Working Mom Blues Adjusts Her Vision.....

VBS program (can you pick out my boys?!?!)
Spur of the moment Backpacking Trip!! Notice my husband smiles in back pack photos?!?!

Half an hour after I got home from our "Girls River Float Trip", we headed out to meet our friends back packing 4 miles into the wilderness!!

We girls floated to the local tavern for delicious burgers and volleyball!! Before we knew it, as some girls left, others came and joined in the game - patrons, goat girl driving by.....

Me and "Carrot Lady" at the secret island....

This gal just moved up here and is yet to be "blog named"

We pulled this crew in the double kayak when the current was slow ;-)

Embarking on the Adventure!!

Its been a C-R-A-Z-Y week that seems to blur together around the edges!! Summer tends to do that any way ;-) Yesterday, I became an Aunt to my first Nephew!! Surreal. I wish I could have been there.....

Monday was a romantic date at the end of a long 4 day camping trip.... Got home at 11pm. Felt exhausted, the house was a mess, I was ready to collapse....

Tuesday after updating my blog and running 7 miles, I got called in to work a 12 hour night shift......... Did i mention it was VBS week?

Wednesday i cant remember anything.......... (and vbs)

Thursday Was our girls accountability day. We had a nice get together. (and vbs)

Friday I dyed my hair (that is an incredibly stressful event - lol). I ran another 7 miles. VBS and VBS parents night program....

Saturday I swam about a mile and ate too much of my daughters Mexican Cherry Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. The rest is a blur.....

Sunday - Church

- hosted a "Girls River Float Party", pulling everybody down river in the kayak. We pulled out at the local tavern, played volleyball and had killer burgers.

- got home, threw a bunch of stuff in a back pack and had a crazy trek out 4 miles into the wilderness to meet up with a group of friends in a race to beat the darkness.

Monday Got home at 11am, Felt Exhausted, The house was a mess, I was ready to collapse...... Are you noticing a common theme here?!?!?

Tuesday More swim training and another 12 hour night shift......

How do I even get creative and tell you stories with such a blurry life? I don't know. I need some prescription glasses for my brain so I can tell you all the silly things that happened to me all week. Hmm.... here are just a couple of tidbits :

At the VBS program, my son, Super Catman stood up to answer a question. Then he got a bit of "stage fright" and wouldn't answer it. In fact, he wouldn't answer any of the questions. He just kept saying "I don't know" and "Ask my mom". I was standing, sheepishly with a camera taking pictures of the stinker up there as he dawdled on and on and on.......

Miss Moonbeam has done multiple "poops" on the potty frog. She does these in the stealthiest manner. After that she tries to dump out her own excrement, wipe herself and wipe out her potty frog. Imagine a 3 year old doing this??!! As you may have guessed, at any given moment, I may be surprised with smears and clumps of fecal materials at any given location ;-) She also changes her clothes about a hundred times each day........

I have received an unusual number of insults this week but have managed to laugh them off hysterically without offense. I have met a lot of unusual people and have made allot of new friends. I am consumed with passion, anticipation, and great expectation of the future. Of one thing I am confident I will not look behind me, only ahead..... It would behoove you to do the same.... Selah...................

mohawk grenades, tough chicks and bible camp

Rare footage of my husband and his little bro...

She wasn't all that thrilled about the goodbye kiss when we took her out for breakfast...

leaving for camp...

our "romantic" target practice evening (just ask Bueford)

Parents night at camp - a new friend

floating the river yesterday

There are few things as delicious as a chocolate cherry or chocolate huckleberry smoothie. Mmmm....Start with a load of frozen pitted cherries or hucks. Strawberries or raspberries would be good too. That should be the bulk of your blender. Add to that some juice or milk (just enough to blend it). A scoop of ice cream, cream or yogurt. Some Saigon cinnamon, real vanilla, almond. A little sweetener and a load of cocoa powder. Oh yum!! Healthy yet dreamy.....

