the burned pan

i have been working too much at the college for the last few weeks. getting ready for load in and tech week takes all my time. daddy-o has been super wonderful by filling in with dinners and baths and bedtime stories. the other night, he made breakfast for dinner. the kids love it! pancakes, eggs, orange juice, and cereal all the good stuff. of course i was working and didn’t get even one pancake saved for me, it was a drive thru bag for me. :(

the next morning, daddy-o was at work and the kids and i were doing some chores around the house. i emptied the dishwasher and found a frying pan with a blackened pancake mark still in it. the rest of the dishes were clean so they got put away, the still dirty pan was put to soak and i went off to the college yet again… fast forward to the next day dishwasher scene repeats! gaahhh why didn’t he scrub this out? i set it to soak and then got out the scrubber. wow, the mark on the pan was super burned on, my arm got tired of scrubbing and i had to rest! finally i got out some salt and that got most of the singe marks off.

this got me to thinking; now daddy-o did not burn the pan on purpose, but sometimes we think the bad things we do aren’t on purpose either, but they are. and those sins leave ugly stains and dirty marks on our hearts. when we try to just throw them in the dishwasher of life and keep on going. the marks are still there in all their ugliness we try to work around them, but just like trying to cook in that burned pan, it makes the job more difficult. we got to take the time to get the marks cleaned off. sometimes the marks are easy to clean. most often they are cooked on and take lots of scrubbing. to get the marks off completely though, we have to get help. that help comes from the One who made us. God the Father in all His glory, sent His only Son to this sin stained earth, where He paid the price for our sins. By accepting God’s free gift, our hearts are washed clean. we then can do the work God created us to do for Him.

homeschooling

so i just read jasmin's blog about her mom. talk about beautiful. i hope that i can be that kind of fun mom for my kids. you can read her story here:

http://www.jasminestarblog.com/index.cfm?postID=827&making-up-the-rules


i think we are going to do school out in the yard on monday,
and watch the birds and plant seeds

for the garden...sounds fun and relaxing, and educational.

i sometimes forget it is about the fun of learning

 i loved school as a child. that is part of why i choose to homeschool, i like* (read LOVE) school. i have a huge collection of stickers and chalk and papers

and pencils

and sharpeners. and i have "mommy's" crayons (i can have my own set that still has its papers on and are free from teeth marks.) i even have text books on all sorts of subjects that a school was tossing out.

i love the look my kids get on their darling little faces when they understand something. also the look of concentration when Yah is trying to perfect her cursive (she looks like Daddy-o.) the delight in creating something and the joy of completing a project.

we are going to do more "fun" learning things. and i pray my children like* (read LOVE) school and learning as much as i do.

thanks for reading...

HOMESCHOOLERS: the fear of zombie hordes everywhere

i know what you are doing...

this is what evey mother dreads to hear...

"i know what you are doing when you and daddy lock your bedroom door."

"oh, you do? tell me what you think" i tried to remain calm and not hyperventelate because my seven year old daughter has a cute smug expression on her face. meanwhile my mind is racing...what did we do last night? i didn't think we were that loud. good greif her room is clear across the house. yes, daddy-o is my man...mmmm.  oh right "tell me, honey."

"you and dad smook each others faces for a long time. i am glad you lock the door because i think it is gross."

(smook is her made up work for smooch, it has meant "kiss" for the last four years or so.)

"well one day when you get married, you will like to smook with your husband. just be glad that mommy and daddy love each other. it is a good thing for us to smook. " big sigh of releif. oh man, i did not want to get into that subject today...whew.

i do wonder how much she knows, but for now, i think her knowledge is just right. and for now, this is just another pretty dress...



yes, i had to look twice too.  think it is an interesting display.

link up your own true story and join in all the laughter and embarassment with us. thanks for reading...

learnin how to be a man

daddy-0 was changing the oil in papa’s lil red car. Jam was  helping. he got into the tools and tried to eat them. how else is he to get to know which tool is right for the job?

he also made sure there was no damage to the papa’s car, he made a free inspection.



Yah loves the rachet. “it makes cool noises” (a girl after my own heart) but she did not want to hold the rag.

okay, see you again in 3 months or 30,000 miles.
thanks for reading…

new craziness

right, like life wasn't crazy enough... well here it goes. i have been feeling so rushed and out of sorts lately. life has been chugging along and i have not had the time to blog about what is happening. i will be posting a my july in review and photos post soon. for the iheartfaces and for my just started project 365. i am enjoying p365. that is when i remember to take a photo before noon. (or midnight for that matter) now you must know that i am currently working the graveyard shift at a local hotel. (to find out which, look for the pic in my p365 post coming later) working graves is a life which i am not used to. i am up all night then i go home to see a sleeping family. yes they all sleep until at least 8a. then i try to do a few and i do mean FEW chores. and then i am off to bed. i sleep til about 1 or 2 p. then up to watch kiddos while daddy-o tries to get some of his work done. and i have to try to remember to take a photo of something, but not of the same thing i did the day before... daddy-o is working as a temporary part-time stocker (not the creepy kind) at the local home improvement store. he works 8:30p-2a. so the kids are with grandparents the nights we both end up working. this is not great for the kids, but at least they are sleeping and not getting too much grandparent overload. and it is summer time, so school hasn't been an issue...yet. it feels like i am a single parent or possibly divorced for as much as i don't see daddy-o. just for the kid exchange and a quick kiss, then one or the other off to work. my nights off, he usually works, his nights off i am working. grr... do i even know this man who is raising my kids?? i have a whole new level of respect for my mom. she raised me all by herself, with the help of her parents, but still. i know i was a hand full at times. (my dad passed away when i was 2 1/2) almost three months of this crazy schedule, and i am feeling alone, sad, and tired. when will i have the same days of (or even day) as daddy-o? can we have a day that there is nothing to do or plan for or clean up? i need to reconnect with my little family and get happier again. so as an employee of this great hotel, i get to do a guest experience stay, for free! and this week, i actually have sat off and so does daddy-o. my mother-in-law works at the same hotel and she went to the general manager and asked if i could use my free employee stay this sat. and boss said yes! grandma-jo and papa will have the kids and daddy-o and i have a jacuzzi suite. i am looking forward to being uninterrupted while in his arms...you moms out there know what i mean... i will let you know some of the details later. hope your sat is great! thanks for reading...

