Hollow Pumpkins Echo

"Echo! Echo!"

Pepper, cleaning the bathroom today shouted out to me, "Mom, there's something wrong with the toilet! It's not swallowin'."

Ten Things Tuesday

I am thankful...

1. That I got to help out at Kindergarten today with the pumpkin party. We measured the pumpkin (which we named Stephanie), guessed how many seeds might be inside (and counted) and carved it. I love kindergarteners!

2. That BB has been having a really good week. The meltdowns have been few and far between and the ones he has had have been short and easily intercepted. He has been showing great self-control. I'm so proud of him!

3. That I can homeschool Daisy and Pepper. I enjoy spending my days with them. THey are sweet and funny and helpful and kind.

4. That we are going to spend 3.5 days with my in-laws. I like my in-laws! And it's fun to go somewhere else for a change. THe kids will have a blast and I'm going to work on Grandma's Christmas present which is a scrapbook of her latest trip. (she knows already, so I can write it out loud).

5. That I am alive.

6. That my mom likes to babysit. A lot. (was I thankful for this last week too? I can't be thankful enough. It's a huge help!)

7. That I love my job.

8. That so far, having a 13 year old has been pleasant and easy.

9. That 10 years ago I gave birth to sweet Daisy.

10. That I am not in any immenent danger of giving birth again! (adopt, yes; babies, no more! :D )

There's a Prayer Book, Too!

And I own it! Hot diggety!



I bought the three book package by the author, Sheri Rose Shepherd. I knew His Princess was the first book and I just planned to get to the others later, when I'd finished it. Saturday I needed something to read (and I don't generally care to just plow through devotional books cover to cover in one sitting) so I picked up this other book.



It goes along with the first one!



So here, belatedly, are some nuggets from the prayer book, called His Princess: Prayers to My King.



My King Who Chose Me "I need You to help me let go of who I think I am and become who YOU SAY I am."



My King, Help Me Find My Identity In You: "Give me the passion to bless people so that I will stop wasting my life trying to merely impress them. Lord help me care more about what you think than what others think."



and the devotion that goes along with this latter one: My Princess, You Don't Have to Fit In.... "I have a royal call on my life. I must remember I wear the crown of everlasting life, and through me, He will do abundantly more than I could ever dare to dream."



Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10 NIV

Pepperism

Do we look vicious to you????



Pepper asked Banana Boy today, (regarding our kitten who has claws and a sometimes short temper) "Banana Boy, do you want to play with Maple now while he's not vicious?"

My Precious Daughter

"And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." 2 Corinthians 6:18

The daughter of the King is the daughter of the the God who created the universe and he is delighted with me. He formed my body, he fashioned my mind and soul. He knows my personality, my needs, desires, heartaches and disappointments. He loves me passionately and patiently. His arms are not too big to hold me. He is my King and my Daddy in heaven. (and I have not thought of any of this on my own. It comes out of the book His Princess: Love Letters from Your King)

As long as we're on the princess theme

I've been thinking about being a princess. What do you think of when you think of a princess? What image do you pull up in your mind? What characteristics does a princess have?

Here's a random brainstorm. If you have additional thoughts, please share them.

Princesses....

...are rich
...are beautiful
...are perfect
...wear lovely satiny clothes
...wear a crown
...live in a castle
...have a handsome prince
...are bugged by wicked witches
...ride in cool carriages pulled by white horses
...are nice
...are admired by the common peasant
...are envied by the common peasant
...are plagued by dragons
...like to walk in the castle garden
...like to do nice things for the common peasant
...live happily ever after
...play the harp
...have beautiful long flowing hair

any more you can think of???

I'm a Princess

Here I go again. Good intentions. Be a better person. Get to know God better. Really understand what being a daughter to the King means. (It means I'm a princess!)

For a real-life view of what being a princess entails, read this. Leslie is a princess, too. And here are some thoughts Renee has that go along with the theme (although she doesn't mention being a princess specifically)

Here's what I'm reading: There's a link in the sidebar.

And here's today's first devotion. In an effort to avoid plagiarizing the whole book, I'm just going to pick out a few random passages that speak to me. I don't know that there will be commentary. Depends if I feel like commenting, I guess.

Here goes. Devotion one.

"You didn't choose me, I chose you." John 15:16
My Princess, my chosen one (that's me)
God will wait for me to be ready to start living his amazing plans! He will show me how to let go of the things in my life that are holding me back from the blessings he wants to give me. He is my King and the Lord who chose me.

