More Snakes

When we came across the snake who lives under our front step, I emailed pictures to a local expert who was very helpful. He emailed back and confirmed that it is an Eastern King Snake. His organization is called to remove unwanted reptiles such as snakes. From his website, I learned that of the 41 snakes which are native to our state only 6 are venomous.

If you watched the video of our front yard snake encounter, you are probably aware that I had no idea which we had. It is also very obvious on the video that Aaron has a love for these creatures. Since then I have been trying to educate myself on snakes. Aaron will probably have one as a pet in the future and I want to be ready.

I am now on our local expert's email list and he sends out an email when he is going to be giving an educational presentation in the area. He had one last week, but it was a bit far away. Today he had one at a mall, so I loaded up the kids and headed over. It was awesome. He had one of each of the six venomous snakes and showed how to recognize each. He also debunked some stereotypes such as believing some species are naturally aggressive. He demonstrated the lack of aggressiveness with live snakes. He showed which ones are aggressive.

Some of the animals he had with him are not native to our state. Many are pets that people could no longer handle and either passed on to the organization or set free in the wild and were later captured.

Aaron would be the child smiling from ear to ear as he helped hold a 14 foot 100 pound Albino Burmese Python.

Rachel got to help too. She thought it was neat, but she was over it. Aaron hasn't stopped talking about it. He is now helping Hannah make paper snakes and they are pretending that the snakes are hunting for food.

Bead Up the Nose Moment

Rachel turned four just before Hannah was born. We had purchased a triple jogging stroller and I was in the garage in my very pregnant state assembling it. I didn't jog with it often, but I walked a lot when the kids were tiny.

While I was in the garage working on getting that beast of a stroller put together, I heard P.K. yelling for me and I thought he was saying, "Rachel has a bee stuck in her nose." So when I realized he was saying, "She has a bead stuck up her nose" you can imagine I was a bit relieved. Better a bead than a bee. All of my kids were always really good about not putting things in their mouths or other bodily openings with this one exception. They are all expert bead stringers. It is fun, inexpensive, encourages the development and use of fine motor skills and to that point had never been much of an issue. I couldn't begin to count the hours she had spent putting beads on string before this particular incident. For some reason, she just thought it would be fun to stick a bead up her nose. She was old enough and experienced enough to know better. It wasn't really far up there, but far enough that we couldn't get to it without pushing it farther in.

We made a trip to the base ER where the doctor brought in a bag of very intimidating looking tools. Before he had P.K. hold her down he came up with an idea. He had P.K. push the open side of her nose closed and blow in her mouth as if performing mouth to mouth. The bead popped out. I'm glad that worked, but P.K. and I were really thinking she probably should have had to deal with the bag of devices to make sure she never got the urge to stick a bead up her nose again.

So now in our family when one of the kids does something that we know they know better than to do, we call it a "bead up your nose moment."

Hannah had a "bead up your nose" moment today. Santa brought the kids PixOs for Christmas.

PixOs are little plastic beads that are used to make designs. Once a design is created it is misted with water and when the little plastic beads dry you have a creation. They also roll all over the floor and hide in mysterious places when dropped. If you have ever stepped on a Lego, you know what it feels like to step on a PixO. The kids do enjoy making the designs.

Hannah and I spent a large portion of the afternoon at the kids' school decorating and setting up for the Scholastic Book Fair. Yep, another fundraiser. Gotta love it! I digress. Hannah was so well behaved. She sat and colored and received many compliments from other adults about her excellent behavior. Apparently she used up all of her well behaved time for the day while we were there. The day went slightly down hill from there.

Once Rachel and Aaron were home from school, I was helping Aaron with his math homework. Hannah was being pretty loud and I asked her to please be quiet so Aaron could concentrate or to take her noise to her room or the playroom. She kept being out right disobedient and trying to aggravate her brother. I took her out of the room and told her she could choose to stay in the room and be quiet or go to her room. If she did not obey she could choose to be punished. I knew she was mad. She crossed her arms in the classic "Jody pout" and quietly went back to the family room.

She was pretty whiny until dinner time. I knew she was hungry which is probably why she was being a little stinker. We were waiting for P.K. to get home, but when he called and said he was leaving work a bit later I let the kids start eating. She was better after that. After P.K. was home he and I ate dinner and the family just hung out until time for the kids to go to bed.

