Friday, October 28, 2011

Halloween

Halloween has been on count down since October first. Ever since the calendar turned over to October 1, Ryan has been excited. He was the first to choose a costume and Captain America was his choice. I thought that was an interesting choice since he has never seen Captain America, but who am I to argue. I have to say he had the shield and everything. I thought for sure I would be carrying it by the second house, but he carried it all night. I was informed that he could not fully protect me and keep the peace without his shield!

Reagan was a chef. I found the white puffy hat at a craft store but was having trouble finding a chef's coat. I lucked out at the community aid center when I found a black jacket with a high collar in the ladies department. It was the perfect fit!Add a white apron and a towel and we had a professional! As a bonus that coat was $2.50!

Rebecca wanted to be Miss America (we kinda had an America thing going on this year). At the same Community center I found the most beautiful dress and in her favorite color. As I stood there trying to decide if my limited sewing skills could alter the dress to fit her, a lady walked up to me and said what a beautiful dress it was. I explained to her that it was for my 8 yr old and my concerns. She walked me through exactly what I would need to do to fix it and made it sound so easy. So for $5 Miss America was born.

I was a little nervous about fixing Rebecca's dress when I had to go to YouTube to figure out how to thread my bobbin. However, one great video later and I was ready to go. I get everything ready and started to hem the dress and I hear Ron from the other room..."Hey Hon? What's that noise?" I reply, as if it's the most natural thing in the world..."the sewing machine." I am pretty sure I should be offended by the incredulous sound in his voice as he repeated, "sewing machine?" I got that feeling that he was making fun, kind of like I do when something is up with the car and he pops the hood. I always look at him and ask..."whatcha lookin for?" LOL At any rate, I am happy to report I actually did a good job and I am excited as ever to sew more stuff. It's not as hard as I thought....guess that is the story of my life.

Thankfully the rain stopped just before we went out to trick or treat, but it was still C-O-L-D! Yikes...we froze...we being the adults. As tradition dictates our friends, the Hoffners, came to trick or treat with us. Always a great time. Unfortunately this year their little guy who is Ryan's age wasn't feeling well and his dad took him home. Come to think of it, I think they were the smart ones, all nice and warm inside!! Reagan had two friends join us, so she had a super fun time too. Two hours later and to the bone cold, Halloween 2011 was over, well after the kids each gave me a candy for walking around with them :)

Tomorrow it is supposed to snow, and no, that is not a typo...I don't mean a few fun snow flakes...it's supposed to SNOW...inches. I am trying to be super adult about it and be irritated by that, but truly I am so excited!! I love snow...I wouldn't mind if the green leaves were off the trees first...it is a little early, oh and none of my kids have full snow gear yet...Other than that...totally excited. I will keep you posted.

Monday, October 24, 2011

What do you want to be?

Ryan asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up this morning...so I told him, however, he really only asked me so he could say what he wanted to be. The following conversation went like this:

Ryan: When I grow up, I want to be a police officer (since we had just past one)

Rebecca: Well you know you can't just go around arresting people like a crazy person.

Ryan: You can't?

Rebecca: No, you have to know the laws!

Ryan: Oh. Mom?

Me: What?

Ryan: You know, if you break the law I will arrest you.

Me: You would?

Ryan: No.

Rebecca: Well whatever, I will be in Japan living the dream.

Me: Japan? Huh. Well you better start learning to like fish, octopus and squid cuz that's what they eat there.

Rebecca: Really? Gross. Maybe the dream is in Chile

I love the car ride conversations. Just another day in paradise!!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Rusty

I do try to love our dog. However, it seems that every time I start to feel a smidgen of affection for him, he does something that takes us all the way back to square one! Lately he has a fascination for the dining room table. If you leave a chair not pushed in, he feels it's OK to climb up and lay on the table! Why oh why  he does that, I will never know!! It's not like it's in the sun or super comfy, I am pretty sure its just to irritate me. When I came home one day I found him on the dining room table and he had the nerve to just look at me and lay his head back down!! It was as if he thought this was the most natural thing in the world! For a split second I thought maybe he was sick and  that was the explanation for this strange behavior, and then it became apparent he was fine.

