My baby turned 4 a little over a week ago.

I guess she's not so much of a baby anymore...

although there are still times where she can certainly act like one!

Doesn't she look excited to be having a party?

The theme was "Hello Kitty", mostly since I had found a cake on-line that I thought I could successfully make and because Nikki does really like "Hello Kitty" stuff.

This was her first "girls only" party instead of a family party.

I am now thinking it may have been wise to wait another year or two for that, because trying to take care of these girls...do a craft with them...feed them and have a treasure hunt had this Mom run RAGGED!  She had her two cousins and then 3 other friends over and they did have a wonderful time together.

Pictures of the friends:

We had pizza, but we also had some little pretty girl-y fruit --

The one little girl was just awestruck.  She was like "Oh, those are SO beautiful..." in this breathless voice. It was so cute!

There is "Hello Kitty" herself.

Blowing out the candles...

Opening gifts.  It is good that Nikki isn't too claustrophobic, because the kids sure crowded around!  Even the boys wanted to watch the gift opening process.

Thanks to everyone who allowed their kids to come to the party and thanks for your gifts. If you are reading this...Nikki sure had a good time and enjoyed her party.

The Wednesday following her party, we headed out for South Dakota a little after 5 PM. It is a little over a 12 hour drive and we decided to do it in two segments both going and coming back.

We drove as far as Sioux Falls and stopped for the night at the "Cloud 9 Motel", which was considerably cheaper than some other motels but, thankfully, was still really nice!

There were these HUGE fields of sunflowers which I thought were so pretty but really couldn't capture properly on camera.

This picture just kind of makes me feel choked up.  I can't quite explain why.  So beautiful!

This was the mandatory laps that the kids had to run when we stopped at a truck stop in South Dakota...after they had been acting wild and crazy in the van!

Know what I mean by "wild and crazy"?

We finally got to Spearfish and Danny and Kristy were there ahead of us and had discovered a very nice outdoor water park just off the interstate. We ended up going directly there. It was hot, about 90 degrees, and the kids had SUCH an awesome time swimming and splashing.

Guess I didn't get pictures of the older kids. They were too busy running around. I think Derrick and Jasper went down the big slide 35 times, if I remember right.

Kristy with baby Chase.  He is SUCH a smiley, cute little guy.  But oh.so.busy!!

We rented a house/cabin and it was very nice!  We had not stayed at this particular one before.  They had a lot of unique decor ideas.  For instance...

All of the sinks were wash tubs and had these red and blue knobs to turn the water off and on.  Although it may have looked cute/rustic, they were actually a pain to turn on and off.

The lights in the kitchen were upside down buckets with bulbs inside.

This was the fireplace in the living room.

There was also a loft, which was super cute and the kids absolutely loved. They took turns sleeping up there and on the last night they all piled up there...lots of them had floor beds...which seemed to work out fine.

Our friends Danny and Kristy.  I have known Kristy since I was about 14 or 15 and when they got married about a half year before we did, Jeremy and Danny got to know each other.  Through the years, we have often gotten together with them and now they have 4 kids and we have 3...so it is a little bit of a bigger crowd than it used to be! 

These two are almost the same age and both a little fiesty so there were some tense moments, but overall they did well!

Lunch time on Friday.

Friday night we drove over to Rapid City and took the kids to the Central States Fair. I was SO bummed that we couldn't find any rodeo in the area to go to while we were there.  There would have been one at the end of July or one the weekend after we were there, but this was the weekend that worked out best for us to go out there, so I guess the fair would have to do.

The clown made balloon animals for all of the kids (except the baby).

Of course, there was the drama when Kendall's "bee" balloon burst and he was too shy to go back and ask the clown to fix it.

Danny's whole family...waiting to watch the "Magic Show" (I know Danny hates pictures of himself on-line. I am not choosing not to post them, but I thought maybe I should apologize for any annoyance this may cause him!)

Waiting for the Magic Show to begin (the bee is all fixed up again, thanks to Mom going with him to brave asking the clown to fix it)

Derrick with his balloon "sword"

We watched "The Great Bear Show".  I have to say, I was kind of amazed at the bears' talents.