I sent the kids up to get on jammies and brush their teeth and told them we would be up to do devotions. I carried my computer upstairs and sat it on my bed. I tried to plug the charger in, but it wouldn't go. I looked in the charger and saw...

a PixO! I knew who the guilty party was. I carried the charger with me and found Hannah in the hallway. I showed her the charger and asked if she put the PixO in there. At first she just looked at me. I said, "Yes or no." She said, "Yeah, but I was mad." Then I realized she had done that when she was mad that I wanted her to be quiet while Aaron did his homework! AGHHH!

I handled it well. I didn't even raise my voice. Knowing that P.K. is the keeper of all things electronic related in the house I took it to him and told him Hannah had had a "bead up the nose" moment. Together we were able to remove the PixO without damaging the charger.

P.K. went upstairs to administer punishment and she started crying when he walked into the room. She lost t.v. privileges. Bummer. That one always makes it harder on the parents. At least she didn't stick it up her nose.

My friend Holly posted the following quote on her Facebook page today. I was wanting to share it, but didn't know how I wanted to present it. Before you read it you should know that I love all three of my children dearly and wouldn't trade them for the world. I know all of my friends feel the same way about their children, but I know you have all had moments where you probably felt this way. Thanks to my beloved youngest child, I think this quote is an appropriate way to end this post. "Having kids is like being pecked to death by a duck."

Boosterthon Fun Run

Fundraisers and the telemarketers who call right around dinner time rate about the same in my book.

We are in the midst of Girl Scout cookie season. This is Rachel's fifth year participating in Girl Scouts and her fourth to sell cookies. She started out in Girl Scouts as a Daisy and at that time Daisies did not sell cookies. I don't know if they do now or not. Girl Scouts is a wonderful organization and Rachel has loved it. But I have always dreaded her coming home with her cookie brochure. We have not lived near family since we have had kids so asking the grandparents to buy cookies really isn't that easy. I feel that if I solicit my friends to support a fundraiser one of my kids is participating in then I need to support their child when it is their turn. That doesn't work out well if I don't really need $10.00 wrapping paper.

While living in Indiana we did walk around the circle behind our house and knock on a few doors during cookie season. There were a lot of retired people who had bought homes in that area. Here we do not know any of our neighbors and many of them are renters. I am not in the financial position to get stuck paying for 50 extra boxes of cookies. Since P.K. works at a prison, he is not really in a position to do sells at work. Now we are scheduling booth sales. When you come out of WalMart and see the happy Girl Scouts trying to sell cookies...booth sale. Rachel's leaders this year are very serious about cookie sales. P.K. and I bought a few boxes. They are good cookies. However, if you know me well you know that I am always thinking about loosing weight and having extra Girl Scout cookies stashed throughout my house is not helpful in that area. One of the leaders sent out a very harsh email condemning parents for not signing up for more booth sales. I told Rachel's leader up front that we would not sell a lot of cookies, but that I would not mind giving her cash toward supplies or another need as it arises.

The school just finished another fundraiser. It was called the Boosterthon Fun Run and the whole thing was run by an outside company. They came in and did pep rallies for the kids. They set up a mini track the day of the run and incorporated teaching geography and character values into the fundraising process. The way this fundraiser worked was that the kids were to get pledges per lap they would run the day of the Fun Run. There was a cap of 35 laps. The suggested minimum pledge per lap was one dollar. I have two kids. That could have potentially cost my $70! They could also collect flat pledges which is where someone doesn't want to pledge per lap but just gives a set amount. That is what P.K. and I did. I let the kids call my mom and ask her as well. She also gave them each a flat amount. They wanted to call their other grandparents and one of their aunts, but I just couldn't let the craziness go on.

The kids were encouraged to get pledges from all fifty states. What a fun way to incorporate geography. Of course the last day they were down to four states and had I known someone in one of those states, I probably would have called and asked for a donation so the kids could mark off that last state. Just what the company wants to happen.

The day of the actual run, parents were invited to attend. It was actually a lot of fun. The three guys who had been encouraging the kids through the entire fundraiser were there to cheer them on. There was fun music. The kids were told up front that it was o.k. to walk. During the run they had certain laps that were designated non running such as skip a lap and swim a lap. They played the limbo and had the parents stick their hands out as the limbo stick.

