Protest

It should not be allowed that a face can have pimples AND wrinkles at the same time!!!

I'm just sayin'..............

Some Things Just Go Together

J and I have a "tuck in" routine we go through every night. First, we sing the goonight song together. Next, I kiss her. Then I "snug as a bug in a rug" her. And then I kiss her again. Sometimes she asks me to sing another song to her, and I do.

Tonight was one of those nights. She asked me to sing another song to her. And I agreed. Only, what I neglected to tell you before is that when she asks me to sing, she also expects me to tickle her tummy. So, after I agreed, and as she was pulling her nightshirt up so I could tickle her tummy, she said, "Make sure you tickle my tummy, Mommy, because singing and tickling tummies just go together. You know, like cookies and milk." I'm still smiling.

A Bunch o' Nuthin'

Good news! The charger has been found!!! Someone stuck it in the bottom of the junk drawer....it was the same someone who was last know to have it in his/her possession--although that someone swears that he/she did not put it in that drawer. Hmmm...... Not gonna think about it. Just glad it's back.

I have taken a pause in my canning. I've had a great time, as I always do, but I'm pretty tired. I don't think it was good for canning season to coincide with the beginning of school. I'm posting the picture of my exploits thus far. Most of it is apple or blackberry jelly. In addition, there are 5 jars of strawberry jam, 3 jars of applesauce, 2 jars of garlic basil tomato sauce, and 4 (frozen) apple pies. I froze the juice I had left for a few days to readjust to the school schedule and also because I ran out of jars. So, what you see is the fruit of my labor minus 12-15 jars that I have given away or my children have eaten.




I love how the jewel colors sparkle in the light! The four tall ones in the front are half eaten from my fridge. Thought I should include them since they were part of the process.




Last night G and C went to a Youth Alive rally. They came back full of song and praise. They were bursting with excitement, and neither of them could speak fast enough on the drive home from the church to tell me everything they wanted to. I love it. Teen years are so valuable in learning to walk Christ's steps. They have such a fervor and an absolute hunger for Christ. Perhaps its because they are so sensitive during this time in their lives. I don't know. I am overwhelmed with emotion as I see my children begin this journey into adulthood. I am grateful and so very honored that God has entrusted them to me and allowed me to be a part of what He is doing in and through them.

A View of a Few

So I decided that even if I can't show you the things still stuck on my camera, I can show you the pictures I already have on my computer. My mother-in-law emailed some pics of the cake I made for my nieces birthday party at the end of July, so I have a couple of those. Here we go!




This is the first cake I did. It was for my cousin's wedding. Yikes!! Talk about pressure! But she was happy, so I was too.







This cake was for my son's 13th birthday. He is a HUGE Oklahoma State University fan. We decided to use the O from their symbol, but instead of overlaying it with the wording, we overlayed it with Pistol Pete's face. He loved it!




And last but not least here are the cakes I made for my nieces birthday. She wanted lady bugs, so lady bugs (and flowers) is what she got. We had a great time.

What do you think?

Grrrrrrrr....

I've been feeling very irritated. I have all of these wonderful things I want to blog about and share great pics to go along with the jumbles of words. But I can't. I can't show you any of the pictures because someone ran the battery in the camera completely dead, and the someone who had the battery charger swears it was in the drawer the last time that person saw it, but amazingly, it's not there now. In fact, no one has been able to find it for more than a week. So all of my pretty pictures that I wanted to share are stuck on a dead camera with no hope of being transferred to the computer. So I have not wanted to tell you anything, because I can't SHOW you as well.

I'm feeling better now though. Eventually, the charger will be found. Probably by me (since I'm the only one in the house who seems to be able to find anything even when I haven't lost it in the first place--but I'm definitely not bitter about it). In fact, the fact that I am blogging at all--even to tell you about my irritation, shows that I am improving. Today I am going to commit an allotment of time to looking for the darn thing. If I don't find it today, I've promised myself I won't be upset. Well okay I may be upset, but I'll still blog. About something happy. Okay may something happier. That's all I can give you.

Poke Poke Poke

Earlier, I was standing in the kitchen cooking dinner. I'm rather exhausted today. In about 3 days time, I have picked bags and bags of apples and pears (before that I picked blackberries--talk about thorns! Ugh! My arms were torn to shreds!), peeled, cored and sliced them, covered them in water, strained them through jelly bags, measured the juice, mixed it with pectin and sugar, boiled it, filled jars, cooked it in my canner, until "ta-da!" I have beautiful jars and jars of jelly. I have made 25 jars so far, and I'm just getting warmed up. (More about that later.) On top of that, I have had a house full of kids since my nieces are here for the summer and have spent almost every day with me while their mother worked. Today was especially tiring because, on top of making jelly, I had to go to Whole Foods to pick up a few things, stop at Sam's for sugar, take G to a dental appointment, and on and on.... But I digress.

As I was stirring the Alfredo sauce, G my son walked by and patted my back and then poked me in the ribs. He walked away then but kept walking by poking me in the ribs. I was patient with his 13-year-old game of "pick at/play with Mom," until my ribs started to feel sore. I finally told him to stop. After a few playful "please stops" I finally said, "I don't like this game. It hurts. Stop." But he didn't. Over and over he poked me until I was angry. I finally growled, "Stop!!" Giggling, he went into the living room. Not to long after he left, Tobey walked in and did THE SAME THING! I said, "Why are you poking me? Your son just did the same thing! I hate it when you do that! Why do you guys think its okay to do that?" Tobey grinned (the same grin I might add), and said, "Maybe its because of what's on your back." I reached up to the middle of my back and pulled off a Post-it Note that read:


Poke my sides


Boys!

Fun Summer Pics

Until recently I have been unable to post pics on my blog for a couple of reasons, but I can now! I decided to post some fun summer pics first. Here goes......




My beautiful girls on the beach!





Getting ready to fish for sharks!





Our friend Mr. Crabby





Getting ready to build a castle





The fam in the old Mission Control at NASA.






In front of the Saturn Rocket.

Glad to finally be able to share my pics. Hope you enjoy!