Friday Confessions

Well, this one isn't quite as frightening bad. I mean, I'm still ashamed. But I will take a deep breath, grab a cup of coffee (yes, I know it's like 2 in the afternoon. It's been one of those days. I love coffee. I'm a grownup, and I'm allowed! Leave me alone, or my boyfriend will come back, and there's gonna be some trouble ... Sorry. I digress.), and open up. Come, try to decipher what's going on inside my head. Figure out why I tick! Help me analyze my dreams! Lock me away, leave the kids with John, and let me have a much needed vacation in the crazy house, where I get to do lots of 'garden therapy.' Huh? What? Who said that?

Anyway. I love healthy food. (That's not my confession.) Don't laugh! It's true. I love growing my own food in my garden, knowing where it comes from. I have a huge crush on whole wheat flour, and making my own bread, and I use organic half & half because it tastes better, and I really love it when I make a meal for people, and they lean back with full bellies and say, 'Man, that was great! I don't even want to know what was in it, though. I'll just get depressed.' And I can grin and say, 'Actually, it was really good for you.' I snack on baby carrots and multi-grain crackers, I haven't had a coke in my house in ... well, ever, and even my cookies are fairly good for you!!

But.

There's always a but.

And if I keep it up, this will be my butt.


Because, ladies, if I had to choose between a lifetime knowing the love of my husband, and a lifetime of knowing the love of what I'm about to share with you ... well, it might not be pretty.

Are you ready?

(Oh, I'm just so ashamed. And hungry after googling all these pictures.)

My dear friends, please help me. I have a problem.

Hi, my name is Brea, and I'm a donut-holic.


(Hi, Brea.)

Yes, it's true. I really do have a problem!!


Well, my mouth isn't that big, but you get the idea. I am so very, eternally thankful that there isn't a Krispy Keme in Bastrop.

My kids make themselves I make my kids a breakfast of Life cereal oatmeal with fresh fruit and real yogurt (you now, the kind with the live cultures) and when John wakes up, I have to go to HEB for milk. Even though we're not out of milk. And since I'm there, I might as well get a donut. Seeing how that was my entire reason for making up the milk excuse to get out of my house. We do always seem to need milk, after all. It's not like I buy three of them and scarf them all down on my way home! Gross! How dare you suggest such a thing. I am a picture of self-control.


NUJ fupure i ohnerq ifo348907 bpqbkadsdr -9piln bn cghn

Sorry, I had to wipe the drool off the keyboard. I hate it when that happens!

And if there was a Krispy Kreme here in Bastrop (remember, I'm glad there isn't one here. I'm glad there isn't one here. I'm glad there isn't one here. Maybe if I keep saying that, I'll believe it one day.), I might even have more of a problem. Did you know that KK makes a whole wheat donut now????



Man, if I could find whole wheat donuts, I could justify eating like 5 times as many of them!!!!!!

I have dreams that start off like this: I'm back in junior high, or some other cliche place where one might be really insecure. As I get my books, the bell rings, but no one goes to class. They're all standing there looking at me. E gads!!!!! I'm NEKKID!!!!! Bare as a jaybird!!!! Well, I don't know if totally nekkid would be appropriate. So maybe I'm in my skivvies. Everyone is pointing and laughing, and I try to run away and hide. But all the doors I try are locked. I don't know what to do! But then ...

Then, I see something. A light in the distance, one that might save me from the horrible predicament I'm in. Because let's admit it, no matter how popular you were in junior high (which, by the way, I totally wasn't!!), it would NOT have been cool to be walking down the hall naked in my undies. I'm just saying.

Wait, could it be? It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's ...

A man with a large tray of donuts!!



Now, most normal people having this dream that I totally made up that I actually had last week would have grabbed the tray, spilling donuts everywhere, and used it to shield themselves until they made it to the locker room where they had forgotten their clothes. Or something like that.

Not moi. Oh, no. I grab a donut off the tray, and saunter down the hall to said locker room, not caring anymore what the world, or the popular kids, or the jocks, or the band nerds, or the goths said (not that I was a band nerd. No I wasn't. NO, I WASN'T. Sarah, keep your mouth closed on the subject of band nerds, because I have completely mortifying pictures of us you in band, holding oboes an oboe. I'm just saying). Because with my donut in my hand, I am above all that. I don't care if they don't like my lime green bra (not that I actually owned one of those in seventh grade), or my neon orange undies, or the fact that I'm wearing them together. If their eyes hurt from all the clashing colors on my pasty-white skin (I look scary in the winter. I'll admit that much), that's their problem.

Why?

Because I have a donut!!!!



I'm telling you, if I don't get help soon, I'm going to wake up one morning, look in the mirror, and see this:



Except less jaundiced, because I do happen to love being outside.

With a good book.

And a nice cup of herbal tea.

And a donut.

Please help.

Later; and Gardens

There will be a new Friday Confession before I go to bed this evening, I promise!! I haven't figured out yet what it is ... but it will be here soon, I have faith. Oh, and before I forget, Happy (belated) Valentine's Day to everyone!!

But ... today is going to be pretty crazy for moi. I've got about 98 things on my to-do list today, and of course, I accidentally slept in this morning. I didn't get up until 7:45, and I feel like I'll be playing catch-up all morning. Ah, such is life, though, and I've decided I'll still have a positive attitude. :) I've got to get John's work clothes dried and pressed before we take him to work later this morning, and I need to do my big grocery trip. We really only go to the grovery store once every two weeks, usually with a mini-trip on the opposite week for milk and veggies and things that go bad quickly. But I'll get 90% of my groceries for the rest of the month bought this afternoon. And yes, I go with all three of the kids, and yes, I actually tent to have a wonderful time with all of them! I get confused when I have to go to the store by myself, because then I have to do things like push the cart, and pick up items off the bottom shelves for myself. I don't like to do that. :)

And right now (like, as soon as I get my lazy butt off the computer), I've got to get my garden started! I've been procrastinating like you wouldn't believe, because they keep telling us it's going to rain, so I wait to plant, but it never rains ... so I'm just going to start planting. Well, my bigger seeds, at least, like all the chard, both spinaches, and my peas. I put the potatoes in last week. And all the lettuce will go in Monday, because I don't feel like everything getting washed away like last year.

I'm starting my tomatoes indoors tomorrow (anyone have a grow light they'd like to let me borrow??), and I'll be able to put in pretty much everything except my okra in a month. Our average last frost date around here is about March 15, and even if we have a frost after that, all the plants are so small that they're very easy to cover for a night or two. This year, I'm planting everything from seed, something new for me, and I'm so excited! I've got chard, two kinds of spinach, 5 or so different lettuces, Lincoln peas, 3 kinds of pole beans (I would say green beans, but I had a little too much fun ordering new stuff, and I don't think any of them are green ... oops!), bush beans, 9 kinds of tomatoes, spineless okra, painted mountain corn, pumpkins, peppers, and about 12 or 15 kinds of herbs. Check out this website for Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds if you haven't before, and get a catalog. They sell only heirloom, organic, non-GMO seeds, and their prices are still better than just about any other place I've found. And shipping is only $3, no matter how much you order. Seriously!! And they're so nice on the phone! I love them!!

