Show me the...picture.

I have to remember.

SO

MANY

THINGS.

I am a forgetful person.

Take this blog for example.

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

About the only thing I am consistent about on social media is instagram.  Because lets face it.  I have always been a picture person.

I love pictures.  I'm the friend you took those 3,147 pictures on your trip for.  Yes, I would LOVE to see your pictures.  Your trip through your eyes.  I'm that person, who when I walk into someone's home, I will stop doing everything or talking when I spot a picture and will walk over there and look at it.  Or them.  And if you want to tell me about them, I am ready to listen.

Pictures capture a moment in time.

They show LIFE!

GOD's amazing creation.  The eyes of a person tell so much.  That goofy smile on my son when he was 5.  The dog looking at me like 'just pet me, woman'. Christmas joys. Family life. Growing up/ growing older.

Documenting memories.  Documenting life.

Who doesn't want to walk life, visually?

In a weird game I played once with the teens of our youth group, I got a question that asked: would you rather be blind or deaf?

Deaf.

Hands down.

That being said, here is life for the past few months:

Yes, it looks like I married some guy I found living in a cave in the mountains.

Moving on.

They sure are beautiful. <3

Always trying to fit a hike while doing life.

Checking out the new animal babies at the living farm.

I'm learning new things with hair!!!!1

When cousins are besties and besties are cousins.

Vacation in NH.

We have to go again.

The mountain man resting.

They went to an arcade for the first time in their lives.

This could become a problem.  LOL

Memorizing scripture.  She did 47 verses.  Her sister did 31.

How much do I love this? Let me count the ways.

My mom's birthday gift  that was made from one of her granddaughters.

Chickens are fine.

Mountain man needs a tan. 

Mission trip. Church night time devotionals.

Father and son.

Newest addition. 

Meet Indiana. 

She is quite adventurous.

Jack Russells are amazing.

And active.  :)

What will this Day be like?

I wonder.

No.  Not really.  School, running around.  Story of my life.

That being said, cool things happen.  Crappy things happen.

Today was a crappy things happen morning.  Not because it was Monday.  I love Mondays.  Because I had to take the dumb cat to get fixed.  I wiped down the carrier and put it back together again.  Grabbed the cat before she could eat or drink anything, and went out the door.  At 7:15 in the morning.  When it was pouring horribly outside.

Evidently, I didn't snap one of the snaps back into place properly and she squeezed herself through that little sliver and took off.  In the pouring rain.  At 7:15 in the morning.

I hate cats.

They are the democratic liberals of the animal kingdom.  Self centered. Don't give a rip about anyone or anything.  Demand everything. Wreck havoc and walk off like its your problem.  Think they deserve everything.  Do what they want, go where they want.  They are so obnoxious.

I know. I know.  I need to calm down.

But seriously, people.  I hate cats.  I won't hurt them. But I hate them.

Rescheduled her appointment.  When I called, the receptionist actually thought it was funny.

I should go someplace else.

Moving on.

We had the oldest daughter's younger 2 for the weekend.  It was incredible.  I never realized how fun they were.  And how easy it was.  I even made it to church on time.  Someone pat me in the back.  Granted, I woke up at 6 am to make it happen LOL.

I haven't started the garden yet.  So frustrating.  Its been too cold at night still.  Yes, below or right at freezing.    Its usually in by now.  Starting to look great and hopeful.  Not this year.

I should start planting tomorrow.  Seeing as how today was a wash out.  No pun intended.  But if I intended it, it would have been perfect.

Good news coming!  Stay tuned!

And seek HIM.  Deeply.

Someone thought it was a good idea that I teach the high school government class. Probably because I am a government addict. But now I am all in. We have a phenomenal textbook, and even though it’s a college text book, the kids can read it just fine, and understand it well. I love this stuff. 

It is my true belief that every single child that is graduating high school should have a solid knowledge of our constitution( maybe even read it 😜 ) and understand how it works. Maybe we wouldn’t  have so many problems in our nation today. 