We went to the Supercross races in the evening.  That was pretty fun.  Except that I am always worried that someone is going to fly off of their bike and get hurt. I just think "That is some Mother's son out there" and how worried I would be if MY boys were flying around those turns and jumping over those jumps and sailing through the air on dirt bikes.  I'm just sayin'.

The carnival at night.  So pretty.

Kristy made herself this HEAPING bowl of popcorn on Saturday night.  She was determined to get every kernal into this too-small bowl.  Yay for her! She did it!  Doesn't she look So proud?

Kristy and Chase...just before we left on Sunday morning.

This is the picture Jeremy snapped when I said that there were no pictures with me on them from the weekend.

We corraled the children and took a picture of them (minus Chase)

The complete Miller family.

The Rawson family.

We drove about 8 hours on Sunday and stayed in Minnesota overnight and then finally got home sometime after noon on Monday. 

We really enjoyed our vacation and had a great time!  Now its back to "the grind." Vacation is good though. It helps me to realize that life is really about relationships and lets me forgot for a little while about all of the many tasks that seem to crowd my life once I am back home.

Happy Tuesday to you all! 

Because sometimes, you just want to fill in the blanks instead of coming up with your own material.  This is one of those days. I stole this from another blog. Hope she doesn't mind (Not that she would ever visit my little xanga site anyway...who am I kidding?)

So, here are the questions. Except that I had to add two of my own on the end because the list stopped at #48.  Who stops at #48?? Seriously.  I told you I am a little OCD. It SO had to be 50 questions.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 6:12 AM

2. How do you like your steak? Well.done (Jeremy says I totally get all of        the flavor cooked out of it.)

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? I think it was “Bridesmaids”

4. What is your favorite TV show? Um…do I have to answer this?? OK. Right now it is “Bachelor Pad”  or “Sweet Home Alabama”

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? I’m thinking Texas. Somewhere warmer, that’s for sure.

6. What did you have for breakfast? Granola cereal.

7. What is your favorite food? I think it varies. I really like guacamole.

8. Foods you dislike? Cucumbers (I know, I know), green onions

9. Favorite place to eat? Outback Steakhouse

10. Favorite dressing? Ranch (I often don’t use any dressing)

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? A mini van

12. What are your favorite clothes? Well, are we talking looks or comfort? For comfort…sweats and a t-shirt.  For looks, maybe jeans with heels and a dressy shirt.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? New England States are on my radar right now.

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? Um…so I think that this is a dumb question, cuz the glass is always completely full.  ½ way with water and ½ way with air. 

15. Where would you want to retire? I want to go RV-ing with my man when we retire. Explore the good ole’ US of A.

16. Favorite time of day? Bed time.

17. Where were you born? Pennsylvania

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? I guess Nascar. (on TV) But in real life…probably soft ball.

19. What is your favorite fragrance? Lilacs. Men’s cologne.

20. What is your favorite face cream? I don’t use face cream.

21. Favorite baby/kids products? Anything that makes my life easier.

22. People watcher? DEFINITELY.

23. Are you a morning or night person? I guess morning. My husband has turned me into a morning person over the years.

24. Do you have any pets? A dog.

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Not really.

26. What did you want to be when you were little? I went through different stages.  I wanted to be a teacher at one point. Don’t know what I was thinking there??

27. What is your favorite memory? Oh, goodness. How could I pick a favorite memory?  Let’s just go with a recent one.  Nope, not that one.  More editing. OK…um, seeing how excited Nikki was with her birthday present on Sunday. (A pillow pet)

28. Are you a cat or dog person? Neither!

29. Are you married? Yes, for 12 years.

30. Always wear your seat belt? Um, basically never.

31. Been in a car accident? Not really.

32. Any pet peeves? Yes, I have them, just hard to think of them on the spot. Burping. Fake people.  Clothing that is not comfortable.  One-upper types of people.