If you haven't planned a garden yet for this spring, it's not too late! Well, it's too late for potatoes, and if you can't get your lettuce in within the next week, I'd probably skip that, too. (Oops, you people up North are probably thinking I've lost it. I'm talking to people here in Central or South Texas!) Home Depot has started carrying plants, but except for spinach (which is so easy to grow, everyone should do it!!) nothing really needs to be put in for another month. So, if you're seed-inclined, order seeds and you should have them in 10 days, or just start getting your ground ready for planting. If you need to build up your soil, call or email me {brea_stewart(at)hotmail(dot)com} and I can probably help you out with that.

Don't fear the garden, people!! God gave us the most wonderful things to eat, and most of them can be grown right in your back (front?) yard! Embrace the dirt!

Coming soon ...

Not a baby. Sorry. I wish.

I'm still trying to figure out this Friday's Friday Confessions, on that won't make you flee from me because you're afraid of catching whatever the hell I have that makes me so strange look at me funny if we were to run into each other in a grocery store. I have my street cred to think about, people. Seriously.

However! I have some fun news. The following Friday, I'm unloading dropping off my kids with my mom, so John and I can have a lovely anniversary weekend. Yay me! While I'm there, I'll be co-authoring the Friday Confessions for 2/22 with my mom a friend of mine. It'll be Confessions by Proxy, and my mom my friend will anonymously be posting her confession. And then you'll gain a little bit of insight into why I am the way I am why I have such a lovely mom friend.

She doesn't want anyone to know where this Confession is coming from, so on the off chance that I accidentally reveal my mom's my friend's identity, let's keep it a secret, ok? Well, we can tell Clive, but that's it. He's very trustworthy. You can see it in his eyes.

Anyway, a little hint on that unknown person's Confession:

This is Ami. He's on Miami Ink. I've never seen Miami Ink.

Man, am I gonna be grounded when she sees this ... Oh, well! Life is short. Easier to ask forgiveness than permission, right? Back me up here, people!!

ps- I think Blogger is trying to kill me. I've never had such a slow connection! In retrospect, it might be my horrible internet. It probably is. We have a lot of problems with our country cable.

Sorry, Blogger! I love you!! Hugs and kisses!!

Pondering Encouragement, and a few random thoughts

I'm back! I went to a retreat this weekend with the lovely, lovely, wonderful ladies from my church. We were up at Camp Tejas, outside Giddings, so I didn't even have to drive very far-it's only about 25 minutes from my driveway to the inn we stayed at on the campgrounds. Our speaker was Melana Hunt Monroe, and she was fantastic. She spoke on seeing life from Heaven's view, which, coincidentally, is the title of a book she co-authored with her father, T. W. Hunt. I highly, highly recommend that everyone who has ever struggled with anything go out and buy it.

I drove a friend of mine, Anne, home. She lives a few streets away from me, so it worked out very well. Anne has had diabetes since she was a little kid, and she was recently in the hospital for heart surgery. She developed an infection in her foot (which I think is fairly common in people with diabetes), and ended up losing like half her foot. Me? I think I'd probably be fairly upset. Anne? Not upset. She is the most positive person I've ever met. I'm an upbeat, glass-is-half-full kind of person, and she makes me look like a depressed recluse. Seriously. I'm crazy about her.

On the way home, Anne and I started talking about witnessing to people, and how God uses each of us in different ways. She asked me if I ever feel like I'm not doing enough to reach out to people, and talk about the wonderful gift of salvation that we've been given through Christ. (Not her exact words; I'm adding a little here so you can get the gist of a fairly long conversation.) She wanted to hear my opinion, but she also was asking because that's how she feels at times.

She didn't know it at the time, but she really hit a nerve in my. Well, something that used to be a nerve. I am a shy person. I can chat with strangers in line at the grocery store (I am my mother's daughter, no denying that!), but me? Walk up to someone I don't know/barely know and start 'witnessing'? Yeah. No. Not going to happen. The mere thought makes my heart race and my palms sweat. Now, let me say something. I am in no way embarrassed about my God, my Saviour, my faith, or anything involved with any of those things. I just don't have a gift for speaking to people. I stutter, bumble, babble, forget everything I've ever been taught since I was 2, or, more likely to happen, I just don't talk. I am not good at articulating things on the fly. I am good at emails, snail mail, blogging, whatever. I need time to compose my thoughts. More than anything, I don't want to be a poor witness for Christ, and have people think, 'Yeah, if this is how all those fundamentalists think, no thank you!'

So yes, back to her original question, I used to struggle with that issue enormously. But after studying the Bible for many years, and after wise council from some lovely Titus 2 women, I have come to realize something. I don't have to walk up to people and say 'Do you love Jesus?' to witness! I am witnessing to my kids and husband every day. I may not be good at talking to people, but maybe one of my kids will be. My behavior and my attitude are a witness to everyone I come into contact with, from my intimate friends and close relatives, to the way I handle myself at the grocery store and on the highway. And, at least for now, my ministry is my home!

I think many women, and moms of younger children in particular, struggle with this. We feel like we should be doing something. Guess what, ladies? WE ARE!! If you want a truly glorious example of this, track down Marriage to a Difficult Man: The Uncommon Union of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards. (A post on this book coming soon.) But I somewhat digress.

As I was telling Anne, she (Anne) is a lovely example of things Christ spoke. She loves people that other might overlook. She always has a kind word, or a sweet smile. She might not be able to remember my baby's name, but she always asks about him, and how his cough is, or how he's doing with walking, or something else random I mentioned to her previously. She is an encourager!!

My heart is lifted every time I talk with Anne. I come away from every conversation feeling mildly guilty, though, because I just know that I got the better deal! There's no way that she could get as much out of a chat as I can! She gives and gives, and I always walk away knowing that I've seen a little piece of Christ shining through her. She thinks she doesn't witness?? She does, more than she'll ever know, more than any of us could ever tell her. She'll be laying so many crowns at Christ's feet one day, he'll need help picking them all up. For real.

We all have different gifts, different strengths, and different abilities. I believe the key is being open to what and where the Spirit calls you, and being able to accept what He says.

Anyone have any thoughts about any of this? Any experiences in your own lives about how someone has touched you, or ministered to you, without even knowing it?

Friday Confessions

Ready? Time for me to make a confession and let you think less of me get to know me a little better. Remember, these are super-secret, so we can't ever tell John. I mean, the ice skating was bad enough.

But there's something I've got to get off my chest.

It's something that I've struggled with for a while.

I know my friend Lyndsey has similar struggles, and it's nice to be able to talk about your problems with a good friend, one who understands what you're dealing with.

From what I've heard, it's actually something that many women (and a few men??) struggle with.

Are you ready?

Hello, Lover!!


Yes, ladies, I confess. I am completely and utterly obsessed with with the mortal god that is Clive Owen.



Oh, my. Although, I must now say that I hate Jennifer Aniston. Life isn't fair. I mean, God has given her that hair. And body. And success. Can't she be content with that? Must she go around, taking pictures with my obsession crush? It's not right, I tell you.



