Something Missing in Translation...

You know...sometimes you find the COOLEST craft. And you think to yourself, "Oh, the girls could TOTALLY do this one...and it's pretty so I can actually leave it out where other people might see it." Of course, I love every single craft or coloring page that my little darlings put their hands to...yes.I.do. But this was different...this had GREAT potential...with the right colors...ooo...I'd totally have one of two of them.

Here let me show you how totally cute this would be...

Source: leslieashe.blogspot.com via Stacey on Pinterest

Right???


So...today...the Day of the DECORATING (the tradition that follows the Day of  the Thanks in our house)...I pulled out the buttons and pins and Styrofoam balls..I was VERY excited.

So they got started.  And for about 10 minutes, things seemed to be going just the right direction.  Of course, by the time I was done with dishes...I knew something had gone terribly awry.



No matter which angle you looked at...this was MOST definitely NOT what I'd expected...


 The littlest one was not much interested in anything other than poking the ball with the pins so Beloved stepped in and helped her "make" a reindeer ornament...really, she just played with the glue...and complained bout how the Elmer's is the WORST GLUE EVER because it doesn't stick immediately.  Beloved got out the tacky glue and then the hot glue...both of which offered more instant gratification, which kept her going just a little longer.


I kind of expected as much from the Bear and the Monkey Face...but THE BEAN?  I really expected a pretty, buttony ball to hang on my tree.  And she started out really strong, please note the "hat" portion.  But alas...



Seriously?  A Snowman?  Pshaw!

I sat down, disgusted.

I picked up my own Styrofoam ball...I grabbed the buttons and beads...the girls had nearly exhausted the supply of pins on the table so I ran upstairs to raid the stash in my sewing room.  The other thing I noticed was that I didn't have any of the right buttons.  I mean...they are pretty enough...but not near Christmas-y enough...

But I did have fuzzy puff balls.  Fuzzy puff balls could be Christmas-y.

But as I started, it didn't take VERY long to realize that poking pins through smallish fuzzy puff balls to cover a larger ball gets tedious...especially when everyone else is bored with it.  I wish I could say, I pressed through and made a pretty, fuzzy puff ball Ball...but...well...


 

That's as far as I got...I kinda liked it when I was doing it...but looking at the picture...eh!

Anyway...Elf was on...and we'd never seen it.  While our ornaments didn't come out exactly as planned...the movie has been pretty good.

Well, I don't have pretty button-y Christmas ornaments...but I do have a FABULOUS Snowman and a Becky ornament...and it's even possible I have a reindeer.  And NOBODY else has ANYTHING like them. Everyone always wants those one-of-a-kind things and I got mine FOR FREE.

sigh.

I can't wait to tell their kids about the night of ornament making that misfired...and show them what they made.

See ya around...

Our first week of OUT school...'N Stuff...

There should be a picture RIGHT HERE of the girls and I in all our gear standing on the driveway...but I'm not sure what I did with my camera...and it's only 4:35am...so it would be considered RUDE to poke Beanie and see if she knows.

It's okay with me, because a newsy post can easily be followed by a picture-y post and I hardly have to try...which is important now and then.

So...school?

Kinda fun.

The girls LOVED their very first day of "Out" school...dubbed thusly by a then-5-year-old Beanie who wished she could go to "out" school when all of her little friends on the street went to kindergarten. The wishing to go to "out" school only lasted until the middle of the second semester when several of her little friends confided the wish to stay for "home" school...but the term itself, stuck.

So what to say first?

It is SO fun to go and see friends (student and teacher alike) first thing in the morning and listen and learn and visit and share ideas. Pulling out new books and supplies is great fun too...that's pretty much the same "home" or "out"...although there are WAY more supplies needed for "out". This makes the corralling of said supplies a little skitchy. We've never needed room for 3 full 3 inch storage binders...or 3 different Science boxes...but new crayons are new crayons, even if we never progress further than, "Stick it in the pile by the piano". New crayons=Joy. Still, don't show up unannounced without your hard hat...'kay?

My kids are taking subjects we've never done formally at home before. For instance, Spanish! Monkey Face spent the rest of Thursday (our first day) and most of Friday wishing to be called by her Spanish name. P.E., which we've done always, every day, every year...but have foolishly called it soccer, swimming, jogging, hula hooping etc...holds great fascination for them...our first class of that will be this afternoon. And then there is Art. I'll confess, I'm more excited than they are...but then again...I'm all kinds of impressed with their Art teacher. I've seen him draw and paint and it makes me, the one who is more into penmanship, very happy.

