the back door

growing up i was spoiled. yes i admit it. i wasn't really forced to eat a lot of things. i love my mom!! i didn't eat fruit - seriously, a few blueberries and that was it! no apples, no applesauce, no strawberries, grapes, oranges, etc.. i would only eat corn and green beans for veggies. meat i liked, potatoes i liked, wild rice i loved, and of course ice cream, cookies, candy, pop-tarts, etc.... so anyways, my adult life has been filled with finding that i really do like a lot of things i never thought i would. i tried a strawberry when i was a junior in college on spring break. i wanted a friend to try grape jelly on her grilled cheese. she thought that sounded gross, i thought her strawberry sounded gross, so we agreed to each try. wow...not bad. then i ate a salad on my missions trip when i was 23. loved it!! imagine my parents, and fiance's, surprise when i returned. i now eat a variety of fruits and veggies - currently passionate about asparagus!!!! im

this is a few days late, but still worthy of a post! all year princess and her friend poppy seed would have play dates twice a week. dear friend would pick them up one day and i would pick them up the next. as moms, we had a guaranteed 2 day free time, and the girls of course loved it. they had 4 awesome teachers that each day would ask to come have lunch with them. the girls would giggle and say no. well, dear friend and i decided that we would surprise the girls by having the teachers over for lunch this week. i told princess we were going to go play with poppy seed for a little while and maybe have lunch with them. dear friend had a large variety of food on the counter and the girls never asked why there was so much. we did finally tell them some other people might come by for lunch. the doorbell rang and the 2 girls ran to the door. they were running at full speed and then came to an abrupt halt. it was the 4 teachers!!! they turned back, looked at me, and ran away. we

it has been a crazy week, but the end is here. it is friday, and for mapboy, it is the last day of 1st grade! we have had field trips, class parties, watched movies, brought backpack after backpack load of stuff home, and finished with treats from the bus driver. he loved his teacher this year and so did i. i liked her so much i may just help her again next year and princess will definitely have her in 2 years! so.....summer begins. i'm not sure what i feel about that yet. part of me is ready to stop the madness of running everywhere. part of me is trying to figure out what i'm going to do to keep the two of them busy this summer. princess plays well, mapboy does not. but i have some ideas that will hopefully keep us sane! so, the fun begins. we have some fun plans and some not so fun plans, but summer is here...now if only they will learn to sleep in!!!!!!

i got quite the chuckle while reading some comments on blogs this morning. there is quite a following of idol and i enjoyed following the comments. one struck me funny. it was by my cousin and said that she liked carrie and might have to become a country fan. her friend commented she loved the song but sent her daughter out of her room b/c while she likes some of those "bad girl" songs she doesn't want her daughter to, yet. he he!!! so why is it we like these bad girl songs? i know my cousin is far from a bad girl. and i assume her friend is too. and of course i'm far from a bad girl as well, but i concede that is one of the draws to country music for me as well. now, i only like the bad girl country songs, not the pop ones, because frankly they seem a little less blunt in the lyrics. i call them sassy songs. and from time to time i get sassy and sing them at the top of my lungs. hubby will sometimes start the car and then give me an odd look when the rad

last night about about 9:57 our time i couldn't wait to get on and blog. hubby shot me a look of, "it's bedtime!" so here i am after supper the following day doing a blog that has lost a little of it's pizazz, but since i'm still quite buzzed here goes... DAVID COOK!!!!!! he won!! i watched the whole show preparing myself for the end. i just have to say i was so impressed with simon's very sincere and much needed apology to mr. cook. dear friend commented yesterday that it seemed like cook had changed. that he was more contemplative. i can only assume when you are 26 and watching your brother slowly die that you would get that way. but kudos to him!!! i just read like i was saying's blog . she asked if anyone else wondered if cook was trying to throw the competition and i confess i did wonder. i think he would have been happy either way, honestly. i too wonder if he wanted some freedom to spend time with his brother that winning wouldn