33. Favorite pizza toppings? BBQ Chicken

34. Favorite flower? Probably roses, but flowers of any sort are just wonderful!

35. Favorite ice cream? Kemps Moose Tracks

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? DQ

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? Once

38. From whom did you get your last email? Someone work related. Boring.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Kohl’s

40. Do anything spontaneous lately? Yeah (refer to question #27) Ha, ha.

41. Like your job? Its all right.

42. Broccoli?  NOT raw. It is OK cooked.

43. What was your favorite vacation? Probably the trip I took to Seattle with Jeremy about 5 years ago.

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? Jeremy and our friends Wade and Karlee and Mike and Morgan (Good times!!)

45. What are you listening to right now? The sound of machinery humming.

46. What is your favorite color? Red (and black)  Can I pick two?

47. How many tattoos do you have? None. 

48. Coffee drinker? Sort of. And kind of recently.

49. Last person you kissed?  My son, Kendall.

50. Favorite website these days?  Pinterest. (I know, I can't go through one post without mentioning this site, can I?)

I like to laugh.  A lot.

But... I feel like I don't laugh often enough.  When I am with good friends, yes, I laugh a lot.

But in my everyday, run-of-the-mill day to day, I often forget to laugh.

I don't know if I am the only Mom who gets in this drill-sargeant, gotta-get-stuff-done kind of mode that just saps all of the laugher and fun out of my day.  That seems to happen to me if I don't intentionally do something about it.

A good friend has been a challenge to me in this area.  She says that her goal for each day is to "laugh at least once a day with each of her children."  That might not seem like much, but if you are like me, it is probably better than I do some days.  And not just a laugh that is fake but a laugh that is a shared event with your child. Where you are really connecting and involved in their world and just having fun with them.  I think it is a really important thing.

I have long felt like I have a weird sense of humor. Even as a teenager, I remember just getting such a kick out of things that other people didn't find to be that funny. And when other people were just howling with laughter, I was sitting there with just a smile on my face, wondering what was so funny.

I still feel like this.

Especially when I watch movies.  I rarely laugh at movies or TV and Jeremy will just howl with laughter.  But then there are things that strike me as SO hilarious and other people just kind of look at me like "Really?  That?  That was funny?" and sometimes I think people laugh more at me laughing than at the actual supposedly funny thing.

The other weekend we went on a date with two other couples.  Fun, fun, fun.  Lots of laughter.  Great times. But I also brought along my "Deeper Thoughts" books by Jack Handy.  Because one of the guys had mentioned that he liked Jack Handy when he was on Saturday Night Live and I am always looking for "Deeper Thoughts" buddies, so I was all over that like stink on a skunk. (Sorry, that is a phrase my husband uses. Crass. Not that funny. But it is what I thought of right now.)

In case you don't know about "Deeper Thoughts" I will share a few of them that I find to be extremely funny. I will literally laugh until my sides hurt if I had a buddy to laugh with about these jokes.

They are so random and take you off guard with their endings, and I think that is why I find them to be hilarious.

"The other day I got out my can opener and was opening a can of worms when I thought, 'What am I doing?!' "

"A funny thing is if you're out hiking and your friend gets bitten by a poisonous snake, tell him you're going for help, then go about ten feet and pretend YOU got bit by a snake.  Then start an argument about who's going to go get help.  A lot of guys will start crying.  That's why it makes you feel good when you tell them it was just a joke."

"I hope that after I die, people will say of me: 'That guy sure owed me a lot of money.' "

"Most of the time it was probably real bad being stuck down in a dungeon.  But some days, when there was a bad storm outside, you'd look out of your little window and think, 'Boy, I'm sure glad I'm not out in THAT!' "

"Instead of a trap door, what about a trap window?  The guys looks out it, and if he leans too far, he falls out. Wait, I guess that's like a regular window."

"When you go to a party at somebody's house, don't automatically assume that the drinks are free. Ask, and ask often."

You should hear me laughing OUT LOUD as I am writing these.  Maybe you don't think they are funny, but they completely crack me up. There are lots more where these come from, because I have not one, not two, not three, but 5 of these books by Jack Handy. 

And one more thing before I go for the day. I found this cartoon on Pinterest about a week ago. It was SO funny to me and days (I mean literally days later) when I would think about it, I would still laugh out loud.  See if you think it is funny?

What is your sense of humor like?

Are you "weird" like me, or do you find your humor to be more mainstream?

