NOT SO EASILY TRICKED

I was watching an episode of "Desperate Housewives" last week which focused on how we all "judge" other people. We judge our neighbors by the things we see them do. And our judgments are sometimes right on the money, but are quite often misguided and WAY off base.
The show mentioned how we might believe that our neighbors are perfectly good and normal, upstanding citizens. When in reality they may have cheated on their taxes last year. And yet another neighbor may seem to have it all together, but the truth is that they are just one bad hair day away from completely falling apart. Perhaps they have just found out that their spouse, who has "tricked" the world into believing they are in a perfectly happy marriage, has actually been having an affair for years. Now the show specifically focused on neighbors, but in real life we judge everyone we see in some sort of way. And more importantly ....we are judged by others, in return. And we may never truly know what kind of person others deem us to be. Even our children make judgments. Theirs are usually guided by the set of morals which we, as parents, have instilled in them. And as I found out, one Mother's Day, a few years ago....we are not exempt from being judged by our children either. In school, one of my children created a booklet as a gift for me. I tried to photograph the pages so that it could be uploaded into the blog, but the writing was too faint to show up. But it read (misspellings included) as follows:
"MY Mother"
(page 1)
SOME MOTHERS LIVE IN....
1. on Bass Alley
2. the side of the road
3. apartmints
OR
4. Holly wood
MY MOTHER LIVES
" in the woods"

(page 2)
SOME MOTHERS WEAR.....
1. hi heels
2. pony tales
3. ugly gresses (dresses)
OR
4. flip flops
MY MOTHER WEARS
" alote of make up"

(page 3)
SOME MOTHERS HAVE....
1. lots of money
2. lots of gury (jewelry)
3. big bellys
OR
4. sharp nosis
MY MOTHER HAS
" strait hair"

(page 4)
SOME MOTHERS PLAY....
1. tag
2. soccer
3. tennins (tennis)
OR
4. Bolly Ball
MY MOTHER PLAYS
" tick tac toe"

(page 5)
SOME MOTHERS......
1. are mean
2. are grumpy
3. are follish (foolish)
OR
4. jellis (jealous)
MY MOTHER......
" is nice "

So what I learned from this was that even my child views me "MUCH" differently than I might have thought. I guess I should just consider it lucky that I don't seem to have a big belly and apparently I'm not foolish in my childs eyes, but most important of all...my child thinks that I am a "NICE" Mother. As you can tell ...We haven't gotten to the teen years yet!

SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY
Teach me good judgment and discernment,
for I rely on Your commands.
PSALMS 119 : 66

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

In the movie " The Sound Of Music", the list included things like; raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. But I suppose if I were to take the time to search the deepest corners of my mind, by imagining myself fully relaxed, maybe by the side of a warm and cozy fire with a pair of my most favorite fluffy and soft pj's, sipping a nice mug of hot cocoa & flipping through an album filled with memories, my list would be a bit different. I don't think it would work as a song, although anything sung by Julie Andrews always sounded angelic.

