Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
a short note to say that I'm keeping the same Thesaurus Thursday words up another week, with 2 prizes and only 3 entrants it just didn't seem fair!!
So Go and Guess!! NOW!!!
Oh, and there's a reason for the color choice.....anyone wanna guess what the reason is??
So Go and Guess!! NOW!!!
Oh, and there's a reason for the color choice.....anyone wanna guess what the reason is??
what am I teaching?
So, it's early Ash Wednesday morning and the boys are in my bed trying to convince me that 5:30am is a good time to be awake....I decide to try teaching them about Ash Wednesday as a trick to keeping them still and in bed.
So, here's what Sonshine learned:
Daddy went to church early today because today is Ash Wednesday.
Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent.
Lent is when Jesus got the BooBoos.
After Lent is Easter.
Easter is when Jesus went up to Heaven for the Easter Egg Hunt.
well, we're on the right track I guess......
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Lent
Ash Wednesday begins Lent. Lent is a time to sacrifice in order to bring yourself closer to God. A time to reflect on the Sacrifice that our Savior gave for us. So that we might be saved from sin and death to eternal life with the Father. There are many ways to come closer to God. Many things that can be given up in sacrifice. Here are mine. Even those that wouldn't be a sacrifice for you are a sacrifice for me. But I'm not good with follow through. Great with intentions...bad with follow through. That "road to hell" thing gets me every time. So I am going to put up a post each Saturday keeping myself accountable. If you want to let us know what YOU'RE doing for Lent and how well you stuck to your good intentions each week, feel free to join in. After all, we experience Lent as a community of believers...not solely as individuals.
Lenten Goals:
1) improve my health
a - exercise each morning I'm off work
b - decrease sugared drinks (specifically, only have them at work...where sugar is a must)
2) improve my marriage
a - no more play fighting
c - take over a household chore I do not usually do -- dusting and vacuuming
3) improve my serenity
a - play piano each morning house is empty
b - pray short rosary with kids each night I'm off work
So begins my walk toward Easter.
Lenten Goals:
1) improve my health
a - exercise each morning I'm off work
b - decrease sugared drinks (specifically, only have them at work...where sugar is a must)
2) improve my marriage
a - no more play fighting
c - take over a household chore I do not usually do -- dusting and vacuuming
3) improve my serenity
a - play piano each morning house is empty
b - pray short rosary with kids each night I'm off work
So begins my walk toward Easter.
Wednesday Hero
19 years old from Knox, Pennsylvania
1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division
December 4, 2006
His mission was to patrol the streets of Adhamiyah in northeast Baghdad and find a place to put a 250-kilowatt generator that would provide electricity for more than 100 homes. But it's a mission he wasn't able to accomplish.
Shortly after Pfc. McGinnis's convoy left the compound, and less than a mile from FOB Apache, an insurgent standing on a nearby rooftop threw a grenade into the sixth, and last, Humvee. "Grenade!" yelled McGinnis, who was manning the vehicle's M2 .50-caliber machine gun. He tried to deflect the grenade but it fell into the Humvee and lodged between the radios.
"McGinnis turned and looked down and realized no one in the truck knew where the grenade was," said Capt. Michael Baka, his company commander. "He knew everyone had their doors combat-locked and they wouldn't be able to get out."
Instead of jumping out of the truck to save his own life, like he had been trained to do, McGinnis threw his back against the radio mount, smothering the explosive with his body. The grenade exploded just as Pfc. McGinnis covered it. The blast filled the vehicle with black smoke and debris and blew the driver's door and right passenger's door wide open and blew the machine gun off its mount. The explosion hit McGinnis on his sides and his lower back, under his vest. He was killed instantly.
The other four soldiers in the Humvee suffered relatively minor injuries.
On the morning of December 4, 2006, before his convoy had left, Cpt. Baka has signed a waver promoting Pfc. McGinnis to Specialist and he was posthumously promoted to E-4.
For his heroic actions on that day, McGinnis was awarded the Silver Star and was nominated for a Medal of Honor which he received on June 2, 2008.
All Information Was Found On And Copied From MilitaryCity.com
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Oh, yeah....GOALS!!
1) finish the wall hanging. bwahaha. not quite yet. I've gotten the Western Hemisphere done and am working my way over Antartica and her penguins...then I'll finish with EuroAsia and Austraila and the oceans in the East...quilt around the border and THEN I will be done...
5 yard gain. Second Down
2) hem the curtains with hubby nope. I'm not sure exactly why we haven't gotten to this yet. But there'll be time soon.
3) restring the yoyo bears....AGAIN. The thread held...it was the knots that came out. nope. frankly, it's not very high on my "want to" list...maybe later
4) work some more on the Thesaurus Thursday glossary heehee, by the time work is done tonight I plan to have done some of this goal...hint to successful goal setting...always have 1 that you can complete in a pinch right before you post about the goals so that you have SOMETHING done!!
:-)
next week??
1) finish the wall hanging
2) hem the curtains
this is sounding familiar....
3) cut the fabric for my sister's quilt
4) Thesaurus Thursday glossary
5) finalize my Lent plans
I have several things floating around in my head to do and to not do for Lent. I'm afraid of taking on ALL of them...yet they each have a specific purpose towards a goal I'm wanting to achieve. Some of them I've already started with moderate success. Others are waiting till after Mardi Gras!! I'll let you know how it ends up on Wed.
I also am going to start Lenten Accountability Posts on Saturday (LAPS) . Similar to these goal posts...but specific to my list of to dos and to not dos for Lent. It will probably bore you to tears, but will help to keep me on track. The number one reason I have been able to get so many goals finished so far this year is because I post them each week and then have to tell the world ("God and everybody") when I DON'T do them. It feels icky. I don't like feeling icky...so I make more of a point to get the silly things done. (we won't discuss this week.) Feel free to join in with your own LAPS if you want. I'd do a Mr Linky thing, but frankly he and I aren't getting along right now so just let us know in the comments if you plan to LAPS too.
5 yard gain. Second Down
2) hem the curtains with hubby nope. I'm not sure exactly why we haven't gotten to this yet. But there'll be time soon.
3) restring the yoyo bears....AGAIN. The thread held...it was the knots that came out. nope. frankly, it's not very high on my "want to" list...maybe later
4) work some more on the Thesaurus Thursday glossary heehee, by the time work is done tonight I plan to have done some of this goal...hint to successful goal setting...always have 1 that you can complete in a pinch right before you post about the goals so that you have SOMETHING done!!
:-)
next week??
1) finish the wall hanging
2) hem the curtains
this is sounding familiar....
3) cut the fabric for my sister's quilt
4) Thesaurus Thursday glossary
5) finalize my Lent plans
I have several things floating around in my head to do and to not do for Lent. I'm afraid of taking on ALL of them...yet they each have a specific purpose towards a goal I'm wanting to achieve. Some of them I've already started with moderate success. Others are waiting till after Mardi Gras!! I'll let you know how it ends up on Wed.
I also am going to start Lenten Accountability Posts on Saturday (LAPS) . Similar to these goal posts...but specific to my list of to dos and to not dos for Lent. It will probably bore you to tears, but will help to keep me on track. The number one reason I have been able to get so many goals finished so far this year is because I post them each week and then have to tell the world ("God and everybody") when I DON'T do them. It feels icky. I don't like feeling icky...so I make more of a point to get the silly things done. (we won't discuss this week.) Feel free to join in with your own LAPS if you want. I'd do a Mr Linky thing, but frankly he and I aren't getting along right now so just let us know in the comments if you plan to LAPS too.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Things I learned from Grandma.
originally posted at Extraordinary Mom's Network 11/3/08
My Grandma taught me …
To speak softly and carry a big jar of cookies.
The amount of time it takes to put on a pair of knee-highs and keds is exactly equal to the amount of time it takes to start a conversation that’ll last all day.
There is never any reason to be jealous, for you will always have a special place in the heart of someone who loves you, a place that no one else can ever take.
Homemade pickles taste better.
The best beginning to any sentence is “Say, how’s so and so doing (or such and such going) these days?”
How to handle walking in on two kids (my brother and cousin) after they’ve used the wheel of your stationary bike to grind an entire package of cheetos into a big pile of dust…on your white carpet….”Well, you’ve been having fun!”
Talking about your hurts doesn’t make them go away, but focusing on your happys will make the hurts smaller.
Rolls can be bought frozen ….but cookies must be made from scratch.
Every morning when you wake up, you decide if you’re going to have a good day.
Make each child feel as if he or she is your favorite. (This from a woman with 5 kids and 11 grandkids.)
Putting a lit match behind your teeth only makes you look like a jack-o-lantern if you have a really big smile (she did).
You can get glad in the same shoes you got mad in.
Spraying perfume on the yarn flowers we'd just made makes them “just like real.”
Life is a grindstone, and whether it grinds you up or polishes you up depends on what you’re made of.
My Grandma taught me …
To speak softly and carry a big jar of cookies.
The amount of time it takes to put on a pair of knee-highs and keds is exactly equal to the amount of time it takes to start a conversation that’ll last all day.
There is never any reason to be jealous, for you will always have a special place in the heart of someone who loves you, a place that no one else can ever take.
Homemade pickles taste better.
The best beginning to any sentence is “Say, how’s so and so doing (or such and such going) these days?”