That is Aaron in the red gloves. It was a very cold and windy day for this area. He is holding his cup of water. There was a water station set up and the kids were encouraged to get a drink about every five laps. As each class came to the course they ran through the blue and red blow up tunnel and they were announced by the name the class had come up with. Aaron's class were the Mack Daddies.

If you look at the back of Aaron's shirt you can see a circle. It was divided into sections and numbered to 35 which was the maximum number of laps each child could get pledges for. The teachers formed a line at the starting line and were armed with sharpies. As each child came around they were given a mark on a lap. I thought that was a great way to keep track of how many laps they ran and they had a souvenir.

Here's a shot of Rachel working hard. She completed 31 laps and Aaron completed all 35. I was really impressed with how hard all the kids worked. None of them were complaining that they were tired or it was too long. They really were smiling and having fun.

When I was in school I hate P.E. I was not (still am not) an athlete and I thought it was humiliating to have to play basketball or some other sport that I was awful at. Running the track was torture. I could never keep up. But had someone told me that walking the track was great exercise, I would have willing done it every day. I would love to see something like this implemented as a regular P.E. program in schools. (Not the fundraising part. The fun part.)

The school made over $20,000 with this fundraiser. That was after the company took 45 percent as their profit. I still don't like fundraisers, but I sure do wish I would have come up with this idea.

Family Fun

Last weekend P.K. was off of work so we decided to have some family fun. Aaron's class had gone to a local museum on a field trip and Aaron loved it. A few weeks ago Aaron and P.K. had a guys day and they went to the same museum. P.K. purchased a membership so we could all go back.

This museum had the best fossil/dinosaur exhibit I have ever seen.

P.K. was on the third floor overlooking these dinosaurs. Hannah wanted him to take a picture of us from above. There were several flying dinosaurs suspended in air. That was her favorite part. One can be seen in the top right hand corner of the above picture. Hannah and I are standing between the two tails.

The kids were able to touch fossils. Some of course were replicas but there were also some real ones.

There was a gallery of several types of dinosaurs "with skin on." Hannah wanted to bring Boof Bear so he is in several shots.

We walked into one gallery just in time for an animal chat. The kids got to touch a snake. Aaron loved that part!

The girls were both looking forward to making giant bubbles.

We are looking forward to taking advantage of the membership and going back.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Happy Valentine's Day! We started celebrating yesterday.

P.K. and Hannah started the day with Daddy Donut Day at her school.

Hannah looks less than thrilled in this picture, but let me assure you that this child was beyond excited. She is very difficult to wake up in the mornings and it is very helpful if she is looking forward to something fun that day to motivate her to get up and be in a decent mood. When I was waking her up, I told her it was Daddy Donut Day. She was immediately happy and woke Daddy up telling him it was Daddy Donut Day. This is a great picture of the placemat she made. It is obviously a double placemat for both of them. The part on the left is fill in the blank items about her daddy. Let me share. Hannah's answers are in red. My thoughts are in blue.

My dad is 7 feet tall. (She must have him confused with Marine Wife's husband Stretch.)
My dad weighs 124 pounds. (He is a tall skinny man.)
My dad likes to eat salad. (He likes the stuff that looks like it was picked out of the backyard.)
When my dad goes to work he puts on a suit.
My dad likes for me to snuggle with him.
I like it when my dad plays with me.
My dad always plays on his computer. (He really doesn't play on his computer that often. This one surprised both of us.)
What my dad does best is drive. (Again, surprise. This would not have been my response.)
My dad and I like to "I Spy."

Later that day she had her Valentine's Day party. I brought in a cookie cake, grapes and heart shaped cheese. I had fun using my little cookie cutter to cut out all of those hearts. I was a bit leery because my friend Kari didn't have a great cheese heart experience with her daughter's preschool class. Most of her little hearts went into the garbage. Luckily, the kids here in the south like heart shaped cheese. The kids got to play "Put the Valentine in the Mailbox" which is like "Pin the Tale on the Donkey." I thought that was a creative idea that I will have to file away. I read a Valentine's book to the class which we then gave to the teacher for her classroom library.

