Another confession:

I envy people, and not in a holy kind of way like when they are super neat and you envy them and wish you could be the same, but not get angry and resentful over it, but wish you could walk alongside them, envy... but the real deal envy.

Where you DO resent them and need to confess.

And you start resenting others because they don't help you get what you want.

I resent people who have air conditioning.

Specially on hot humid days like today.  

We have window units.  And R2D2.  Which is a unit that is pretty big and you can roll it around where ever you want it.  Though it works ok to get the humidity out, my house is too small to have that much floor space taken.

I know what you are thinking.  Every year, about this time, I start to complain about not having AC.

You are RIGHT.

It certainly doesn't help that the Love Of My Life is an HVAC contractor.  

Nope.  That doesn't help at all.

Moving on.  Speaking of the LOML.  Even though it is slightly frustrating the whole AC thing, during church this past Sunday, we were singing this song, and it got me thinking about him.  I can't thank GOD enough for that man. 

That is all it comes down to.  

I am deeply thankful.   Thankful for all he does, says, is, and seeks to be.

I may not agree with him, but I can't deny his heart treasure.

Yup.  He is a keeper.

Speaking of keepers.  I need to go get me some honey from the elderly gentleman who is our local bee keeper.  I wish I was a bee keeper.

But I am not.

For now.

All My Children

Confession #5,890,345,703,498,534 for the year :

Yes, there was a time when my older children were babies, that I watched a soap opera.  Of course that being All My Children.

I remember the moment I realized I was addicted.  I had been watching it for about a year, when I was on the phone with the pediatrician.  I was making an appointment and when she gave me a few time options, I picked the one that would not conflict with my soap.

After I hung up the phone, I realized what I did.  From that moment on, I stopped watching it.  I was NOT going to live and revolve my life around A SOAP OPERA!!!  WhAt??!!?

And yes, I was a Christian at the time.  Man, those things are so deceptive, it takes about 10 minutes to get you hooked and 5 more minutes to numb your morals.

Sad, but true.

Now, being the random crazy-headed person that I am, I told you that story for absolutely no reason at all.

True story.

Actually, I was going to talk about the fact that all my children were here for dinner tonight.


And I have to say, it was pretty awesome.  I grilled and we ate outside.  It was the perfect evening, with a cool breeze and beautiful moon.  The boys made a video which lasted 15 seconds TOPS, but took them about 45 minutes to make.  It was hilarious!!!  Poor April, she gets talked into 'doing her part', but she is a good sport about it.  If I knew how to grab something from instagram and put it on here, I would.  But I don't, so I won't.

VBS starts next week!  I mean all of 36 hours from now!  We are ready!!!!!!

The stuff that has been happening has been ridiculous and quite frankly, you would probably laugh at the crazy road blocks behind the scenes.  But in 36ish hours, we will have a whole passel of children walk through our doors, and we will have the opportunity to present to them Truths, Hope, Love, GOD , HIMSELF.  

Totally worth all the drama.

The girls are about jumping out of their skin with excitement.  This is Christian's first, and Elly has been talking it up so much, she can hardly wait.  It is a constant, " How much more time, mommy?"

I finally told her a long time.  Since she just can't wait, even an hour more will feel like forever for the poor child.

GOD is good.

I need to go do the dishes and go to bed.  It has been a week of putting out fires and calming panic attacks.

And now I am tired.

I pray you have a restful Lord's Day, and seek HIM deeply.

CHEESE!!!!

So, again, thankful for peanuts.  Specially peanuts that come from China & Africa.  <3

I have this cd that the girls love to listen to in the car; it is hymns sung by kids.

I may have mentioned once or twice before, I am a hymns gal.  Enjoy worship music, but hymn lover at heart.

Another confession: I tend to tune out when the kiddos are talking unless they are specifically talking to me.  Probably from the simple fact that they just never stop talking in general.  There is just no way a sane person can keep up with that 24/7.  And I never claimed to be sane, so forget it.  No hope there.

This particular hymn came on and again, totally tuned out.   But then they got to singing real loud-like.

Made me tune in for a second or 2.

Let me introduce you to a hymn.

It is called Bringing In The Sheaves.  Good old time religion type hymn.

At the moment I tuned in, I heard the girls singing " We shall come rejoicing bringing in the cheese."

I looked in the rear view mirror to see if this particular song made them go...huh?

Nope.

They just sang along like it made sense.

Which ...um...WhAt??!!??!

I got their attention and lovingly ( at least I hope it sounded lovingly, because quite frankly, I was trying real hard not to laugh at the situation.  Again) told then it was Sheaves.  Sheaves. And I explained to them what sheaves were.

And then I asked them why they thought it said cheese.

All of a sudden they both started laughing like crazy.

I guess they tuned into their own yapping.

Which kind of made me glad I am not the only one who tunes them out.  :P

Anyway, they just giggled and laughed and snorted and general lost control.

The cd continued and they sang along with the other hymns, trying to gain some sort of composure.