Anyway, I hope you got a laugh for the day...

Laughter is the best medicine.  Right?

So, I am resurrecting my spring tradition of doing the "Random Word of the Day".  I kind of miss doing those blog posts.  But life is busy and it is hard to find to time to write every day, but maybe I'll start it back up again later this falls.  Who knows?

Anyway, here is a bonus one thrown into the middle of your summer for you.

I could write about the various uses of forks.

Like this one which I think is a really cool idea:

Or this one, which I think is just totally bizarre.

I mean, who needs an "egg cup"?  Really?

But I wanted to go in a little different direction and talk about the "forks" in our lives...as in, the fork in the road. The points of decision that we come to throughout our lives.

Now, maybe these forks in the road are not always quite this obvious.

Ha, ha.

Although it would be really nice if there was some sort of alert to let you know that you are about to make a life changing decision.

Because so many times we inadvertently make life changing decisions.  Its just that they don't seem that way at the time.

That choice we make to allow bitterness to grow in our heart instead of allowing forgiveness to do its work...we maybe don't even realize we are making that choice. We don't look at it as a fork in the road, but I can tell you, if you follow the path of forgiveness instead of the path of bitterness...years down the road you will be at a much difference place.

Or the choice I made, that silent vow, sitting at the stop light in the middle of town after yet another go-round with my husband of 2 or 3 years..."I will not be the one with the problems anymore. I will not cause this conflict in our marriage.  When something bothers me, I will not talk about it."

I was at a fork in the road.  At a literal and figurative crossroad.  But I had no clue.

I had no idea what would happen in my heart when I tried to shut part of it down.  I didn't know that I wasn't really the problem, it was our communication that was the problem.  Our different ways of dealing with things.

If I could re-do that moment, I would choose to continue to be vulnerable.  I would not choose to shut down parts of me emotionally. Because that didn't work. At all.  But I didn't know that until quite a few years later.

That day that may come where we are faced with the question "Is God really good?  All of the time."  Its a fork in the road. 

It seems scary to me that life decisions can be made so effortlessly and so casually, yet the direction we choose to go at those forks in the road can make all of the difference.

Will I accept Jesus into my heart or will I turn Him away and live life my own way?

Will I choose to be thankful or will I choose to complain?

Will I follow the Holy Spirit's prompting to build a relationship and reach out to this person in my life, or will I decide that I am too busy and full of my own plans to give to someone else?

You could drive yourself crazy with scenarios of the road(s) not traveled.  You could waste a lot of energy on regret. Hind sight is 20/20, right? 

I guess my point is this:  Be aware.  The choices that you make today that could seem insignificant could have a major impact upon your life and the lives of those around you.

And if someone would just invent a "fork in the road" flashing sign that would go off in my head when I am at one of those crossroads, yeah, that'd be really cool!

There was Kendall's T-ball season.  Apparently, I am not the best "soccer Mom" because we missed 3/4 of the games and about 1/2 of the practices.  But he still looks adorable in that t-ball outfit, doesn't he?

Then there was Derrick's birthday party on July 30th. He turned 9 years old. He is getting SO tall. Up to my shoulder now. I can hardly believe it!

After that...my friend Cynthia came to visit with her two kids. They stayed for about 3 1/2 days and we had a great time with them!

One day, we went for breakfast and to the park with our mutual friend Roxanne.  Good times!

This is how Jeremy found Kendall eating his breakfast (a tortilla with cheese) one morning.

In case you can't tell, his head is right next to the ceiling. This is the top row of cupboards.  Comfy, huh?

And then there was our camping trip this past weekend to the race track in New Richmond.

It went pretty well and was a good time, and then it rained on Saturday. HARD!

Instead of trying to keep the kids out of it, we just let them play in it.

They loved it. Nikki kept saying "You hardly ever let us do this..."

Yesterday I did a little scavenger hunt for the boys...

I gave them these pictures on two pieces of paper and an ice cube tray to put the stuff in that they found.

It was amazing to me, how when I got outside with the camera, the amount of beauty to be found just in our yard and woods.

The boys were able to find everything on the picture list in about 20 minutes. I was impressed.