How to handle walking in on two kids (my brother and cousin) after they’ve used the wheel of your stationary bike to grind an entire package of cheetos into a big pile of dust…on your white carpet….”Well, you’ve been having fun!”
Talking about your hurts doesn’t make them go away, but focusing on your happys will make the hurts smaller.
Rolls can be bought frozen ….but cookies must be made from scratch.
Every morning when you wake up, you decide if you’re going to have a good day.
Make each child feel as if he or she is your favorite. (This from a woman with 5 kids and 11 grandkids.)
Putting a lit match behind your teeth only makes you look like a jack-o-lantern if you have a really big smile (she did).
You can get glad in the same shoes you got mad in.
Spraying perfume on the yarn flowers we'd just made makes them “just like real.”
Life is a grindstone, and whether it grinds you up or polishes you up depends on what you’re made of.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Thesaurus Thursday
Welcome to Thesaurus Thursday, 2009.
This game has brought me great joy and taught me many new words! I'm glad to continue it into this new year. Welcome to all newcomers!! Take a minute and peruse our "game rules" here, then come back to this post and join in for big fun and enormous laughs!
Are you ready??
Last week's official definitions were:
jalousie - 1) a blind or shutter made with horizontal slats that can be adjusted to admit light and air but exclude rain and sun 2) a window made of glass slats or louvers of a similar nature
jape - 1) to jest; joke; gibe 2) to mock or make fun of 3) a joke; jest; quip 4) a trick or practical joke.
Congrats to these Silly Geese:
Nancy said...
Hi - I'm following links all over Blogland this morning and found yours. This looks like fun, so I hope you don't mind if I jump in!
Jape: A new contraction, from the words Jaw and Gape, meaning to yak while rudely staring at someone.
Jungle Mom said...
Jalousie;Its a type of jazz music, not the good stuff, the lousy stuff!
APPLAUSE!!
APPLAUSE!!!
APPLAUSE!!!!
Thanks! y'all cracked me up!!
The words for this week are:
job lot
jodhpur
For those of you who are new this year, all words and definitions come from my 1992 Random House Webster's College Dictionary. I do not pick proper nouns or words that I know the meaning of.
For all winners, the Awards will continue to be found on my sidebar to pick up at your leisure.
Now don't forget to leave your comments for the new words!
This game has brought me great joy and taught me many new words! I'm glad to continue it into this new year. Welcome to all newcomers!! Take a minute and peruse our "game rules" here, then come back to this post and join in for big fun and enormous laughs!
Are you ready??
Last week's official definitions were:
jalousie - 1) a blind or shutter made with horizontal slats that can be adjusted to admit light and air but exclude rain and sun 2) a window made of glass slats or louvers of a similar nature
jape - 1) to jest; joke; gibe 2) to mock or make fun of 3) a joke; jest; quip 4) a trick or practical joke.
Congrats to these Silly Geese:
Nancy said...
Hi - I'm following links all over Blogland this morning and found yours. This looks like fun, so I hope you don't mind if I jump in!
Jape: A new contraction, from the words Jaw and Gape, meaning to yak while rudely staring at someone.
Jungle Mom said...
Jalousie;Its a type of jazz music, not the good stuff, the lousy stuff!
APPLAUSE!!
APPLAUSE!!!
APPLAUSE!!!!
Thanks! y'all cracked me up!!
The words for this week are:
job lot
jodhpur
For those of you who are new this year, all words and definitions come from my 1992 Random House Webster's College Dictionary. I do not pick proper nouns or words that I know the meaning of.
For all winners, the Awards will continue to be found on my sidebar to pick up at your leisure.
Now don't forget to leave your comments for the new words!
Friday, February 20, 2009
sorry folks
blogger wouldn't let me sign in yesterday for some reason so I was unable to get Thesaurus Thursday up. I'm at work tonight but will try to get it up and running sometime tomorrow...provided blogger cooperates!!
ALSO
Haloscan people.
I cannot load haloscan at work, which is where I do a fair bit of my blog reading...I sew when at home ya know. So, if you've noticed that I'm not commenting it's not you, it's haloscan. I sat at the computer for hours on end Wed night/thurs morning and FINALLY emptied my google reader again. Yes, I read each of your posts....even if I didn't comment on them all!!
ALSO
Haloscan people.
I cannot load haloscan at work, which is where I do a fair bit of my blog reading...I sew when at home ya know. So, if you've noticed that I'm not commenting it's not you, it's haloscan. I sat at the computer for hours on end Wed night/thurs morning and FINALLY emptied my google reader again. Yes, I read each of your posts....even if I didn't comment on them all!!
Friday Fragments
Friday Fragments are bits and pieces of your week that are usually brief; too short for a stand-alone post, but too good to discard. Collect humorous observations, "Heard" items, and other small gems and put them together in a Friday Fragments post.
why does the staff bathroom HAVE to stay at 40 degrees Fairenheit?? I have considered keeping a heating pad on the toilet seat on low all the time like my OB does his speculums.....but there's no electrical outlet in the staff bathroom either.
at what point did the gynecologist become the OB?? my youngest child will be 2 in 2 weeks...and he's still known as my OB. I'm sure that even post-hysterectomy I'll be referring to the man as "my OB". -- (maybe I should call him Mr One Kinobee?)
thinking I might try a "veil" for church.......
or maybe not.
why does it look like I weigh 1173.2lbs on my ticker?? GEEZ! I'm not that big!!
The blogs you're following have no unread items.
my favorite thing to see in my Google reader! I make sure and click on the 0 just so this message will appear and I can bask in it's emptiness.......for about 10 min. :-)
Why do cats snore? They don't even have to be ASLEEP!!
breakfast of champions!! after all we have all the major food groups here.....milk, eggs (meat), fruit, Dr Pepper and chocolate!
If you can hear the ocean when you put a shell up to your ear......
What can you hear when you put Mr Potato Head up to your ear?
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Wednesday Hero
34 years old from West Liberty, Kentucky
Secretary of the Army Pete Geren congratulates Sgt. Kelly Keck after presenting him the Purple Heart.
On September 13, 2008, Sgt. Kelly Keck, a combat medic serving in Afghanistan, was wounded while trying to aid his fellow soldiers who's truck had just been struck by an IED. "I stepped off the road to try to get to the side of the truck, and the next thing I know I hear a loud boom, and I'm laying on the ground," he said. Sgt. Kelly had stepped on a land mine. He was flown to a field hospital in Jalalabad where he ended up loosing three fingers on his left hand and his right leg below the knee. "It was quite an ordeal," the soft-spoken soldier said.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Smile!
Hi y'all, things are getting better.
I slept a LOOOOOONG time Sunday, that helps.
I have also FINALLY scheduled my surgery. So, y'all put me on your calendars for May 7th. I'll be having a hysterectomy and some reconstructive surgery.
And I have worked on some of my goals for last week.
1) Sort those clothes. Done! Actually not only did I sort the clothes that were in her room, but I also sorted all our books and boxed up quite a few so that I could clear off the bottom 3 shelves of our 7 foot bookcases. Then hubby and I found other homes for everything else that was in her room....All so that we could set up her BIG GIRL BED!! Tonight Miss Priss is sleeping in her very own twin bed for the first time. Oh, so big! Oh the trouble she can get into now!!
2) finish wall hanging. Well, I've been working on it but it isn't done yet. I'd have gotten a lot more done last night, if I'd been able to keep my eyes open!
3) start my sister's quilt. Nope. This is for AFTER the wall hanging is done being quilted.
4) Easter dresses. Nope. This is for AFTER the wall hanging is completely finished
5) hem curtains with hubby's help. Hubby has asked me to teach him how to use the sewing machine. He wants to hem the curtains that hide our water heater, washer, and dryer from the dining area. The plan was that we'd work on this during my days off last week. Well, between one thing and another that didn't happen. We got them taken down and washed and measured to see how much we need to hem. But that's all. Hopefully we will find time to work on them this week.
Now, for next week's goals.
1) finish the wall hanging.
2) hem the curtains with hubby
3) restring the yoyo bears....AGAIN. The thread held...it was the knots that came out.
4) work some more on the Thesaurus Thursday glossary (have you left your definitions yet??!!) 5) get caught up on my blog reading! 71 in the reader...and counting....don't y'all know you're supposed to STOP POSTING when I'm too tired to blogread??
We'll see how this week goes. I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow, hubby is planning on replacing some missing shingles from our roof with my Dad while the kids work on buttering up Mimi. :-)
I slept a LOOOOOONG time Sunday, that helps.
I have also FINALLY scheduled my surgery. So, y'all put me on your calendars for May 7th. I'll be having a hysterectomy and some reconstructive surgery.
And I have worked on some of my goals for last week.
1) Sort those clothes. Done! Actually not only did I sort the clothes that were in her room, but I also sorted all our books and boxed up quite a few so that I could clear off the bottom 3 shelves of our 7 foot bookcases. Then hubby and I found other homes for everything else that was in her room....All so that we could set up her BIG GIRL BED!! Tonight Miss Priss is sleeping in her very own twin bed for the first time. Oh, so big! Oh the trouble she can get into now!!
2) finish wall hanging. Well, I've been working on it but it isn't done yet. I'd have gotten a lot more done last night, if I'd been able to keep my eyes open!
3) start my sister's quilt. Nope. This is for AFTER the wall hanging is done being quilted.
