I am so tired tonight...

I'm not going to write much at all tonight, but thought I better keep my momentum going!! I feel like a human ping-pong ball after today. I got Sam's and Wal-Mart done this am, and then of course had to put it all away, which isn't even done yet, but can wait 'till tomorrow. Then the afternoon was nothing but driving tither and yawn. Anyway, it's over, my bed is calling me, and it doesn't have to ask twice. Hopefully I'll be more inspired and fresh tomorrow. Prae got a part in the play "Buffalo Gals", so that has added to our busy-ness, but I'm so happy for her and she is just floating on air since she made it. There will be really fun costumes and lots of lines to learn, but she'll do fine with that! I'm glad she has found something she loves :-)!
Night, night...

I Don't Ever Want to Forget These Days...

Never uploaded a movie before, but I think this one is worth it. At least for my sake. This was taken today -- a Sunday afternoon. Homework is done, chores are finished, and the kids were told to "find something to do!" Before I knew it they all came up with their "outfits" on, turned on some music and just started dancing and dancing. I grabbed my camera and shot. Totally unpolished, obviously ;-), but that's what makes it darling to me. I praise God that they are still such good friends; love spending time together; and come up with some great activities that don't include a tv or a computer. You made my day, Kiddos!

It's Gone!!

Whew -- glad to have that little part of my life over with. We finally got that little tooth out yesterday. Not an easy task and I see now why it was so hard for her. Because of the fact that there was no adult tooth coming up underneath it pushing it out (it was already completely grown in behind it) there was still quite the root left there. So, after two really hard pulls it came out, left a huge gapping hole, and bled quite a bit. My sweetie let out quite a scream (pretty impressive for Prae!) and then after the initial pain went away hugged and hugged me thanking me over and over. She was so relieved to have it out of her mouth and likes the fact that she can now start eating on that side again. There's got to be a lesson in this one for me! Let see: I guess doing hard, painful things can actually make you feel a whole lot better once the hard part is over and done with. Easy to say, hard to remember and follow through with when the time comes. I pray I will.

To Pull or Not to Pull...

Ugh!!! This parenting thing is a lot harder than my parents made it look!!! Prae has a loose tooth. It is no ordinary tooth, though. Her adult tooth has fully come in behind it and the two on each side of it are sort of corraling it in, if you know what I mean. So, a number of months ago she came to me asking me to pull her tooth -- that in and of itself was a miracle. I tried and failed -- TWICE! I didn't have a good grip and that puppy just didn't want to let go. So she is SOOOO gun-shy!! I went to the dentist thinking he would totally help me out, be the bad guy and get that silly thing out of there. NO. He proceeds to tell me that it will fall out on its own right in front of her! I explain my worries about her not brushing well there b/c it hurts, the length of time it has been loose, and the fact the she NEEDS more space in there to help the other teeth not be so crooked. He still seemed reluctant, but said he would do it if I wanted him to and all the while Prae is squishing my toes silently begging me to wait. So we wait... Last night we decide we are getting that thing out. We tried for an HOUR. We got the dental floss around one side of it around the back and started down the other side when she lost heart. The tooth moved, it hurt, so that was that. I tried every tactic. Calm, nice, funny, stern, encouraging, demanding, forcefull, etc, etc, etc. We decided to quit when she worked herself into such a frenzy that her hands and feet started feeling numb. I'm assumming from lack of oxygen!? Does it need to come out? Do I leave it alone, not make such a big deal about it, and let it fall out? HELP!! Any ideas out there???

P.S. I wonder if I just "stole" this pic. off the web. Are there any rules about that...

I KNEW I wasn't going to be good at this...

Well, I'm back :-). A month later, but I'm back. So many times I've thought, "I need to blog that...", but am unable to get to the computer. I think this calls for a laptop!! My daughter would be thrilled *grin*.

Today Eli left for a two day retreat with Leadership Rapid City, a class he is taking through the PD. He is going with two other guys from the dept. and I know they will have a great time, although he wasn't so sure :-). Before he went he had to take a personality test online and send his results to the key speaker. The site was open to anyone, so I took it too! The outcome was hilarious. Eli was described as a "Mastermind" and it fit him to a T!! Said only 1% of the population have this personality, they tend to be very introverted, like order, will think things through ALLLL the way to the end and not only that, but will have a plan a,b,and c in case the first plan doesn't go well. They don't immediately rise as leaders, but will do so when they see inadequate leadership happening; then they will step up and get the job done correctly. Like I said, "to a T"!!!

For me I didn't think it was exactly me, and Eli wasn't so sure either, so he went through and retook the test for me *grin*. We both got the same outcome. They described me as a "Performer". Marilyn Monroe had my personality...as did Ronald Regan --ha!! Parts of it were definitely true: love to have fun! Am the one to brighten the place where they are. A negative side is instead of dealing with problems, we prefer to just ignore them, thinking that they will just go away. Very much a people person and get great joy from spending our time with them.

None of this was new to either of us, but it's just fun to see how answering a bunch of questions can really show what our personalities are and point out how very DIFFERENT Eli and I are from each other! I know God did that for a reason and to me, it just shows how much we need each other to "complete" each other and together we make one!! People as serious as he was described as NEED someone who "just wants to have fun"!! And people who would rather ignore the obvious sometimes, NEED someone to come around and pull them back to reality and the real issues.