The girls think lunch out of box is AWESOME. It's not so much the lunch itself...it's more the snacks. I've actually allowed fruit rope in. Technically, it wasn't that I wasn't allowing it per se...it just seemed unnecessary when they’d just eaten breakfast (at home we don’t usually eat until 8:30 or 9) and they could just grab an apple…a cheese stick…a bowl of crackers. Little did I know they had been missin’ out on a certain TYPE of junk food (Just to clarify, they get junk food a-plenty in other forms.) and the lunch box soothes their little souls.

There are a few things that we are still muddling through. One of my friends at the school told me to expect it to take about a month to really understand the interaction of the paper. And I confess…it’s my biggest stressor. In homeschool…it’s ME and THEM. I made the plan, the worksheet, assigned the book AND have it on hand. I understand where I’m going with the assignment (for instance, this one we’ll test, this other one is just a learning/reading thing) and they DO it, cuz I’m their mom and they want to see daylight at some point in their lives. With six teachers (each kid) BESIDE myself that intimacy with their school work is gone. Right now, while I’m NOT sure of the plan…things are a touch more chaotic than I’d hoped.

Still, they wanna go back. And for me, for now, that’s all that matters. There are so many things in my life right now that I can’t un-jumble. As challenging as this is…this is a finite equation…it’s answerable…AND even in the chaos, it’s still pretty fun.

Regarding the ‘N-Stuff…that’d be the Grandma.

We started this weekend in Urgent Care, as you know. Things went well Saturday, but her blood pressure climbed all day Sunday. So, Sunday night, back to Urgent Care. We had a terrific doctor who checked her over and switched her meds around…we were in and out of there in under an hour…which was really REALLY nice. He recommended a doctor for us to call first thing in the morning.

Yesterday, which was Monday, Mom called and got an appointment with the recommended doctor’s colleague for 1:45pm. Nice. Who would have thought that we’d have gotten in the same day? On top of that, we liked the doctor a lot. She was very attentive and kind. We changed meds again and go to check on everything on Friday.

Please continue to pray for her. Her blood pressure makes ZERO sense to me. We’ve learned that if she doesn’t eat it goes up and if she is stressed (like going to the doctor) it goes WAY up (another reason to praise the Lord, this doctor was so nice, Mom is looking forward to seeing her again)…but aside from those two obvious ones…there seems no rhyme or reason.

One other thing…things are pretty stressful over here. MOST of it is good, new, excited stress…the kind that makes you laugh. Some of it is bothersome, minor things that all by themselves would barely blip the radar. And there are small bursts of BAD, scary stress. But my body doesn’t deal well with it. I don’t sleep. Could you pray for that too?

I guess that’s it. Hey, look, it’s only 5:30am…plenty of time to…hmmmm…well, time to do something, I suppose.

See ya around…

In Which the Grandma Scares Stack...

This is a pure prayer request...

My mom has had REALLY high blood pressure this week. On Monday she went for a root canal and her BP measured 203/99…

It came down a bit over the next few days…but starting yesterday afternoon her left arm was feeling very uncomfortable…of course, she didn’t say much about it…

Today, when I called to tell her that I was on my way home, she told me that her left arm was really uncomfortable and sort of numb. I called my neighbor to take the girls and rushed her to urgent care where THEY rushed to get her BP (now 218/103) down and went about trying to find out what is going on.

Long story a little shorter…they still don’t know why her arm is so uncomfortable but it does seem that she is “okay” in that she has not had either a heart attack or a stroke. And they’ve given her some medication to bring her blood pressure down to a safer level.

Because she lives out of the state so much, she doesn’t have a doctor in the area…so I’m praying that we’ll be able to find a kind doctor who takes Medicare here in the area…

Because we are a pretty natural family, we don’t know even how to approach being on a medication that has severe side effects…and until we find this doctor we have to understand what we see and be ready to take her to the ER should any of the many possible side effects come about…some of which they told us WOULD happen anyway for the first few days…so I’m praying for understanding and clarity…

And because she’s my Mommy…I want to keep her. So I’m praying for healing…and peace…and to be able to keep our emotions in check so that we can keep a level head…I say “we” but probably mean “me” and “my”.

To be clear…she’s okay…and I’m praising the Lord for that!!

But…please pray.

See ya around...

Barbeque Chicken Pizza...

I am an odd duck. I readily admit it.

I suppose that if you know me at all, this does not come as a surprise...but for some reason, every now and then one of my quirks hits me and I'm still surprised by what a complete dork I really am.