4) Easter dresses. Nope. This is for AFTER the wall hanging is completely finished
5) hem curtains with hubby's help. Hubby has asked me to teach him how to use the sewing machine. He wants to hem the curtains that hide our water heater, washer, and dryer from the dining area. The plan was that we'd work on this during my days off last week. Well, between one thing and another that didn't happen. We got them taken down and washed and measured to see how much we need to hem. But that's all. Hopefully we will find time to work on them this week.
Now, for next week's goals.
1) finish the wall hanging.
2) hem the curtains with hubby
3) restring the yoyo bears....AGAIN. The thread held...it was the knots that came out.
4) work some more on the Thesaurus Thursday glossary (have you left your definitions yet??!!) 5) get caught up on my blog reading! 71 in the reader...and counting....don't y'all know you're supposed to STOP POSTING when I'm too tired to blogread??
We'll see how this week goes. I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow, hubby is planning on replacing some missing shingles from our roof with my Dad while the kids work on buttering up Mimi. :-)
Sunday, February 15, 2009
OH Fun!
originally posted at Extraordinary Mom's Network 12/1/08
Ferris Bueller said, "Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it."
Cue the music....sing along with me folks, the tune is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer...
There was retching and puking and cleaning the carpets.
washing the sheets and changing the diapers...
But the best of alll..............are the blessings I can recall.
(Ba dum dum dum)
Sick kids are very snuggly
Even those who usually aren't
Husbands are very handy
Renting carpet cleaners fast.
Bath time is lots of fun
even several times a day
it makes you smell so yummy
and washes all the sicks away.
Then there's one very big...Blessing I must share
I would up and go to work..Leaving hubby there
(he's the best!)
Now all the kids are better
Eating all the food they can
Running around like banshees
Playing hard and chasing cats!
Yup, life moves pretty fast, remember to stop and count your blessings during this busy season folks.
Ferris Bueller said, "Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it."
Cue the music....sing along with me folks, the tune is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer...
There was retching and puking and cleaning the carpets.
washing the sheets and changing the diapers...
But the best of alll..............are the blessings I can recall.
(Ba dum dum dum)
Sick kids are very snuggly
Even those who usually aren't
Husbands are very handy
Renting carpet cleaners fast.
Bath time is lots of fun
even several times a day
it makes you smell so yummy
and washes all the sicks away.
Then there's one very big...Blessing I must share
I would up and go to work..Leaving hubby there
(he's the best!)
Now all the kids are better
Eating all the food they can
Running around like banshees
Playing hard and chasing cats!
Yup, life moves pretty fast, remember to stop and count your blessings during this busy season folks.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Dad Sad Bad Had
Dad is sad
very very sad
He had a bad day
what a day Dad had.
Dr Seuss
well, it's mom, not dad...but that doesn't rhyme nearly as well.
oh well, tomorrow's another day.
very very sad
He had a bad day
what a day Dad had.
Dr Seuss
well, it's mom, not dad...but that doesn't rhyme nearly as well.
oh well, tomorrow's another day.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Thesaurus Thursday
Welcome to Thesaurus Thursday, 2009.
This game has brought me great joy and taught me many new words! I'm glad to continue it into this new year. Welcome to all newcomers!! Take a minute and peruse our "game rules" here, then come back to this post and join in for big fun and enormous laughs!
Are you ready??
Last week's official definitions were:
inclinometer - 1) an instrument for measuring the angle an aircraft makes with the horizontal 2) an instrument with an iron needle swinging freely in the vertical direction for measuring magnetic dip (many of you came very close to this definition...just not specifying that it was found in a plane. So, if you were close and haven't gotten the Smarty Pants before...go ahead and pick it up from the sidebar!)
incogitant - thoughtless; inconsiderate.
Congrats to these Silly Geese:
funtohavefun said...
Inclinometer: the skill of measuring maternal exhaustion by determining the mom to floor incline.
ABNPOPPA said...
Incogitant is what a person is who is incognito.
APPLAUSE!!
APPLAUSE!!!
APPLAUSE!!!!
Thanks! y'all cracked me up!!
The words for this week are:
jalousie
jape
For those of you who are new this year, all words and definitions come from my 1992 Random House Webster's College Dictionary. I do not pick proper nouns or words that I know the meaning of.
For all winners, the Awards will continue to be found on my sidebar to pick up at your leisure.
Now don't forget to leave your comments for the new words!
This game has brought me great joy and taught me many new words! I'm glad to continue it into this new year. Welcome to all newcomers!! Take a minute and peruse our "game rules" here, then come back to this post and join in for big fun and enormous laughs!
Are you ready??
Last week's official definitions were:
inclinometer - 1) an instrument for measuring the angle an aircraft makes with the horizontal 2) an instrument with an iron needle swinging freely in the vertical direction for measuring magnetic dip (many of you came very close to this definition...just not specifying that it was found in a plane. So, if you were close and haven't gotten the Smarty Pants before...go ahead and pick it up from the sidebar!)
incogitant - thoughtless; inconsiderate.
Congrats to these Silly Geese:
funtohavefun said...
Inclinometer: the skill of measuring maternal exhaustion by determining the mom to floor incline.
ABNPOPPA said...
Incogitant is what a person is who is incognito.
APPLAUSE!!
APPLAUSE!!!
APPLAUSE!!!!
Thanks! y'all cracked me up!!
The words for this week are:
jalousie
jape
For those of you who are new this year, all words and definitions come from my 1992 Random House Webster's College Dictionary. I do not pick proper nouns or words that I know the meaning of.
For all winners, the Awards will continue to be found on my sidebar to pick up at your leisure.
Now don't forget to leave your comments for the new words!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Goals
My goals for last week and their progress........
1) make the cloth book for Sugars' birthday
All the batting came out of my left-over-batting tub. It turned out really cute. I was worried about that last down the middle...sew the pages together seam, but my sewing machine acted like it was no big deal! woo-hoo! ain't it cute!!?? I ran across the fabric with instructions for this book and the matching panel fabric for the wall hanging in goal #2 in my local quilt store last summer. One of my very few impulse fabric buys. I usually only buy fabric specific for a project I'm starting..or thinking about starting..
Done! First Down...ball's on the 40.
2) work on the map wallhanging for Gator's birthday (gonna have to find some backing fabric...) The map wall hanging is now layered and pinned. I found a nice large piece of muslin in the box of fabric I inherited from my Grandmother and a perfect sized piece of batting in my left-over batting tub!! woo-hoo. I've started quilting it too!
Done! First Down...ball's on the 30.
3) read for RCIA (ahem)
Done! shew! Ball's on the 20.
4) back to Easter dresses!
postponed...till I finish the wall hanging!
5) go through the boxes of clothes we've been given for Sugars and see if there's anything in there she can wear right now.
nah, I keep forgetting to drag the boxes out of her room WHEN SHE'S AWAKE so that I can work on them at a convenient time. Oh well.
Now, let's see here. For next week??
1) Sort those clothes.
2) finish wall hanging
3) start my sister's quilt
4) Easter dresses.
5) hem curtains with hubby's help
1) make the cloth book for Sugars' birthday
All the batting came out of my left-over-batting tub. It turned out really cute. I was worried about that last down the middle...sew the pages together seam, but my sewing machine acted like it was no big deal! woo-hoo! ain't it cute!!?? I ran across the fabric with instructions for this book and the matching panel fabric for the wall hanging in goal #2 in my local quilt store last summer. One of my very few impulse fabric buys. I usually only buy fabric specific for a project I'm starting..or thinking about starting..
Done! First Down...ball's on the 40.
2) work on the map wallhanging for Gator's birthday (gonna have to find some backing fabric...) The map wall hanging is now layered and pinned. I found a nice large piece of muslin in the box of fabric I inherited from my Grandmother and a perfect sized piece of batting in my left-over batting tub!! woo-hoo. I've started quilting it too!
Done! First Down...ball's on the 30.
3) read for RCIA (ahem)
Done! shew! Ball's on the 20.
4) back to Easter dresses!
postponed...till I finish the wall hanging!
5) go through the boxes of clothes we've been given for Sugars and see if there's anything in there she can wear right now.
nah, I keep forgetting to drag the boxes out of her room WHEN SHE'S AWAKE so that I can work on them at a convenient time. Oh well.
Now, let's see here. For next week??
1) Sort those clothes.
2) finish wall hanging
3) start my sister's quilt
4) Easter dresses.
5) hem curtains with hubby's help
Wednesday Hero
This Weeks Post Was Suggested And Written By Brat
Sgt. Patrick Tainsh
33 years old from Oceanside, California
Troop E, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment
February 11, 2004
Five years ago today, Sgt. Patrick Tainsh sacrificed all as the mounted unit he
was part of was hit by an IED in Baghdad. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze and Sliver Stars saving the lives of his commanding officer and other soldiers before succumbing to his own wounds. Also killed in the attack was Pfc. William C. Ramirez from Portland, Oregon.
On Veteran’s Day, 2007, Deborah Tainsh, Sgt. Tainsh's mother, attended a school in Columbia, Georgia, and shared a story she had written called "A Boy Named Patrick."
