the back door

so i am usually quite good at cooking. i have been known to call my mom or a friend to find a substitute ingredient or ask opinions of certain things, but this morning i was in desperate need of help. see, our neighbor, was cooking a chicken in her crockpot last week. and boy did it smell good. i thought that would be an easy thing for me to cook. sprinkle with rotisserie seasoning and yummy!!! so i bought myself a chicken!!!!! last night i pulled it out and it was ready for me this morning. it was still a little frozen so i put it in the crock on high and an hour later went to pull out the innards. however, this chicken didn't seem to have a hole in it anywhere. i checked the package and it said to remove the innards. i did a quick look across the street. i think she's awake..but i would feel so stupid asking her how to find the innards of my chicken. after a short debate and a lesson in humility i call my mom!!! i can feel totally stupid with her!!! i call my mom ...

...mouth what you say for little ears are listening!! yesterday, princess was very excited to have her bff come home from preschool with her. when we arrived at drop-off said bff's mom was coming back out of the school . she had a big smile on her face and i said to her, "why are you so happy this morning?" now obviously i know the answer to this...she is going to have the entire day to herself and will be enjoying lunch with a friend and no children!! don't we all know how quickly that would bring a smile to our face!! she replies, "i don't know, i'm just happy!" with a smile on her face. i turn to princess and say, "why do you think __________ is so happy this morning?" now i expected all sorts of interesting answers but listen to what i got... "because she gets to spend the day all alone!" and off she went to her class!!! OUCH!!! obviously my enthusiasm for days alone has been revealed to her. the truth hurts here.......

this is really much more of a vent for me, a mom, giving herself a time out. for whatever reason, mapboy has an extremely hard time dealing with life. i don't quite understand it, well, except for the fact that it is his sinful nature. he can be all sweet and cuddly and the next minute he is screaming and yelling at anyone near by. it is so frustrating at times b/c you can't even get him calmed down to deal with the issue at hand..then he is on to the next one, and the next one and so on. by the time he is calmed down even i have a hard time remembering what the initial issue is. this afternoon has been one of those days and frankly, i'm so tired of being in constant battle. i have tried to speak calmly only to find myself raising my voice over his to be met with him telling me i'm yelling at him and he starts crying even more. it is just hard to try to help him or explain the situation with him crying and yelling about it. as i write this , he is standing in the...

hubby was lucky enough on saturday to be a part of history! yes, folks, he was at the notre dame game where they scored their first offensive touch down and also lost making it the worst opening record ever!! this was his first adventure to the stadium for a game. being local we always have the home games televised. the kids were super excited to see their dad on tv. i mean how often does that happen!! i tried to explain that we most likely will not be able to see him, but that we can watch the game. as game time approaches i call the kids in to get situated! knowing full well we won't see him, i don't want to dampen their spirits and high hopes. mapboy heads to his favorite spot and princess climbs to the other end of the couch. once she gets settled she grabs the blanket and pulls it up over her eyes. i turn to look at her and hear this: "i just can't watch! tell me when it's over! i can't even look!" hmmm...not sure what she is thinking here, ...

we have left so many unfinished projects in our house over the years....nothing major, we just move on to the next one and let it go. from time to time we talk about them, but don't do anything! well, hubby is all over this now!! he is in get er done mode! and i'm loving it!!!!! i mean i love my husband a ton!!! we have the best relationship and we love being together....but there is something that, well you know (and if you don't - spend some time thinking about it) when they are working hard at things around the house!!! so anyways - we are tackling all sorts of projects around the house and it is fun!! i'm getting cabinets over my washer and dryer, a craft table (see previous post) , our porch/patio is going to be finished, and the rental is going to finally be sided! it is amazing and quite the transformation!! i'm not sure what prompted this, but there are times i have learned to not ask and just enjoy the ride!!!! and this is most definitely one of tho...