Case in point...the subject of our blog today, boys and girls, is not REALLY Barbeque Chicken Pizza...nope...it's actually..."how Stackey is missing her girls after several days of planning, gathering, writing for things that don't directly concern them...and after 2 days of absolutely necessary and interesting meetings...with one more to go...and just wants to connect with them in some way when she is not here..."

You can see, dear reader, why I had to simplify the subject a little.

So, as is my nature when ANYTHING out of the ordinary happens...I've not been sleeping. So in my wanderings of late last night and early this morning...I realized that I really like handwriting.

Stay with me here...remember the Topic Sentence, "I am an odd duck" we are now getting to a supporting sentence.

I REALLY like handwriting. I've kept some sort of handwritten journal most of my life...and sometimes wrote often enough to keep a timeline. I notice handwriting...My dad's was small and succinct...Beloved has an account's hand...My brother is a lefty and a boy and he is how I learned that MANY lefties...even boys...have a more open script that as a kid I thought was a more feminine look...it's just how they hold the pencil. My cousin Oddy has some of the most beautiful script I have ever seen, and yet it was a little difficult to decipher until I'd really sat still and TRIED, because some of her letters are very flowery. I've poured over both of my Grandmother's writings...and noticed as their hands became more shakey and jagged...and yet remained the same lovely lines.

I really like typing too...but that is not the point of this ramble.

Let's stay on topic shall we? That's right, 1) Odd Duck 2) Missing my girls 3) Handwriting.

So this morning...knowing I was going to meetings that would keep me away from them for another whole day, I got thinking, "I need to write them a NOTE! That's it! At least that is REALLY me...I would have actually touched that piece of paper and although I won't be here to touch them...they can touch the paper and it's sorta like touching each other" (I'm a touch sentimental at 3 am...it's part of my charm).

So I DID write them a note. And then I thought, well, hmmmm, Grandma might like a project for them, and I might be tired this evening, so maybe they could make dinner and if I WRITE them an easy enough recipe, maybe all of them can be involved...and then I can put it in MY recipe book and when they are old and gray and I'm dead (I'm also a touch morose at 3 am) they can look at it and remember my handwriting. (Please note, run-on sentences are the norm when I'm low on sleep...I may come back and edit this...but probably not...).

So, in the end I wrote them a note...and a recipe...in my own handwriting. And THAT, dear reader, is why this post is called Barbeque Chicken Pizza...for this ONE scan.



When they are old, they will also remember that their momma loved turquoise...if it'll only hold the color...and that brings my sentimental heart joy.

See ya around...

I know the plans I have for you...

It's been a long time...again.

Remember, a long time ago I told you I blog on the upswing? Yeah...well, life's been tough for a while...I think I'd better blog from the well...

We are going through some major changes over here...and I truly believe that they are a gift from God. But we are still learning a new way of normal.

Let's see, where to start. Last school year Beanie was in a choir in a local university style school...and they did a musical for their spring show, which I got to help produce. We had a BLAST!! But because there were MANY other people's children...you didn't get any pictures...I'm not actually sure I said anything about it.

At the time, the director and I talked and talked about this year. Things I could help with, things that she dreamed of for the school. At the time I wasn't exactly sure which part was going to be reality...so I left it for the Lord. I was a homeschooler, after all, and not really interested in doing anything else.

But God is the One who knows the beginning from the end.

For several years now, my husband and I have been struggling. He has asked me not to call him Bubba anymore, so I am going to call him Beloved. I have believed that things would sort out...I have believed it for YEARS...however, a year or so ago it became apparent that Beloved and I were not able to come together and be a stable unit for our girls. We each love them to distraction...but the unity...the peace between us...the trust and comfort that a husband and wife are supposed to provide for each other and for the family is not there.

So, a little over a year ago, I began to pray..."Lord, please PLEASE provide stability for my girls...help us to BE who we are supposed to BE...do what we are supposed to do. Help us to love as we are supposed to love."

Everything only got worse...and was no better in spring than it had been...soooo...

I forgot about teaching or anything new for awhile...and I hunkered down and schooled and loved and scolded and laughed with my kids...and tried as hard as I could to make this huge hole in my life seem tiny...something that could not...WOULD NOT...destroy life as they know it.

Then, a little over a month ago...the director came to me and said, "Hey, would you like to help with the choir again this year?"..."How 'bout aiding an academic class?"..."You seem to know about computers...could you help us with some electronic stuff?...

Before I knew it we were discussing plans for 4 different classes and one administrative position and putting my kids into this university style school full time. And the weirdest part...I could HEAR God saying..."You asked for stability and YOU can't do it all alone...but these people can surround you and help".