I am sort of short on words this morning. Unusual, I know!!

At least I have pictures to show.

In other news...I am still not buying any clothing. It has been about 2 months now and it is actually going quite well.  Yes, I am majorly wanting a pair of cowboy boots (Don't ask...I really have no idea why that has come up on my radar so strongly) and I look at cute outfits or jewelry and would like to buy some, but I committed to this and it has actually been nice sometimes. Like, hey, I don't even need to look through the ladies clothing at that garage sale, because I can't buy any even if I wanted to.

I am just trying to learn and grow and soak up wisdom these days.  I don't know where God is leading me/us but I have this feeling that change is coming.  And I want to be standing firmly in the goodness of God and in my faith.

That's all for today.

So thankful for my blogging/on-line friends and what you add to my life on a daily basis.  I am blessed to have you in my life!

The other night we stopped over at some friend's house.  To pick up our pellet grill. That they had cooked awesome prime rib for us on. (I feel like there is something wrong with that last sentence's structure, but its hard to put my finger on it!)

I know those details aren't important, but I thought you should know anyway.

As we stood outside chatting and getting bitten by mosquitoes, we somehow got onto the subject of being OCD.

Now, I will admit to being a "Type A" personality, defined by Wikipedia as:

"Type A individual is ambitious, aggressive, business-like, controlling, highly competitive, impatient, preoccupied with his or her status, time-conscious, and tightly-wound. People with Type A personalities are often high-achieving "workaholics" who multi-task, push themselves with deadlines, and hate both delays and ambivalence."

(NO WONDER I can never get this "mindful living" and "enjoying the moment" thing down. Its totally not how I'm wired.)

Ok, well now that I read that definition, I am not so sure that I want to be Type A anymore.  I would like to think that I am a somewhat toned down and positively-affected-by-my-relationship-with Jesus Type A personality.

But yes, some of those things ^^^ are true.

My friend's husband asked "What is OCD?" 

Well, I, with all my expert psychological knowledge said something like "Um...I don't really know. It's, um...like when you HAVE to do certain things turning a light switch off and on a certain number of times, or you are obsessive about things to the extent that they interfere with your normal life."

"But we're not quite like that, right?"  and I looked to my friend (who has similar personality traits as mine) for confirmation.

"Of course we're not" she quickly says.

"Its not like I have to stop at an even number when I am doing something" I said. In my defense.

Jeremy looked at me and then he cleared his throat.

Uh-oh.

"So yeah, maybe when we deliver firewood, I really, really, really like if we can deliver the bundles in even multiples of 5.  Yeah, that's true."  I admitted.

"But", I quickly went on, "I AM able to deal with it if we end up leaving 47 bundles at a store."

I think maybe I was starting to hurt my own case here.

"And yes, I do pick up pieces of dirt from the floor when I see them.  But that's not being OCD.  That's laziness. Because I don't want to get the vacuum out.  Right?"

My friend piped up and said "Well, I do this rhythm 1-2-3 pattern thing with my fingers. And once I start, I do admit, I have to end on an even rhythm."

But that's not OCD.  Is it?

And yes, I like to line up the shoes just perfectly on the mat by the door.  But I'm just being neat.

Still trying to justify myself, meanwhile pretty much just digging a deeper hole I said "Well, its not like I have to do things a certain number of times." 

Pause.  (This pause should have been used as an opportunity for me to quit talking.  But that doesn't seem to be how I roll.  I just keep talking until I have totally backed myself into a corner.  And even then, yeah, I keep on talking some more.  Eventually I'll think of something to say if I keep talking long enough.)

"Although I did always count when I would pat my children to sleep.  And I did like to decide on a certain number like 50 or 100 at which to stop patting."

At this point, my friend's husband took a step away from me and said something like "OK, this is getting downright scary now."

But my friend just laughed and we looked at each other knowingly.  She said "You know, I'm just SO glad I met you. Because now I feel more normal."

Or we're both just weird.  I guess that's a possibility.

But if you're reading this, M, I am So glad that I've met you too.  Two crazy people just masquerading as normal. But aren't we all?

I'm still convinced I am do not have OCD.  I lead a very normal life.  By my standards, at least.