The first of my favorite things would be.....Babies Breath.
Not the plant used by florists to adorn the edges of their bouquets. I quite literally love to smell the air being exhaled by my babies, usually when they sleep. I love to lean in close, then even closer, just close enough to feel their breath on my cheek as I inhale their sweetness, taking it in as deep as my lungs will allow.
The next thing on my list would be....Summer Sunsets.
I love to sit in a nice wooden Adirondack chair feeling the warmth of the late afternoon sun, just before it falls below the horizon. The only sounds I can hear are the birds chirping sweet melodies, the wind softly rustling through the leaves of nearby trees and an occasional dog barking somewhere in the distance. My eyes are treated to a dazzling array of colors. Pinks, deep purples, warm oranges and golden yellows all mix together with the bluish grey clouds on the palette in the heavens above.
Another of my favorites on my list is.....Wednesday Nights.
Now, in my opinion, any good home cooked meal that I didn 't have to raise a finger to prepare is a wonderful meal! I am sure all of you kitchen- challenged, burn- everything- you- look- at moms can commiserate on this one with me. So this is why I love Wednesday nights because for almost 10 years now my husband and I have been in a Bible study group which meets at a neighbors home. We have about 12 regular members (all neighbors) who each bring a food dish.
We rotate the main entree to a different couple each week and everyone else brings a side dish or dessert. We never discuss, coordinate or plan ahead of time what to bring, but somehow it always ends up being a perfect meal. Amazingly, we hardly ever even have duplicate dishes. With a variety of ages among us, we have some very talented cooks in our group, present company excluded, of course! It is like having a Thanksgiving Dinner every week. But the best thing of all is that our neighborhood is like one big family.
Next on my list I would have to include my.......Travel Bug.
This is not an insect! But it is really more like an affliction or infatuation that I have always had for traveling. I L-O-V-E to travel! Anywhere...Anytime...Any mode of transportation...I love it all! I enjoy seeing new places. Where some people can't stand having to pack their belongings and don't like dealing with traffic on the interstate or all of the hullabaloo it takes to get through security at airports these days. I don't mind. BRING IT ON!!
If I am experiencing any of these things, bothersome as they may be... it still means I am goin' somewhere! I am one of those people who even gets cranky if too much time lapses between trips! Luckily for me, my hubby has the travel bug too! That's why I love him! And despite my ranting in last weeks post...I do!
Finally, on my list of favorite things(Oh--believe me I could think of more)......Christmas Mornings.
I love to see the joy and excitement in the eyes of my children as they creep from their rooms on Christmas morning and spot all of the presents tucked and stacked deep beneath the limbs of a nice 8 ft. tall Christmas Pine. My heart swells with love every time they squeel with delight at each new gift. Most of all.... I love to see them unwrapping a few of their favorite things!
You see.... it's no accident that I have a clock in the sidebar counting down the minutes to this favorite thing of mine!


SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY
If you then,who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give
good things to those who ask Him?
MATTHEW 7: 11

My "Me" Time

Ever since having kids, I have had one problem which just doesn't seem to get any better. Many of us moms have this same problem in common. No- time-for-me. NONE!! We can't go to the restroom without being interrupted for goodness sake! Can't even get dressed without- someone-barging in on us. And , take a shower....what is that? I haven't even been writing this post for two minutes and I have had to stop 5 times. But this blog site is one of only 3 things that I do on a regular basis- that is ---just for me! What are the other two things you might wonder?
Well...let me start at the beginning. A couple of years ago my husband and I couldn't seem to solve this issue which we were having with each other which often resulted in huge disagreements. You see, he is a stay at home dad,just as I am a stay at home mom. Our children are very lucky. But several days a week he would go into town to run "errands" ,you know.... important stuff like... go to the bank, post office, grocery store etc....followed by a few other stops to places like...Barnes & Noble, the movies, or to lunch with a buddy. And let's not forget the all important game of... GOLF! Meanwhile ...I had to beg....yes... B_E_G for him to watch our- then...2 ...children(now we have 3) so that I could go somewhere..ANYWHERE....it really didn't matter. And at first, I would go sit through some chick flick, by myself(and movies aren't cheap these days). Or go window shopping, which sometimes cost me more $$ than I had planned. And then my hubby would complain about the" expense" of my free time.To which I would respond(inwardly) "AND YOUR GOLF GAME COSTS HOW MUCH?"
So...here comes that other thing that I do -just for me. I joined the church choir. YAY! I was singing for the Lord ...for free!....and getting my "ME" time too!! I thought, surely this will work. Well, almost. See , the choir rehearses 1 time a week for their 1 performance each month. And somehow-without really complaining- my husband manages to let me know that this is an imposition for him to have to watch the children. AND>>> God forbid we have a concert performance too, with the choir.
The third thing that I sometimes do...go to the gym.BIG FUN!! SO..... it really REALLY PEAVES me that he actually has- the- nerve to complain about my blogging. He says things like..."don't worry kids, mom will get to making supper when she finishes blogging". And now my oldest child even says to me, "Mom, are you blogging... AGAIN??" (with attitude) Well to quote an old movie....."GOD AS MY WITNESS".......I WILL NOT QUIT THIS!! So , my followers, stay tuned.....pleeeeease!