Oh, look! He's brooding. And slightly tousled. I'm loving the trench and black tie and angry look. Mmmmm ...



Aww, but what have we here? Light colored suit, a mischievous little smirk, great hair, a few wrinkles in the jacket (he obviously is enough of a real person to not obsess about his appearance the way I do the way other celebrities do). It's possible that I may have cried a little when Jason Bourne shot him in the first Bourne movie, because that means he can't be in the other Bourne movies. It's all very sad and tragic, I tell you.


Oh, and the movie King Arthur? Swoon!! Loved it!! His accent makes me melt. His eyes make me melt. His dirty, messy hair makes me melt. His lovely, lovely teeth ... well, you get the picture. Oh, and I hate Keira Knightly. She was his love interest in that movie. Again, life just isn't fair.



And then he dies in Children of Men. Why do people keep killing him????? WHY?????

It seems through each of my pregnancies, I develop a fixation with one person. A crush, obsession, whatever. I blame it on all the hormones. (And every time I see the word 'hormones,' I hear the aunt in My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding saying 'the hor-MONE-ees' and I laugh. But I digress.) Anyway, guess who it was during my pregnancy with David? Uh-huh. That's right. Except that unlike my first two pregnancy crushes, I'm still waiting for this crush to go away.


Siiiigh. I can wait.

Please don't tell John.

And then go out and rent all of my angel's Clive's movies. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead is a downer, but it's great!!

I wish I may ...

Sweet Jessica at Farm Fresh (seriously, her girls are ridiculously adorable!!) tagged me with this meme. Like over a week ago. I have procrastination issues. Back off! So here's the directions: post two wish lists; 5 material wishes and 5 spiritual or more meaningful wishes. Then tag five people. We'll see about the five people part, but here goes on the wishes!

List 1:

1. I wish we lived further out in the country, with a bigger house (to fill with more little people and guests!) and a bigger piece of land (to fill with more chickens, guineas, goats, and a ginormous garden).

2. I wish we were foster parents. (This will happen, God willing, in the future, when our kids are older, but hey!, I'm really impatient.)

3. Is a hope a wish? I wish (hope) that all my seeds would properly sprout this season, and that we wouldn't have quite as much rain as we had at the beginning of last spring (seriously, all my plants drowned last year. Two weeks after I planted them all. I'm not kidding), and a little more rain throughout the summer.

4. I wish I had a grain mill, so I could take forever to take it out of the box, struggle to find a place to put it, take months to buy grain, mess it up the first few times, use it sporadically, and make a huge mess throughout the entire process grind my own wheat to make my awesome bread.

5. I wish we had the money to remodel the kitchen, because every time I cook, I end up frustrated about the wonky layout, hateful stove, and my terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad oven. (Hey, 10 bonus points of you can name that book!)


List Two:

1. I wish John's job was a little easier. Not the actual, physical part of the job, but the emotional, stressful, round-and-round part. (I can't go into to much, but my wonderful man has worked for Chili's for over 19 years, and they should be treating him better than they are.) I pray about this every single day.

2. I wish John and I prayed together. Other than at meals.

3a. I pray that God will continue to show Himself to me, and that I would be open and sensitive to the things He wants me to learn.

3b. I wish I might learn everything God wants me to learn when Charlie Clough comes to our church next month. (A post probably coming on Dr Clough later, but check out his website for now. Read the front page, 'About Charlie,' and 'About the Framework' for a good little teaser!)

4. I wish I was better with words when I speak to people about God. I feel like I can sympathize with Moses sometimes, when God told him that he was going to convince the nation of Israel to leave Egypt. (Moses was all, 'Seriously? Have you heard me talk? It's not that great. Me no speak good.' Ok. Sorry. He didn't actually say that. He really said this.) I just don't think well on my feet. I really admire people who have all this information in their heads, and can access it when they need it, and are able to answer at a moment's notice. I stutter, and get nervous (I'm pretty shy), and forget everything I've ever learned, and I pull blanks.

5. I wish I had more patience. Although, maybe not, because a friend of mine told me when she first got married that she prayed for patience, and ended up with five kids under the age of eight. God has a wonderful sense of humor, people! So maybe I wish I had more wisdom.


So, there you go. Me. I can only think of a few more things I would have put on the first list (like an unlimited gift card to Starbucks!), but an endless amount of things for the second.

I'm going to tag Jesnicole, Heidi, and Jeanne. I am sad in the few number of friends I have. Well, maybe I'm not. Most of my friends just aren't online!!

Friday Confessions

Well, I think I may start a new Thing. Friday Confessions. I'm sure everyone will just love the idea, and start checking in religiously every Friday, because nothing is more fun than hearing how crazy other people are to make you feel better about yourself, right? I'll post something new and totally insane and frightening honest about myself each Friday. So prepare for some confessions that will make you have bad dreams and wet the bed, and wake up feeling better about yourself while you think at least I'm not that person laugh. Hopefully.

And here's the first one. My husband would leave me and take the children if he knew about this, so maybe we could just keep it between you and me, ok?



I love to watch figure skating. The costumes! The music!! The drama!!! The faux-sexual tension!!!!


The crotch shots!!!!! (Seriously, how often do you have to wax to be in this profession??)



And, what's it like on your first day of practice with a new partner? 'Oh, hi there. My name is Brian, and I'll be skating with you for the next few years. Let's go ahead and start off with that move where I feel all your lady parts as I hoist you above my head, ok?'

I get so excited when John is working on a Saturday, and the kids are all upstairs having nap/quiet time, and I sit on the couch to fold some laundry, and decide to flip on the boob tube, and this is what pops up:


Check out that eyeliner!! It's like Mad Max: Musical on Ice!! Where can I get tickets to that??

Oh, it's a wonderful, wonderful thing. But for real, let's not tell John.

Meme from Jessica coming soon ...

Analyze This!!

Seriously, help me analyze this dream. It happened last night, and I woke up in the best mood.

American Idol is holding audition in Austin. For some inexplicable reason, I decide to go and try out. I get past the screeners, which usually means one is fairly decent or fairly horrible. I worry I'm in the latter group, but seeing how this is a dream, I decide to proceed to the judges. I'm a little nervous at this point. I go in the room. (Ryan Seacrest flirted with me, by the way, and asked for my number when we were off camera. Trust me, it gets much more strange!!I don't even like Ryan Seacrest!!!!!) Apparently, I sing well enough to get the 'You're going to Hollywood!' from all three judges. Randy calls me 'dawg.' Paula babbles about rainbows and puppies. (Totally not kidding.) Simon is nice to me, and tells me he liked my elbows. (Elbows? Really? What was I dream-wearing that accentuated my elbows so nicely? I guess I'll never know.)

So off I go to Hollywood. I take David with me. (?) I don't remember again what I sang for the second round, but it was my last song. I don't make it any further. But here's the strangest part: Simon is nice to me. Again. What in the world??? He lets me down very sweetly, and tells me to call him if I ever need anything. HUH??

Please let me explain at this point that I don't even like American Idol. I think it's stupid. It comes on before 9pm, so even if I did like it, I can't watch it. I have no few aspirations of fame or glory, and no delusions about my voice. I'm a decent singer, no more, no less. So why in the world would I have a dream like this??