Here is part of the story :
…a little boy named Patrick who loved football, beaches, surfing, and
skateboarding, and especially reading. Patrick watched his dad be a Marine for
over twenty years. During this time Patrick kept reading not only surfing and
skateboarding magazines, but history books, too. One day when Patrick was a man, he told his dad and best friend, “I want to do something that will make a
difference in the world, I’m going to be a soldier.” And so he did. And in 1999
he went to Fort Knox, Kentucky for boot camp and then went to Fort Polk,
Louisiana where he worked and trained hard to become a United States Army
Cavalry Scout. Then in 2003 Patrick had to say good bye to his mom and dad
because he had to go fight a war in Iraq to protect his country, friends, and
family from terrorists and to help fight for the freedoms of the boys and girls
in that country where they and their families were treated very badly by their
country’s leader. Patrick once wrote a letter to his mom and dad telling them
that he cried for the children because they were hungry and he didn’t have food
to give them. He said he couldn’t understand how a country’s leader could treat
the people so badly and make them live in such dirty conditions with trash and
wild dogs everywhere. And so Patrick's mom and dad keep a photo in their living
room of Patrick surrounded by Iraqi children.
You can read the story in it's entirety here.
Sgt Tainsh came to the military later than some, but rose through the ranks fast. In his last letter to his parents, Sgt Tainsh shared his thoughts about his mission. And in 2006, Sgt. Tainsh's mother wrote a book called Heart Of A Hawk about her son's life and her and her husband's struggles since their son was killed.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
33 years old from Oceanside, California
Troop E, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment
February 11, 2004
Five years ago today, Sgt. Patrick Tainsh sacrificed all as the mounted unit he
was part of was hit by an IED in Baghdad. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze and Sliver Stars saving the lives of his commanding officer and other soldiers before succumbing to his own wounds. Also killed in the attack was Pfc. William C. Ramirez from Portland, Oregon.
On Veteran’s Day, 2007, Deborah Tainsh, Sgt. Tainsh's mother, attended a school in Columbia, Georgia, and shared a story she had written called "A Boy Named Patrick."
Here is part of the story :
…a little boy named Patrick who loved football, beaches, surfing, and
skateboarding, and especially reading. Patrick watched his dad be a Marine for
over twenty years. During this time Patrick kept reading not only surfing and
skateboarding magazines, but history books, too. One day when Patrick was a man, he told his dad and best friend, “I want to do something that will make a
difference in the world, I’m going to be a soldier.” And so he did. And in 1999
he went to Fort Knox, Kentucky for boot camp and then went to Fort Polk,
Louisiana where he worked and trained hard to become a United States Army
Cavalry Scout. Then in 2003 Patrick had to say good bye to his mom and dad
because he had to go fight a war in Iraq to protect his country, friends, and
family from terrorists and to help fight for the freedoms of the boys and girls
in that country where they and their families were treated very badly by their
country’s leader. Patrick once wrote a letter to his mom and dad telling them
that he cried for the children because they were hungry and he didn’t have food
to give them. He said he couldn’t understand how a country’s leader could treat
the people so badly and make them live in such dirty conditions with trash and
wild dogs everywhere. And so Patrick's mom and dad keep a photo in their living
room of Patrick surrounded by Iraqi children.
You can read the story in it's entirety here.
Sgt Tainsh came to the military later than some, but rose through the ranks fast. In his last letter to his parents, Sgt Tainsh shared his thoughts about his mission. And in 2006, Sgt. Tainsh's mother wrote a book called Heart Of A Hawk about her son's life and her and her husband's struggles since their son was killed.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Rounding up the posse!
Going around the web ~ apparently from a pro-life activist named John Otto:
Dear Friends and Intercessors:
This afternoon I was praying about a number of things, and my mind began to wander. I was deeply distressed at the symbolic actions that President Obama took as he began his presidency. Namely, that he signed executive orders releasing funds to pay for abortions, permission to fund human stem cell research, and federal funding for contraception.
I have been involved in the pro-life movement for nearly 20 years, and it pained my heart to see a man and a political party committed to the shedding of innocent blood. This man, and this party lead our country, but they do not represent me or the 54% of Americans who believe that abortion is wrong and should no longer be legal..
As I was praying, I believe that God gave me an interesting idea. Out in the garage I have a box of red envelopes. Like the powerful image of the red LIFE tape, an empty red envelope will send a message to Barack Obama that there is moral outrage in this country over this issue. It will be quiet, but clear.
Here is what I would like you to do:Get a red envelope. You can buy them at Kinkos, or at party supply stores. On the front, address it to:
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.Washington , D.C.
20500
On the back, write the following message:
This envelope represents one child who died in abortion. It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world. Responsibility begins with conception.
Put it in the mail, and send it. Then forward this email to every one of your friends who you think would send one too.. I wish we could send 50 million red envelopes, one for every child who died before having a a chance to live. Maybe it will change the heart of the president.
Warmly,
John Otto
Fortunately, those of us who don't believe in contraception will soon outnumber those who do. -- G.K. Chesterton
I don't care who John Otto is or if this idea really did come to him in prayer.....but I think it is a fantastic idea! Much as good as the brick campaign of earlier years.
Here's my idea. Let's send em to Congress too!!
They should be very easy to find right here before Valentine's Day....and if there's any left they'll probably be onsale come Sunday!!!!
Dear Friends and Intercessors:
This afternoon I was praying about a number of things, and my mind began to wander. I was deeply distressed at the symbolic actions that President Obama took as he began his presidency. Namely, that he signed executive orders releasing funds to pay for abortions, permission to fund human stem cell research, and federal funding for contraception.
I have been involved in the pro-life movement for nearly 20 years, and it pained my heart to see a man and a political party committed to the shedding of innocent blood. This man, and this party lead our country, but they do not represent me or the 54% of Americans who believe that abortion is wrong and should no longer be legal..
As I was praying, I believe that God gave me an interesting idea. Out in the garage I have a box of red envelopes. Like the powerful image of the red LIFE tape, an empty red envelope will send a message to Barack Obama that there is moral outrage in this country over this issue. It will be quiet, but clear.
Here is what I would like you to do:Get a red envelope. You can buy them at Kinkos, or at party supply stores. On the front, address it to:
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.Washington , D.C.
20500
On the back, write the following message:
This envelope represents one child who died in abortion. It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world. Responsibility begins with conception.
Put it in the mail, and send it. Then forward this email to every one of your friends who you think would send one too.. I wish we could send 50 million red envelopes, one for every child who died before having a a chance to live. Maybe it will change the heart of the president.
Warmly,
John Otto
Fortunately, those of us who don't believe in contraception will soon outnumber those who do. -- G.K. Chesterton
I don't care who John Otto is or if this idea really did come to him in prayer.....but I think it is a fantastic idea! Much as good as the brick campaign of earlier years.
Here's my idea. Let's send em to Congress too!!
They should be very easy to find right here before Valentine's Day....and if there's any left they'll probably be onsale come Sunday!!!!
Monday, February 9, 2009
author's note
I have several different playlists.
If you see the color of the music player change....that means there is a different playlist up.
:-)
If you see the color of the music player change....that means there is a different playlist up.
:-)
and yet another meme.
Susan at Penless Writer put up this interview meme. I answered some questions from Lisa a little while ago. (You can find those answered questions here.) Since Susan has been reading my blog almost from its very beginning I couldn't imagine that there'd be anything about me she doesn't already know...but I told her I'd be willing to play. Here are her questions and my answers.....
1. How did you meet your husband?
in an AOL chat room, more than 11 years ago.
2. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Grey haired! Working with babies, still herding my 3 hooligans.
3. If money were no object where would you live and what would you do?
4. If you could go back and re-do one thing in your life, what would it be?
As I believe that we are formed by the things we live through --both good and bad-- I really wouldn't change anything, however there are things I have said that I wish I hadn't...most especially to my husband during our early years.
5. What is the hardest part of raising an autistic child?
Truthfully, there are a lot of hard things about raising my kids. There are a lot of things relating to my kids and their places in this world that just frankly hurt. Like watching my oldest want so badly to join in a game of catch with 2 older boys yet not know how to be included. So that he just stood in front of one of the boys and jumped up and down waving his hands in excitement...totally unable to verbalize anything but grunts. Or getting an update in the mail from Gator's speech therapist and seeing "presents with severe expressive and receptive speech disorder". Or excitedly telling folks at work that Sugars started walking today! To hear "that's great, how old is she now?" ..."22 months".... **awkward silence** ...
I don't talk about these things much except with my husband. Not that I wouldn't gain comfort or support from others but rather just because I choose to focus on the good, the funny, the wonderful things about these kids. I talk a lot about my kids to my patients, my co-workers, family, friends, the guy in line behind me, the carhop at Sonic...(ok, not quite that much). I talk about my kids and the fact that they all have Special Needs because I want people to see how wonderful SNKs really are. It's like the mother of my mid-20s patient with Down's said when I mentioned that babys with Down's aren't being allowed to be born. "They (those who chose to abort) don't know WHAT they're missing!!"
Each child born in the world is a blessing. And a special needs child is a special blessing. I feel especially blessed to have these kiddos and I choose to **cue the music** accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative...don't mess with Mr inbetween.
Now, all that being said, I will answer your question, Susan. The hardest thing about raising my children is also one of the biggest blessings of raising my children and can be found in my 10 blessings of raising SNKs post.