My Story in Photos: Patriotic Edition {how we spent the day}

first a big shout out to all the military men and women past and present who fought and gave their time and lives so we can enjoy the freedoms we have today. thanks to the family members too. what a sacrifice you give to others every day. so we had no money to go away for the fourth. but we weren't planning on it either. daddy-o had to work on the 3rd and i had to work on the 4th. i work from 11p to 7a and we weren't sure if there would be time in the day for me to see the kids enjoy fireworks or not, so when daddy-o got home at 3:30a on sat morning, we woke the girls and lit fireworks. yea for walmart and combo pack for $7. the fireworks were lots of fun. this is us lit by one of the fireworks. we are sitting on the back deck wrapped in blankets to keep the skeeters away. (Jam is in bed. i did not feel like dealing with a cranky 7 month old, so we let him sleep, he would not remember it anyway) and yes we are in our pajamas

of course there must be a kissing pic too. i am glad we have the independence to marry whomever we see fit. and i am glad to be married to daddy-o.

i really like the fountainy effect of this one.

sparklers have always been my favorite. here is Yah. you can just see her face.

she is concentrating hard on not letting any sparks get on her. looks like she is not having fun, but she said she loves "sparkers."

Ehm did not know what to think, but daddy-o convinced her it was ok.

then she went crazy flinging sparks everywhere. (notice the glow of  Yah's face on the left)

of course you have to try to make a perfect circle with your "sparker."

now it is my turn. i have a remote shutter in one hand and the sparkler in the other. i absolutely love sparklers. you can take away all the rest of the fireworks, just leave me some sparklers and i'm good. (looks like i have three legs hahaha)

well after sparklers we went back to bed. daddy-o and Yah went to home depot for the kids workshop. she made a bird house and a picnic caddy. when they came home about noon, i got up and we played. daddy-o has been working on getting the pool ready for Yah's birthday party (three weeks to go)  Yah wants to have a "mermaid party." Ehm wanted in the pool, of course, she is a water baby! so daddy-o held her over the side and let her get all wet. when they came in, she took all of her clothes off and her diaper. she would not let me put a clean one back on. Ehm declared her independence from diapers (for a while) and insisted on playing us all a song on the piano (she sang too).

you can see how pleased she is with herself. yeah for "independence" day!

i did convince her to put on a diaper finally. Yah wore her home depot apron all day. she got a notebook, pen, and tape measure to put in the pockets too, just like daddy-o. he works the night restocking shift there.

here are all three kids together. aren't we blessed? hooray for the independence to have a family of your own!

no independence day is complete with out a barbecue! we went to papa and grandmas to partake of one. the kids were playing and having a great time.

Jam decided he had the freedom to have a pink binki. (or rather his mom did) but he liked it just the same.

 Yah played with this little light. her eyes are so pretty.

Jam has the freedom to be a mechanic on the tricycle, or to chew in the pedal (same thing.) i am thankful for the freedom we have to choose our own careers.

this is the tree in the back yard well and us of course, in our patriotic outfits. yes i planned what each of us would wear. as a mom i have the freedom to veto outfits on any special occasion. you can choose for yourself every other day.

we did get to stay long enough to shoot off more fireworks at papa and grandma's. here are all the girls (left 2 right) corky (2), baba (4),  yah (almost 7), ehm (20 mo). they sat there and yelled out the color of the sparks. too cute.

Jam got to see then too, and he loved it. he just stared and stared and had a funny look on his face. he was really trying to figure out what was going on with all that pretty light.

sun has just set and the show is started.

the kids had a blast. they liked the few that screamed the most. corky tried to whistle too. and Ehm just screamed back at them. then the older girls had to do it too.

i like the glow of the sky in these here. it is difficult to get good pics of fireworks. first it is dark and how do you know where to focus and then i can't figure how to adjust the time setting for the shutter, well and there is only one day each year when we get to light fireworks. no wonder why i got so-so shots. i like them just the same and the memory is here to stay.

it was really fun to watch our shadows "jumping" on the wall behind us. hard to tell in the photo, but it was comical.

after we were done here, i had to go to work and that was the end of the day.

i am glad that our independence lasts for more than just a day. i rejoice in the knowledge that we have the opportunity to be forever free from the bondage of sin and that Christ paid my debt on the cross. so that one day i may live with Him forever.

i am also glad that God gives us free will to choose or not, but He loves us just the same.

i look forward to seeing other's patriotic edition posts. just click on the link below to see more great photo stories. and you should post yours too and tell us what are your traditions and memories of independence day. mr. linky will be open all week. you know you want to...

thanks for reading...