I tried to tell John about it, thinking he might find it puzzling or interesting as I have, but he was no help. He just rolled over, squinted, looked me up and down, and said, 'Well, you must be feeling better. How much coffee have you had this morning? Why are you talking so fast? Why did you wake me up?' I punched him, and then he grabbed my arms to make the beating stop, and then, since the kids weren't up yet ...

Well, that next part isn't any of your business. (No, you may not lecture me for writing that last part. How do you think I ended up with three kids before I turned 24?? I'm just sayin'.)

So all in all, it's been a great morning. I've been up for 4 hours, and I'm in a wonderful mood. Here's hoping the day continues in this vein!!

On to Sunday's thoughts ...

Thanks to everyone for the lovely comments about Evelyn's hair, and the well-wishes about my mouth. It doesn't hurt near as bad anymore. And thank goodness I only had to take those stoopid pain meds for four or five days. I hate those things.

In unrelated news: I have a cold. I coughed so much on the couch before bed last night that 1) John had to turn the TV up (sweet man that he is) to hear it over my hacking, and 2) my abs hurt like I did 100 sit-ups yesterday because I coughed so much! I seem to be doing better today, praise Jesus, because when I do cough, it makes me double over in pain.

Ok, I'm done with the whining. Other news ... Sam just ran in the house completely freaking out and crying because he did something stupid again a chicken (Rover, our aggressive rooster) flew up and bit his finger. There is the tiniest of cuts on his right pointer finger, and the world is now crashing down around him. On the upside, I didn't respond with, 'Well, honey, that's what happens when you torment an animal that has a brain the size of a small pea and already doesn't like you.'

I did respond with, 'I'm sorry to hear that. You shouldn't be throwing the roster, because he has a brain the size of a pea and doesn't like you to begin with. Go wash your hands with soap, and bring me a band-aid, and we'll look at it together.' See, wasn't that sweet of me??

I am so the mean parent in this house. The kids have pretty much learned not to come to me if there's not a massive head wound, or a bone protruding somewhere.

I made White Chocolate Cheesecake with Brownie Bites and Raspberry Glaze the other day for John to take to work. (I try to make something every week or two for him to take up there; it's good for morale in a very, very difficult store.) I had to capitalize all those words because it was a Very Important Dessert. It was my first attempt at cheesecake (a real one, not one of those no-bake ones), and it turned out really well, except that I used the wrong kind of pan. But it tasted really, really good. It was probably the first recipe I made with absolutely no redeeming qualities. I'll post the recipe later this week, but you might want to do a little juice fast or something before you read it. It's that rich.

And now my kids are telling me I should feed them. I guess I'll do that, and then curl up on the couch and take a quick nap while everyone eats. Mmmm, naps ...

Saturday's Musings

(note: I started this yesterday, and just finished it today, so I'm keeping the title of Saturday's Musings, even though it's Sunday)

Well, Evelyn is starting to accept her hair a little more. (See previous post) But still, every now and then, she'll just break down into tears. When asked what her malfunction is what's wrong, she just breaks down in tears and sobs that her hair is ugly. It's been a little strange, her reaction to short hair, for several reasons. For one, John and I have always worked on not putting much emphasis on physical appearance. We think she's the most beautiful little girl in the world, but we know that we're a tad biased, and that there really are more important things. (Like great shoes. I kid. Mostly.)

Also, she was the one who cut her hair and said she wanted short hair! Silly little monkey. As soon as we went into the bathroom after the initial cut, and I told her we were going to have to cut the rest of it, she went ballistic about how she didn't want short hair and that she was going to be ugly, and her hair was going to be awful, and Dad wouldn't think she was pretty any more. Oy!! It was very hard for me to not laugh (yes, I struggle with inappropriate responses from time to time. Laughter seems to be the most common response, especially if my kids are freaking-out upset. Sue me.) and to try and calm her down, but then I started thinking about hair.

My hair is long. It grows rather slowly, and I take decent care of it. I don't blow-dry it (well, I actually don't own a hair dryer. This infuriates my mother when she comes to visit, because she either has to bring her own, or not blow-dry her hair. Sorry, Mom!!), I don't put any chemicals on it, other than hairspray once every two weeks or so, I don't brush it when it's wet, and I use shampoo that makes my hair happy. I don't wear it down on very windy ways, because of all the knots, and I let my mom trim my split ends at least once a year. She derives great pleasure from this, cause she's been trying to get me to cut it for years. I will not. I love my hair. More importantly, my sexy husband loves my hair, and for that reason alone, I would keep it long.

I tried to imagine how I would feel if I was suddenly told that my lovely (albeit fairly thin and sometimes stringy) hair would suddenly be cut short. Really, really short. I'm pretty sure I would be devastated. Now, yes, I know it's just hair. That's what I tried to tell Evelyn. But let's be honest; it's more than that. For most women, and a lot of men, too, our hair is a huge part of who we are. When people donate to Locks of Love, it's a big deal. It'd be much easier to just write a check for $30 than donate a foot of hair. And if you did just write that check, you probably wouldn't go around telling people what you had done. But when you're growing your hair out for L of L, you tell people. You tell everyone you know, and probably a few strangers, too. (Note: I'm not saying that L of L is a bad thing. I think it's wonderful!! If you do it, good for you!!!)

If you get a new haircut and your hubby or kids or whoever don't notice, it really ticks you off! And if you do something really drastic, like make a big color change, or go to a totally different style, it's kind of devastating if no one comments on it. Even the color of your hair can be an identity thing. Picture the blondest blonde you know, and imagine dyeing her hair black. Or imagine dying your hair black. Or blond, if your hair is already dark. It'll change the way you feel about yourself. How happy do you get right now when you just have a flat-out Good Hair Day? Man, it makes me so excited!! And because I feel prettier, I act different. I've been known to flirt more (with my husband, people!) when my hair looks great and my makeup just works and I have on my cute jeans, than when I'm not showered and haven't shaved in a week and haven't had my morning coffee. I'm just saying.

My mom had cancer when I was in junior high. She's fine now, completely in remission, but she had to go through a bunch of chemo and then six weeks (I think?) or radiation. Of course she was upset about having cancer, and all the things that go along with that (hey, I have cancer! I might die! Crap!), but there was something a lot of people didn't understand: why she was so upset about losing her hair. Now, my mom isn't a vain person, any more than the average person is. She can rock the color pink and knows it, but she doesn't spend too much time focusing on outward appearance. But to be told that 'you have the Big C, and your life is going to be turned upside down, and you're going to be pumped full of all kinds of toxic chemicals, and that there could be all these awful side effects, and oh, by the way, that lovely long hair of yours? You can kiss that goodbye, too' is a Big Deal.

So all that to say, I think I should probably be a little more sympathetic to Evie about her short hair. No, it's not something we're going to dwell on, and yes, the new rule is still that she can't say anything negative about her hair, lest she start a downward spiral into inconsolable tears, but I think I'm going to be a little more patient from here on out.

Unless she cuts it again. Then I'm just going to shave her head and paint her scalp blue.