i'm an idol fan. big time idol fan. i was quite pumped for last nights show. we are a house divided, kind of. hubby thinks archie has a great voice; mature and smooth. and i agree on that, but i'm sold on cook. i like that raspy, draw me into your eyes thing. always have. plus i see it as justice for daughtery getting voted off. but last night, while i was impressed with both, i had to turn to hubby and say, "i think archie will win." he grinned and said, "it's killing you isn't it?" i even came up with about 4 reasons that cook was throwing the competition. he just sighed. both will do well, i have no doubt about that. but for me cook is still the winner. he is the performer. i loved watching him change from cocky to humble. i loved that he was true to himself each week and would change things up. and yes, i love the raspy voice. archie, is cute and humble. he has a good voice, but i don't like to watch him. he reminds me of

if you have been reading for awhile you may remember a post i had on my great dilema. i was stuck in a place that i couldn't reconcile. well, i had prayed and done the biblical thing and come to the place of peace over the situation - until this weekend. so what do i do again??? this time, i don't know that i can reconcile. a dear friend keeps telling me to read the book total forgivness. i know she means well, but i'm tired of hearing it. this latest event will require forgiveness, but come on - don't we still pay consequences? i am a firm believer in extending grace and forgiveness, but i also believe we are accountable to our sin. once again i have the dilema. the position i am in makes some things complicated. i'm trusting God with this one. i have full confidence that while this is going to get messy, that God actually wants that. hubby and i were stealing a moment on our porch swing last night (well, actually i interupted his bird hunt) and he menti

this morning i called the florist for 4 small daisy bouquets. as i sat down to write the 4 cards to go with them i actually got a little weepy! i can't imagine that about myself, but i did. then when princess gave each bouqet and card to her 4 preschool teachers i got a little weepy again. what on earth???!?? yes, friends, while i talk big about anticipating full day freedom next year, i apparently am not quite ready. there was the brief moment today of realizing the preschool routine is over. i will no longer see the 4 ladies that have impacted princess in so many ways. they have loved her,played with her, prayed with her, encouraged her, and taught her. i felt so blessed that God cares so much about her to bless her with awesome teachers. i have no clue how i'll be on friday when she graduates!!!! i thougth i'd be all smiles, but now i'm not so sure.

how am i supposed to keep things straight? here are the 4 diets in our house: 1. eat every 2 hours because your tummy is tiny and you are too skinny. 2. the dash diet (dietary adjustments to stop hypertenions) 3. the high protein diet 4. the sensory diet wowzers....who knew one family would have all these different needs???

some of you know that hubby and i had mapboy tested for some of his quirks! well, today i met with the good doc to go over the results. i find it all quite fascinating and really quite exciting. for several years i've wondered if i am just a really bad parent. well, today i felt hope. i'm not a bad parent. i have a child that has some struggles - much like any adult. but that is where the problem is - helping a 7 year old cope with adult type problems. basically, his intellect was off the charts for his age. no surprise there to those of you who know him. he processes information extremely fast and stores it in memory forever. he reads by memory, not phonics, and obsesses over other interesting educational items. socially, he isn't that great, but amazingly is coping quite well considering. he struggles to relate to kids his own age but is starting to make some strides in that way. the good doc gave some suggestions in that area. the one thing she found that to

my normally content and pleasant daughter has turned into a whine fest this week! i am soooooo done with it. she cried for 45 minutes this morning over the fact i would give her nothing but water to drink. she had already had 3 glasses of milk and 1 glass of juice. this is not normal for her and driving me to insanity. i'm fearing summer this year. while i do have some fun times planned just getting through our days might prove to be more of a struggle. mapboy can't stand the noise of anyone else, although he makes more noise than anyone in the house himself. princess just wants to play with him and he just wants to be left alone. this is a new dynamic for our family this year. so if anyone has any creative ways to structure summer or deal with sibling issues - PLEASE!!!!!!! i know my dear sister out there surely has some great advice - her kids all get along and are so good. and while i'm doing my best to ignore the whining i can still really hear it:) i reall

princess has learned to read. we started in january doing some simple phonic books. she is now reading 1st grade level books on her own. she will sit and read for hours. i heard i was like that. and i'd still love to sit and read for hours if time allowed. but right now, princess is sitting on our front porch swing with a stack of books as happy as can be. i love that girl!!!!! oh...she is also very proud that on the walk in the woods at grandma's she found 2 mushrooms all on her own. everyone, except for me, enjoys the tedious mushroom hunt so this really is big news for this little family!