I think the weirdest part is the fact that I was really just looking for a choir class for all my kids...and here I am...in a little over a month...accepting a job for the first time in almost 10 years and putting my kids IN a school for the first time EVER. Granted, it's two days a week and I'll be homeschooling the other three...AND I'll be at the school when they are and aiding in the same class as one of them...but it's a complete change.

God has been in it every single step of the way. I could list 10 different "action" item fleeces that He has resolved for me in amazing ways...but it would take another post...Suffice to say, God has a different plan for us than the one I first imagined.

As for my beloved and I. I don't know. I love him. I supposed that's all that you need to know.

We are both grieving this rift in our own ways...we are both torn with the sadness of the situation...and I believe we are both praying for renewal...but for the time being, this seems to be the path that we are on...

It's hard to move forward on this path...so hard...but I know that God has put my feet here...and I know he is holding my hand...so I WILL walk...whatever may be...

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

See ya around...

(There are those of you who know more than I'm sharing here, because Beloved and I ARE in counseling and are trying to find our way through. I would ask that you NOT share what you know...or even what you think...but honor us by praying for us through all the changes that are in store for our family.)

14,110

Have I ever mentioned that I REALLY don't like heights? Now...it's not so bad if my feet are firmly planted on the ground and no one is touching me and all of my favorite people are well away from the side of any protrusion...but not really a fan.

However.

We went to Colorado...nearish to Colorado Springs...and had the opportunity to ride a train to the top of Pike's Peak...the highest point in the vicinity. I decided that I would put on my big girl pants and just GO!

So off we went...to the Cog Railroad Station...to have that train take us to the top...


We rode this pretty red train (this shot was taken at the top)...


There were 12 of us and we were running pretty late so we weren't all able to sit together...but each of us had someone and all the kids had at least one adult...but due to my earlier mention of height issues, I was unable to take any pictures...so Camera King had to take them all...and he was facing Bubba and the little girls so that's whatcha get...


Now I will say...I wasn't too awfully nervous the entire train ride...the cliffs and open expanses were mostly on the other side of the train...so I stared up at my side...which was hardly worth mentioning for large parts of the trip...


Lucky for you, dear reader, that Camera King is not such a chicken as I, so you can actually see the other side...


I'm glad of it too. I mean, LOOKING at pictures of heights doesn't bother me so much. It's more KNOWING that we are, say, riding on a rail on the precipice of a 3,400 ft drop RIGHT NOW! That conductor may as well have said 34 Gagillion MILES, cuz it's all gut wrenching to me...I'm not sure I've quite forgiven him for that piece of information really...



One interesting thing that we didn't get a picture of was the grade of the train...I think he said it was a 25% grade at one point and with the length of the train taken into account, the front of the train was 3 stories HIGHER than the back...which is why it was so important to keep a-hold of our stuff and our selves and our kids. Fascinating stuff, I tell ya, especially since that was about the moment that littlest Topo wanted to slide off Aunt S.P.'s lap and go for a stroll. Aunt S.P. saved me a freak out by hanging onto that kid...thankfully.

We did get to the top, completely uneventfully. And I did get to stand very still, without anyone touching me...and look...and all I can say is WOW!






We spent the 30 minutes or so in the shop...it was cold...I can't remember the exact temp, but something like 30 degrees cooler at the summit than at the base and we're from Texas...where it's warm.

But we did get the opportunity to eat doughnuts and stomp around the gift shop a bit. In hind-sight I wish I'd bought one of the "Got Oxygen" T-shirts, because we really needed it.

It was weird. It felt a little like not quite having your sea legs. I assume that's because I didn't HAVE enough oxygen...but it was weird because I felt okay...just like the ground was unsteady.

Grandma was a bit worse off...she got the altitude headache that they talk about and then we got a little worried and so had them check her oxygen levels. All she needed was to relax and take deep breaths and drink water and everything was okay...but we had a couple nervous moments.

And then it was time to go down...


I had been afraid that the train would turn around and so plunk me on the "WRONG" side of the train going down...NOPE! It was a straight up and then the driver/engineer went to the other end and drove back down...whew!

The going down was more of the same...




Some of us were not nearly as impressed on the way down...but I won't mention any names...


We did indeed reach the bottom...and while bathrooms were visited and water bottles refilled...the girls played...


And then I realized...I had stood at a spot on this planet that was 14,110 feet above sea level and looked (nearly) over the edge.

swoon.

See ya around...

Nearly Silent Saturday...

Photos from Memorial Day 2011

This is just a collection of photos that don't really have a story...but they make me happy anyway.

















See ya around...

What the boys do...

So often you see pictures of me and the girls. There are several reasons for that...the largest is that Bubba works and so can't be with us as often as I have the camera, so I take pictures of the girls for HIM.