And just because I always have to move the Kleenex box back to JUST the right spot where it was before my sister cleaned my dresser...that doesn't make me OCD. 

It just means that I could sing that song "That's just the way I like. Uh-huh.  Uh-huh. That's the way I like it.  Uh-huh. Uh-huh."

What are your "weird"/OCD-ish traits or things that you do?

C'mon. Help a sister out and make me feel better.

I wouldn't want to refer to my relationship with Pinterest as an obsession, but I am not quite sure what else to {truthfully} call it.

Pinterest and I were first introduced to each other on a deeper level a few weeks ago and let's just say there isn't much reading or TV watching going on around here (at least not by me) since then.

My friends and I may have had to start referring to the site in code because our husbands were giving us such a hard time about continually hearing us say "Oh, I saw on Pinterest that..."

If you want to get lots learn lots of new things, be filled with ideas and inspiration, and have large chunks of time to spend {waste} on-line, Pinterest is for you.

And I will now prove to you how inspiring Pinterest can be.  Oh, and also, how badly I suck at creating stuff.

But I wouldn't have needed to mention that, as it will become quite obvious.

Long story short, I was meandering around on Pinterest one day and I saw this:

It is a little project/book you can make for your kid which will hopefully entertain them for hours.

Hand made by their very own Mama. How sweet is that?  I knew that Nikki would absolutely LOVE this because she loves dolls, she loves to color and I figured she could take it to church, since we are struggling {quite a lot} with keeping her seated and quiet in church these days.

There are step by step instructions. Of course.

I am totally not dissing these kinds of projects. I think they are wonderful.

There are just certain ones of us (hand raised high) who should never attempt such projects. The kind of people, who, when someone says "Oh, its not that hard" you should just totally turn tail and run.  Because you don't have a "crafty" bone in your body...at least not if we are referring "crafty" as being good with making crafts. 

I started out with high hopes. I purchase my felt according to the instructions. I found some Velcro dots at Wal-Mart that are even sticky on the back.  I printed out the instructions and set to work. And from there it pretty much went downhill.

I don't know if I am brave enough to post a side by side picture of my little dress-able doll beside the one I was attempting to copy, but here is what mine ended up looking like.

Apparently, porportions and things like that are important. How was I to know?

Now here she is with her clothing.  Its looking a bit like she could use a tailor. Or maybe go on the "What not to wear show".   And don't you just love her little (colored with permanent marker) brown clog-ish shoes?

The tic-tac toe with the easiest part, notwithstanding that I don't own a sewing machine so everything in this book is hand-stitched, except for the crayon part, which my Mom helped me with.

And then we have the crayon and tablet page.

Notice how the pink felt looks to be two different sizes?  I don't know how that happened. And how the crayons barely fit into the too-small piece of yellow felt I had cut out and taken over to my Mom's?

And then, just because, yes, I AM this capable of screwing up the smallest detail, I meant to write "My Fun Book" on the front of the book, but when I had it laid open, I thought I needed to start the writing towards the bottom of the front (must have got the front and back mixed up) and I put "My Fun" with yarn and then realized you wouldn't be able to see the word "Book" when it was shut, so I added "This is" and then down below....

...on the underside, you can sort of see the word "book".  And isn't the fact that you can see the yellow marker underneath where I put the yarn letters a special touch?  Yeah, I thought so.

Feel free to laugh now. Seriously. Its totally fine with me.

Somehow, through a set of circumstances that involved me thinking "What is the point of sewing two pieces of fabric together after I do the doll part, etc" and me not understanding how to attach the cover and using my own inventive processes for that, we ended up with blank pages of felt in between the pages with stuff on them.

So, we improvised.

Now we also have these pages in our book:

Ice cream cone that you can use different "flavors" on.  That black "M" looking thing??? You didn't know that was chocolate syrup?  What the heck, girlfriend?

And two little cars with a race track that is sort of traced out on the back of the sheet of felt that I sewed the orange-skinned doll on to.  Derrick said that the race track looked like a gingerbread man. Whatever, dude?? 

The point of all of this is that

#1)  If Pinterest caused me to try a project like this, it is more than just inspiring...its monumentally motivational AND inspiring.