my kiddos have always enjoyed visiting the local state parks nature center. i don't really get it. i mean it is okay, but how many times can you look at the same snake that doesn't do anything because he has been locked up for so long? they do have some puppets the kids like to play with, but for whatever reason, my kids are HUGE nature center fans!! they get it from their father who works very hard at providing nature in our downtown back yard. mapboy had learned all the birds, trees, wildflowers, and which belongs to which state by the time he was 4. me - i still could quite frankly care less, but nevertheless i'm learning all sorts of things from my precious children. so...a few weeks ago i was gone for the weekend. something must have come up about building a nature center here at our house. for the past week there has been nothing but talk about this center. we have written down list after list: things we have, things we need, things we are going to do. i confe...

only in my small town could you have the experience i did last night!! a friend and i always try to get together for our birthdays..well summer went by before we had a chance to celebrate hers. so a movie we had been wanting to see, becoming jane , arrived in our small town theater. you know...the old downtown local ones!! so last night we met downtown at a local mexican restaurant. it is soooo yummy and i'm blessed to have authentic mexican here in town. we finished the supper and at 7 walked the 2 minutes down the street to the theater. we noticed the marquis lights were off and wondered if they were closed tonight. we arrived to find the elderly lady that owns it getting out of the ticket booth. we knocked on the window and asked for 2 tickets. she replied, "noone was here at 7:00 so we closed down." what.....it is only 7:02??? i mean don't most people arrive a few minutes late so they don't have to sit through 25 minutes of previews. so we gave her our...

there is this old garth brooks song called unanswered prayers. for some of you out there - yes, i'm a big time country music girl! it is in my bones!! anyways - its an oldy. one from my high school days, but it talks about the prayers you pray and later realize how thankful you are God didn't answer them. i don't fully agree with the theology. i think he answers them - just not the way we wanted him to at the time. so, last week i had the rare opportunity to experience what my life would be like if one of my dreams had come true. my dear friend really wanted to head to canada for a family wedding. her hubby could keep the kiddos for the weekend but friday was a bit difficult for her to figure out. i volunteered to keep the 3 youngest!! one i would have all day but she plays so well with princess it is like a free day for me. the other 2 would ride the bus home with mapboy. i was pumped!! for as long as i can remember i had always wanted 5 children. God saw fit...

so most of you readers out there know that i live in an old 1850's house that has never caught up in todays current technology trends. i blogged about all the tech stuff we don't have...well, we broke down to by a tracphone so i now have cell phone access. that was huge step for us!! then one day i turned the computer on only to find it had all crashed, except internet! i know that sounds odd and i was alittle shocked myself. i mean of all things i would have expected the old computer to blowup whenever i would dial in to the internet host. but it kept kicking as long as i only wanted to use the internet. well, that really isn't practical. so yesterday, our computer guy came over and set up a new computer and printer for us! i giggled like a school girl at so many features. hubby and computer guy both would just look at me. then i realized they were really kinda chuckling at me. you see... the flat screen is something my hubby has had for about 4 years now. it r...

this past weekend i was on a leadership retreat with my church!! it was by far one of the most powerful times in my life!! you know, those rare times when God is just there!! i know He is always here, but not like this weekend. the times you just can't even speak - only listen! God is so real...why don't we see it? why do we spend so much time boxing Him in? oh i pray that i teach my children the truth of their God and His truth for them!!

yesterday was princess's first day of preschool this year. she is in the preK class and goes 3 days a week. she loves to go to school and gets so excited about it all!! we did the great picture pose - only to learn that the camera batteries were dead. so we will try again tomorrow and take a 2nd day picture. oh well....such is life around here. arriving at the school, cars were parked everywhere! we unloaded and she paraded right to the hallway where we were met with a crowd of parents, grandparents, siblings....it was a zoo!!! we hang our coat up and weave back through. i sign her in and say goodbye! all of 5 minutes!! what i noticed was all these other moms hugging, crying, taking pictures (which i confess had mine worked i would have done that!) and waiting until the last moment to leave. not me....i'm out of here! so i head home where i curl up to celebrate my first day alone with the newest karen kingsbury book and read! what a treat!!! spend some time chatting...