So all-in-all it just confirmed in my mind How Great My God Is! We didn't date very long (well, we didn't even have our first date until after we were engaged) and for sure didn't have both of our personalities all figured out before we were married. But GOD knew we needed each other. And even though our differences drive us CRAZY from time to time, I rest in the fact that we are GOOD for each other, we NEED each other and our lives wouldn't be near as FULL without each other!

I love you Honey!!!

What DID I do today!?

Sometimes I get to the end of my day exhausted and yet at a loss for what I really DID! So tonight I'm making a list. Who knows, maybe I really did accomplish a few things today :-).

Accomplishments:

* started the day out with a walk

* watered my garden bright and early

* rearranged and organized my room

* went shopping and found a lot of great deals!

* helped Si make homemade clay so he could make a ton of little jalopeno peppers :-)

* FINALLY made the kids' beds with sheets I had hung out on the line days ago --ugh!

* made a yummy meal everyone seemed to enjoy

* got Most of the dishes done

* doing one last load of laundy

* am going to go read!!!

I think I was born in the wrong century...

These are pics that I took at Jodi's house in NE. A neat lady and her two daughters took us down there to take Jessie home. The girls had a BLAST trying on dresses that Jessica had made and taking these fun photos. It felt like we were stepping back in time. I like how that felt! Sometimes I think I should have been born then -- I like to do the kind of things woman HAD to do back then: grow a garden, preserve food, hunt, bake bread, make quilts, make homecooked meals for my family, etc. But I must say there are things that help me do that today that those women did not have. For those things I am grateful!! :-) I also love some of the technology. That is something else that I would miss. So, I guess God has me right where I'm supposed to be. But it's sure is fun to take a step back and enjoy what used to be!!!

Paycheck

I find being a stay-at-home Mom both very rewarding and yet very challenging at times. I think one of the most challenging aspects of it is that my kids hear me teach them from sun-up to sun-down who God wants them to live and yet we are all together and they are watching ME from sun-up to sun-down as well. The good and the bad... The other toughy is that sometimes in a low moment of self-pity I wonder what it would be like to have the admiration of a boss, of co-workers, of the public. AND I wonder what it would be like to get a paycheck every other week, or so. But like I said, those thoughts come in moments of weakness and I am almost immediatly reminded in different ways why I feel so strongly that God has called me to this "profession".

Two such things happened today:
1.) We were driving in the car and I was mentioning that a neighbor asked me if I knew any good babysitters in the area and I was talking out loud saying that I assumed they were hinting if I wanted to do that. I was weighing the pros and cons to myself and of course, my Praetoria doesn't miss A THING! Then I said something like, "It would just be nice to make some money to help Daddy out." Prae immediately spoke up and (assuming I meant going out to get a job) said, "Mom! We wouldn't be able to LIVE without you for even a week!!!"

2.) Tonight I was getting the kids moving toward bedtime and told them to go to their rooms, but they could read a while. Sweet Silas just got a model car today that he is working on for the fair next weekend. He asked very politely if he could start working on that instead. I said he could, but only in his room. You know where this is going...He comes running up the stairs with the most terrified look on his face and says, "Mom, don't be mad, BUT... I spilled a little bit of paint on my carpet." By the time I got down there he was madly scrubbing a spot the size of a dinner plate that was as black as black could be. This is model car paint, mind you. Not easy wash out Crayola! I ran and got the Laquer Thinner from the garage as fast as I could, scrubbed and scrubbed and would you believe we got most of it out!? It stunk to high heaven so we opened the window, moved Si and his fish into the girls' room, turned on a fan, and shut the door. After I was done praying with them Si turns to me and says, "Mom, I am SO sorry about that!! And thanks for not getting angry at me."

So as you can see I got paid TWICE today!

Trying to Keep Up

My poor daughter is frustrated with me. I'm trying to keep up with this ever changing world. I asked her to help my with setting up the "about me" part and she couldn't handle it and had to go in the other room and read Nancy Drew :-). What is this world going to be like when she is MY age? Well, all I know is that so far this has all been pretty fun and is just one more thing that can keep me from my housecleaning - ha! The other thing she told me was, "Mom, you don't even have any friends, well, that know how to even do this!" Ouch... So, Dear Friends, here is my link. Come check it out and see if you can "figure it out" HA!! Bless my daughters heart.

Somehow I lost my first blog...

Ok, this isn't starting out very good. I already typed a nice couple of paragraphs telling all about why I'm finally starting to blog. When I went to go see how it looked, it was nowhere to be found.

So anyway, here I am. I'm giving this a shot, and we'll see how long I last :-)!

Pictures from The Ranch:

First Blog

Wow! Here it is: my first official blog! I've always wanted to be great at journaling all of my daily highs and lows, but have never stuck with it more than a few days. We'll see if this is any better...Another reason I got this was because I think people are getting sick of me putting all of my pics. on facebook. Here is another place to put them :-). I love taking pics and sharing them with the people I love. So....here I go...

Today my Aunt Connie took the kids and I to The Ranch. It was a blast and we all really enjoyed ourselves! We all had lunch together and then she took the two older kids for the afternoon. She is an amazing example of dying to self! She RARELY gets a day completely OFF, and here she is spending it with her great niece and nephew. God will bless her above and beyond, I know!!

I guess that's all for now.