#2)  Repeat after me:  I will never attempt a project like this again...I will never attempt a project like this again...

#3)  Nikki absolutely LOVES this book and is so proud of it. She totes it along to church and when people come to our house she gets this book and shows it to them and says "My Mommy made this for me."  Aww...  I know. It almost makes me cry too. And I'm not sure if it is because the book is such a flop and yet she still loves it, or because that orange skinned girl with the bright yellow hair is just.so.dang.ugly.

In other news:

The kids must have gotten ahold of my camera when I wasn't looking:

Aren't they adorable.?  I can't even figure out what angle that last picture may have been taken from??

Oh, also, in reference to an older post about "How do YOU say it?"  I say the word "favorite" like this:  Fav-rite. With a long "I" and only 2 syllables.  Apparently my Pennsylvania roots still come through a little. And yes, my friends are still making fun of me for it. 

I first learned about "The Kindle" a couple of years ago.

And then there is also the "Nook"

And maybe some other similar devices that I have not yet learned the names of.

I love to read.

You all know that about me, right?

It is a huge hobby of mine.

Well, actually, pretty much my only hobby. Besides long phone conversations with friends during which they try repeatedly to get off of the phone with me and I ask yet one more question.  True story.

I love BOOKS!

Enter...the Kindle.   (Cue ominous music)

Someone (my husband) once suggested, when we were in Kohl's, that maybe I would like a Nook for my birthday.

I said something like "Unless you are talking about a 'nook' as being a new room of the house which has the walls lined with bookshelves and involves a cozy chair and ready made coffee waiting for me, then I think I'll pass."

Actually, that's not what I said, but if I would have been feeling as witty that day as I am right now, that is TOTALLY what I would have said.

Either way, I told him "No". But in a much more whiny and annoying way. 

Like "No, I don't really think I want to read my books on an electronic device. I like to hold a real book in my hands.  I don't think I like the idea of reading on a little screen." 

Thank-you-very-much.

I admit, the idea intrigues me.  Enough that I checked out my cousin's Kindle when we were together last Christmas.  He showed me features. He told me how much he loved it.

And I have heard the same thing from anybody I have asked who has one.

They LOVE it.

All I can say is "Traitors!"

I just don't think I can participate in the sell-out.

Because I don't just love to read, I love BOOKS.

Actual books. With covers and pages and sh**.

I have an idea to one day have a library in my basement.  FULL of books. Otherwise, why would I be buying all of these books at garage sales and on-line and wherever else I can get them?

And tell me, how would my library look if all it had in it was this:

Kind of detracts from the atmosphere, don't you think?

And what about something like this for a kids room or playroom?

How pretty is that?

Or this cute little bookshelf for a bedroom?  What would it look like if there was just a Kindle resting on one of the shelves?

Or this, which I totally want for the corner of my living room...

Books are precious to me.

They are like friends.

And when I think about my house, I think that there are books in every.single.room of my house. Ok, not quite. I have two bathrooms that don't have books in them and I guess my laundry room doesn't contain any books. But otherwise, yes.

I have bookshelves with extra room...to expand my collection.

I don't mean to be a hater. 

Everyone can do what they wish.

I totally believe people who say that they love their electronic reading devices. I believe that they are really handy.

I just can't quite go there.

Call me old fashioned, but I have not given my stamp of approval on this growing trend of reading books without actually having the book in your hands.

Not that anyone needed my stamp of approval.

Obviously.

I also will admit and realize that I am not completely consistant.

I own an I-pod.  Why would I have that instead of stacks of CD's?

Yeah, I know, I know. The same arguments could apply.

Except that, in my head, they don't.

Because books are special. Books are life changing. Books are practically sacred.  Books are beautiful.

And I'm not giving in to the pressure to try something new...at least not yet. 

It is Thursday again, which finds me at work...usually with some extra time on my hands between truckloads of product being shipped, time cards to enter, phone calls to answer, and people popping in and out of my office needing this 'n that.

Today I am thankful for...

**plans to go to the beach on Tuesday with friends that got cancelled at the last minute due to rain...because, well, God, I really have no clue why?