Here are some highlights from my week thus far :
1. I got my BUTT KICKED by a 63 year old lady. Well swimming that is. Really, i'm tellen ya that she is the most INCREDIBLE swimmer!! So graceful too.... Whatever distance we swim to, she's always there waaaayyy before i am. Then she does the BACK FLOAT to wait for me. I'm that much slower. Lucky for me, she's been giving me some pointers on improving my form. Possibly cuz she's tired of twiddling her thumbs waiting for me to get there - just kidding. She's a super sweet lady whose been swimming with me every week. We're doing an open water swim together next week. When i grow up i wanna be as buff as she is....
2. I floated the river with a few of my kids yesterday. It was fun. Moonbeam decided she wanted "out" about half way there. After that it became interesting - lol.
3. Today is our next "Extreme Chicks Hike". We're hiking up a mountain together and also stopping by a lake. So far i know of 14 chicks coming. Should be fun!!
4. Sock Fashion Expert went off to Bible Camp this week. We all miss her, but i'm afraid the feeling isn't mutual. She's having the time of her life. We attended "parents night" last night and she didn't seem the least bit home sick.
5. The boys threw "Mr. T. Grenades" at each other. Check out their one day "do's".
6. Moonbeam succeeded in stopping this post temporarily as i caught her playing in the toilet with her new clothes on!! The other day when she was wearing a new outfit she snuck off to a dirty mud puddle!! Little Stinker anyway!!
7. Wednesday i swam a simulated distance to my open water swim - approximately 1.76 miles - whew!!
8. In an attempt to do something "romantic" with my husband that he likes to do, he took me target shooting along with the boys. Long story. He was super sweet earlier in the week tho when we went out for breakfast and had a treat along a babbling brook in the forest.
9. We all went up a mountain looking for hucks, but it was allot of work. Its a little too early in the season up here and most of them were green. Thanks to all the men's hard work, we did manage a gallon and a half of so.
Okay, well you get the picture!! Its been a pretty busy week. I hope you're enjoying the summer just as much (or more) than i am!! Tell me what you've been up to - i'd love to hear your comment.......

Ps 55:22 Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

Bananna Worms, Drunken Vollies and Chasing Badgers

Our Chicks River Float/Burgers/Volley Ball Day
Pictured - Daisy and Junes "Secret Island"

The Men have been really "bringen' home the bacon" or rather fish this week...

Our Romantic Morning Kayak Date.....

one other thing i wanted to add to that last post - "The Mr.", who i believe is 69 does 70 yes 70 push ups every morning!! Amazing!!

Now that i've gotten that off my chest, i have a whole conglomeration of other things to tell you about! i will try to limit myself so as not to BORE you too much ;0)
This morning, my husband and I went out in a double kayak on the river together. I asked him to do that with me because we hadn't been out on a date in a while and i thought that would be more fun. Turns out IT WAS :-) We also went on a walk a few days ago and saw a HUGE badger running down the road. We had fun running after it together. It finally jumped into a hole and eyed us warily. I wish I'd have had a camera along.
Yesterday, The Sock Fashion Expert and I met some friends out on the river and we floated a new section i'd never been on before. The girls showed us a secret island and we lounged around on it and visited. Then we floated to the tavern and converged on some burgers and fries. After that we played volleyball. It was a lot of fun. I haven't figured out names for these friends yet, but in tradition of my blog, i will call them "Daisy" and "June" until they come up with better blogland ones :-) Daisy is a spunky, fun loving woman. June, her sister is fun too. She met a special male friend who has been corresponding with her daily via phone and Internet. We are all excited because he is coming to visit next month. Romance is in the air!! Anyway, these girls are a lot of fun to be with and it was a hilarious day!

We had been discussing "gossip" and laughing about some of the doozies that locals had come up with about ourselves earlier that day. The tavern/mercantile has a beautiful yard along the river with a boat landing where we had parked our canoe and boat. We sat at a picnic table over looking the river to eat. It was a gorgeous, sunny day and we were getting warmed up from a quick dunk in before we'd arrived there (another funny story all together). So anyway, there is a volley ball and net out there and we decided to toss it around a little. Well none of us are all that good and it became apparent real quick. Soon a crowd on the deck began gathering. Somebody made the crack that a new rumor would be circulating about us being "too drunk to play volleyball". All we'd ordered was soda and juice, but our playing was so bad that we may as well have been intoxicated. The idea of that rumor was so funny we couldn't stop laughing. Sock Fashion Expert feigned a drunken stagger and fell on the ground laughing. Soon we were all doubled over. Some one served the ball and it went backward rather than over the net.... Our volleyball skills leave a lot to be desired, but we got a lot of laughs out of the ordeal. Finally the crowd got bored and went back inside. I hope we didn't offend anybody.