What?? No, I wouldn't really do that. Probably.

Oh, Evie

As I mentioned earlier, Evelyn decided to cut her hair last night. I think most of you know how well it turned out last time when one of the kids got a hold of scissors near that girl's hair. At least it was a little easier to fix this time. And a little cuter, too, I think. (click any of these to enlarge)

I present, Evie.

With short hair.

Again.

Here's the view from the front. Could her eyes be any bigger or bluer? She sure didn't get that from me!


From the side/back angle. Does that look red to anyone else?


She's starting to get ticked off at me ... we had taken about 20 pictures at this point, because she's the wiggliest little person alive.


Ok, we pulled the top back with a clip to get the hair out of her eyes ... and to make her look cuter. It worked on both accounts, I think.


And from the side. All in all, I think I did a pretty decent job, don't you??

Come on, give me your honest opinions. I can take it, I promise!!! :)

Where I've Been

I got an email from Lyndsey today (well, she sent it yesterday at noon, but I just opened it five minutes ago). I was excited, because someone hasn't been returning my phone calls, and I wasn't aware that we were fighting, but I've got three kids under six, ya know, so maybe we did have a fight and I just missed it? Because that happens sometimes. Well, that situation in particular has never happened, but I do tend to miss things that are right in front of my face. I'm just saying.

But we're not fighting. Her email was letting me know that she's been avoiding the phone in order to get things done, so no worries, but that's why I haven't been hearing from her. I laughed really hard when I read that, because I've totally been avoiding the computer for the same reasons. To get things done. (Um, and read. And play with my favorite new toy. But I digress.) I've also had a crazy week this week. Sorry for the absence. And lack of pictures. Mom, I promise they're coming soon!!

I spent last weekend and the beginning of the week getting ready for Wednesday. What happened Wednesday? Well, I went to the dentist. And I had a filling done. And two root canals. And a tooth extracted. And a deep, under-the-gum cleaning. It was awesome. For real.

No, it wasn't. I was in the dentist's chair for almost 6 hours. My mouth doesn't respond very well to pain killers, so I was given over 30 shots in total. In my gums. It sucked, big time. They wrote me scripts for pain meds and penicillin. I hate being on pain meds. When Evie was born in the hospital, and they gave me the pain meds to take home, I think I only took 6. Total. I've already taken more than that. It hasn't been fun.

Then on Thursday, instead of taking it easy like they told me to, we went to lunch (I had soup) and ran a bunch of errands. Then Sarah, my sweet and lovely friend who herself was in the hospital a week ago for a kidney infection, came to stay with me, and we went to a meeting with the ladies in my church.

And my older kids got sick on Friday. And I think now that David is over his cough, he decided to catch Sam and Evie's cold, which (of course!) includes a pretty wicked cough. Oy.

Things got better yesterday, though, when the weather turned nasty, we missed church because of above-mentioned cold, and John was at work for 13 hours. He got home after 7, made a fire, turned on the game, and we all snuggled up on the couch. We sent the kids to brush their teeth, which apparently, in Evie Language, means, 'Go ahead and dig around in the cabinet we didn't even know you could reach and find some scissors and cut a huge chunk out of the back of your hair.' Obviously.

All those things did happen, but it was actually a good week. I'm not kidding. I've spent some great time with my kids, and had some good talks with John, and while I'm not really crazy about pain medicine, I have been sleeping awfully well. I've been on top of my housework, and even though my dishwasher broke, I've been at least breaking even in the kitchen. At times, you might even have been able to call it clean! So now I'll make my mom happy and put up some pictures.

'Mom, are we almost done with the pictures?'

'Fine! If you're going to keep flashing that thing at me, I'm going to make faces. So there.'

'Mmm, I love eating pizza. And blue markers. And I love trying to grab the camera with a bunch of pizza grease on my fingers!!'

'I LOVE BUBBLES!!!'

'Hi. My name is Zsa-Zsa. I am a chicken. I like to eat bugs and lay eggs.'

You knew I wasn't going to let a chance to post a chicken picture pass by, right?!?!? :)

It's HERE!!

Oh, my goodness. I want to marry my new camera. Seriously. I love it with the fire and passion equal to the heat of a thousand suns. I had to restrain myself from hugging the UPS guy (who is really nice and always chats with me), but luckily the kids went and met him and got the box for me

For real.

Thanks for everyone who left me such sweet comments! I'm looking forward to actually getting good at taking pictures, so when I hear other people talking about their cool digital SLR cameras, I can sound like I know what I'm talking about. I probably won't actually know what I'm talking about, but I can hopefully sound like it. :)

I'm having so much fun playing with it. Two lenses to mess with, exposures, filters, settings, I can't figure out how to turn off the flash for some of the settings and it's making me a little kookie, and all kinds of other fun things. As soon as I figure out how to get the pictures from the camera to the computer, I'll put some of them up. I think the chickens are getting tired of me using the big black thing to click at them, so I promise not to bore you with (too many) pictures of my beloved, egg-hiding, ankle-attacking, loud-crowing birds.

In other news, J and I went to see A Tuna Christmas last night. It was my big Christmas gift to him, and I thought I had done really well. Sometimes I'm not very good at figuring out what to give him. (Then I found out what he was giving me for my gift, see above paragraph, and I felt that my gift was woefully inadequate. Hmph.) Anyway, the evening was great. My aunt watched the kids, which worked out well since she lives about 15 minutes from The Paramount where the show was playing. From what I hear, the Tuna shows have been around for at least 20 years, and I am sooo glad I finally got to go to one. We'll be going to the others, too, at some point. If you've never seen these guys, I hope that you're able to go one day. I laughed so hard that I was almost crying, several times. These two have small-town Texas completely nailed!

We spent the whole morning completely cleaning out all three rooms upstairs. Evie's room literally had me sitting on the floor in tears. I don't know how it goes from being a little unorganized on Tuesday to bringing me to tears on Thursday, but it did. It was bad. b. a. d. But now it makes me happy to go in there, and I haven't let her play in her room all day. I might not let her tomorrow, either. :)

Tomorrow we take David to the doctor for his cough (he's had it since before Thanksgiving when we all got that cold, and that's a little too long for me!), and John is going to cook a brisket, since his dad and Heather are coming over for supper tomorrow evening. Oh, and we have art class tomorrow afternoon. It's going to be a long day. I'm going to bed early ...

Oh, by the way ... my bloggie friend Paula who is wonderful and sweet and has 24 kids (bio and adopted) is expecting!! YAY, and congrats, Paula!!! I just love babies!!!! And how wonderful is it to be so blessed with such a large family! I'm super happy for her.

And I sure do love babies. Don't know if you've picked up on that yet...

Camera stuff

Oh, yeah. My camera should be here tomorrow. I am trying to type very slowly and calmly, because I actually want to jump and shriek and scream and jump and shout and then jump some more.

So this is me being calm. Very, very calm.

Here's what we decided to get.

MY NEW CAMERA!!!

So I'm going to go sit on my front porch until tomorrow. You know, just in case UPS accidentally put my camera on an airplane instead of a ground truck, making it get here a day early.

Hey, you never know. Stranger things have happened ...

