News I am keeping to myself, sort of.

My friend Kelly has posted pictures of when she and I rented a convertible one day and did our errands. Just for the fun of it! It was A BLAST, and I recommend it to anyone! Its better too when you can cut the cost with a FUN LOVING FRIEND! Woo Hoo!

But the reason I write.

I've got news.

I took a pee test - it came out with a plus sign.

As in plus one more to the family!

Yippy

But we are keeping it between my hubby and myself, for now. Why? No reason, I'm just enjoying this privately. *smiles*

We are on vacation so we will see the doctor once we get home and have a better idea of how far along we are and when we can expect this #3.

*smiles*

But you my blogosphere friends are privy to the information because none of my family or friends really read my blog. (Except Kelly, and you can tell your hubby, THAT'S IT!)

When I tell my family or friends that I blog I usually get that look that says -you need to be in a support group - *giggle oh yeah, you are my support group! Giggle*

*smiles*
*smiles*

Guess I'll be between diapers and dishes a little while longer . . .

Captivating

Chapter 6

Healing the Wound

I am so glad to be here, at the answers part! It feels like a sprinkle after a dry spell. I believe that the "drench" is on the way still, but I like where we are at now.

I especially liked what it had to say about forgiveness. How we don't say they are right but we free ourselves from the damage that unforgiveness wrecks on us. And it didn't pass my attention that then we can ASK HIM TO DESTROY OUR ENEMIES! *oh yeah*

I did actually do this. My prayer went "bring them to account for this", and I don't know if or how God answered this but just the freedom and ability to do it! It felt like boxing gloves and I didn't feel so "helpless-victim-ish". I believe that in the Psalms has something about asking God to "crush their teeth" . . .
And then . ..
Oh yay! And then . . . to LET HIM FATHER YOU . . . My soul just sighed *aaahhh*
And the thought itself brings me so much rest and love that I really CAN NOT express it. If I dwell here, I cry.

Oh, so I agree, take your Question to Jesus. He is the ANSWER, and it is GOOD! I eagerly await what is next . . .ROMANCE!
Woo Hoo!

Family Times

Here's the roll call:

My mother Vivian has four sisters and a brother:
Verlie
Valoris
Veronica
Violet
and Virgil

Veronica and her family is down south near us. But everyone else is here in the mid-west.

Violet and her husband have two daughters D and J, and a son T.
D has two teenagers Jes and Em
J and her husband have a son my little girl's age and
T with his wife have a daughter K (4) and a son A (9)

Virgil and his wife have 5 children:
C with her husband have a newborn daughter.
K and his wife
L and her husband have 5 girls
S and her husband have two boys 9 and 6 and a girl 3
D and his wife have one son

And we plan to see them all! I just had a blast last night hanging with my cousin S who is my age, and we talked like some old friends: love, life, marriage, children, theology, God and coffee.

So far my own hubby and kids are handeling all this family just fine. For the sake of my kids, my aunts and uncles are all called 'Aunty Grandma' or 'Uncle Grandpa' and just Grandma or Grandpa for short. No one's complaining.

My boy the genius

We're traveling, and went from the west coast to the mid-west. Two hour time difference.

And my 11month old son can read a clock, I am TELLING YOU!

Since we have arrived his normal bed time would be 8pm west coast time, and here that's 10pm - so the little ones went to bed at their "normal time".

I, therefore would anticipate that they would be getting up at their "normal" 6:30 am west coast time. Here that would be 8am. Nice.

But you see, my boy reads the clock, and he SAW that it was 6:30am and woke up. 4:30am mommy's time, argh!

So, here we are in the mid-west, enjoying thunderstorms and family, and I am getting less sleep than ever! We are staying with my two lovable, prayer warriors, baby loving, elderly aunts. 'Aunts' as is -aawnts- not 'ants' like the bugs. They have no coffee maker, being tea drinkers, or any internet service, so I'm at the library with a splitting headache planning to visit Starbucks soon! It is that or make a cup of the instant coffee I bought when I got here to try to keep up with my aunties who keep us talking and/or playing cards until midnight or longer. Love it, love it.