Going great so far. I have a sneaking suspicion that too much time on the internet would be one of those things holding me back. Just ask my family.

Well, at least you got to share ONE devotion with me! LOL

blessings,
sandwich

Thankful Tuesday is Here Again

Fast on the heels of last week's Thankful Tuesday. Way to keep up with the blogging!

In no particular order....

1. I am thankful I am alive

2. I am thankful for my 5 healthy, funny, intelligent and beautiful children.

3. I am thankful for my wonderful, ever-patient, helpful, wise, frugal, patient, hard-working, patient, hot, patient husband.

4. I am so thankful God is patient, loving and kind, slow to anger and full of mercy. And that he loves me.

5. I am thankful for an excellent public school system which is serving 2 (and soon to be three) of my children so well.

6. I am thankful for the freedom to homeschool in whatever way best suits us which serves 2 of my children so well.

7. I am thankful for yellow soup. My kids love it!

8. I am thankful for my wonderful girl friends who continue to like me in spite of me.

9. I am thankful for our very sweet cat, Spider. He's a great cat and a pleasure to know.

10. I am thankful for coffee.

Not very deep today, but heartfelt!

Blessings,
Sandwich

Ten Things Tuesday

I've been looking for a fun posting theme for my blog for a while and haven't found anything that trips my trigger. Today I read on Leslie's blog (and if y'all don't read Leslie's blog regularly, you should! She is SO funny! Most of her posts have me laughing out loud (that's LOL, for those of you who don't get out much)) that she is in a crabby mood, but was inspired by Shara to post Ten Thankful Things Tuesday. That inspired me.

ANYhoo.... Here are Ten Things I am Thankful for Today (why all the unnecessary caps???)

1) I am thankful that we have found a spelling program that works really well for Daisy. "Works really well" means a) she doesn't cry when she does it, b)it improves her speleng (that's how she spelled it, as a joke this morning) and c)there is no extra work for me (because if there were, it would not get done. (Oh, btw, it is Sequential Spelling and you can buy it here)

2) I am thankful that Mr. GT got to Minneapolis safely.

3) I am thankful that Sunshine has not poo]ped in his unders in two weeks (and yesterday he even took off his diaper after his nap to use the potty!!!!!)

4) I am thankful I have such funny kids that make me LOL (see post below)

5) I am thankful that I am able to sleep when my boys are in my bed. They were both piled in around me like puppies last night since Mr. GT was gone. (Incidently, he CAN'T sleep when anyone is touching him, so he hates a puppy pile.)

6) I am thankful for our extended family who are just nuts about my kids. Nonny, Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie, Uncle, this means YOU!

7) I am thankful that because my extended family is nuts about my kids, they are willing to watch all five of them. Often.

8) I am thankful for our excellent public library system.

9) I am thankful for the maple tree that grows in my neighbors' yard and is like FIREWORKS every fall. It is so beautiful, it is breathtaking! (right now it is red, yellow, orange and green!)

10) Ooh, I can hardly pick just one more... Ok, this one. Yesterday I was reading to Pepper about our beliefs about baptism since we are Lutheran and AWANA is not. This phrase struck me yesterday, so I am thankful that because I have "abundant life in Christ [I am] living as a 'saint and a sinner' -- totally forgiven and totally in need of forgiveness." All at the same time! Isn't that cool!

In fact, I'm going to share the whole quote with you.

"Praise God! We can teach our children that the Christian life is not a dreary struggle to get better, to reach perfection, to look good, or to maintain a "religious high" (guilty of this!). Abundant life in Christ is...

-living "in Christ" as a branch lives in a vine (Johne 15:5)
-trusting God -- God's mercy, forgiveness, and promises
-living as a 'saint and a sinner' -- totally forgiven and totally in need of forgiveness
-receiving again and again the gift -- new life in Christ
-responding to God's love by loving God, the neighbor, and all creation -- faith active in love
-being empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit
-clinging to Christ alone for comfort
-giving thanks each day that...

ALL IS GIFT! ALL IS GOD'S INITIATIVE! ALL! ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA!"

(FROM Let the Children Come: A Baptism Manual for Parents and Sponsors by Daniel Erlander copyright 1996)

Vote for Boobah

Tonight while we were watching Dancing With the Stars, Rose Bud, out of the blue, says, "Did you know John McCain looks like a Boobah?" (she's apparently not a Republican!)

Naturally, just then, a John McCain commercial came on and by gum, if he doesn't look like a Boobah!