(By the way, that website, Andorama, is amazing, and their prices were the absolute best we could find, after almost of month of intensive searching. I love finding a good deal!!)

Wild and Wacky

Ok, those of you who know me well know that I just lovelovelove baseball. Except this year, when the Astros sucked. But believe me, that's a lot more than I want to get into in this post. I probably wouldn't stop typing about it.

Anywhoooo ... I love baseball. And here's a wonderful article for anyone who loves, likes, or reasonably tolerates baseball. A fun list filled with quirky, wild and wacky stats from last season.

Fun Baseball Article, click here

Eggs! and other ramblings

Our chickens are laying eggs! Because I still had 2 dozen store eggs in the fridge, I've only used a few of them. But they are lovely and different colors and the yolks are rich and yummy. Again, since I had 2 dozen store eggs and get twitchy if I throw just about anything out, I decided to give some of the first eggs away. Some to our neighbor, and some to Kristie.

Then the chickens started hiding their eggs, and we've only collected two in the last 3 days. We should be getting at least 7 per day at this point. Hateful, stingy birds. They lay outside because we don't have anything set up for them to lay in inside the coop at the moment. I'm going to change all that tomorrow and hopefully start getting eggs again in a few days.

In other Stewart news ... My father-in-law is moving to Austin. He left Maryland this morning, and will get to Round Rock (where his sister lives) on the 9th. Why is it going to take 5 days? No idea. MapQuest says that from Round Rock to Maryland is 1523 miles from Round Rock, or 23 hours and 30 minutes. So, you'd have to drive under 5 hours each day to take 5 days to get here. Or, let's assume that he's planning on getting here early on the 9th. You'd have to drive less than 6 hours each day. Hmm. I know he plans on doing some sightseeing, but that's a lot of historical sites. But you know what? He's really, really into history, so more power to him.

He's not sure where he's going to live yet, not even what part of town he needs to live in, so Heather (John's half-sister) and I have been trying to to a little legwork for him. I'm a little stressed about the whole thing, and a little ticked off at John that he's not stressed about any of this. I mean, I'm not losing sleep or weight or hair or anything, but I want everything to go smoothly. And this is John's dad, people.

Anyway. I can only control my actions and responses, so there's really no point in getting worked up. What's going to happen will happen, and I can decide to have a positive or negative attitude. I've decided to be positive, and see all the good things that can come of this.

When we were in Katy, my mom gave my ten pounds of venison hamburger (ground venison). My mom rules, for real. I made chili for the first time last night, and was extremely nervous. I've a) never made chili, and b) never cooked with venison. Luckily, my fears were unfounded, and the chili turned out wonderfully. It was awesome, and I ate too much of it last night. And today for lunch. I'll post the recipe tomorrow, and you all have to make it immediately. It's not too spicy ... I plan on using more spice next time, actually. And did I mention the good part?? John and the boys and I chowed on it. Evie ... not so much. But I was expecting that. Oh, well!!

John gave me a Magic Bullet for Christmas, and I've been loving it! I've been maxing XanGo smoothies every day, and my energy level has gone up, and my knees haven't been bugging me at all; they usually bug me worse in the cold months. I hadn't been taking it in a while, and I forgot what a difference it makes. Wow! The kids love smoothies, too, so it's been fun all around.

I'll be posting a book review in a few days. I'm going to post more about what I'm reading this year, if for no other reason than to keep track so I can make a list at the end of next year. I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

It's Here!

Happy New Year, everyone!!!

I love the first day of each year. It's a great time to start fresh, get some good new habits going, get some old bad ones out ... it's wonderful!

Here are a few of my goals for this year. Yes, most of them (at least the ones that are bloggable) deal with my house; it's the area I struggle with the most. It's the only real thing that John and I have ever fought about, so if I become perfect with my house, we'll never fight again, right? Right??? :)

1. Put a load of laundry in the washer every morning when I wake up. I've tried the 'laundry day' thing. It made me homicidal, and didn't work.

2. Spot sweep under the table after every meal. It takes 2.3 seconds, and makes the biggest difference in the world, so why am I not doing it?

3. Wipe down the bathroom each night. Ditto detail on #2.

4. Take five minutes (set with a timer) before nap time to straighten the loft and kids' rooms, and another five after each meal. We call this a 'five-minute drill,' and they're surprisingly effective. If I do it after each meal, we can hit every area of the house and porch, and when you keep up with something, it never gets so bad that it's impossibly overwhelming. Or so John has been telling me for the last 6 years.

5. Clean my sink every night before bed. Who likes to wake up to a dirty kitchen? Not moi.

6. Make a meal for my father-in-law once a week. This will probably be done once a month, and I'll take over several frozen dishes, once he moves down here. (This situation will probably get its own post in the next few weeks.)

7. Get back to my quiet times in the morning. I've been very, very bad about this lately, and it's really starting to effect my life. When your spiritual walk is off, nothing else seems to be completely right. Nothing. This is probably the most important thing on my list.

8. Get back to my mornings in general. I've just slipped out of this habit in the last month, with all the sickness and holidays and whatnot.

This might seem like a big list to you. Or you might be thinking 'duh' about some of these, like having a clean sink before bed. But the whole things is very doable if I just get into the habit. I've been doing #'s 1 and 5 for a few weeks already, and it has made the biggest difference to my day. I hardly even have to think about it anymore; it's already becoming second nature, like making coffee and letting the chickens out.

So what are your plans/resolutions/goals/whatever? Leave me a comment and let me know. Lurkers, please de-lurk!! I know there's a few of you out there, because I talk to you on the phone and you tell me you read my blog. Heather. Or whoever.

And did I mention ... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

Just Kidding ... a good article

I do have another post or two. Here's an interesting article on the Health and Wealth movement in the evangelical church, by CBS. Minnesota Mom posted this, and that's where I found it. Thanks, Heidi!!

For the last time ...

Maybe ... I'm posting for the last time this year, 2007. It's been a good year for me. I liked it. Overall, I have to say that I approve of 2007.

Had a lovely, lovely time at Christmas. Visited my mom, John's mom, NASA, my mom again, my dad, and Dale and Jenni. I made out like a bandit, but not quite as much as my kids. I think it's possible that my husband loves me and spoiled me completely rotten. Possible, and even probable. He's such a good man. I really do love him to death. And he looks great in jeans, too. But that's none of your business, thank you very much. (And yes, mom, I really do like his facial hair. So there!)

I hate to jinx myself, but it looks like we just might all make it to church tomorrow. As of now, we're planning on it. We'll see.

Lyndsey is driving to her parents' this evening, and then she's going to come see me in the next few days!! I think. Lyndsey is kind of notorious for not making it to my house when she says she wants to visit, mainly because she's really busy and stuff comes up. I get that. But there's a much better chance of her showing up here if she's in Houston than if she's in New Orleans, like normal. Yay!!!

Now I'm off to the shower, and then I'll watch some news and fall asleep on the couch in front of the fire. I actually have no intention of seeing any of the news before I'm asleep. I'm just saying.