After Hannah's party she and I headed over to Aaron's school to help with his party. I took his class the same thing I had taken to Hannah's. His teacher immediately acknowledged the heart shaped cheese and half of the class came running to see this phenomenon. You would have thought she said I brought in a pet monkey. As the kids were enjoying their snack one little boy said, "Aaron your mom makes the best cheese ever." Whew! Way to make a room mom's day.

This is Aaron working on making his candy necklace the teacher gave them.

Rachel's class was allowed to exchange Valentines but they had to make their own box at home and weren't allowed to have a party because her teacher didn't want to take up class time. My heart broke for Rachel. I know it is silly, but I could tell she was disappointed. The other three fourth grade classes had a party. Her teacher is often put out about things that take up class time...fire drills, new students, code red drills (practicing what to do if an intruder is in the building), lunch. I guess I found it so sad because I know this year or next will probably be the last that Rachel gets excited about exchanging Valentines and having a party to go along with that. I wouldn't say it to Rachel but when Rachel was telling us about not having a party because her teacher didn't want to take up class time, I told P.K. that I should tell her teacher that we aren't doing anymore homework because I don't want to take up so much of our family time. During our devotion/prayer time before school yesterday I did pray specifically for her teacher.

I think Hannah helped Rachel this morning. When Hannah and I went to Barnes & Noble to buy the book for her teacher, Hannah saw a copy of "The Diary of a Wimpy Kid." Rachel has been wanting the third in the series and Hannah asked if she could get that for Rachel for Valentine's Day. I gave in. She was so excited to get something she knew would make her sister happy. She then found Aaron a snake book. They both loved them.

I came down early this morning to have some quiet time while the house was still quiet and found a little white box with a red ribbon on it sitting on the counter with my name on it. My sweet husband got me an ipod shuffle. I have mentioned several times how I miss my old walking path and get bored walking the track and that I wished I had something to play music on. I wasn't expecting anything. We are trying so hard to pay off bills. He has been selling a lot of his books on Amazon so I'm sure that is where my ipod shuffle came from. It was very thoughtful and a great surprise. I did tell him that he was very brave to buy such a small device for a woman who often has to call her cell phone to find it.

P.K. and I got each of the kids a WebKinz. It is the "Love Monkey." It is pink with hearts all over it. Aaron and Hannah were thrilled and Rachel was gracious.

Aaron surprised P.K. and me with our own sparkly rocks that he dug out of the ground with his own sweet hands. He assured us they were o.k. because he washed them first. He made us hold out our hands and close our eyes. It is hard to keep a straight face when your seven year old who loves creepy crawlies puts something wet and cold in your hands. Here are my new treasures.

The look of pride on his face was priceless.

The kids had breakfast on our heart plates that I pull out at Valentine's Day each year. Love those little traditions.

A friend I grew up with is coming in town today for her daughter's cheerleading competition and we are going to meet them for dinner afterward. We are going to take the kids to the aquarium this afternoon since it is close by where we will meet her. Great family day!

The Lord has being bringing this verse to mind the past couple of days. I'll type it from the KJV because that is the version I used as a child and to memorize the scripture. "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." I John 4:7-8.

What Should I Be When I Grow Up?

Aaron and Rachel both brought home a note from school announcing kindergarten registration for the fall. Hannah will start kindergarten this fall. I've known this was her last year at home before she starts "real" school, but thinking about taking her to register for kindergarten made it real.

By the time she starts school, I will have been a stay-at-home mom for 10 years. An entire decade. What will I do? I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately. I could go back to work. But what in the world would I do? I am the proud holder of an expired teaching license and really don't want to teach. If I were to go back to work, it would be part-time. I already volunteer at the kids' school and I could easily spend more time there. I could conquer the mountain of laundry and actually keep it to a small hill. I could volunteer at any number of other places. Who knows?

We were all sitting at dinner the other night and Hannah mentioned something about her preschool graduation. Here is part of the conversation that followed.

Jody: What do you all think Mommy should do when Hannah goes to school next year? I'll be home all day by myself.

Aaron: You should get a job.

Hannah: (Looks straight at me and says in a dead serious, matter of fact way) You should... (wait for it)...get a boyfriend.

Have to admit that thought had never crossed my mind.