Working with the deaf

I've been asked to share some insights of working with the deaf.
Hmmmm
I will speak of my own experience and by no means am making a blanket statement about ALL the deaf -
People often will ask me if the deaf we work with sign English or Spanish. The thing is that we sign Sign. Their second language is English or Spanish, and their first is Sign. It is different and to sign word for word is difficult to understand and not their native language.
For example: if a deaf person read "The man with the dog is sick" the first thing they might understand is that the dog is sick. Because signed out - the syntax of that - would make the dog sick.
So when I sign worship for the deaf here on Sundays, I don't do word for word, because, even though it might look pretty, it would make little sense to the deaf.
For example: there is a song in Spanish that says "To Him that robes me in power, to Him that is my victory, only Him will I praise, only Him will I exalt"
When I sign it I sign: "You give me power, you give me victory, only you praise, only you praise".
See the difference? And this is one of the favorites of the deaf to do, because they get it!
I go for clarity, I go for the gist of it, and I go for understanding.

Captivating

Chapter 5

So, this book isn't a bible study per say, and that does make it a bit more difficult, because there is little in the "nice ending" to each chapter but a sort of "to be continued" feeling, which is normal for a book!

If we bypass most of the superlatives (for example: hates women the "most") we get down to the gist. Satan hates us. That is for sure and he is using every means to lie,to us. To hurt us and to demoralize us.

So I anticipate that we are going to start seeing more"answers", YAY!

Those are my cliff notes. :-)

We're off!

Just so you know.

My computer crashed on Friday shortly after I did my last post. Does anyone know what Disk boot system failure means? It mean a lot of trouble.

"Is it a black or blue screen?"
"black"
"OH NO! The screen of death!"
So says my friend.

We were not able to do anything about it since that next day (today) we left for a month of travel.

We are visiting friends and family and sharing with some of the churches that support us what we are up to. It's fun.

My blogging will be sporadic at best as will my access to internet. So, visits to your blogs, responses, comments will be, I imagine, limited.

I know you won't miss me too much. ;-)

Three things.

I am delighted to have been tagged by Missionary mom for this meme:

3 Things that scare me:

1. pain
2. pain
3. pain

3 people who make me laugh:

1. my brothers
2. my pal Kelly
3. Bloggers like Boomama, Cheerio Butt, and Supermom.

3 Things I love:

1. to laugh (like a good pun! I love good puns to laugh at)
2. chocolate and coffee (pretty much you can't go wrong with this combo)
3. a good book or a good movie

3 Things I hate:

1. yellow coffee stain on your teeth
2. finding a sippy cup that is a quarter full of what was once milk
3. the crunch of bugs when smushed and flies in general

3 Things I do not understand:

1. Gods sovereignty vs. free will
2. abstract math
3. what's so hard about closing the door behind you

3 Things on my desk:

1. my devotional book
2. a huge pile of papers that needs to be filed
3. a head of a "bobbing" head" dog

3 Things I am doing right now:

1. blogging
2. sweating
3. instant messaging with afore mentioned friend Kelly

3 Things I want to do before I die:

1. see my children come to a personal relationship with Jesus, and know Him like I do or better
2. see them chose wisely in their choice of spouse
3. see my husband HEALED (I know God is able)

3 Things I can do:

1. with no help from anything else, make my pointer finger touch my pinky on the same hand
2. hold a conversation in American sign language or Mexican sign language or Spanish
3. curl my tongue (your trying right now aren't you!)

3 Ways to describe my personality.

1. decisive
2. hospitable
3. confidant

3 Things I can't do:

1. make hooting noise with my cupped hands
2. be cuttsie
3. spell

3 Things I think you should listen to:

1. the Holy Spirit
2. Dr. Laura
3. Your husband and children

3 Things you should never listen to:

1. hearsay, about you or others
2. hateful or angry music
3. demoralizing people

3 Absolute favorite foods:

1. AMC movie theater hotdogs
2. mint chocolate fudge covered oreos, and if only they'd double stuffed them
3. dark perfectly ripe cheeries

3 Things I'd like to learn:

1. child development
2. the difference - the distinction between all the Christian denominations
3. more

3 Beverages I drink regularly:

1. coffee
2. water
3. diet coke

3 shows I watched as a kid:

1. Dukes of hazard
2. Little house on the prairie
3. The Electric Company

3 Things I really want to do:

1. make my quite time a routine part of my day
2. get some "smile" wrinkles around my eyes, and not have "sourpuss" wrinkles around my mouth
3. not yell but be described as "My mother never raised her voice"

3 people I tag :

1. Kelly
2. Camy
3. YOU! And if you do it let me know so I can check it out!

My hearts desire: one minute with God

I'm finding that the time I wish I could spend in God's word and prayer is not happening like I wish.

