The Blond Ambition Tour

a foggy, cold, damp Monday morning.  One child asleep, one watching tv, one in bliss, outside playing iwth her two sweet little friends.  Never mind the cold, the fog and the dampness.  They are riding bikes and enjoying their little space above My Hero’s garage.  The space that is decked out with ancient Christmas decorations and the patio furniture that has been stored away for the winter.  They are in make believe heaven. 

Me?  I am giving the house it’s weekly blessing – or I was, until I sat down and logged onto my blog!  I have a good start on it – the toilets are clean, kitchen is tidied (just in time to start lunch prep) and the mess around the bird cage has been vacuumed.  Next is to finish the floors and then on to something more fun.  Like making brownies.  And laundry. 

If you think about it, say a prayer today for our Alabama friends who are cleaning up after another round of tornadoes.  As far as I know no one that we know has been personally affected, however, it’s early in the assessment process and things change quickly.  I am grateful to be out of tornado alley.  I didn’t like storms that threatened tornadoes.  I don’t know a person who does.

Also, pray for Jeff’s Aunt Melody.  She had surgery last week on a leg in which she has been fighting infection for a year.  She has another surgery tomorrow.  The doctor will shave the infected bone from her foot in an effort to save her leg I suppose.  She has been in a lot of pain.  And I am sure that she is discouraged. 

The kids are out of school today – they have had a 4 day weekend.  I thought about going somewhere but then decided against it.  The kids were happy.  I have three home bodies.  Come to think of it, I am a home body too.

I am off to finish my chores.  Prayers for many.  Blessings too. -

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Winter last year was loooooong.  And cold.  And snowy.  And I complained.  A lot.  This year fall has been looooong.  Winter has been sparse.  There hasn’t been any snow.  Very little cold.  And I have rejoiced.  A lot.  Maybe winter is to come soon.  Or maybe we will go from fall right into spring.  And that would be ok with me too. 

The kids have a very short week this week.  They had no school on Monday and none on Friday or next Monday.  I was going to try to get away for the weekend but like always, the week snuck up on me and here it is Wednesday and I have no plans.  Well, we do have plans, and ones that will keep us home for the weekend.  Boo.  Hiss.  I am thankful for short weeks.  Sleeping past the alarm.  Taking a break from making lunches.  Having help to do my chores. 

Chores – I have gone back to Flylady for encouragement and help in keeping my home cleaner and tidier.  I usually do pretty well keeping it picked up but clean is another thing.  Flylady gives weekly chores to keep the house functioning and the clutter at bay.  Then she separates the house into zones for more thourough cleaning.  In theory every zone of the house should get a good cleaning once every five weeks with maintainence efforts made during the rest of the time.  I have to say, this has worked for me in the past and it’s a relief of sorts to go back to it.  I have missed my scheduled cleaning - I find if it isn’t written down, I don’t do it.  And there is nothing better than marking something off my to-do list!  So far, since I have started, the baseboards in the living room and the kitchen have all been wiped clean, there are no spills dripping down the fronts of my kitchen cabinets and the back door gets cleared of face and hand smudges weekly now instead of just before we have company.  Ahhhhhh.  Things run smoothly when I am on a schedule.

The girls start their third nine weeks of school next week, hence the 4 day weekend this week.  They have all done very well and I suppose that we will be making a trip to Krispy Kreme once their report cards come home.  Last 9 weeks we introduced our friends to the free donuts for good grades program!  What a treat.  They have all met their reading goals and if they are not all a’s I know there are only high b’s.  Flossy and Spice are about to start practicing for their piano recital in May.  They will get their pieces soon and before I know it they will both have them memorized.  Flossy says she isnt’ taking piano again, which makes me sad – I hope she will change her mind.  Spice on the other hand, continues to stick with it – learning more and more.  I love to hear her play while she is practicing. 

I have known for a while – a loooooong while - that I need to be in The Word more often.  And I have failed – repeatedly at doing so.  I have revised my prayer journal and started to get back on track – a little more each day.  I have come across Ann Voskamp and have discovered that I love the way she writes.  She has a blessings/thankful journal and I have been trying to be deliberate about writing down blessings.  You see, I am a Debbie Downer sort of person.  I see the cup half empty where My Hero usually sees it half full.  Though he is more skeptical of people where I tend to be more trusting.  I guess that’s why we go together so well.  But as for my glass half empty attitude I have to remember to look for blessings – look for the good in the world, find the blessings that God has put before me.  I plan to put a sheet in the kitchen so the girls can add their own blessings as well.  it will be interesting to and an eye-opener I am sure, to see what we find in our journey.

For today – I am thankful for . . .

rain.

the extra five minutes the girls and I had to chat before school this morning.

7th graders.

Blessings -

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Christmas.

Christmas this year was pretty quiet.  We opened gifts this morning, ate breakfast, attended church, made dinner, found a dog, ate dinner, got rid of a dog, cleaned up dinner, watched “The Grinch”, put kids to bed and am now updating my blog.  Yahooey. 

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Each year I try to have a party for the girls – something that started way back in Albany Georgia when we were invited to a party to decorate manger scenes.  The Diva was not 2 yet.  There were lots of babies and kidlets and mamas and it made for a sweet memory and a new tradition for our family.  We moved from Georgia to Alabama and we had more parties, participating in a cookie swap that my friend Kathleen and I put together.  Again, this made such sweet memories, if not for my kids because they were small – for me.  And we have continued, in Oregon, Mississippi and now North Carolina.  However, the theme has changed.  We have gone from decorating mangers, which was very meaningful and fun to decorating cookies.  We may go back to the mangers, but this is different and is a little more challenging for the girls as they get older. 