this afternoon my dear friend stopped by for a quick visit! i knew she was coming - but this is what she found when she walked through my back door....come on in me cleaning off the trash cans - atleast i was using bleach dirty dishes all over the counter toys strewn across the house me - in a somewhat mild weird kinda mood (it had been one of those mornings) stuff scattered on the kitchen table but you know what - my dear friend didn't comment on any of that!! she even allowed her little girl to play with mine while we talked over glasses of water (we do occasionaly go for the healthy thing - only occasionally). her little visit did a world of good to my day!!! i love friends that can walk through my door and still love me:) and oh - did i mention that when we were all walking out our gate that oscar decided to squat and go right there in between us?? she really is a good friend!!

in my house i don't allow a certain word to ever be used. i don't like it and generally feel it is quite extreme. that word is HATE. i don't even like to use it here...and there is only one thing i have ever considered myself really truly hating - pickles!! i usually use the term despise them. they smell gross, look gross, taste gross and my family loves them. when the kids were little the way they almost slurped at them was enough to make me gag. i usually only by a jar for hubby's birthday or mapboy's. they are usually still around for princess to celebrate with. i know - sad isn't it, but arghg...they are just wrong!! but this really isn't about pickles...it is about the fact that for the first time in a long time i found myself using the word hate today! you see, it rained and poured here for a week a few weeks back. then it got hot and humid again. and, although this is one time i do question the works of God, there are these pesky little ...

i need some help all you bloggers out there in bloggy land!! my pots and pans are 9 years old. that doesn't really seem that old to me since my mom still has several from her wedding. but nevertheless, my teflon coated pots and pans are pealing. with each use more and more teflon flecks are found in the food. not good! and - where it has pealed off we are now finding rust. so much to my dismay i am on the hunt for new pots and pans..and fast!! when even hubby asks when i'm getting new ones - i know i must act now!! so i'm asking you all for your opinions on pots and pans...which to buy and which to stay far away from!! since i'm asking for help i'm going to share a family favorite recipe that i invented one cold evening... Chicken with Whistles chicken cut into bite size pieces (how ever much you need to feed your family. i do one large breast) lemon pepper seasoning mosticolli or penne pasta sprinkle your cut chicken with lemon pepper seasoning - be very ...

yep....summer is over!! now wait?? school started for us 3 weeks ago..didn't summer end then??? OH NO!! around here summer isn't over until labor day! you see, my little town of 10,000 comes to life each labor day weekend. over half a million people flood to our little town for the great blueberry festival. our town is taken over by carnival rides and their interesting operators. craft vendors flood our streets and interesting characters from all over come to walk shoulder to shoulder through our parks. and everyone comes to see the most incredible fireworks show and what seems like the longest parade around!!! oh the fun!! there are baseball, tennis, and horseshoe tournaments. tractor pulls, gospel sings, food, food, and more food!!! it is a weekend of pure bliss for so many and a weekend of huge fundraisers for so many. and for our little town...it truly marks the end of summer!!!!! ah...now preschool can start!!!

this past year has been one of great growth in our little house! from physical growth to emotional growth, but even more importantly a lot of spiritual growth has taken place. i have wrestled with some of my beliefs - not doctrinal but applicable. in other words...am i living the way Christ intended for me to live? in my quest to answer this question God has sometimes quietly and sometimes loudly brought me to conviction on many issues. places where i'm falling short of truly living like He intended. it is hard to let go of some of my old ways of christian living and embracing new ways. it is hard to admit that i'm not as together as i like to think or that i've fallen into just motions of christian living. one of the big questions i've wrestled with deals with quiet times and prayer life. i know in my heart that is something i should have daily. i also confess how many days go by that i haven't sat and had "quiet times." sad isn't it???? or ...