I used to, and like to, read through the Bible in a year. It's really not that difficult, generally speaking if you read 3 chapters a day you do it.

But lately I have found my self SO FAR BEHIND. I sit to read and think "I'll catch up" then I see - shoot! I missed almost all of June! *AAARRGG!* So, dilemma, try to "catch up" or just start from today. I'll just start from today. MAAAAN! That would mean not reading Isaiah, I LOVE Isaiah!

Maybe I'll just blog. *guilt* blog time = time that could have been spent reading my bible - ugh!
I'm finding that as I get discouraged about missing my daily read, I end up not reading at all, cause I'm not doing "as I should".

This is not good.

So I picked up my devotional a good friend gave me (you know the type, the one page wonders - they have one verse on it and an inspirational blurb, on a short small page) and have started my day like that. With the small ones clamoring for my attention - this works great, because I can read it quick and meditate it while changing the next diaper.
So if a minute is all I have with God - I'LL TAKE IT!

Wordless Wednesday

Sickness?

No, sunscreen!

Oh, YES, she DID!

The lovely, pristine, dainty little Missy of mine, pictured below among the princesses is a well balanced young lady. She's got the girlie down, but don't be fooled, her mama wore army boots, and she's got a bit of that too.

She loves dogs, cats, birds, snakes, spiders, alligators, lizards and your general array of bugs. I think she digs the reptiles more than the birds.

Anywho - so we went to the zoo and they had a show on bugs. SHE LOVED IT! Large hissing cockroaches being a favorite. And then the kind zoo man brought out a giant beetle's larvae that you can eat. That people really do eat, and offered them to the crowd. (Nice kiddy show, eh?)

Dad, who was sitting with her up front, placed one in her hand and told her to "Go show mommy"
The larva never made it. She was chewing it when she got to me!

This from the girl that when we were encouraging her to TRYYYY the caramel dip on the apple slice made out like we wanted her to pull and give us all her teeth!

Go figure.

A day at Disney.

Her dad bought her the Belle dress for the day we were given at Disney.

What a neat day for this princess loving miss.

But the coolest thing of all, something I didn't even hope for was her encounter with Cinderella.

We had gone all day just missing little miss's favorite princess. If there was a line - we would be too late, the line would be closed. After one such try, and it's about 5:45pm . . . I asked if she would be coming by again. Well the page girl said "oh, I'm sorry, the princess will not be stopping to sign autographs, but will only be passing through here at about 6:30. Will she stop for pictures? I asked, "well it depends on the princess if she has time, if not she will just buzz through".

So little miss and I (princess stalker we are) watched and waited. Sure enough, around 6:30, we spotted that golden hair and blue dress making it's way towards us, surrounded by a host (read: big burly body guard!) and a couple of pages.

When she was relatively close little miss went running out to greet her. I started taking pictures realizing that Cinderella just may not stop. As she came by me, I was ready to ask if Cinderella would stop to take a picture when Big Burly Host asked if she (little miss) would like to come along!

YES! (I sure hope hubby was watching where we were going because Cinderella did not break pace a bit, but grabbed little miss's hand and we were off) Where? To the Dumbo ride! This is WAY better than a picture! So little miss got to end her day with a once in a life time experience - riding the Dumbo ride with her favorite princess, Cinderella.

I am only sorry that at this young age she probably won't remember this. Well, we have pictures, and she sure loved it today!

Captivating

Chapter 4

"Women learn from their mothers what it means to be a woman, and from their fathers the value that a woman has - the value they have as a woman."
And then it went wrong . . Oh so desperately wrong because the enemy of our souls hates us.
And he is seeking to rob, kill and destroy.

My husband worries with so much evil out there how can he protect her or help her learn to make the right choices, especially with love?

I remind him that he is already doing it by loving her. She is his princess. She is cherished by him, he is her hero. And that is going to make a big difference in her life because she is learning a) how a real man who loves her will treat her, and b) who God as a father is. Big responsibility as a father but he is doing a great job.