That's A Sub-Standard Neighborhood

***Update*** Here is what happened. A resident was returning home late and pulled in his garage when he was approached by a man with a handgun. The assailant demanded money from the victim and shot him in the leg. Thankfully, for my peace of mind, it was not random. The two men had had contact in the past. While the assailant was distracted the victim was able to get the jump on him and wrestle the gun away. The victim shot the assailant twice. The assailant ran to a nearby porch and collapsed. The assailant died of his injuries at the hospital. The victim was treated and released.

When we were house hunting back in August I was working with a realtor to find a rental property. She had emailed me information on several houses and I sent her links to some I was interested in.

We arrived in town on a Monday and had Tuesday and Wednesday to find a house. The realtor wouldn't meet with us until Wednesday so we decided to drive around and at least look at the outside of the houses she had given us and then drive by some others I had found.

We didn't see the house we are currently renting listed. Their was a house on the same street that was listed. When I had emailed the realtor about it her reply was, "That is a sub-standard neighborhood." P.K. and I decided that her idea of sub-standard and our idea of sub-standard may be two different things so we drove by the house that was listed. While I was walking around looking at the outside and trying to peak in windows, P.K. was talking to a lady across the street. She mentioned that their had been some houses for rent further back in the neighborhood. We decided to look and just happened to see the one we are in now.

Now I wouldn't want to buy in this neighborhood. Many of the houses are now rental properties and I could see how this wouldn't be the best neighborhood in ten years. However, as I have mentioned before our plan has been to only rent for a year. Comparing this neighborhood to some the realtor had suggested, I could see a slight difference. Many of the other areas were part of home owner's associations and had pools, tennis courts and required your grass to be maintained at or below a certain height. We are humble people and don't need all those bells and whistles. There is nothing wrong with amenities and if we were going to buy, those may be things we want in a neighborhood. We have had tons of out-of-town guests since we have lived here and they have all agreed that this is a nice area.

Some of you may wonder why I am posting so early in the morning (in case my date/time stamp on here is incorrect let me make it clear that it is currently about 1:30 AM) or if there is a point to this story. Here is the conversation that occurred in my home just before midnight. This stuff is real. I couldn't and/or wouldn't make it up.

Jody: (Wakes up from a very nice sound sleep to the sound of the doorbell.) Was that the doorbell?

P.K.: No. (In his defense I often hear things that go bump in the night and ask "Did you hear that?")

Jody: (Looks out the window which happens to be on my side of the bed.) Uh, yeah. There's a fire truck out there.

P.K. (I'm trying to find a robe and he heads down the stairs. There is a policeman at the door.) Yes.

Policeman: Are you all alright?

P.K. Yes.

Policeman: O.K. There has been a shooting and they gave your address first so I needed to check to make sure you are o.k.

Jody: (Forget the robe and now coming down the stairs in my gown (which is rated G)) What? Oh my goodness.

Policeman: You are all o.k?

P.K. Yes.

Policeman: O.K. I have to go check on the shooting guy (those were his exact words...shooting guy).

Jody: (Standing looking out the partially opened front door watching four policeman double time it up the hill to just two or three houses away). Lord, help them.

P.K.: What?

Jody: I was just saying 'Lord, help them'.

...pause...

Jody: Do you think this is what the realtor meant when she classified this as a substandard neighborhood?


P.K. went back to bed while I had more adrenaline pumping than the day we saw the snake. I was walking from room to room trying to see outside. I'm pretty sure it was probably a domestic incident or the policeman surely would have mentioned something. As I was walking around the house, I kept reliving the conversation out loud. Poor P.K. He was just trying to get back to sleep.

Luckily my friend Becky lives in Washington state so it wasn't quite 9:00 PM there. I also thought about calling my friend Kari who is a time zone behind us and keeps late hours. I also owe her a middle of the night wake-up. Anyway, I called Becky who luckily didn't look at her caller i.d. first and assured me that it isn't unusual for one of her siblings to call at that time.

I can't see up the road because our house is set back farther than the others. However as I was talking to Becky, I did see them pull yellow police tape around the opposite corner. I thought it was across the street but it looked like the fire truck drove through there. Anyway, my prayers are with the person who was shot and any others who were involved. I know it is a serious situation. But how can I not blog about it. I have to do something while I am WIDE AWAKE. Becky suggested I should go to bed and practice my memory verses over and over. I guess I'll give that a try. I'll be sure to keep my faithful readers posted.