**a daughter who has serious obedience and disrespect issues (such as screaming at and hitting her mother) that we are working on right now...because it humbles her mother and teaches her to lean on God

**children who drag freshly cut grass into our nice, clean pool...because maybe it will teach me to be less anal

**a son who fusses and fumes over having to do small chores around the house...because it makes me more grateful for the times when they do obey cheerfully

**friendships that don't come easy...because I never know what I might learn from someone who is very different from me

**Bible study that was cancelled...because it allowed us to go and watch co-ed softball (which I had been wanting to do -- And wanting to play, but that's a different topic)

**unanswered prayers...because maybe years down the road I will know why

**the struggles to grow in Christ...because it keeps me searching and seeking and clawing my way deeper into His love and His grace

**hot & humid weather...because it gives us an excuse to quit working and go swimming

**bad storms and strong winds...because it gives a community a chance to show love and care for each other

You might read this list and think that it is a little unorthodox.  Some of the things wouldn't necessarily be items you would generally see on a "thankful list."

But this is what I have been learning and I will see if I can put it into words.

It is NOT my place to judge.  Period. 

Not people. Not circumstances. (Judging (or discerning) right and wrong, yes.  Making decisions about what we will or will not allow our children to do, yes. But MOST of the judging that we do does not fall into this category...if we are really honest with ourselves.)

So I want to be thankful. I want to learn gratefulness.  But I find myself still wanting to run what happens in my life through my own grid of judgement.

This particular thing that happened...well, yes, that I can be thankful for.  But our swimming plans getting cancelled when we were all excited to go to the beach...not so much feeling thankful for that.

Still, there I am...judging.  Deciding whether the things that God sent into my life for that day are in the "good" or the "bad" category. Whether I should be thankful for them or wish they wouldn't have happened.

The running commentary in my head is just that...a RUNNING COMMENTARY.  I like. I don't like. I think that is good. I think that is bad.  I enjoy. I hate. I wouldn't do that. Yes, I would do that.

Do we really believe that God is good...all of the time?  Do we really believe that God IS love. Not just that He shows love randomly, but that LOVE is His character?   It is who He is.

Are we willing to receive all things that come into our lives through the filter of God's love?  Knowing that He WILL work all things together for good...if we allow Him to.

Do we need to decide which things should make it on to our thankful list...or, in the words of the Apostle Paul, should we strive to "give thanks in everything."  Not some things. Not a few things. But in EVERYTHING.

I want to have an open heart to receive.  Whatever comes.  I want to learn to not even automatically label it...in my own puny judgement...to be "good" or "bad." 

I know so little. God knows ALL things. 

Who am I to decide the merit of a circumstance or a happening in my life?

I see a small sliver of the big picture. God not only sees the whole picture...He painted it.  He knows what it is going to look like in the end.

Today...practice thanksgiving. But practice it with an open heart and an open mind.  Don't run it through your filter of judgement...Just.Be. Thankful.

OK, I need to do a little poll because people that I know, who shall remain unnamed at this point, are making fun of me for how I say a certain word.

Making fun of me A LOT!

Like every time I say it.  And now I'm starting to think about it too, when I use it.

Now, its not like I wasn't asking for it just a teeny tiny bit...

Because I may or may not have pointed out to them a couple of their (wait a minute while I go check how to spell the following word)  idiosyncrasies of speech.

Such as...my one friend is always saying "I just feel like..." and following it with something like --

"I should see your closet" or "I could use a brownie right now" or "there is more to that story."

And another friend says, in this certain tone of voice, when she is being all sincere and serious "You know what I mean?"

So yeah, I maybe was asking for it just a little.

But...the question remains:

How do you say the word "favorite"?

It is more like "fav-rit" or do you say "fav-o-rite" with a long "I" at the end?

Just answer with "short i" or "long i" in the comments.

And...are you a person who notices when people use a certain phrase or saying a lot or says a word somewhat strangely?  Or would you not even notice?

And would you be stupid like me and mention it to them?

Yeah, don't answer that one.

To quote an oft used saying of another friend "Good Lord, Woman!"

(You'd have to hear it to really know how that one is said!)