It's Almost Here ...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Yeah, I know Christmas is tomorrow, but I won't be here. I'll be at my mom's house, having gallons of coffee, opening millions of presents, and gaining ten pounds by eating cinnamon rolls, lasagna, bread, salad, toffee, pie, more coffee, some candy, probably some more pie, and did I mention the coffee? We leave to see her this evening.

Then tomorrow, after the lasagna, etc, we head to my mother-in-law's house, and start all over with the food, except it'll be a traditional supper, with turkey and stuff. I don't really like turkey, or ham, so I'm a loser at the holidays, but it'll be nice to have some tomorrow.

I hope everyone has a wonderful time with friends and family, and please remember to take a moment to thank God for His wonderful Gift to all of us; it's better than anything we could find in a stocking or open Christmas morning.

In His name, and again, Merry Christmas!!!! God bless!!!

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Cinnamon Rolls

These babies are gooood. Cinnamon rolls are one of my favorite things (along with raindrops on roses and warm woolen mittens) for breakfast, but we never have them, because I can't get past the part where they're so bad for you that just reading the recipe makes you gain 4 pounds. So, I'm not claiming this recipe is good for you, per se, but it's a lot less bad for you than most. This is really modified from Ree's recipe, which I'll link to at the bottom of the post.

I made these with the kids last week, and the recipe is so big that I just baked the last pan this morning. I made about 6 pans from this. Here's the great part: I used whole wheat pastry flour (also sold as white whole wheat flour, scroll down to the fifth bag), but you can't tell!! This flour is amazing because the nutritional content is the same as whole wheat flour, but it's made from a softer wheat berry, so the texture and color are lighter. It's light and fluffy and you can use it in place of white flour in every recipe except when you're making a roux or breading something to fry it. Trust me on those two. It's my best friend in the whole world.

I use whole wheat in everything else, but was a little nervous to use it in something like cinnamon rolls. It turned out great! John saw me grinning as I watched him try them, and he said in a terrified tone, 'Oh, no! You didn't do anything bad to these, like use whole wheat flour, did you?' I said, 'Honey, I wouldn't do something like that to you. Have no fear.' (And then I gloated to myself, because he had no idea!! Woohoo!!)

So make this less-bad recipe, and your family will love you and worship at your feet and give you no peace until you make another batch.

Cinnamon Rolls
modified by Brea

1 quart low fat milk
1 cup canola oil
3 cups sugar, divided
4 1/2 t yeast (2 packets)
10 cups white whole wheat flour, divided
1 heaping t baking powder
1 scant t baking soda
1 heaping T salt
cinnamon, and lots of it!
1 c butter, melted with 1 1/2 c canola oil
glaze, recipe follows

Scald milk, 1 c canola oil, and 1 c sugar (scalding, for any cooking newbies, is always what you do with milk. Do not ever boil milk, unless specifically instructed. Scalding is heating something through to just before the point of boiling, then removing from the heat). Remove from heat, and let sit for an hour, until it's lukewarm. Stir in yeast, and let it bloom.

Add 8 cups flour, stir together, cover, and let rise for at least an hour. Add powder, soda, salt, and one more cup flour, and mix. (Ree says you can refrigerate the dough at this point for a day or two, but I haven't tried that yet. I'm fat too impatient to have dough just hanging out in my fridge, not being cooked or eaten.)

Sprinkle your rolling surface generously with some of the remaining flour, and take half the dough and make a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough kind of thin, keeping a rectangular shape. It should increase in both width and length as you roll it. Now drizzle half of the melted butter/oil mix. Sprinkle on one cup of sugar. Make sure it's fairly evenly distributed, and then load on the cinnamon. Don't be shy, people. It's cinnamon we're talking here. It's sooo good!! At this point, you could also add a cup of well-chopped pecans. In fact, I recommend it, because it adds so much to the recipe. Roll your rectangle towards you, keeping a tight circle, and pincha seam to keep it shut. Lots of goo will probably come out at this point. This is a messy recipe. Deal with it. :) It's worth it, trust me!!

Spray your 9-inch cake tins very lightly with non-stick spray, and start cutting your dough into 3/4 inch thick slices and putting them into your buttered pans. I was able to fit 7-8 in each pan, and again, this is a very messy process. Deal, and move on.

Repeat with the remaining half of the dough. You should have 6-7 pans (9-inch cake pans) of cinnamon rolls. At this point, you have a few options. One, you let them rise on the counter for 20-30 minutes, and bake at 400 until a very light golden brown. Remove, and glaze, then eat yourself into a stupor.

Your second option, if you're like me and have a maddeningly small oven, is to let three pans rise, and bake those three (or four. Whatever.). Cover the rest with foil, and put them in the fridge and let them hang out, chatting with your eggs and celery and whatnot, for up to three days. Then take them out, uncover, let them sit on the counter while your oven heats up, and then bake at 400 until very light golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Option three is more long term. After you slice the rolls and put them in the pan, cover with heavy-duty foil or two layers of regular foil, and put them in the fridge. Don't try to stack them until they're frozen. Put them in the fridge the night before you want to eat them (12-24 hours before cooking), and then let them hang out on the counter while your oven heats. Cook same as above.

Ree says you can cook, ice, and then freeze them, but again, I haven't tried that, so I can't vouch for it. But she does seem to know what she's talking about, so I would trust her if I were you. Even if she doesn't add pecans to her cinnamon rolls.

Maple Frosting
by Ree

1 bag powdered sugar
2 t maple flavoring
1/2 c milk
1/4 c melted butter
1/4 c coffee
generous pinch of salt

Mix is all up with a whisk in a big bowl. It should be thick but pourable. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls.

I didn't use this recipe, because I can't find maple flavoring. I was cranky. So I just made a glaze with powdered sugar, orange extract, and milk. It was awesome.

These rolls are amazing and not too sweet by themselves, and (dare I say it??) almost healthy without the glaze. I actually only glazed two pans, one that we took to a neighbor, and we've just been eating the rest plain for breakfast. And for our after-nap snack. And maybe for a snack for moi after the kids go to bed. Maybe.

So go forth! Make rolls! Enjoy!! And please, please, please don't ever tell John that thing I told you about the whole wheat. He wouldn't like them nearly as much as he does. :)

Lions and Tigers and Bears ...

OH MY!! I am getting something completely wonderful for Christmas. Something I've wanted for such a long time. No, it's not a baby. Not yet, anyway. :)

I'm getting a new camera!!!! A really, really nice new camera. We're still deciding between two ... so if you have any wonderful, brilliant, or otherwise helpful insight, please lay it on me!! :)

Choice one

Choice two

I want choice one, but I'm not entirely sure why. And these probably aren't the exact packages we're looking at, it's just the first ones that came up on my amazon search. I'm leaving all that stuff up to John, because he is wonderful and intelligent and I'm really not technologically savvy. At all. It's one of the many reasons I married that handsome man!!

HAVE I MENTIONED HOW EXCITED I AM?!?!?!?!?!?!? Yay!

Oops. I've got supper on the stove. Hope it isn't burning ...

Oy. Again.

I was really looking forward to going to church this morning. I mean, really, really looking forward to it. I love our church, and we've missed the last two weeks due to John's back and the kids being sick. I had most of our clothes picked out and ready last night, I went to sleep early so I would be well rested, and I even had the diaper bag by the door ready to go (complete with diapers, wipes, and sticker books for the big kids).