SCRIPURE OF THE DAY
Sing praise to God, sing praise;
sing praise to our King, sing praise!
PSALM 47: 6

A FUTURE FULL OF ART

Since she was a toddler, my oldest child, a third grader, has had a profound interest in all things artistic. She used to claim to want to be an illustrator when she grows up. But these days she simply wants to be an artist. Now I had mentioned in an earlier post that I have always had an interest in the arts. Specifically with drawing, painting and photography. I , admittedly, have had no formal training. My college major was in the field of instrumental music performance. While visiting another blog site recently I was fascinated by a sidebar post in which the author wrote about their "Bucket List". Just like the movie, it contained all of the owners unrealized dreams. To be an accomplished artist would be at the top of my bucket list if I had one. When I restructured my blog site recently some of you may remember that I added "My Art Endeavors" as a gadget in my sidebar. It contains photos of a few paintings which I have done in the past. A few are replica's of works done by accomplished painters which I have given credit to in the gallery. But my newest work of art was done in collaboration with my daughter on a rainy day recently. We picked a photo of a painting in an old magazine we found laying around the house. The painting (shown above-left) is titled "Whisper in the Garden" by an artist J. Michael Kennedy using oil on canvas. I had to take a photograph of it in order to use it in my blog and it is slightly blurred. I tried several times to get it to come out clear, but nothin doin'. You can see the replica versions , one by my daughter and one by myself , in the sidebar. Unlike the original artist however, we used watercolors. Your comments are welcomed on our little project. Who knows, maybe someday one or the other of us will have artwork displayed on walls other than our own.

SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY
To one he gave five talents; to another, two; and to another,
one--to each according to his own ability. Then he went on a journey.
MATTHEW 25 : 15

OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES

O K. So I was sitting here this morning getting ready to figure out what to blog about, and ....I KID YOU NOT...just as I started to touch the keys on my computer, my son, a 1st grader-who is home from school because he is sick with (THANK GOD) only a mild case of SWINE FLU, says to me "Hey Mom, I'll give you 1 guess who I am gonna marry when I grow up?!" Before I tell you his answer...I must add that we live in what is considered to be a "red-neck" state in the southern U.S. , but his answer came only from a place of innocence and love. Now ...I was trying real hard to remember any names of the girls in his school class whom he might have shown a recent interest in. And was feeling really guilty for not being able to come up with anything, when he looked at me and pointed to his baby sister (a toddling sweety for sure....but still his Sister). "I'm gonna marry her, mom , because then I will get to live at home longer." By now I was laughing (inwardly, of course) so darned hard I thought I might wet my britches! I had to explain that while it sounds so nice that he loves his little sister and likes living where we live....He cannot EVER _ marry_ his sister!! To make it even better....as I was typing this entry he started reading over my shoulder...he's quite an excellent reader....and he says to me "Mom, your neck is redder right now than mine!" ....."Alright buddy! Go draw a picture for Mommy and stop eavesdropping", I said.
I wish we could all keep our innocence just a little bit longer. It really is sad that we have to lose it and even more sad that it happens at such young ages these days. I mean, children....not even teenagers, but children ages 10, 11 ,12 years old are losing their virginity these days. What does that say about society? Where is that little thing called..Innocence? And what about Parenting? Yesterday ,we in the U.S. kept our eyes glued to our televisions for an hour or so because a 6 year old child was believed to be inside a balloon floating in mid-air across the state of Colorado. As it turned out, the helium filled mega- balloon had been let go and he went and hid from his parents, perhaps because he thought he might be in just a bit of trouble? Ya think? But who didn't do something they knew was wrong when they were a child? We all maybe took a candy bar from a convenience store or cheated on a test. And in some cases we graduated to bigger things like egging cars or rolling lawns in toilet paper. But these days some kids are carrying around weapons and plotting murder and having intercourse! It just makes your head spin! I don't want to keep my kids from growing up...but I hope they can atleast enjoy childhood as it should be.... until a proper age to reach maturity.

SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY
Your calf- idol is rejected, Samaria
How long will they be incapable of innocence?
HOSEA 8 : 5

IN THE "WEB" OF A THIEF

As you may have noticed...I have made several changes on the old bloggin homefront lately.
I am really striving to allow my site to continue to evolve into something that will be interesting
for the wide variety of the viewing blogger public who I am still hopeful to EVENTUALLY find "following" ME. The newest gadget on my blog page, which was added just today, is the subject of this post. It is a "realtime" slideshow of photos taken from other blogger sites. I have placed it just below the Santa clock in the sidebar. The interesting thing is...I wonder if the people who originally posted these photos to their sites... had any idea that someone else...like ME....would be displaying them on another site. So if you are reading my blog and see a photo of your kid in my sidebar gadget, all I can say is ...I hope it makes you smile...I didn't create the gadget. But I guess if I wasn't already paranoid enough about the photos and things I upload to my site...I will be even more so now! This whole topic reminds me of a story I saw in the news recently though, which the entire blogging, facebooking, twittering world NEEDS to know about. Apparently, there are some new, lowlife-dirty-rotten scumbag thieves in cyberspace these days. They "follow" you on your sites communicating with your friends and loved ones ,and they target you by hacking into your e-mail account where the thieves then send a message to a close friend or relative of the yours(posing as YOU). So now your friend or relative also becomes their victim. This nasty email message claims that you are stuck in another country and have had some sort of bad luck (mugging, stolen wallet, lost luggage etc.) and need money wired right away. Several unlucky people have fallen prey to these cyber-scamming criminals by sending money ( they thought....to help a friend). This just makes me sick!!! So I hope.... if there is anyone reading this post...this story is one thing you can feel free to "steal" and pass along.


SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY
The thief must no longer steal. Instead, he must do honest work with his
own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need.
EPHESIANS 4 : 28

COUNTDOWN TO MAYHEM

Well I added some new gadgets to my site recently! The newest of these is my countdown to Christmas clock. I had to laugh because I am the worlds biggest critic when it comes to the whole retail "Holiday" shopping frenzy. What I mean by this is....it drives me crazy that we are pestered earlier and earlier every year by retailers to buy gifts and nick-nack-paddy-whack holiday decorative junk! BAH HUMBUG! Call me Scrooge if you like, but I for one think it is ridiculous! Last year the Christmas advertisement extravaganza began before--I kid you not--before Halloween!!
Now instead of looking forward to the season with excited and eager anticipation, I am forced into being frustrated and just downright dreading the weeks and months preceding any major holiday.
And they play dirty too! Using our kids to get to us even... with all of the newest, coolest, gotta find it, gotta have it, gonna wait all night in line to buy it....TOYS!!
Now call me a mean mom, but if I can't go to the stores in the last 2 weeks before Christmas and find the things I need to buy to fill my kid's wish list then.... I DON"T WANT THEM!! So... I have just started telling my kids that "sometimes Santa just can't make enough of every single "popular" toy for every little girl or boy to have one, and he sometimes gives something else that he knows they might like instead". For example....last year my oldest child just couldn't stop talking about a toy that was seen in a commercial called Bendaroo's . They are colorful twisty twig-like sticks that can be bended every which way into artwork and they even stick to walls. YAY ! So....of course.... I did what any dedicated mom would do... I drove to every store in town looking for these Bendaroo's things for my little angel. Well 2 days before Christmas I finally found 1 person, a store clerk, who had even heard of them! And was informed that they weren't carried in retail stores and could only be ordered online! GREAT!! Just great! Had I known this earlier I might have been able to order them...but I was N_O_T gonna be pressured into paying an extra 50% above the purchase price for expedited delivery! So my Santa's switcheroo story came to life. Of course 6 or 7 months later while walking through a Michaels Craft Store, there the darned things were...right on the shelf.. Bendaroo's. So what do you think? I'm not that mean! Of course I bought them! And now....I hate them! Yes.... that's right H-A-T-E them! They' re everywhere all over my house, stuck in every corner and on all the walls. And now the F_U_N starts all over again! Ho! Ho! HO! UGH!

SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY
It is a trap for anyone to dedicate something rashly
and later to reconsider his vows.
PROVERBS 20:25