But you know that time between songs when there is about 2 or 3 seconds of silence?

One of them would say "cheese" and the laugh fest would continue.

At one point Christian said to me " Mommy, make me stop laughing!!!  My cheeks hurt too much!!!!"

Then Elly said 'cheese' and it started all over again.

( Just curious, but how cold I have possibly stopped her from laughing??!?? I was driving and quietly enjoying the sound of laughter coming from the back seat.)

Life is good.

GOD is even better.

May your life be abundant with cheese.

And may you be blessed with cheeks that hurt too much.

SO, have you ever gotten up in a panic because you have avoided something and it is now catching up to you and you know there is no way to avoid it any longer?

And the night before, you couldn't go to sleep because you couldn't stop thinking about it?

And you even had dreams (nightmares)?

Well, this is what my life is like right now.

I woke up and was thinking about what to do, and I should buck up and face the music, and I have no one to blame but myself, so it is time to put on my big girl panties and conquer it.  Head on.

What is this situation of which I speak?

Laundry.

I am so far behind, I am almost tempted to go to a laundry mat and do it all in one shot.  Load up the suburban, and just.do.it.

Of course I won't.  I will spend all day doing it.  One load after another, until it is all done.

I may even require children to strip down to their undies to feel a sense of accomplishment.

As if they would agree.

Whatever.

How was your week?

Did you get your laundry done?

Speaking of laundry, my mother...I get the feeling that my father's pants don't even hit the floor/hamper before she is folding them out of the dryer.

She is THAT good.

Why am not like her in this regard??!!?

Oh well.

Good thing I am an undies horse.  I buy undies in bulk, then panic so I buy some more.

It is for weeks like this.

Usually, they are busting out of the drawers, tightly packed; more underwear than they can use.  As my husband says, ' they only have one butt, why do they need 26 pairs of undies?'

duh.

For weeks like this.

Moving on.

I went to a dance recital this past weekend.  I do this occasionally.  I went to watch one of the girls from my missions class.  She is a lovely and graceful dancer and  I genuinely enjoyed it.  Her dances were over way before the show ended, so I got to watch random people perform, too.

Here is the thing.

For the first time ever, I left this recital and you know what the first thing I thought??!?!?

You will never guess.

I thought"  I am so GLAD I live in Jersey."

Weird, right?

But this recital had such a Jersey feel, it couldn't be helped.

What is a Jersey feel?  How about the 2 girls that were in about 8 or 9 of the dances.   And their dad HAD to be mafia.  You could just tell.  Not scary, just a reality.  Or how about all the Jersey accents when announcements were made?  Or since the theme was STARS, mostly meaning broadway, there was old time Jersey/New Yoak dancing.  You have to live here to get that.  And really, just the way some of these kids walked...Jersey walk.  Again, you've got to live here to understand.

Seriously, I called me daughter to tell her my revelation.  How proud I was to be part of the Jersey Strong heritage.  I grew up here, I married a Jersey guy, raised Jersey kids, this is all I know.

And I am proud of it.

She, of course said something so profound I HAVE TO share it with you.

She said, "duh."

See, she lived in VA Beach for 3 years while her husband went to law school.  They never intended to stay there.  I prayed they would.  I thought, YOU GOT OUT OF JERSEY!!!! WHY WOULD YOU COME BACK??!!??  ON PURPOSE??!!??"

They did not see anything but Jersey as an option.  Yup, I raised a Jersey girl, that also married a Jersey guy.

Who knows what will happen with the younger children.  Our oldest also married a Jersey girl, and they are looking to buy a house about 10 minutes from us. In Jersey. huh.

Interesting how GOD works.  Why did my parents decide on Jersey when they moved to America?  There were 47 other conceivable states, because lets face it, they were NOT moving to Alaska or Hawaii, no matter how much I try to imagine that possibility.

My aunt lives in L.A.  why not move there??

But they didn't.  I am happy to say I am super thankful I am a Jersey girl as opposed to a CA girl.  Phhheeewwww.  GOD is good.

Not saying CA is not beautiful and I loved visiting, but that is as far as I will go.

I want to move to TX.  Still do.  But never will.  The Love of My Life couldn't handle the heat.  So here we are.  But if I can't move to TX, then I am glad we live in NJ.

Ok, I am going to bed.

Good night all.  If you are a believer, cling to the Cross.  If not, SEEK IT!

Lord willing, until next time.

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I love her posts.

And now she is having a give away!!!!

A Berkeley Water Filter!!!!

I have wanted a Berkeley Water Filter for forever.  Chances are I won't win, but maybe you will!!!!

Berkeley Water Filters are one of those things you seriously save up for.  They are amazing and one of these days, we will have one in our timy kitchen, because good water is so terribly important.  Yes, it will take up most of my usable counter space, but like I said...totally worth it.

That being said... Run over there RIGHT NOW and sign up to win, too!!!!

And hey, hang out at her place and feel like you are learning new things from a wise soul.

Modern Alternative Momma.