Brand Awareness Starts Early (a/k/a BUSTED!)

It really isn't my fault - the car needed gas! It was the nearest exit! Kyra needed to go potty! What's a mom to do? Could I help that the Coach outlet was in plain view of the public restrooms? It was such a short stroll and the colors in the window were oh-so-springy! I will plead the fifth on the rest of the details.

However - upon returning home from our journey to Indiana, we headed out for a bite to eat. Everything was going so well and then the hostess sat a table near ours to which Ms. Kyra sees the woman's purse and exclaims - "Look Mommy! She has a purse just like your NEW purse!" Yes, so busted (but the fact that Kyra knows a good handbag when she sees one brings a tear to the eye, does it not?)

Photo of the Week - April 26, 2009

On Saturday, April 25th, I had the privilege of standing up in one of my best friends' weddings. This is just a sill pre-ceremony shot in all of our various flip-flops. Yes, the bride requested them as our chosen footware and even wore them herself during the ceremony! This celebration was a long time coming and an answer to some serious prayer over the many years of our friendship. God does indeed have a plan for each and every one of us!

Make New Friends?

Tonight, Rich had to work on a project late so we decided to meet for dinner at Culvers. A local school group was hosting a fundraiser and the Culver's mascot, Scoopie, was there milling about.

Kyra has always been leery of large, oversized mascots. In fact, on her first trip to Disneyland, we have nary a picture with the large rodent because she was absolutely petrified of any of the characters (though she did ultimately warm up to Remy & Emile for some reason even though they were the wrong rodents!).

We pulled into the parking lot and Scoopie was walking around the building waving to the cars. Kyra was SO excited I thought she was going to burst. All she could talk about was how she loved Scoopie and she was going to talk to Scoopie and she was going to show Scoopie her bird feeder project from Playschool. She also stated, "I used to be a-scared but I'm not a-scared anymore."

Not five minutes later, Kyra entered Culvers only to be confronted of the reality of the oversized ice cream cone with rather creepy blue eyes. Yeah, we're still a-scared! Maybe another day . . .

Photo of the Week - April 17, 2009

Seeing that the nice weather came in abundance this week, I had the camera out a lot. So, when it came time to choose the phot of the week, I couldn't decide, so I chose a favorite shot of each of the kids.

Revisiting An Old Favorite

I will be the first to admit that I am a sucker for the Scholastic book order. A family can never have too much good reading material in the house. I usually find something for all of us and then some! That is why last month when I saw Where The Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, I knew I had to get it.

This is one of those books that we had to read for English in junior high. I'm pretty sure it was in Ms. Allard's 8th grade class. Alas, I digress. The only concrete plot I remember about the book from my junior high days was that it was about a boy and his two dogs and that it made me bawl. Nevertheless, I felt compelled to pick it up and re-read it this past week.

Wow! Granted it has been about 20 some years since I last read this, but it was like reading it for the first time. I had forgotten how good this book really is. Sadly, so much has changed in our PC society over the past 20 years, I doubt this book would be allowed as course materials in the public schools as it does feature prayer and discussions about God (GASP!) Still, this is one of those books that I will be sure both Ian and Kyra read in future years.

So, if you are looking for a quick read and have a box of kleenex at the ready, I highly recommend picking this one up.

Grace of the wrong sort

Borrowing a page from dear Ms. M, I must tell you all of my latest episode. Before I begin, I must say: DON'T WORRY, MOM, I AM OK! (my mom reads my blog and I know this post is going to warrant a phone call (not that I mind said phone call, but I just don't want good ol' Pokey to get herself all worried over nothing) - Love ya', Mom!)

Where to begin this tale? I got up this morning with the full intention of running along the lakeshore. Of course, once I got down there, I realized that 35 degrees into the wind wasn't exactly my cup of tea for the morning so I headed into the Y to run around the track.

Everything was going well and the run was good (despite the lack of better scenery) when the maintenance guy at the Y decided it would be a good idea to set up scaffolding in the middle of the back stretch of the track. Honestly, whatever possessed him to do this while someone was running around the track, I will never know. Alas, I had to jump over one of the legs and round the corner. Obviously, the jumped knocked me out of focus and before I knew it, I had ran smack into one of the outside beams of the track and was knocked on my ample backside. I think what irked me the most was that the maintenance guy didn't even notice that I was sitting there stunned for a few minutes. I managed to get myself up and tell the front desk what happened. After filling out an accident report, I drove home (which, in retrospect, probably wasn't the wisest of ideas, but then again . . . ) As soon as I got in, I went and got Rich and told him I needed to go to the doctor.

The Lord was really working for me this morning as Rich and the two kids were assembled in no time flat with minimal whining (Kyra was still sleeping when I got home and wasn't particuarly fond of being awakened from her beauty sleep). Then it was off to the ER where, to my amazement, there was NO waiting! The kids were extremely well behaved and the nurses took pity on them and showered them with juice and chocolate milk. I had my head examined (literally) with a CT scan and they discovered that I do, indeed, have a brain! Seriously, there were no abnormal findings but I just have a severe headache and I need to avoid football, wrestling, skateboarding and other contact sports that may result in a head injury for the next week. So, I guess my skydiving adventure planned for this week is out.

So, praise to God for being in control and keeping me safe. I guess this proves that I am really hard-headed after all!

Photo of the Week - April 12, 2009

I had forgotten how difficult it is to get a picture of these two where both of them are smiling and looking at the camera! Anyhow, this week's photo is Ian and Kyra in their Easter finery. Kyra had been looking forward to wearing this dress since it came out of the shopping bag. Apparently I chose well because I was told it was "so princessy!" Ian, on the other hand, just wore what was given to him (I guess I'm lucky he's too young to complain about having to wear pink stripes!)

Celebrate the Journey

As Easter nears, it suddenly dawned on me that two years ago today, God began a mighty show of his power to transform! Not a day goes by that I do not give thanks to my Lord and Savior for what He has done for me! It is only by His grace that I have been able to accomplish so much!

Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant

Tonight the Lord called sweet Miss Linda home after a courageous battle with breast cancer. I will miss her smiles, her laughter, her sweet tooth but most her unwaivering devotion to the Lord. I rejoice that she is finally home and free from her pain.

Photo of the Week - April 5, 2009

So, last week I forgot to specifically post the photo of the week. I guess it's because it was the same photo I posted the day before.

Here is this week's photo though. On Friday, April 3, I took Ian to his first concert ever - Superchick!!! It was a benefit concert held at the local high school auditorium. We had a lot of fun even though Ian thought it was "a bit too loud."