here are a just a few of the highlights from my weekend. many of these could be their own post but for the sake of time - enjoy... 1. walking the beach with my hubby 2. dancing a jig with dr. t and slow dancing with hubby 3. understanding the 10 point sermon that exists in goldfish crackers - trust me, it's there 4. visiting a lighthouse 5. indulging in french toast, cinnamon rolls, and ice cream 6. fonn marr 7. walking the beach with my hubby - what?? did i mention that already??? 8. enjoying time away from it all with hubby and dear friends. 9. knowing the kids were having a ball at grandma and grandpas 10. enjoying life!!!

my little town isn't famous for much. we have some connection to the 3 stooges - always get confused which one is from here. then of course there is scott skiles, the bulls x-coach. we are well known for basketball and speech teams...but for some reason the democratic candidates have set their eyes on my little town. the funny thing is we rarely elect a democrat to any office around here. (i'm not saying i agree with that - just stating the facts) well mapboy is pumped to no end! he was deeply distressed over missing out on obama's visit yesterday, but he has high hopes that grandpa will take him to meet bill on saturday. i guess hillary decided bill was better bet here. not sure why, but okay. frankly, bill drives me insane, but i will confess that with all this hype i'm kind of excited too. i mean it isn't every day that a former presidents walks the halls of your high school. well, i guess for some towns it is, but not around here. too bad i'll mi

so for the one person who reads this from cedarville - enjoy. for the rest of you....just suffer through:) we would sit in chapel everyday at 10:00. i remember hearing all the time that when we graduate we will stop at 10:00 and remember chapel. hmm...well, i do, from time to time. i often hear the song Christ is All We Need . while i'm sure it is a great song...let's just say it isn't my favorite. now the rare Mondays when Dr. Dixon would sing I Woke Up This Morning ...oh yeah, i liked that one. i also remember singing the same hymns each week depending on who led worship and loving chapel on fridays with the student government. we started singing Shout to the Lord and i remember one of the girls raising her hands...that was a bit of a new thing for us students! there are several sermons i remember vividly. sitting in a blackout listening to tony evans preach. one kid was smart enought to record it on his hand held. i remember alistair begg because i loved his

"mom!!! mom!!!!! you won't believe it!!!! hillary is coming to town!! our town, mom!! our town! can you take me out of school to meet her? i want to tell her that Obama is ahead and i can't figure out how she will beat him in the end!?!?!!!?!?!?" as i have said before, mapboy is very into the election. grandpa and grandma gave the kids a set of cards that have state maps on each card. for the past 2 days mapboy has diligently been working through the deck and adding numbers up. it took a while for me to figure out why he would come to tell me that obama was leading hillary by a count of 79 to 45. i just smile and say that's nice. i finally caught on. he would look at each card to see what state it was. then he would determine who had won that state's primary. then he would see the value on the card and put that number in the candidates slot. then he would add them up. so far obama still has a decent lead. i don't know about you, but this i

last weekend i had to attend a church leadership retreat. frankly, with all that has been going on, it was the last place i wanted to be and i was going to be the only girl around. not exactly my idea of a weekend! but i went - and drove back home at night. i came home rather perturbed friday night. hold on, let me say that when you start reading this follow it through before you get mad at me. okay...so friday night i came home and said to hubby i just couldnt' take the slow songs begging God to show up. that was intermingled with prayers to make us holy. why did this bother me? i mean, i grew up in church. this is what you are supposed to do - especially as leaders, right? so saturday after lunch, head elder sent us on a nature walk. we were told to not talk but just write down any methaphors we find in nature. within about 10 steps i spotted 2 logs that formed a natural lean-to; a place of shelther for the squirrel sitting under neath. what struck me is the natural