7) They bring me closer to God, daily. One of the blessings of parenting SNKs (Special Needs Kids) is that you slowly learn that you have no control over their development. You have no control over their potential, we don’t even know what their potential is! I have no plans for my children’s future, as I have no idea what that future may look like. But see, this is how it’s SUPPOSED to be. We’re told NOT to plan for the future, just to trust that God will supply our needs. Learning to let that go is a painful but wonderful blessing.
The thing we pray for the hardest is that our children will be able to live independently after we're gone. That we won't find ourselves in the situation of picking out what facility we're going to trust to watch over them because they are unable to take care of themselves. We don't know what their future will look like and that's scary. But we are learning, day by day to trust that God knows His plan for each child even though we don't. And that my friend is a blessing~~even if it's hard to swallow some days.
Now, anyone else wanna take part in this meme?? If you would like to ask me questions...or would like me to ask you questions...just let me know and we'll roll this meme along.
Thanks Susan!
1. How did you meet your husband?
in an AOL chat room, more than 11 years ago.
2. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Grey haired! Working with babies, still herding my 3 hooligans.
3. If money were no object where would you live and what would you do?
4. If you could go back and re-do one thing in your life, what would it be?
As I believe that we are formed by the things we live through --both good and bad-- I really wouldn't change anything, however there are things I have said that I wish I hadn't...most especially to my husband during our early years.
5. What is the hardest part of raising an autistic child?
Truthfully, there are a lot of hard things about raising my kids. There are a lot of things relating to my kids and their places in this world that just frankly hurt. Like watching my oldest want so badly to join in a game of catch with 2 older boys yet not know how to be included. So that he just stood in front of one of the boys and jumped up and down waving his hands in excitement...totally unable to verbalize anything but grunts. Or getting an update in the mail from Gator's speech therapist and seeing "presents with severe expressive and receptive speech disorder". Or excitedly telling folks at work that Sugars started walking today! To hear "that's great, how old is she now?" ..."22 months".... **awkward silence** ...
I don't talk about these things much except with my husband. Not that I wouldn't gain comfort or support from others but rather just because I choose to focus on the good, the funny, the wonderful things about these kids. I talk a lot about my kids to my patients, my co-workers, family, friends, the guy in line behind me, the carhop at Sonic...(ok, not quite that much). I talk about my kids and the fact that they all have Special Needs because I want people to see how wonderful SNKs really are. It's like the mother of my mid-20s patient with Down's said when I mentioned that babys with Down's aren't being allowed to be born. "They (those who chose to abort) don't know WHAT they're missing!!"
Each child born in the world is a blessing. And a special needs child is a special blessing. I feel especially blessed to have these kiddos and I choose to **cue the music** accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative...don't mess with Mr inbetween.
Now, all that being said, I will answer your question, Susan. The hardest thing about raising my children is also one of the biggest blessings of raising my children and can be found in my 10 blessings of raising SNKs post.
7) They bring me closer to God, daily. One of the blessings of parenting SNKs (Special Needs Kids) is that you slowly learn that you have no control over their development. You have no control over their potential, we don’t even know what their potential is! I have no plans for my children’s future, as I have no idea what that future may look like. But see, this is how it’s SUPPOSED to be. We’re told NOT to plan for the future, just to trust that God will supply our needs. Learning to let that go is a painful but wonderful blessing.
The thing we pray for the hardest is that our children will be able to live independently after we're gone. That we won't find ourselves in the situation of picking out what facility we're going to trust to watch over them because they are unable to take care of themselves. We don't know what their future will look like and that's scary. But we are learning, day by day to trust that God knows His plan for each child even though we don't. And that my friend is a blessing~~even if it's hard to swallow some days.
Now, anyone else wanna take part in this meme?? If you would like to ask me questions...or would like me to ask you questions...just let me know and we'll roll this meme along.
Thanks Susan!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
No! Mom!! Not the Eyebrows!!!
originally posted at Extraordinary Mom's Network 10/27/08
So, Subvet was gone providing parkinglot security for the Saturday night Mass and as per the instructions he left, I fed the hooligans&hooliganette pizza for supper.
Now, the boys performed their usual magic trick flawlessly, not a bit of pizza left to be found after 2.4 seconds.
Sugars’ pizza, however, put up a fight. Apparently it did NOT want to be disappeared and, from the looks of things, fought tooth and nail against such treatment.
Once I pronounced the fight over. There was pizza sauce from stem to stern on that girl. Which left her with a slightly orange/yellow skin tone.
So, Mightymom takes rag in hand and proceeds to start at the bottom and work my way up.
My kids have long since decided that my name stands for Mean Old Mommy…especially when it comes to cleanup time. I mean to tell you I CLEAN the kids! I get between the toes….between the fingers….between all 4 chins….and yes, even between the eyes!!
So here I am scrubbing away trying to get all that orangeness/yellowness off of her. I’m scrubbing and scrubbing…she’s screaming for Child Protective Services to save her…or at least for Daddy to come home! and I finally have all the yelloworange stuff gone…except her eyebrows. I just can’t get them to come clean. No matter WHAT I do they still look a bit yellow-y.
As I sit and ponder what I can use that’ll get her clean and not require a full bath it dawns on me…..
SHE’S BLOND!
Her eyebrows are SUPPOSED TO BE YELLOW!!!
Uh, oops.
Sorry, babe.
So, Subvet was gone providing parkinglot security for the Saturday night Mass and as per the instructions he left, I fed the hooligans&hooliganette pizza for supper.
Now, the boys performed their usual magic trick flawlessly, not a bit of pizza left to be found after 2.4 seconds.
Sugars’ pizza, however, put up a fight. Apparently it did NOT want to be disappeared and, from the looks of things, fought tooth and nail against such treatment.
Once I pronounced the fight over. There was pizza sauce from stem to stern on that girl. Which left her with a slightly orange/yellow skin tone.
So, Mightymom takes rag in hand and proceeds to start at the bottom and work my way up.
My kids have long since decided that my name stands for Mean Old Mommy…especially when it comes to cleanup time. I mean to tell you I CLEAN the kids! I get between the toes….between the fingers….between all 4 chins….and yes, even between the eyes!!
So here I am scrubbing away trying to get all that orangeness/yellowness off of her. I’m scrubbing and scrubbing…she’s screaming for Child Protective Services to save her…or at least for Daddy to come home! and I finally have all the yelloworange stuff gone…except her eyebrows. I just can’t get them to come clean. No matter WHAT I do they still look a bit yellow-y.
As I sit and ponder what I can use that’ll get her clean and not require a full bath it dawns on me…..
SHE’S BLOND!
Her eyebrows are SUPPOSED TO BE YELLOW!!!
Uh, oops.
Sorry, babe.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Awards
Awards mean a lot to me to receive. I mean, everyone wants to be liked right? But they are so very hard to pass on. Because no one wants to be left out. So, if I have left a comment on your blog in the last week, consider youself awarded whichever of these awards you think best describes you...but you have to tell me which one you picked!!
The Lemonade Award is a special one.......making Lemonade when life hands you lemons. aka The Attitude of Gratitude Award. Now I know I remember seeing that SOMEONE had bestowed this lovely upon me.....but I can not for the life of me remember who. So, if YOU were the nice person who gave me this lemonade stand, please speak up so I can thank you personally.
Thanks to Mrs 4444 for this award!
The qualifications to receive the award are:
A. Display a cheerful attitude.
B. Love one another.
C. Make mistakes.
D. Learn from others.
E. Be a positive contributor to the blog world.
F. Love life.
G. Love kids.
The Rules:--I'm breaking all the rules so I don't expect you to follow them either!
Thanks so much! What this award embodies is a lot of why I started blogging in the first place!!
and thanks to Diane for this award....it's only getting done now cuz there was a MEME attached and I OD'd on meme's for 2008 already :-)
You must be a true Christmas lover to receive this award.
The person to whom you give the award must also be in love with Christmas.
Here are the rules for the Christmas award.~~~~~
Again, I'm eschewing all rules....if you don't know by now all the reasons why I love Christmas you need to go back and reread all the posts from last December!!
Stephanie at Scraps gave me this lovely award:
"Marie Antoinette Keeping it Real Award".
This award is for someone who blogs, honestly, 'warts and all'.
Mighty Mom of My Wonderful Life is a lot like my sister-in-law: in her head, out her mouth. She's nutty, dedicated, a long-suffering mom, and posts heroes on her blog every Wednesday. AND she packs a mean Thesaurus.
OKay, it took me awhile to "own" that in head out mouth comment....but I'll roll with it. Nor do I feel terribly "long suffering"....really, I don't. But I do tend to put up my life as is, from my perspective so thanks Steph!! :-)
Lisa was nice enough to give me this award
“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”
again, rules...smules. but it was very nice of her to think of me as charming! This blog and the folks who read it are my largest support network. The friendships made here are very important to me and I am grateful for each of you who comment here.
Now, I get about 5 comments per post on average....yet have about 25ish hits per day that I've posted. Either each of you are coming back to my blog FIVE TIMES before leaving a comment...or there are some lurkers out there who never say HI.
Come on now...just a little hello would do ~~ don't be shy, I don't bite....usually........
The Lemonade Award is a special one.......making Lemonade when life hands you lemons. aka The Attitude of Gratitude Award. Now I know I remember seeing that SOMEONE had bestowed this lovely upon me.....but I can not for the life of me remember who. So, if YOU were the nice person who gave me this lemonade stand, please speak up so I can thank you personally.