Now don’t get me wrong. Though I am a part of a certain political party, all people, regardless of party affiliations should know their rights, and know their rules. I’m all for freedom of choice. But don’t make statements that are so blatantly ignorant because you have ‘ heard’ what people are saying, as opposed to knowing the real facts.   

Facts don’t care about your feelings. 

We are now a nation of feelings. 

Which is why we are weak and wrecked. 

Ok. Off my soap box. Because people, I could have a whole daily blog on politics. 

So there you go. 

On a better note, my 4th child turned 11 yesterday!!! 

Eleven. That’s 2 years from teen years. Five years from a drivers permit. Seven years from being a legal adult. All these numbers are less than the 8 years she has been embedded in our hearts. And people, THAT TIME FLEW BY!!!!

My little girl is becoming a young lady. Smart and gentle. Loves her GOD and seeks to be a better human. Her strength is in her perseverance and her hope is in her surrender. 

What’s not to love. 

She’s not perfect. But she is ours. And she is perfect for our family. 

We gave her The Hobbit and the LOTR trilogy for her birthday. ( other things too ) and she just about ran to her room to get started. 

Because she has wanted to read them for forever. 

So. I was reading the news this morning and according to a combination of statistics, they came up with the most dangerous state. I know what you’re thinking. NJ for sure. Right?  Wrong! I know!  I was shocked, too!  It’s Alaska!  

What the what?!?

It’s to darn cold to be dangerous. Well. There you go. NJ didn’t even make it to the top 5.  Go figure. We are shocked. We’re used to the mockery and out downs. Eh. Rolls off our backs. If they’re true , we own it. If they’re not, we know we’re talking to stupid people or worth wasting our time trying to convince them of the truth. But still.  Alaska?!?   Really?!??

Ok.  Girls are done with their grammar. Back to schooling.  Be good. Be holy. Be true. 

Oxy. Moron.

Sometimes I wonder about my philosophy.

I am one of those Christian, conservative, stay at home, skirt wearing, mission minded, old school, hymn loving/singing, baptist, homeschool mom.

I am also a big fan of Ink Masters.  I have a couple of tattoos, that I did not get when I was young and stupid.  My first one I got four months before I became a grandmother.

What the what?!?!

Who knows.

And to make it worse, my girlies are my side kicks when I watch the show.  We judge and pick tattoos and artists. We critique everything.  We are seriously considering checking out the Ink Masters house, since we live half hour from there.  It is something we all dream about. My girls would be over the moon if we did that!

So.  This season...there is actually a homeschool kid.  😳 It never even occurred to me that that would ever happen!



Pray for me.




So. On another note, all of us, minus the man, are going to the JCC this year.  Why did I wait so long?!?  The girls are loving it.  I am needing it, the Son Jr. is appreciating it.  He goes almost everyday.  Since he can't get to the boxing class because of work, he has replaced it with this.  Good option.

I like the JCC. Most of our friends go to the Y.  The Y is so enormous.  I rather like the JCC.  It's more family.  The gym doesn't feel like a gym.   They have state of the art equipment, but its full of non gym rats.  Nothing to prove, but everything to offer.  My kind of place.  It's a little more pricey than the Y, but it works for us.

Our show is about to start.

There is a homeschool kid.  There is a yarmulke-wearing Jewish man.  There are oddballs that we like and normals we aren't crazy about.  It should be an interesting season!

On that note, be HIS.  You won't regret it.

Taking stock

This past Sunday(yesterday) I went to my best friend’s from high school dad’s memorial service.  He was one of those cool beings.  He was the captain of a ship for decades.  He even looked the part.  Tall and lanky, beard, pipe, blonde.  I always thought he was one of the coolest men I knew.

I haven’t seen my friend in decades either.  We keep in touch through email and Facebook.  The ridiculous part is that we live less than 1/2 hour from each other.  Sheesh.  Make an effort! ( talking to myself )

Well, it was time well spent.  I have thought many times to pop in and say hi to them.  The parents.  They live right down the street from my parents. My parents live 7 minutes away from me.  I always meant to ask her if they still lived there.  Never did either.