Its been a wonderful week, full of water days and sunshine, friends and family, kids and fresh air. Each time the door opens, Moonbeam bolts for it! The other day, she tried to get a banana open. In the process, she mangled it up. When she finally gave it to her dad to open, a slimy, brown part flopped out. She jumped back and ran to her brother for protection. Now she is afraid of bananas - LOL!! Hope this post finds you enjoying our beautiful July weekend!!

Perfect 10 and I'm Not Li'on Either

Its the dawn of a new week again, and I'm barely aware of what happened to the last one. Getting called in for a couple of shifts was something I wasn't expecting. Neither was closely monitoring the kids outdoor play. The lion's nightly appearance has had me struggling to maintain a residence of peace in the midst of an onslaught of opportunity for fearfulness.
Yesterday, The Dolphin Goddess, Mist and I went on a Nordic Hike together. It was great fun and a temporary distraction for me. We met at the end of my drive and hiked a good 4-5 miles together. We giggled and laughed as we discussed a wide variety of subject matter. The Dolphin Goddess had us really excited about training for a "Fun Run" until we later discovered it was 7 1/2 miles long. That put a bit of a damper on the "fun" of the run. Maybe we will find one not quite that far ;-) The idea of training together for something like that does excite me though. After telling about, OK, boasting a little about my recent date night, the girls began fervently discussing the Olympic Games. I hadn't really been keeping up on that, and rather than display my vast ignorance on that subject, I tried to add in a few wise comments (just to stay in the conversation). Here's a tip for my readers - nod your head and add "yes, they will probably make a movie about her". Smile, act nonchalant, and pretend you are well versed in whatever subject it is that you are painfully ignorant in. This works well among medical professionals as well. Say nurse Sally and Paramedic Freida are discussing the latest trends in cardiology. Frieda is the daughter of a Cardiologist and her mom is manager of the Heart Surgery Wing. Sally listens to all the latest medical journal lectures on line. She's single, has no social life and so well studied, she knows how to interpret cardiac rhythm strips blindfolded. I sit down with them in the cafeteria sipping a soda. They are in a passionate discussion. To save face, I must not say "?duh? and look ignorant. I must smile, nod and add in some trite, barely heard comment, agreeing for the most part about what is being said. Now if they begin discussing the subject in Portuguese, then I have no choice but to throw in the towel of stupidity. At any rate, The Olympics was a relatively safe subject to pretend to know something about. Truthfully, the only thought that came to my mind was "I wonder how Kim over at "Homeschooling a Handful" is enjoying it. "Am sure looking forward to her post." That's when I must acknowledge that I spend too much time blogging and not enough time in the rest of the world.
OK, enough of my corny humor! Here's my so late, I almost didn't do it Perfect 10 Post :
1. Yes, I ran or hiked on most days.
2. Sit ups - better, but still not 5 days this week.
3. Healthy idea in my kids daily - yes, mostly. Too bad my idea today was brownies and ice cream which everyone unanimously followed suit to (ouch)! Really, been logging that and so I am mostly feeling good about it.
4. Current
5. Water - yes, until a few days ago! Fruit - yes, Veggies - mostly
6. Burn rather than Binge - for the most part.
7. Hair - Done
8. As discussed above
9. Biggest Loser Challenge - Done
10. Done and then some!
* Something about myself - hmm..... this is always so hard to think of! Well, ok, when I was in kindergarten, I told my principal that I was going to be the first woman president. His wife never liked me much. I began my relationship with her when she interviewed me for kindergarten. She came and sat on our patio overlooking the lake. I brought up a "chicken a goo goo pot pie" (made of sand) and dumped it into the lap of her fancy dress. She was quite displeased and told my grandmother that I was not ready for kindergarten. My grandmother was distraught about the ordeal. Later on, when she finally let me into school, she popped up in many grades of my schooling. She was the substitute teacher. She continued to not like me much, and the feeling was mutual. She always wore brown, entertained a scowl and I was sure to get into some kind of trouble with her in charge. Despite my checkered past with the principals wife, my principal was a kindly man and he liked me well enough. I went to the same school Kindergarten through 6th grade. After that, they closed that little school house, never to open it again. It would serve as a place of many good memories for me. After that, I never went to the same school for more than 2 years at a time. I went to 6 different schools during my 7-12th grade years.