Thanks to Mrs 4444 for this award!
The qualifications to receive the award are:
A. Display a cheerful attitude.
B. Love one another.
C. Make mistakes.
D. Learn from others.
E. Be a positive contributor to the blog world.
F. Love life.
G. Love kids.
The Rules:--I'm breaking all the rules so I don't expect you to follow them either!
Thanks so much! What this award embodies is a lot of why I started blogging in the first place!!
and thanks to Diane for this award....it's only getting done now cuz there was a MEME attached and I OD'd on meme's for 2008 already :-)
You must be a true Christmas lover to receive this award.
The person to whom you give the award must also be in love with Christmas.
Here are the rules for the Christmas award.~~~~~
Again, I'm eschewing all rules....if you don't know by now all the reasons why I love Christmas you need to go back and reread all the posts from last December!!
Stephanie at Scraps gave me this lovely award:
"Marie Antoinette Keeping it Real Award".
This award is for someone who blogs, honestly, 'warts and all'.
Mighty Mom of My Wonderful Life is a lot like my sister-in-law: in her head, out her mouth. She's nutty, dedicated, a long-suffering mom, and posts heroes on her blog every Wednesday. AND she packs a mean Thesaurus.
OKay, it took me awhile to "own" that in head out mouth comment....but I'll roll with it. Nor do I feel terribly "long suffering"....really, I don't. But I do tend to put up my life as is, from my perspective so thanks Steph!! :-)
Lisa was nice enough to give me this award
“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”
again, rules...smules. but it was very nice of her to think of me as charming! This blog and the folks who read it are my largest support network. The friendships made here are very important to me and I am grateful for each of you who comment here.
Now, I get about 5 comments per post on average....yet have about 25ish hits per day that I've posted. Either each of you are coming back to my blog FIVE TIMES before leaving a comment...or there are some lurkers out there who never say HI.
Come on now...just a little hello would do ~~ don't be shy, I don't bite....usually........
Friday, February 6, 2009
Friday Fragments
So, who here knows Mrs 4444?? She's a special ed teacher who stole my heart awhile ago with her patience and humor, not only with her own two teenagers, but also those she teaches. She's been doing Friday Fragments for awhile and I wanted to join in...but couldn't put together enough fragments. Till Now!
Friday Fragments are bits and pieces of your week that are usually brief; too short for a stand-alone post, but too good to discard. Collect humorous observations, "Heard" items, and other small gems and put them together in a Friday Fragments post.
Does anyone else cut their kids' sandwiches like this, or is it just me??
Anyone wanna guess how these items came to be in their odd places?
great toes vs big toes Why is it medical terminology to say great toe, but not big toe? What's the difference??
Sonshine comes running down the hall one morning last week "Momma!! I squashed a duck!! In the bathtub!! And it made BUBBLES!!!" thanks Subvet for this wonderful euphemism.
Friday Fragments are bits and pieces of your week that are usually brief; too short for a stand-alone post, but too good to discard. Collect humorous observations, "Heard" items, and other small gems and put them together in a Friday Fragments post.
Does anyone else cut their kids' sandwiches like this, or is it just me??
Anyone wanna guess how these items came to be in their odd places?
great toes vs big toes Why is it medical terminology to say great toe, but not big toe? What's the difference??
Sonshine comes running down the hall one morning last week "Momma!! I squashed a duck!! In the bathtub!! And it made BUBBLES!!!" thanks Subvet for this wonderful euphemism.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Thesaurus Thursday
Welcome to Thesaurus Thursday, 2009.
This game has brought me great joy and taught me many new words! I'm glad to continue it into this new year. Welcome to all newcomers!! Take a minute and peruse our "game rules" here, then come back to this post and join in for big fun and enormous laughs!
Are you ready??
Last week's official definitions were:
back matter - the parts of a book that appear after the main text, as bibliography, index, and appendixes.
balkline - a straight line drawn across a billiard table behind which the cue balls are placed in beginning a game.
and from Wikipedia - title of a large array of carom billiards games generally played with two cue balls and a third, red object ball, on a cloth-covered, 5 foot × 10 foot, pocketless table that is divided by balklines on the cloth into marked regions called balk spaces Over its history balkline has had many variations In its various incarnations, balkline was the predominant billiards discipline from 1883 to the 1930s when it was overtaken by three cushion billiards and pocket billiards. Balkline is not very common in the U.S. but still enjoys a large popularity in Europe and the Far East.
George Sutton tobacco card (George Sutton was a dominant player of straight rail and balkline billiards in the 19th century). Note the balklines drawn on the table, with anchor spaces visible where each meets the rail
Date 1911
Author Mecca Tobacco Company
Permission
(Reusing this image) Copyright expired—American corporate author produced 95 years ago
Congrats to these Silly Geese:
AZ hiding in the weeds said...
Back matter: In well-mannered society one cannot user the term badonkadonk or junk-in-her-trunk, so the upper class say: "Vera, did you get a glimpse of Glenda's back matter?"
Lisa said...
Balkline - n.The point at which procrastination and foot-dragging ceases to be tolerated.
ex: Eddy knew he had crossed the balkline when he opened his lunch box and found that, instead of lunch, his mother had packed the weeks' worth of dirty sock he had left on his bedroom floor.
APPLAUSE!!
APPLAUSE!!!
APPLAUSE!!!!
Thanks! y'all cracked me up!!
The words for this week are:
inclinometer
incogitant
For those of you who are new this year, all words and definitions come from my 1992 Random House Webster's College Dictionary. I do not pick proper nouns or words that I know the meaning of.
For all winners, the Awards will continue to be found on my sidebar to pick up at your leisure.
Now don't forget to leave your comments for the new words!
This game has brought me great joy and taught me many new words! I'm glad to continue it into this new year. Welcome to all newcomers!! Take a minute and peruse our "game rules" here, then come back to this post and join in for big fun and enormous laughs!
Are you ready??
Last week's official definitions were:
back matter - the parts of a book that appear after the main text, as bibliography, index, and appendixes.
balkline - a straight line drawn across a billiard table behind which the cue balls are placed in beginning a game.
and from Wikipedia - title of a large array of carom billiards games generally played with two cue balls and a third, red object ball, on a cloth-covered, 5 foot × 10 foot, pocketless table that is divided by balklines on the cloth into marked regions called balk spaces Over its history balkline has had many variations In its various incarnations, balkline was the predominant billiards discipline from 1883 to the 1930s when it was overtaken by three cushion billiards and pocket billiards. Balkline is not very common in the U.S. but still enjoys a large popularity in Europe and the Far East.
George Sutton tobacco card (George Sutton was a dominant player of straight rail and balkline billiards in the 19th century). Note the balklines drawn on the table, with anchor spaces visible where each meets the rail
Date 1911
Author Mecca Tobacco Company
Permission
(Reusing this image) Copyright expired—American corporate author produced 95 years ago
Congrats to these Silly Geese:
AZ hiding in the weeds said...
Back matter: In well-mannered society one cannot user the term badonkadonk or junk-in-her-trunk, so the upper class say: "Vera, did you get a glimpse of Glenda's back matter?"
Lisa said...
Balkline - n.The point at which procrastination and foot-dragging ceases to be tolerated.
ex: Eddy knew he had crossed the balkline when he opened his lunch box and found that, instead of lunch, his mother had packed the weeks' worth of dirty sock he had left on his bedroom floor.
APPLAUSE!!
APPLAUSE!!!
APPLAUSE!!!!
Thanks! y'all cracked me up!!
The words for this week are:
inclinometer
incogitant
For those of you who are new this year, all words and definitions come from my 1992 Random House Webster's College Dictionary. I do not pick proper nouns or words that I know the meaning of.
For all winners, the Awards will continue to be found on my sidebar to pick up at your leisure.
Now don't forget to leave your comments for the new words!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Wednesday Hero
In 2003, Sgt. Popaditch, along with 1st Tank Battalion, rolled into Baghdad from Kuwait at the start of the Iraq War. They had just taken the city and the tank that Sgt. Popaditch was in had rolled up to a 40-ft statue of Saddam. I think we all remember that statue. Popaditch was given a cigar by a fellow Marine and as he smoked it an AP photographer snapped a picture of him.
Fast forward to April 7, 2004. Sgt. Popaditch's wife was vacationing with their son when she received a phone call informing her that her husband had been injured in an attack. The turret of his tank, that he was situated in, had taken two direct hits from RPG's. He fell through the hatch to the floor of the tank. As he struggled to his feet, he began to shout orders to his men but go no response. He then realized that the attack had caused him to go deaf in both ears. But that was only temporary. He then reached up and felt that his head was wet and knew it wasn't good.
In the aftermath of the attack, Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch had lost his right eye. And because of that he now proudly wears a prosthetic eye with the Marine Corps. logo embossed on it. On November 10, 2005 Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch was awarded the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest award for heroism in combat. He also has a book out titled Once A Marine.
You can read more about Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch here and here.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
goals post
1) start on my and Sugars' matching Easter dresses
Done! I've washed and ironed all 7 1/2 yards of the fabric and I have altered the pattern for my dress. I did all this before I figured out that March comes BEFORE April and I therefore should be finishing Sugars' and Gator's birthday gifts FIRST!! :0)
First Down, ball's on the 40
2) post that award post that's been sitting in blogger forever
whew, done! you'll see it on Friday. First Down, ball's on the 30.