So here, for your viewing pleasure, John McCain and a Boobah.






Well, if he doesn't get elected, maybe he can look forward to a career in preschool television...

She didn't get it from me!

Six Year Old 911

I'm happily at home and Banana Boy and Little Hey are playing next door. Actually, they were having a picnic, but they must have finished eating.

Pepper comes running to me saying, "BB is bleeding!" I start calling for him and she says, "He's not here."

"Well, how do you know he's bleeding?"

"Little Hey is here." Sure enough, Little Hey is playing on our deck, now that his message has been delivered.

"Little Hey, where is BB? Is he bleeding?"

Little Hey nonchalantly responds, "He's at my house. He's bleeding."

I run for shoes and dash out the door, sure he must be hemorraging in Dog's (she's Little Hey's mom and gained this lovely nickname thanks to Sunshine) arms.

Little Hey jogs behind me. Panting, I ask him, "Is he with your mom?"

Calmly, "No. He's on the patio."

So my kid is bleeding to death and rather than run for help to the house 6 feet from the accident site, you walked over to my house?

I take off, speed trails behind me like a cartoon and sprint to my poor Banana Boy.

He's sitting on the patio with a skinned knee, whimpering softly to himself.

As soon as he sees me, he breaks into wails of pain.

Well, we get him all cleaned up and Dog offers us a bandaid. Just as I am snuggling the still wailing ("IT STINGS!!!!!" BB) I look out her back window to see a red wagon hurtling down her (steep!) lawn. The wagon tips and two boys FLY out across the yard.

Pepper was sweetly taking Sunshine and Little Hey for a wagon ride.

Now LH is whimpering. Sunshine is laughing.

LH limps to the house, tired of playing. BB, who has stopped wailing to watch the wagon action, now limps over to me like a 98 year old man.

Dog thoughtfully invites both boys inside to watch a movie. "Don't touch anything! Don't go near anything!" she hollers. "No more injuries!"

Back to Blessings

I haven't been blogging about blessings lately.

Today I am blessed by basil.

Mr. GT is a seed saver and collects the garden seeds to plant again next year. Today he brought in basil seeds and my house has a wonderful smell of spicy, dry basil as well as a refreshing fall smell. It's finally warm enough to open all the windows again after about 2 weeks of "cold spell." It's one of those beautiful fall days where the sun is warm and golden, the trees are beginning to turn and the wasps and ladybugs are swarming lazily on the warm side of the house.

So long as they stay on the OUTSIDE of the house.

Pepperisms

Dad was doing something with honey. I don't get quite what, but at some point, he had honey water of some sort and he offered it to the kids to drink. "WAIT! I have to get my proboscis!" Pepper yelled as she ran off for a straw.

This morning Pepper and Dad were snuggling in bed and having some silly times together. Of course, it wasn't long before Daisy and Sunshine heard the laughter and joined in. Daisy and Sunshine, having some game of their own, were playing drums on everything they could reach, including Dad's knees. "DAD! I am TRYING to snuggle with you, and they keep BAMPING me!" Pepper wailed.

The 6th picture in the 6th folder...

I think it's a pizza smile from Banana Boy. Doesn't he have a great smile?? I love when his eyes smile, too.


This post comes from a challenge from Owlhaven which comes from a challenge from someone else (see Owlhaven's post) to post the 6th picture in the 6th folder in your Pictures file on your hard drive.


So there you have it. A beautiful picture of my Banana Boy.


And had it been the 2nd picture in the 6th folder, you'd have gotten this:

This lovely picture is the Lyme rash on Rose Bud's back from last summer. You can just barely see it. It had been way more visible, but at that time, we thought it was just a bad mosquito bite. It wasn't until a week or two later when her knees hurt (ok, no big deal in a growing 11 yo) AND her toes hurt when she bent them (now this is too many sore joints!) that the lightbulb went off in my head and we ran her to the doctor.

Aren't you glad it was the 6th picture??

I'm 40! And You're Not!

Hippo Birdie, to Me!  

Guess where I was 40 years ago today?  Well part of the day I was in and then I was out and squalling and nekked.

I'm old, I'm old, I'm old now!  (that was singing, in case you couldn't tell)

Entering the last half of my life....

Once you're over the hill, you begin to pick up speed.

Hippo Birdie, to Me!

and to Amy C., too!  Hippo Birdie, Amy!

Y'all lurking out there reading this blog (and I know you're out there!) can leave me a comment wishing me a Hippo Birdie.  Come on.... how many of you are there??