That is also one of the reasons that this thing we do is the "Girly" trip. The boys can't make it (or honestly don't WANT to make it) to all aspects of the trip. Pair that with the fact that both "boys" decided to have all "girls" and you end up with a lot of pictures sans Daddies.

This next set of pictures is one of the adventures the boys had. All by themselves. Apparently, I'm not allowed to call it the Boy-ly...or Boyish...or "Really-not-very-girly" trip. It was merely a MANLY activity.

When Camera King picked Bubba up from the airport on Saturday morning...he wisked him away to the Poudre River (my girls think this is a HILARIOUS name for a river) to do this...









And then they came home.

They evidently had a spectacular time. They didn't SAY it...they never do...but they looked at those pictures (and more) several times...and I hear tell, Bubba is using them for his desktop even as we speak.

For a quiet man...that is HIGH praise.

See ya around...

Well...Hello Lemur...

This year we all met in Wichita, KS. This was lovely for me because it meant a much shorter drive...not so great for the Colorado girls as it added an extra two hours...but we all got there in good time and checked into our favorite hotel-for-LARGE -groups-in-Wichita.

Now we stayed in Wichita last year too...it is the home of one of our favorite functioning old western towns...Cow Town. Last year, we got back to the hotel from Cow Town and were FAMISHED...and really in the mood for Thai Food. (If you know me at all, you know this is a weakness for me...and if I'm ever offered the opportunity to partake, I jump at the chance...however, I've not found a plate of Mee Krob, good or otherwise, since we left California, apparently these people in the middle states have no understanding of the necessity of Mee Krob.) So we either scoured the phone book or, more likely, googled and found a place called Thai Traditions...they have a Musamun Curry that I would eat out of a shoe. So this year we just PLANNED to eat there on our first night...we had the Musamun, Pad Thai and Pad Prik King...and all I can say? mmmmmmmmmmmm.

Because we rarely make this a straight through trip, we usually have an event on the day after we arrive in Kansas. AND because I was sort of out of commission for the planning of our Girly Trip this year (many circumstances collided which left me REALLY busy and REALLY struggling to WANT to plan anything) true to form, my bestest buddy, Aunt S.P. stepped right up and found the coolest attraction ever...in Wichita, of all places.

Tanganykia Wildlife Park...it's just another zoo on paper. There were many of the typical zoo-ish things...ya know, giraffes ambling around way over there...a sleeping rhino hanging out in the mud...oh and a snow tiger asleep way over there in the grass on the other side that looks like a rock and won't wake up.



But oooooohhh...there's some other stuff that is just FUN. For instance...because there were 10 of us, we signed up for a tour. This was great...there were just enough of us...someone had a question about most stuff which kept even the littlest ones interested...and if everyone had a question, there weren't so many that she couldn't answer everyone.



And as an added bonus...Bear thought our guide was HILARIOUS...



But on TOP of the informative and funny guide...we got ta feed sumpin!! I did not know what the something WAS until it was revealed...I'm not sure if Aunt S.P. did or not...but if she did, she wasn't talking.

We got to FEED lemurs.

Now here are the rules...


So...we went in...sat on the rocks...received our "treat" (it was a craisin) and when we opened out hands in our laps...magic happened...



They seemed to really like Bear...



Well...and it goes without saying that they loved the Grandma...



And this one really REALLY liked Gabby...he sat there and held her hand for quite a while...I'm fairly certain it's just that she's so loveable...but it could be that she smelled more like craisins than the rest of us...



The whole idea that we got to get THIS close to lemurs...well...it was pretty amazing...and the babies? Sooo sweet...



Now if that had been all, it would have been pretty great, but that was NOT all..there seemed to be animals to feed EVERYWHERE. Although sometimes our girls took on the aspects of a shark frenzy GETTING the food to feed the animals...



There were...lemme think...
Coy Fish

Lorikeets (of which I, sadly, didn't TAKE any pictures...BECAUSE I WAS FEEDIN THEM...and was COVERED in Lorikeets...wish I had taken some though because everyone had at least 3...and the grownups who knew not to flinch ended up with between 5-7 all over them.)

There were Kangaroos with joeys in their pouches...


There was this little bitty hedgehog that my girls wanted to take home...


We fed the one giraffe...but no pictures

and We got to let a porcupine sniff us...he wasn't hungry and as far as true "petting" goes...well...he's a porcupine...still he did sniff us quite a bit...He was the first porcupine on a leash that I've ever seen...


To our animal loving girls, it was pretty wonderful.

A great kick off to Girly Trip 2011.


See ya around...