Know What's Fun?

Getting a cavity filled. Now that's fun. (I did that today by the way)

You know what else is fun?

Uploading all the photos from Flynn's fisher price camera.

I just let her go crazy with it. And on occasion, Bubs will get a hold of the delete button & wipe out the whole memory.

So, I've vowed to upload them regularly, because I'm sad we don't have the hundreds she took the first Christmas she got the camera.

So, feast your eyes on the FLYNN-CAM:

Hopscotch on over to check out the others.

Has It Been That Long?

Bust out your party hats peeps, 'someone's' birthday is coming up! 'Someone' is going to be TWO! Can you believe I've been recording my thoughts here for TWO years!

Wednesday is the big day! And there will be a gift. The gift won't be for THE LIFE & TIMES OF LIFE AT HOME, it will be for one lucky reader.

So make sure you happen back on Wednesday. And bring your party blower.

PS The gift will not be my new orange bag that will be here anyday.
But I will not disappoint!

My Journey part 2

I thought I'd better get to blogging on anything that's transpired in this life change otherwise known as 'going back to full time.'
Granted, most of the changes have been in my heart, my mind, & my spirit, I thought they were worth sharing.
And most importantly, I want you to be in on it when God reveals the awesomeness He has in store for me.

So, these things have happened thus far:

• I've created my resume. This was harder than I thought. I haven't taught since I was pregnant with Flynn & I'm afraid that doesn't look so great.
• I've begun collecting letters of recommendation. Again, these letters that past teachers & former supervisor / principal have written were over five years old. Hoping that doesn't matter.
• Started a daily check on moreap.net & dese's job search. Have also begun searching on individual district's websites to see if they post job openings; learned most don't.
• Contacted my "fall back" (already??!!, yes, I'm not patient!)...this was the one situation I thought for sure would provide a position - a really nice (young / new) principal we attended church with at our last church. She told me she has no foreseen openings but will be sure to think of me & contact me if something opens up before the fall. I was SAD to hear that. Like I said, I thought it was my sure thing as she offered me jobs in the past (when I didn't want them).
• Preschool deposits for the fall. Just to be sure. Besides, no matter what, we want Flynn in preschool.

See? Not much.

But here's the great thing, I feel more at peace. At first I thought, "Ugh, going back to work. LEAVING MY BABIES - sniff sniff - I don't wanna!!!!!" Now I'm all, "Going back to work. Getting out of debt. Paying bills on time. Jeff not working himself to death. Teaching again (smile). Doing what I love."

Here's my struggle. I am A CONTROL FREAK. And if I don't feel in control of the one thing I always have control over (my life), it literally gnaws away at my brain. I want to know what I'm doing every moment of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year. And friends, if I don't know precisely what I'm doing in six months it is definitely means to insomnia.

Because if I know what I'm doing, I have a better idea of what my kids are doing. Then I can start labeling epi-pens & typing up to do lists & giving caregivers a 3-page WORD document on the best way to put Gabe down for his nap.

But let this be a lesson to me. GOD IS IN CONTROL. Not me this time. Actually, He always is... but this time it's just Him. And my reliance on Him. Just Him. Not my silly resume or my late night internet job searches. Trust. And faith. And hope. And completely letting go of my neurotic need for doing it on my own.

We've went through similar situations. When I was pregnant with Flynn. We couldn't for the life of us figure out why God 'hadn't provided' a job for each of us. But it wasn't 'til months later - when I was put on bed rest & had pre eclampsia - that we realized that He didn't want me to find a job that I'd stress about leaving.

See, He loves these moments where (sometimes months later, sometimes years) He looks down & sees us coming to the realization that (duh) He knows best. Where we scratch our head & admit, "OOhh, that's why ...... "

So, I'm looking forward to my aha God moment. I am anxiously anticipating seeing the great gig He has in store for me.

I know it's going to be better than I could've ever hoped for.