Mani/pedi... is good for the soul!

The text message read:

"Lauren, I have a big surprise for you after school, be READY".

The return text read:

"mom, I am so excited what is the surprise??".

The text back said:

"I am not telling, get ready, and wear flip flops"

A half hour later, one very excited 10 year old, and I went to the new nail salon in town and got a manicure and pedicure.

She picked a dark sparkly pink, exactly the color I knew she would pick.

I think she may have enjoyed the massage chair a TINY bit.....

I don't think she minded the manicure either!!

Good times!

Do they know Jesus?

Last week was a long one.

Jack had pains in his side Monday night. The stellar mother that I am, sent him to bed and told him it would be better in the morning.

A doctor visit, cat scan, 3 blood draws, an IV, a long morning and afternoon at the hospital, a rockin case of hives, 2 missed days of work (for me), 3 missed days of school (for him), a 7 year old hopped up on steroids, threats to duct tape previously named child hopped up on steroids to the kitchen floor, a Town Hall for Hope, a school carnival, and a weekend full of rain and thunderstorms brings us to Sunday morning.

Somehow this morning as we were walking out the door the subject of Jack's cousins came up. Jack asked--"aren't they going to church?" Ben and I both replied "no". Jack, getting more concerned asks "do they ever go to church?" to which we again replied "no". The next question really knocked us on our butts, with wide concerned eyes my sweet 7 year old asks "well, do they know Jesus??"

How do you answer that? Jack did not stop with do they go to church, because even in his little 7 year old mind he knows that going to church, while good and necessary, does not actually mean that people know Jesus! While we would like to think that they did, wish that they did, I know that some don't know Jesus the way my kids do and that is a sad fact. I am thankful for the awesome and amazing children's program at our church, my own "baby" Christianity, for my sweet "baby" who is concerned that people know Jesus, and his new favorite song "Jesus Freak" cuz he don't really care if they find out he's a Jesus freak!!

I wish I could ask questions like Jack, "do they know Jesus?"

Today our wonderful Pastor talked about showing others Jesus' love though our actions, no matter where we are, and what may be happening in our lives at the moment.

The question I really need to ask myself is "do they see Jesus in me?" If they can't see Him in me how can I ever expect those who don't know Him, but know me, to ever know Him, even if I say I am a Christian, and I love Jesus CAN THEY SEE HIM IN ME?????? (if that nightmare of a run-on sentence makes any sense?) but somehow I know it will....for those who know Him.

Actions do speak louder than words, my friends!

Am I sitting in my soft chair?

I got a new necklace.

I LOVE LOVE my new necklace, it came from my dear sweet friend, and was brought back from her trip to Uganda. I never really thought much about it, except how pretty it is and how much i dig it. Then a co-worker mentioned that it looked like those paper beads. huh, I guess it does, maybe it is.

Well it is.

So I did a little web surfing and found the website for BeadforLife. WOWZA.

Reading along, minding my own business, learning about the bead makers, I came across this quote from Namakasa Rose:


"She says to everyone who supports BeadforLife, “Thank you for not sitting in your soft chair while I was dying.” "


I read it, started to hit the back button, then I read it again, and again, and again. "WHILE I WAS DYING" not, "while i was jonesing for McDonalds", not "while I think I need a new purse", not "while i whine about my TINY messy house", not "while I sit in my heated and cooled house with electricity, running water, 4 tvs, internet, flushing toilets, soft bed, food in the fridge, car in the garage, clothes in the dresser (or in laundry baskets all over the living room)".

Um, yeah.

I live in the land of too much is never enough. Bigger houses, nicer cars, better clothes and shoes and purses.

Rose just wants to thank us for not sitting on our soft chair while she was dying.

WOW

I know it is St. Patrick's Day but this is a little ridiculous...

Good Morning????

I like green.

I support St. Patrick's Day.

In my quest for good health I have been back on my smoothie kick (YUM!).

Needless to say after seeing the pictures, things did not work out very well this morning. I had the smoothie almost done, added the frozen bananas, and turned my back to rinse out my container, Ben happened to be wallking into the kitchen when it happened and said that it raised about 6 inches off the base and "helicoptered" to it's death on the floor.

So, I screamed the obligatory womanly scream, and then grabbed my camera, what else??

I had to call into work (I forgot to take the pics of the smoothie I was wearing in my hair, and all the way down my back), I am out a brand new blender, the jar cracked my floor in the fall, I had to re-shower, bit worst of all I wasted a whole smoothie and have no means to make more this morning. :(

Crack in the cookies?

I would consider myself a reasonable woman.

That being said, I cannot imagine how I got saddled with an addiction. An addiction that flares up once a year, makes me hide things from my family, makes me accuse those I love of tampering with my stash, and makes me pine for the same time next year.

Girl Scout cookie time.

The only thing I can think of (as a reasonable woman of course) is that they put crack in the cookies.

There I said it, now if you don't mind I have to wrap this up because I have one more roll of Thin Mints calling my name from the freezer, and I have to eat them in the bathroom where I can lock the door---away from all those prying eyes, and begging lips......

PS don't be alarmed if you see me on the street and my teeth are black, my eyes are bloodshot, and fingernails broken---it is only temporary--and thin mint residue :)

We made balls!

I went to visit Heth and 3 of the Laundry Pile kids yesterday afternoon. We made Oreo balls. They were hideously ugly.

We had a "ball" making them, even though we (ok, that was all me, Heth was helping Jack with the Wii) destroyed one bowl full of chocolate almond bark in the microwave, tried to use baggies with a hole cut in the corner to "decorate" but only burned our hands and globbed it on, making the ugly even uglier.

But as ugly as they are they were completely delicious.

good times!!!

Lola, you naughty little girl!

My kitty came home!!

Lola ran away Thursday night when Melanie and I were at *gasp* Target, TJMaxx and Peppers drinking Starbucks and sorting through the delicious clearance items. I came home to no kitty and one very sad family.



I was completely heartbroken! Ben felt terribly bad because he was home when she ran away and I was not. Friday at work I was a mess, (I know, it is a cat right??) in fact, Ben and I drove around the neighborhood Friday on my lunch calling for her naughty self. No kitty.



No kitty on Saturday so I printed lost cat flyers (yes, I totally did), and read up on some British website devoted to finding lost kitties.



No kitty on Sunday and I was sick in bed, but had the window cracked above my head just in case I heard her meow.



No kitty Monday, but Ben and I spent the night listening to my Ipod (on the groovolicious Bose Ipod dock I got with my Christmas money) which is chock full of Casting Crowns, Chris Tomlin, Brandon Heath, Phillips Craig and Dean, and other super music (as all of you know, it is 99% Casting Crowns, all 4 albums including the live versions of 3 :) ok, and some Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, Gary Allan, and some various 80's and 90's love songs.

So we sat on the couch like a couple of geeks singing along and even dancing with our kids.



Since Heth is gung ho about this Run Like a Mother race (love ya girl) Mel, Tara, and I decide to start walking at night, starting last night..in the cold..in the rain. The entire walk we call kitty kitty for Lola, trying to decide which name to call as she has so many, incl her nicknames which I will not divulge here in order to protect her dignity.



Apparently it was successful because as Ben opened the door this morning to move his truck from behind my car he was greeted by LOLA!!! YAY!!

No idea where the little stinker was, but she looks a little skinny and was definitely interested in her food bowl!

YAY