Last year we had about 15 kids and this year we had about the same.  The great thing about the party is that there is always someone new.  This year we invited a couple of pre-schoolers from church and they had a blast among the big kids!  Here are some of the pictures taken that day.

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I have discovered Pinterest which is a fun little site where I have been getting a lot of decorating ideas.  Here are a few of my pinterest inspired projects.

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It’s December 15.  Really it is.  And here I sit, relfecting on the season, how I have spent my time, or rather, wasted my time.  How I have let advent happen all around me and I haven’t participated.  I have been caught up in  . . . I don’t even know what.  I cannot tell you how I have spent this advent.  I cannot account for my days.  I haven’t spent one night enjoying the tree.  I haven’t read one book or one devotional about advent . . . until today.  And I sit here and am rueful of the time I have wasted.  My brand new advent candles haven’t even been lit, the wicks as pristine as when I glued the candles into the wreath.  I have let this time come and am letting it go without even a thought about why we celebrate. 

So today, I am reading, I am putting aside thoughts about the gifts I haven’t finished, the cookies I haven’t made, the failures.  Today I choose to focus on THE GIFT, the manger, the Christ Child, the One Whom I adore.  I am watching videos about adoption and crying my eyes out at the thought that as unlovable as I am, He loved me first.  I am reading about gifts of sacrifice and of love.  I read about a family who doesn’t give gifts to eachother, instead purchases gifts for Compassion International or Samaritan’s Purse.  And I think how much easier Christmas would be and how much more meaningful if I gave a gift that really mattered.  I think I may try it differently next year.  Problem is, next year comes and I forget that I vowed to do it differently.  I think I may mark on the November calendar ideas that I have had this year.  Things I will do differently so I don’t miss advent again. 

So for the next ten days I pray for eyes and ears and a heart open to advent, watchful, in anticipation of the THE GIFT. 

Blessings -

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delicious!  Flossy took some pictures of us frosting them and then I took a picture or two of her eating them!  I would add them now but the computer I am using doesn’t support my memory card.  Later today Iwill try to get them on here.  I even brought a panful to the office staff here.  I had been promising for a while.  I think I will make another batch and take them to Flossy’s class on Friday so everyone can try them for themselves.  That should be a hit!

Today I am subbing and for the next two days.  Eighth grade language arts.  It’s been fun so far, 2 classes and lunch down, 2 more classes to go.  The Diva is in my next class which is usually the quietest and hardest working.  They are all good kids though. 

It’s rainy here today and a lot cooler than it has been.  The kids today were commenting on how much colder it was – and still it’s not that bad, but compared to 75 it feels chilly especially with the rain.  I had to agree with the kids who were lamenting the arrival of December!  Last night we watched something on the news about St. Martens.  It had to do with the airplanes flying very low to the beach and the people being able to get close enough to the jet engines that they feel the 100 mph winds created by the engines.  People were in shorts, sunglasses and bathing suits, the water was pristine and I was beginning to make a list of all the warm weather clothing I would need when I booked my travel. 

I am off.  The janitor is here and I need to finish this up so I can prepare for the next wave of students.

Blessings -

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Flossy was assigned a project in October where she had to investigate her family tree.  She named her relatives (some of them ), wrote about her name, it’s origin, what it means, told about her sisters, Daddy and me and she conducted an interview with her Granny about Granny’s childhood and growing up.  That was probably the part I enjoyed most.  Flossy conducted the interview while I was the scribe.

Tonight we got back to the project mode and wrote down my recipe for cinnamon rolls which is a traditional recipe within our little family.  I had some dough in the fridge so I decided that we could document the cinnamon roll part by taking pictures and adding them to her project.  Here are the pictures up to the time I put them in the oven to rise.  When they are nice and fluffy I will take another photo of them and the finished product because she is going to bed.  I did the cooking and she is responsible for all of the pictures in this post.

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With so many things for which to be thankful – where does a person start?  Health?  Family?  Food?  Shelter? 

I am thankful to a God who is alive and working in my life, who loves me, who has saved me, who provides me with hope, salvation and eternal life.  And after that, everything else is just gravy.  Really.

Today we are celebrating Thanksgiving with our family at home.  The turkey is ready to go in the oven at 11, the dressing is in the crock pot, green bean casserole has been mixed and is ready for the oven, pistachio salad is chilling, potatoes are peeled.  Now we wait.  And I go shower!

Prayers are lifted for many today who are missing loved ones, especially those who will be experiencing this season without a loved one for the first time.  I think of Abbey Grace’s mom and dad, Lydia’s sweet mama, Christopher’s mama, Les’ wife, daughter and family, The Rutledge family, and for our own family after the loss of our sweet Grandma Hays.  I am thankful for the faithfulness of these families, for their willingness to share their journey on the web and for the message of hope they have left. 

Blessings -

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I added a fingerless glove, or a wristlet to the “More Crochet” page.  This was done in black for a friend so I don’t have it in stock but can have a pair finished in 48 hours.  They are soft and very pretty.  I am making a pair in bright blue for Spice and will post them when finished.

Blessings -

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