So now I do my best to make sure the chairs are pushed in because nothing grosses me out more than the thought of dog butt on my table. However, today I was less vigilant. Not only did I forget to push my chair in on my way out the door, but I left my full coffee on the table. When I returned home 10 minutes later, Rusty was in his usual spot on the stairs without a care in the world. I didn't think anything of it until Reagan asked why coffee drops were splashed all over the table. That dang dog DRANK MY COFFEE!! He didn't spill it, just drank it right out of the cup and then got down...boy is he lucky I didn't take a sip...just the thought grosses me out!!

Now I am waiting for the caffeine to kick in and see him become a maniac. The kids of course got a good giggle out of it, and deep down it is kind of funny. It's just nice to know that the dog has jumped on the band wagon with the kids in an effort to truly make me insane!!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Test

Isn't that a crappy word? Test. It doesn't matter what area of life it shows up, it usually carries with it a negative vibe. From Elementary through college the word test can create unease no matter how old you are. When you go to the doctor or hospital as soon as the doctor says "test" the patient probably suffers hearing loss as they try to process what that might mean. Then there is just life, all the time we have different "tests" we pass, fail, or come up against. Tests of character, endurance, finances, emotional issues, relationships and a million others invade our lives all the time.  I do think we can change this word into something more positive though. For an example, my Speech/Communications professor calls our tests "Celebrations of Knowledge." Doesn't that just make you want to participate??

There is one thing that can ease our way through tests and that is preparing! For those of us that take actual exams, we study until we can't imagine we can learn any more, and then we study some more. It is such a confidence booster to know that anyone can ask you anything about a given topic and you can speak to it and give answers.

Life issues are a little harder to prepare for, but not impossible. We prepare by heading wisdom of those who walk before us. We prepare by reading our Bibles and praying and walking out our faith everyday so when  test comes we are armed and ready. We prepare by keeping perspective in small things and finding ways to be grateful even when things aggravate us, so when major stuff comes down our habit is gratitude.

I'm not sure there is a way to prepare for medical issues as those tend to sneak up on us. It is in those moments, when we can't find our way or we don't know the answers, that we rely on those who love us. One of my favorite little sayings about a friend is...you sing when I have forgotten the words...That is what friends and family are for...to carry us through when we can't do it ourselves.

As I prepare for tests at school and in life, I hope that I can prepare in such a way that inspires those around me to do the same. That my children will learn that even hard school work (that you might never use) should still have your best effort and you should strive for excellence. But more importantly, I hope that I can prepare them for life and the challenges that they face by own example....

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Date Night

Seems like Ron and I haven't been out in ages, so last night I surprised him with a babysitter. We went out to see the movie Courageous and it was really good. We laughed and cried but most importantly we walked away inspired. We were reminded of the serious task of raising our kids to be men and women of integrity and more importantly to help them reach adulthood with their faith intact. If you haven't seen it, you should!

After the movie we headed out to Outback for dinner. I am sorry to say they changed brands of my favorite salad dressing so my much looked forward to salad, was a disappointment. Conversation was great and we had fun! The thing I enjoyed most was being able to put aside all the stuff that needed to be done, and just enjoy the time with Ron. As I took the babysitter home I had a great sense of be reconnected with my best friend! Even though it was just dinner and a movie, it was just what we needed...

Saturday, October 15, 2011

College Algebra

I should be working on my math right now. I hate this class...no I loathe it with a passion I never thought possible for a subject of study. Yet this class holds me over a barrel because I need an A in it to get my 15 points toward my program. How nice it would be to just not care and do just enough to get through it. At this point, if I didn't need the A I would be perfectly content throwing my money away and not learning a darn thing!! I know, it's a tremendous work ethic I am showing here, but alas it is the ugly truth.

I am a "look at the bright side of things", kind of person, but I am struggling to find a bright side to this class. So far all I have come up with is the stress forces me to exercise...that's good. It helps me fully remember that when my children hate their homework and think it's stupid, I have no soapbox to stand on, no sermon to deliver, because I too think it IS stupid sometimes, And that provides entertainment as I let Ron deliver the "why homework is great speech" to all 4 of us as we sit at the homework table together...in misery. I have a feeling this class might get me to blog again, as blogging is like some kind of therapy!

So back to the books I must go. Perhaps if I get through this class ( I am half way) and I happen to achieve that A...I might just need to buy myself something sparkly!! In the mean time, I will try to forget how many hours of my precious life I am wasting learning how to graph -2(x+1)-4 because I'm super sure I am going to use THAT skill again...ugh!