3) finish my reading for both last week's and this week's RCIA class.
nope, didn't get that reading finished, but I did go to class! And I'm glad I did, it was one of the best we've had so far! All about Morality as taught by the Catholic church. very very interesting.
Fumble.
4) make a list of all our VHS tapes that we want to replace with DVDs
(Do you realize that I'm doing these as I write this post?? -- it was kinda intended that way because I knew I wouldn't have much time this weekend....then I totally forgot what my goals were!)
OK, here we go. Steele Magnolias, The Maltese Falcon, all 3 of my boxed sets of Poirot movies, Sleepless in Seattle, Fried Green Tomatoes, Ferris Bueler's Day Off, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, How to make an American Quilt, Dirty Dancing, Casablanca, Blazing Saddles, How the West Was Won, Das Boot, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (1951 with Alastair Sim). I think all the rest of these can be trashed...but I'll double check with Subvet first! We won't be buying these anytime soon, it's just that we keep talking about it and this way we can simply work our way down the list one by one as the birthdays/anniversaries/Christmases come along.
OK, that's done, First Down, ball's on the 20.
5) make a book wish list for hubby for my upcoming birthday. ummm, well, I may abandon this one altogether. We're getting canceled all over the place due to fewer patients here lately. Not only is over time non-existant, but full-timers' regular hours are getting cut and we're having to use our PTO to make up the slack for a full paycheck. The other hospitals in the area are all full, matter of fact we've gotten a couple patients from neighboring hospitals because they didn't have any beds left. So it has NOTHING to do "with the economy" and anyone who starts bleating that stuff to me will be shot on sight. I'm sorry but I have a hard time getting all upset when NINETY-THREE PERCENT of the population is still employed. Perhaps not in their choice of job...but employed all the same.
That said, the Mightymom household is once again tightening belts for a bit. I may pick up a second "PRN" job...we'll see. We're a long way from really hurting, but tis better to be frugal.
Now, for next week's goals.
1) make the cloth book for Sugars' birthday
2) work on the map wallhanging for Gator's birthday (gonna have to find some backing fabric...)
3) read for RCIA (ahem)
4) back to Easter dresses!
5) go through the boxes of clothes we've been given bor Sugars and see if there's anything in there she can wear right now.
And you?? what are your goals for the week??
Done! I've washed and ironed all 7 1/2 yards of the fabric and I have altered the pattern for my dress. I did all this before I figured out that March comes BEFORE April and I therefore should be finishing Sugars' and Gator's birthday gifts FIRST!! :0)
First Down, ball's on the 40
2) post that award post that's been sitting in blogger forever
whew, done! you'll see it on Friday. First Down, ball's on the 30.
3) finish my reading for both last week's and this week's RCIA class.
nope, didn't get that reading finished, but I did go to class! And I'm glad I did, it was one of the best we've had so far! All about Morality as taught by the Catholic church. very very interesting.
Fumble.
4) make a list of all our VHS tapes that we want to replace with DVDs
(Do you realize that I'm doing these as I write this post?? -- it was kinda intended that way because I knew I wouldn't have much time this weekend....then I totally forgot what my goals were!)
OK, here we go. Steele Magnolias, The Maltese Falcon, all 3 of my boxed sets of Poirot movies, Sleepless in Seattle, Fried Green Tomatoes, Ferris Bueler's Day Off, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, How to make an American Quilt, Dirty Dancing, Casablanca, Blazing Saddles, How the West Was Won, Das Boot, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (1951 with Alastair Sim). I think all the rest of these can be trashed...but I'll double check with Subvet first! We won't be buying these anytime soon, it's just that we keep talking about it and this way we can simply work our way down the list one by one as the birthdays/anniversaries/Christmases come along.
OK, that's done, First Down, ball's on the 20.
5) make a book wish list for hubby for my upcoming birthday. ummm, well, I may abandon this one altogether. We're getting canceled all over the place due to fewer patients here lately. Not only is over time non-existant, but full-timers' regular hours are getting cut and we're having to use our PTO to make up the slack for a full paycheck. The other hospitals in the area are all full, matter of fact we've gotten a couple patients from neighboring hospitals because they didn't have any beds left. So it has NOTHING to do "with the economy" and anyone who starts bleating that stuff to me will be shot on sight. I'm sorry but I have a hard time getting all upset when NINETY-THREE PERCENT of the population is still employed. Perhaps not in their choice of job...but employed all the same.
That said, the Mightymom household is once again tightening belts for a bit. I may pick up a second "PRN" job...we'll see. We're a long way from really hurting, but tis better to be frugal.
Now, for next week's goals.
1) make the cloth book for Sugars' birthday
2) work on the map wallhanging for Gator's birthday (gonna have to find some backing fabric...)
3) read for RCIA (ahem)
4) back to Easter dresses!
5) go through the boxes of clothes we've been given bor Sugars and see if there's anything in there she can wear right now.
And you?? what are your goals for the week??
Monday, February 2, 2009
Mass Adventures, verse three
Here's verse 1, and verse 2.
It was a good day at Mass, which is amazing.
Hubby woke up at 2:30AM....Sugars woke at 4AM, boys woke at 5AM.
By this time we decided to go ahead and start getting ready for the 8AM Mass.
We get started off alright, except Sonshine got a bit impatient waiting for Fr Tim to begin the Mass. He was searching for the "cross and lights" which is the crucifix and candles that process in at the beginning of Mass.
Once he finally saw them mustering in the back...waiting on Father, his darling little boy voice rings out across the church with. "Come on now folks! Let's get this show on the road!"
Sugars sat on the kneeler throughout the Homily playing with my Rosary and looking adorable, dropping it on the floor...dropping it on the pew....dropping it on the floor.......
Gator happily squatted on the pew bench and read a book. Yes, squatting--feet on pew, book on knees...
All goes as well as can be expected....reasonable quietness....Sonshine even said "I'm sorry" spontaneously when he bumped his book into the lady in the pew in front of us. (my poor heart skipped a beat!).
Then we head out the door. Dad is helping to stuff Anti-FOCA postcards into all the pews so it's me vs the hooligans. Sonshine gets to the door ahead of me and stops at the little bowl holding Holy Water, sticking his finger in. To keep him from putting it in his mouth I grab his hand and help him to make a cross on his forehead with the Holy Water. He then informs me, "I got the Body and Blood of Jesus on my head Momma!"
"No," says I, "that was water, Holy Water."
"Yes Momma! I got the Body and Blood of Jesus Water on my head, and I made a CIRCLE!"
"It was a cross with Holy Water, dear....let's go get in the car!"
It was a good day at Mass, which is amazing.
Hubby woke up at 2:30AM....Sugars woke at 4AM, boys woke at 5AM.
By this time we decided to go ahead and start getting ready for the 8AM Mass.
We get started off alright, except Sonshine got a bit impatient waiting for Fr Tim to begin the Mass. He was searching for the "cross and lights" which is the crucifix and candles that process in at the beginning of Mass.
Once he finally saw them mustering in the back...waiting on Father, his darling little boy voice rings out across the church with. "Come on now folks! Let's get this show on the road!"
Sugars sat on the kneeler throughout the Homily playing with my Rosary and looking adorable, dropping it on the floor...dropping it on the pew....dropping it on the floor.......
Gator happily squatted on the pew bench and read a book. Yes, squatting--feet on pew, book on knees...
All goes as well as can be expected....reasonable quietness....Sonshine even said "I'm sorry" spontaneously when he bumped his book into the lady in the pew in front of us. (my poor heart skipped a beat!).
Then we head out the door. Dad is helping to stuff Anti-FOCA postcards into all the pews so it's me vs the hooligans. Sonshine gets to the door ahead of me and stops at the little bowl holding Holy Water, sticking his finger in. To keep him from putting it in his mouth I grab his hand and help him to make a cross on his forehead with the Holy Water. He then informs me, "I got the Body and Blood of Jesus on my head Momma!"
"No," says I, "that was water, Holy Water."
"Yes Momma! I got the Body and Blood of Jesus Water on my head, and I made a CIRCLE!"
"It was a cross with Holy Water, dear....let's go get in the car!"
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Mightymom's Silly Slimmers
originally posted at Extraordinary Mom's Network 10/13/08
OK, folks, let’s face it. As we get older we get wider.
I don’t know why that happens, but it does.
After 3 kids, a combined total of 19 weeks on bedrest, and 2 cesarean sections I got quite a bit wider. “Broad in the beam,” you might say.
Yet, when on earth am I supposed to exercise?? I mean REALLY!!?? I had 3 kids under the age of 3 1/2. Sheesh.
So, I started doing some very silly little things that would increase how often I used certain muscles throughout the day.
Now, I will tell you that this ain’t the way to get the scale to plummet, but it has strengthened some of the major muscle groups and given me more tone. Plus, after awhile, it becomes habit….which is good, cuz those kids bankrupted my memory bank. That, however, is fodder for another day.
So, here you have more or less 10 things to do throughout your day to help strengthen the body and increase the metabolism.
When my oldest was a newborn I started lifting him over my head using both hands while sitting or lifting him straight up while leaning back in a recliner. 10 times in a row. Now, at that time he weighed less than six pounds. This wasn’t too hard. Now that my youngest weighs over thirty pounds, it’s a bit more of a workout.