Then Evie threw up last night. A lot. John got up with her, changed her sheets, and gave her a bath because she was a mess. She seemed fine this morning, and had breakfast with no problems, so we decided to skip Sunday School and just go to service. Yay!!

Then I went to kiss David and possibly eat him a little because he's so durned cute, and I noticed that he smelled a little funny. Then I remembered that all the kids had baths last night, and realized that he shouldn't smell funny. I went up to his bed, and sure enough, he had also thrown up at some point during the night. One kids get sick, and is fine the next morning, and you can write it off as maybe something just didn't agree with her tummy. Two get sick? When we all ate the same things the day before? Can't really write that one off.

So I'm here with the invalids (who seem to be doing just fine), and John and Sam are at church. David is asleep, and Evie are going to work on her closet, which looks like something exploded in it. We'll just relax and hope for the best, but you know? I don't feel so hot either. I'm praying it's in my head, but we'll see.

We watched one of our favorite movies last night, the old Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Such a great movie! The kids just love it. Tonight, we're going to watch White Christmas with Bing Crosby, and this one has to be one of my favorite movies of all time. I remember watching it every year when I was little. John doesn't like it. Obviously, this makes him a little stoopid, because no reasonable person doesn't like White Christmas. Seriously.

On the up side, I'm out of my funk, and my fingers seem to be healed from all the hot glue burning (ok, maybe I'm milking that one a little). Lyndsey and I talked for a while yesterday, and we're trying a few new things with out housework this week, so it'll be fun to see how we each do with that. Other than that, I don't know much new. Please pray for us, that we would just all get well!! I have no desire to be sick over Christmas ... we've already got enough drama as it is!! :)

An Open Letter To My Mother

Dear Mom:

I love you so very much. You are a fantastic mom, and a great grandmother. I would not be the person I am today, in so many little ways, without all the wonderful things you have taught to me and shared with me. Thank you for everything you have done, and for putting up with me through some of the more difficult years of my life. You gave me my love for music of all kinds, and taught me how to be kind and graceful under pressure (ok, I'm still working on that one ...), and showed me the many wonders of Rogers and Hammerstein musicals. I think you're just great!

But please don't ever give my children a gift that requires a hot glue gun again. My fingertips are burning, and the kids are just desperate for me to leave the glue gun low enough so they can sneak off with it, plug it in, and hot glue everything within sight to each other. Let's just stick to slightly less destructive things, like glitter, or homemade silly putty, or rubber cement, or good old-fashioned tempura paint, ok?

You loving and grateful (with this one exception) daughter,
~Brea

Oy.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while; I've been in a funk. I think hormones and weather are contributing, but it's other things, too. My diet hasn't been great. I haven't been sleeping as well as I should (stupid book on Greece!). I haven't felt motivated to make bread in like two weeks; this may sound strange, but it just makes my heart happy to bake and it really lifts my spirit.

And a very sad thing happened last Saturday. Mr McCormick, the sweetest and most wonderful older man in our church, passed away. He was 88, and in mostly good health, but he had a stroke and was gone before he got to the hospital. We had been getting to know him better over the last few months, because we had started taking him a meal once a week. He lived by himself, so we would take food and then stay for a while and visit. He was crazy about the kids, and they just loved him to death. He was in the Army Air Corps in WWII, and Sam especially loved to hear him talk about his experiences.

The kids have had some experience with death, like when John's grandfather passed away a few months back. But they weren't very close to him, so this is somewhat new territory for them. When we told Sam and Evie, they were very sad, and then asked, 'Why?' They've not asked us that before, and I just tried ot be honest with them. I said, 'You know guys, we were so lucky to know Mr McCormick. God blessed us so much by allowing us to be in his life. He loved y'all, and he loved the other kids at the church, but most of all, he loved God. He was such a wonderful, wise man of God, and he always talked to us about how much God had blessed him, and he loved to sing hymns. And God decided that it was time for Mr McCormick to go home, so God probably said, 'Ray, you are one of my sons and I love you, and it's time for you to come Home and be with Me. Come on Home, Ray!' And so Mr McCormick is with God in Heaven now.'

They were very accepting of that. And then they wanted to know how he was going to get to Heaven. Such is any conversation with 4- and 5-year-olds.

So that's my funk. I think I'm getting closer to coming out. Our Christmas tree is up, and simply but wonderfully decorated. Except for the bottom foot and a half, where the baby keeps sneaking up and taking down the candy canes and trying to eat them. He's got it hard, I tell you. :) Hopefully, I'll be up for posting something more interesting in a few days.

I love this feeling

I'm done with my Christmas shopping!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!

We all went down to San Marcos (hello, outlet mall!) on Monday; we left around 11 and got home just after 6:00. It was a surprisingly good day. Yesterday, the kids and I went to Austin to finish up the shopping; we left around 10 and got home about 4:30. The kids were amazing both days, I loved being with them (well, if we're being honest, I loved being with them about 93.5% of the time), and I even managed to do a lot of shopping for them while they were with me. Yay again!!

The only things I have left are a few things for John, and one of our two Angel Tree kids. (This is a wonderful ministry, celebrating their 25th year this year. Check them out. If your church doesn't do this, this is something wonderful for you to look in to for next Christmas. A real blessing.) Anywhoooo, we chose two kids this year, and we've completed the gifts for one. The ladies in the church have a wrapping party for all the gifts in a week, and I'm excited about that.

I had my book club Christmas party Sunday, which was amazing, and my sides hurt from laughing so much, and my cheeks were sore from smiling so much. It's a good feeling. I'll write more about it later.

I was just lamenting yesterday afternoon to Kristie how I was kind of bummed that we don't have a tree up yet, because we usually have one up by the first of December. We've had a lot going on, though, between having the family out for Thanksgiving, people over after that, John hurting his back, the cold we've all had for like two weeks now, and John's car getting hit. Then that wonderful, sweet, and incredibly attractive man surprised me when he got home last night ... He bought me a tree!! He and Sam were going to go cut one like they did last year, but we've just had too much going on. So today, I'll dig out all the Christmas stuff, tonight John and I will set up the tree, and tomorrow, we'll decorate the tree. It's a tradition that we both love. I'll make cocoa, we'll play Christmas music, John and the kids put all the decorations on the tree, and I'll either string popcorn or wrap presents. Or maybe both, because I am the world's best multi-tasker. Not really, but I can pretend, right?? :)

We also got some good new about the car yesterday. The insurance company is going to total it, and they're giving us more than we were hoping for. Way more than we were expecting. We're actually going to end up getting almost as much as we paid for it, and that was two and a half years and 50,000 miles ago. Yet another yay!!

Now, I'm off to make some breakfast, and then do school. And laundry. And make bread. And clean Evie's room. And find Christmas stuff. And try to clean my kitchen. And floor. And take a nap. And play with the world's cutest baby. And mix up some new tea. And start getting ready for some very special company this weekend.

Why am I still sitting here?? I have so much to do!! Maybe I'll just have one more cup of coffee first ...