My father died when I was 3. Even though I don't feel the abandonment that some do when a father is just absent. I did feel the lack of him. It affected me and bad things have happened because of it. But I do not have a bleeding wound, I have a scar. A scar that will ache when the weather changes, but I am living a full life, in spite of it. Because God is a God of healing, of making whole, and of beauty. I suspect (without reading ahead ) that is where we are going, once the problems are laid out, to the Answer.
Do you know the song:
Beautiful,
beautiful,
Jesus is beautiful,
and Jesus makes beautiful thing of my life.
It's true.

No Tackle it Tuesday!

Come on you guys! It's the Forth of July!

I plan to tackle: a table full of goodies, to the best of my abilities. We each must do our part!

I plan to tackle watching hubby and bro light fireworks and watch as they transform themselves into boys again, without wincing each time.

I plan to tackle my daughter or son in their tracks if they get too close to dad and uncle while fireworks are going on.

I plan to tackle having a blast with family and friends!
I'll take pictures.

The last thing I am going to tackle is ANYTHING in the house.

One of my most embarrassing moment.

Peek Inside Me Weekly, a Cheerio Butt idea, looked too fun to not play!

Your most embarrassing moment.

I have several, but this one came to mind.

I took voice one semester in college. We'd work with the voice teacher one on one then every once and again we would have a review where we would meet at a stage with other students of voice, sing the song we are working in front of them and then get feedback. I was working on a Latin piece that repeated a few times, but simple. No sweat.

One day I was going to a review. When I got to the stage we usually met at, no one was there. So I went to another theater entered by the front where someone passed me a program. There were a few people in the audience. I saw a fellow student on stage. My stomach dropped . . . .I went back stage.

There were my fellow voice students all dressed up, and running around. Somewhere in all this crazy I got some answers. Yes this is your REVIEW and- oh - your up next! In horror I looked at the program that was handed to me at the entrance, yup, there I was, NEXT!
Did I mentioned that they were dressed formal, stockings, heels, up-do's, like that?!?
Me? Flannel shirt, jeans, headband, boots.
The show must go on.
I went out started my song.
Had brain freeze and got lost.
Stopped.
My voice teacher gave me a lead into the next part.
Did I mention that there was an audience?
I got lost again. Got the lead in again.
I saw someone in the audience covering their hung head with their hand.
I realized that I didn't know where my song was in the cycle so I just sort of invented a finish.
My voice teacher mercifully finished playing.

It was then that I wanted a hole to crawl into until no one could remember me. But this is a SMALL college and most of the audience was either student or staff that would know me.
I went STRAIGHT to my dorm.
On the RUN out someone said kindly "This was your first time?" And LAST!

Oh what fun!!!

I've bragged on my brother before, and I recommend you go and listen to one of his speeches right now, they are so good. Still that is not the blog for today.

Pictured is bro with his girl. They are the most cutsie-patoosie couple you could know.

This week I won't be around much thanks in part to him! (and his girl)

Come the 4th of July we are going to spend it with her, her parents and friends and bro.

Then they are putting us up in a hotel! Because she and her parents live near by"the happy-est place on earth" and since she works there, she is getting us in!


I am SO looking forward to this!

One more too cutsie-patoosie picture for you, cause they are just so dawg gone cute!

Happy 4th of July!

Captivating Question

Chapter 3

Well, I think I need more sleep or something because it was all ink and paper to me.

So, I looked around and some ladies said "huh?", some said "Yeessss!"

Then I flipped ahead and I liked what I saw there!

But back to this chapter.
Um -
I do think it is important for little girls to be told they are special, they are lovely. Yes, the evil one wants to poison our minds with lies. Like a bride who was told just before she walked down the aisle that white makes her look SO fat! The effect is instant and changes our whole demeanor. But let us realize that Jesus is our groom and no matter what we hear, our groom is in EAGER ANTICIPATION! EAGER ANTICIPATION!

"We imagine meaningful conversations or difficult ones where we speak brilliantly." YES! And then *btthhh* :-P nothing.

I thought the "we spend our imagination on cheap novels" part might bristle some feathers with all our authors out there!

I am brain dead, uninspired, uninspiring.

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the bible tells me so.
Yes, Jesus loves me!