But here’s the thing. Just do it everyday at a specified time of day. (Mine was before that early-morning feeding when my children were newborn, then that after-dinner-not-yet-time-for-bed-time as they got older). As the kiddo grows, you get stronger and it won’t be long till your arms and shoulders show it. This, by the way is a modified bench press and the kids LOVE IT.
The next thing I started doing was to squat to pick things up off the floor instead of bending at the waist. Come on, Moms, how many zillion times a day are we picking things up off the floor? OOO my legs ached when I first started this! But today I can squat with relative ease, this works the thighs, hips, and (oh the bane of a woman’s existence) the droopy buttcheeks.
Speaking of droopy buttcheeks. There are two very easy ways to fight the droop.
One, when you walk somewhere (everywhere), with each step clinch the cheek of the rear leg as you “push off” to take the next step. Make it a part of how you walk. John Wayne had the swagger, Mightymom has the step and squeeze.
Two, while laying in bed, waiting to fall asleep, squeeze each cheek 15-30 times. Every night. Buttcheeks are muscles, and if you use them they will shape up and start fighting gravity. (Boobs, I’m sorry to say, are NOT muscles … there’s no fight in them, no matter what you do.)
Now, the other thing that starts to droop is the belly. Cesareans are wonderful things….but they leave a crease over which that belly just wants to flop. So, to keep the belly flop in check, I started holding in my stomach like a teenage boy at a pep-rally. But I picked specific times of the day to do this. It seemed like I spent a fair amount of time either fixing meals, standing at the stove, stirring something or waiting on the microwave. So this became my ab workout time. Anytime I found myself standing in the kitchen I made a determined effort to hold my belly in tight. I noticed that when I stirred or brushed my teeth my belly jiggled….so that was a good time to hold it in too. Nowadays, my hubby does all the cooking, but I do spend a goodly amount of time programming those stupid IV pumps…so that’s now my ab workout time.
Also, when laying in bed waiting for sleep (I spend a lot of time waiting for sleep) I will lay on my back and just hold those ab muscles tight for a count of 30 or 50 or 100…..it’s a combination of an ab workout and counting sheep, clench the butt at the same time and you get a 3 for 1 combo pack.
When you have 3 rugrats crawling around and playing on the living room floor you tend to vacuum rather frequently. Now, as much fun as vacuuming is…you can up the workout by simply grabbing one of those hooligans and putting them on your hip for the ride, keeps them out of trouble too! I honestly don’t think I can remember how to vacuum without holding a kid…..just feels like I’m forgetting something. (FYI I started this because the baby (all 3) would always cry when the vacuum was going….but was ok being held.)
Another function of having 3 very young kids is how to go to the store. Mostly Subvet handled this, but every now and again you just have to go. Well, I usually had all 3 sit in the buggy….but getting them in and out of the buggy and getting the buggy put away was always a hassle. So I started parking next to the buggy bin in the parking lot. Even if it meant parking WAAAAAY FAAAR AWAAAAY from the doors. This way I could just grab my buggy, throw the kids in from the van and be on my way. Of course this resulted in doubling the amount of parking lot walking I did with each trip. But it was much safer as I never worried about one of them waltzing in front of an oncoming car.
I have also found myself spending a fair amount of time waiting in line for one thing or another. So I started going up on my toes and down the whole time I’m waiting. Looks impatient to the others in line, but really I’m just toning my calves a bit. Note, when you do this make sure and lift your toes too to stretch out those calves and prevent shin splints. You’ll look like a kid rocking on your heels teeheehee.
Being a stay at home mom gets lonely at times. When I get lonely I tend to get on the phone and start yakking with people. I usually have my knees crossed and a kid hanging off my foot while I yakk, and am lifting said kid up and down. Remember to change legs periodically and this is just as good or better than the weight machine at the gym for working those thighs.
The other thing I tend to do is to dance. I dance all the time…to anything. The kids and I know all the dance routines to all the Wiggles and Barney songs….and we make up routines to everyone else’s songs. Not to mention the radio. It doesn’t matter what your dancing looks like, if you’re up and moving it’s more than you’d be doing otherwise.
OK, folks, let’s face it. As we get older we get wider.
I don’t know why that happens, but it does.
After 3 kids, a combined total of 19 weeks on bedrest, and 2 cesarean sections I got quite a bit wider. “Broad in the beam,” you might say.
Yet, when on earth am I supposed to exercise?? I mean REALLY!!?? I had 3 kids under the age of 3 1/2. Sheesh.
So, I started doing some very silly little things that would increase how often I used certain muscles throughout the day.
Now, I will tell you that this ain’t the way to get the scale to plummet, but it has strengthened some of the major muscle groups and given me more tone. Plus, after awhile, it becomes habit….which is good, cuz those kids bankrupted my memory bank. That, however, is fodder for another day.
So, here you have more or less 10 things to do throughout your day to help strengthen the body and increase the metabolism.
When my oldest was a newborn I started lifting him over my head using both hands while sitting or lifting him straight up while leaning back in a recliner. 10 times in a row. Now, at that time he weighed less than six pounds. This wasn’t too hard. Now that my youngest weighs over thirty pounds, it’s a bit more of a workout.
But here’s the thing. Just do it everyday at a specified time of day. (Mine was before that early-morning feeding when my children were newborn, then that after-dinner-not-yet-time-for-bed-time as they got older). As the kiddo grows, you get stronger and it won’t be long till your arms and shoulders show it. This, by the way is a modified bench press and the kids LOVE IT.
The next thing I started doing was to squat to pick things up off the floor instead of bending at the waist. Come on, Moms, how many zillion times a day are we picking things up off the floor? OOO my legs ached when I first started this! But today I can squat with relative ease, this works the thighs, hips, and (oh the bane of a woman’s existence) the droopy buttcheeks.
Speaking of droopy buttcheeks. There are two very easy ways to fight the droop.
One, when you walk somewhere (everywhere), with each step clinch the cheek of the rear leg as you “push off” to take the next step. Make it a part of how you walk. John Wayne had the swagger, Mightymom has the step and squeeze.
Two, while laying in bed, waiting to fall asleep, squeeze each cheek 15-30 times. Every night. Buttcheeks are muscles, and if you use them they will shape up and start fighting gravity. (Boobs, I’m sorry to say, are NOT muscles … there’s no fight in them, no matter what you do.)
Now, the other thing that starts to droop is the belly. Cesareans are wonderful things….but they leave a crease over which that belly just wants to flop. So, to keep the belly flop in check, I started holding in my stomach like a teenage boy at a pep-rally. But I picked specific times of the day to do this. It seemed like I spent a fair amount of time either fixing meals, standing at the stove, stirring something or waiting on the microwave. So this became my ab workout time. Anytime I found myself standing in the kitchen I made a determined effort to hold my belly in tight. I noticed that when I stirred or brushed my teeth my belly jiggled….so that was a good time to hold it in too. Nowadays, my hubby does all the cooking, but I do spend a goodly amount of time programming those stupid IV pumps…so that’s now my ab workout time.
Also, when laying in bed waiting for sleep (I spend a lot of time waiting for sleep) I will lay on my back and just hold those ab muscles tight for a count of 30 or 50 or 100…..it’s a combination of an ab workout and counting sheep, clench the butt at the same time and you get a 3 for 1 combo pack.
When you have 3 rugrats crawling around and playing on the living room floor you tend to vacuum rather frequently. Now, as much fun as vacuuming is…you can up the workout by simply grabbing one of those hooligans and putting them on your hip for the ride, keeps them out of trouble too! I honestly don’t think I can remember how to vacuum without holding a kid…..just feels like I’m forgetting something. (FYI I started this because the baby (all 3) would always cry when the vacuum was going….but was ok being held.)
Another function of having 3 very young kids is how to go to the store. Mostly Subvet handled this, but every now and again you just have to go. Well, I usually had all 3 sit in the buggy….but getting them in and out of the buggy and getting the buggy put away was always a hassle. So I started parking next to the buggy bin in the parking lot. Even if it meant parking WAAAAAY FAAAR AWAAAAY from the doors. This way I could just grab my buggy, throw the kids in from the van and be on my way. Of course this resulted in doubling the amount of parking lot walking I did with each trip. But it was much safer as I never worried about one of them waltzing in front of an oncoming car.
I have also found myself spending a fair amount of time waiting in line for one thing or another. So I started going up on my toes and down the whole time I’m waiting. Looks impatient to the others in line, but really I’m just toning my calves a bit. Note, when you do this make sure and lift your toes too to stretch out those calves and prevent shin splints. You’ll look like a kid rocking on your heels teeheehee.
Being a stay at home mom gets lonely at times. When I get lonely I tend to get on the phone and start yakking with people. I usually have my knees crossed and a kid hanging off my foot while I yakk, and am lifting said kid up and down. Remember to change legs periodically and this is just as good or better than the weight machine at the gym for working those thighs.
The other thing I tend to do is to dance. I dance all the time…to anything. The kids and I know all the dance routines to all the Wiggles and Barney songs….and we make up routines to everyone else’s songs. Not to mention the radio. It doesn’t matter what your dancing looks like, if you’re up and moving it’s more than you’d be doing otherwise.
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