I did tell her mom yesterday I would pop in, she was so happy to hear that.

This Sunday reminded me of something. Time to take stock about the important things.

I don’t understand people who cut themselves off. I have to respect their rejection, but I don’t understand it.  Rejection is a harsh word, but keeping it real, here.

Taking stock.  It’s part of my effort to be more intentional.  I can’t do everything I want, but I can do more than I have been doing. I have to be intentional about life.  About people. About my faith.

Life is passing me by and I’m watching it.  Time to stop watching it and start living it.

On another note, we celebrated another Gotcha Day!  Our Chinese peanut has been part of our family/hearts/lives for 8 years. I don’t remember life without her.  Which is right.

And it has been butt cold around here for way too long.  Seriously way too long.  There is a reason we don’t live in Vermont.  That’d be it.  But this week it’s suppose to go back to the 30s during the day and the teens at night.  That’s more like it. It’s been in the single digits during the day and below -5 at night. NOT COOL, PEOPLE!

Ok. Back to school. I have to finish my class for today while one does her math and the other finished writing.

Speaking of school, we are doing a whole new program next year and the research for that is a killer.  Pray for me if you think of it.

Be true.  And seek HIM deeply.

 Woof. 

Lemons

When life gives you lemons, put the in the fridge and use them everyday for 100 things.  Squeeze a lemon into your water as an extra bonus to help you heal!!!

I've made lemonade.

Life has to give you WAY too many lemons for that.  And then you may be on the border of LIFE SUCKS with all those lemons.

So go for refreshing lemon water.

Everyday you remember life is hard, but GOD is good.

How was your New YEAR?!?

Ours was pretty decent.  You know you're getting old when the thought of coming home at 12:30ish in 3 degree weather is just not worth whatever you could do.  I love my friends.  I really do.  But I think I hate the cold so much more.  SO that being said, we stayed home.  My parents came over for dinner, which was so nice!  And then we did the cool thing!!

We decide to let the girls stay up until midnight and...

We introduced the girls to Psych!!

It came back on Prime!  So, woo-hoo!!

Man, Sean and Gus were young.  And I really so very much enjoyed the season the first time around, and then on Netflix, so I thought it wouldn't be as fun. 

I was wrong!  I remembered why I enjoyed it so much!

And the girls love it!

Which means there is now something to look forward to on movie night.  That and Bringing Up Bates.

We are not that family that just plops down and watches tv anytime.  We are intentional about those things.  Son Jr. watches news like an addict.  But the rest of us have a better concept of time.

Well, a little better.

Today we start school again.  We are off to a late start because for the first time, I let the girls wake up at whatever time they wanted during Christmas break, and they didn't come bouncing down stairs at 8 anyway!  THEY ACTUALLY SLEPT IN!!!!

Like they were normal or something.  LOL.

So, we have school, I have class, a Costco run, post office, and maybe the JCC.

Maybe.  It's on my Commmit30 for Thursday for sure, but I can squeeze it in today, we will see...

Here are some weekend pictures: 

I screen shoted ( is that a real word?) this, because its true.  Specially in my marriage, where its probably most important.  And with my kids, where its second most important. 

The only place I don't stay quiet is in football.  But that's another story for another day.

My journaling life is back!!And please take a moment to admire my quilt.  My best friend made it for me for my birthday.  She is a quilter and she knows me well.  Isn't it gorgeous?!?!  The answer is yes, its gorgeous!  

Seeing as how its been high of 17 for longer than the past week, The Man took Missy and Boo skating.  It would never occur to him to take them skating in a rink.  He calls that a concrete fish bowl that you can only go one way or the concrete fishbowl police yell at you.  He likes his view like this better.  And he likes to go any direction he wants.  Who can blame him?!  Everyone in the family has skates.  Yes even me.  Bahahahaha.  

What you can't see is the 3-4 layers on these girlies.  Or maybe you can.  LOL.  

My man knows all the places to do this.  Both lakes and ponds as well as man made outdoor rinks that are free and fun, and of course, outside.

Ok, back to life.

Seek HIM deeply.