Recent Lion and Eagle shots courtesy of our neighbor

today, tomorrow and yesterday (not necessarily in that order)

Lately I have really been enjoying my life. Oh sure there are little dramas here and there, but as a whole, I have made the decision to enjoy my life. Since then, I've been doing just that. Why get all bummed out about silly menial things when the really important stuff is all here. My kids are happy, healthy and whole. My husband is such a good man. I enjoy having friends and I am loving the summer. I'm thankful I have a job I can do once a week or so that helps out, is fulfilling, and doesn't consume my life. Its not like I think I have it all together. Its not that my world doesn't have its share of challenges. I have just decided that I am going to enjoy what days God has given me and live them to the fullest. I hope that you are doing the same. Anything else would be a horrible waste of such a precious gift that He has given.
That said, I will tell you tell you the tales of yesterday and tomorrow. I will start with the future : Soon I will be hiring myself, my friends and my children out as "slave laborers" in a fruit orchard. A co-worker at the hospital could use some help harvesting her cherries and we are working to trade for a winter supply. We will soon be caravaning down there together with high spirits, a whole pack of kids and hopeful bellies.
Tomorrow is my babies 1st birthday - waahhh! (Enough said)
Today we had our women's fitness/bible study type group. We were supposed to meet at the lake and it was raining. I figured we could just have it at my house, but the phones were down. I was almost beside myself trying to figure out how to coordinate changing the location. After some vehicular acrobatics, everyone piled into the back of my truck and we made the trek up to my house for hot coffee, prayer and fajitas.
Yesterday was our church service outdoors at the new church property. It was sweltering hot and after the service the plan was to cook hot dogs over an open fire. The heat was so overwhelming that I thought I might begin to pop and sizzle like my hot dog and so I cunningly propped my hot dog stick up with rocks over the coals. I was feeling quite smug until a in descriptive boy came by and knocked it into the dirt. Even after wiping it off, it just didn't seem that appetizing. Pork germs began to haunt my mind and I became sure that everyone was probably watching me to see what I would do. "Will she waste the dog?" I could just tell everybody was watching. On one side of my brain uncooked pork germs and dirt laughed fiendishly. On the other people were pointing and whispering "wastrel". Finally in my desperation, I finished cooking it and cut in half to share with my unsuspecting husband. Then I remembered a story about some missionaries who were given the head of a swine as an esteem of honor. After the long hot day had progressed, it occurred to them that they were supposed to eat the pork's brain!!!! After they could no longer put it off, they all gathered together and ate it by faith, not wanting to offend the tribe. They managed to survive the ordeal with a story to tell. And so, in good faith of the missionaries who have gone before me, by faith, I ate my hot dog. Otherwise it was a fun day. The kids sang "Our Country Tis of Thee" (despite their threats of mutiny) for the special music. We played volley ball, visited and later a bunch of us jumped into the lake.
The day before that I took the kids to see the fire works. I was quite stretched because I had planned to take them to the city. As I was driving there, I saw a bunch of church people by the local bar. They told me that the bar was lighting off fire works for the community. I'm not sure why, but I always panic when I go into social gatherings like that. By faith we pulled over and walked down onto the lawn where I'd never been before. Normal people were there. Lots of my friends were there too. A band played in the background. The bar owner called out a friendly welcome to me. I'm not exactly sure what I was afraid of, but whatever it was, It didn't show up. There weren't any wild drunken carousers. We set up folding chairs and the kids played in the grass. It occurred to me that I quite possibly ride the fence of being a little bit self righteous. Though in my imagination, "Lord of the Rings" type beasts haunted the property, in reality there were many friendly people there. Though I don't advise to anyone that we should frequent drinking establishments, I also see that I have avoided them possibly a little too excessively. How do we be a light if we hide from the very people that need to see? The story about Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners came to my mind and I was humbled. God help us who call ourselves "Christians" but only "shine" where its comfortable.

Matthew 9:10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

12On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'[a] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."