She's A Big Girl Now

Hannah and I are sitting on the couch watching The Weather Channel. They were discussing rain in Southern California. Hannah is actually playing on Rachel's DS so I didn't even think she was listening.

Hannah: Is Southern California where we use to live?

Jody: Yes.

Hannah: Aren't you glad we aren't living there right now? (Because of the rain.)

Jody: Yes. But I would like to go back. Do you remember living there? (We left about a month before she turned 2).

Hannah: Not really.

Jody: You weren't even two when we left.

Hannah: Yeah. I was really young back then.

Happy 100th Blog Post

This post marks my 100th post. I've found this to be a big deal in bloggyland. I've thought long and hard about how I would like to celebrate this occasion. I've seen other people post "100 Things About Me" for their 100th posts and I love that idea. So here is my list of 100 random things about me. If you don't get too bored and actually make it to the end, I'd be interested to know if you learned something new. I'm going to try to dig especially deep to find a random thing that my husband doesn't know.

1. It is my desire to love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.

2. I believe that God sent His son Jesus Christ to be the saviour of the world

3. God has shown his grace and mercy to me in more ways than I could begin to count

4. I got to attend a taping of the Price Is Right. The studio is much smaller in person.

5. I learned to make homemade jam this past year and can't wait for the fruit to be in season again and out at the Farmers Market. It doesn't taste the same with store bought. I tried.

6. I love old hymns

7. I collect Precious Moments figurines. We have stopped by the Precious Moments Chapel in Carthage, MO several times.

8. I grew up in Indiana.

9. I attended Oakland City University in Indiana.

10. P.K. and I met in college.

11. We took a semester of Biblical Greek together.

12. My first car was a Yugo.

13. I clips lots of coupons and now I usually save more than I spend on every shopping trip.

14. P.K. and I dated a month before we got engaged.

15. We were married seven months later.

16. I lived in Massachusetts for three years while P.K. did his masters.

17. I got to work at Harvard Medical School while we lived there. It was only a temporary position, but it sounds cool.

18. I lived in Tennessee.

19. I taught third grade in Memphis.

20. I worked at Burger King during high school and college. My kids think that is cool.

21. I lived in California for 6 years. I would go back in a heart beat.

22. All three of my kids were born in California.

23. I had pneumonia and was in the hospital when I was two.

24. The next time I was in the hospital was when I had Rachel.

25. I had an emergency c-section with her.

26. That was the first time I ever had surgery.

27. Aaron was also an emergency c-section.

28. I had dilated to between 9-10 centimeters when his heart rate dropped and I was rushed into surgery. That is like going through labor twice for one child.

29. Hannah was a planned c-section.

30. On the rare occasion that I eat cereal, I pour it and let it sit for a few minutes because I like my cereal to get soggy. The sales pitch "Stays crunchy in milk" does not make me want to buy that brand of cereal.

31. I do not like fresh tomatoes. I will eat them cooked in other foods like soup or chili.

32. I lived in Illinois.

33. I homeschooled my kids for one year while we lived in Illinois. I would do it again if I had to.

34. I have been married for almost 15 years.

35. I have convinced Hannah that I turned 29 on my last birthday. Not sure how I am going to convince her I am 29 again this year.

36. A Few Good Men is one of my favorite movies.

37. I am a Star Trek fan. I will watch the original, The Next Generation, Voyager or any of the movies. I wasn't crazy about Deep Space Nine or Enterprise.

38. I drive an Expedition.

39. I don't like a lot of drama.

40. I am not a strong swimmer.

41. I was a klutz as a kid.

42. As a child, I once fell down in a crowded restaurant on Easter Sunday. Blaming that one on the new slick shoes.

43. I also fell down in front of my high school algebra class. Not sure how it happened. One moment I was walking across the front of the room and the next I was on the floor on my knees.

44. I didn't like high school.

45. I won a teddy bear in the first grade for reading more books than anyone else in the entire first grade. I still have the bear.

46. I loved my college experience and am happy to still be in touch with several friends from college.

47. My degree is elementary education which you probably gathered from #19.

48. I love being a stay-at-home mom.

49. I hate it when people assume I have tons of free time because I stay home.

50. I am the oldest of three children.

51. I played the violin in middle school and high school.

52. I took piano lessons for a while.

53. I like to sit and play old hymns on the piano. Not for an audience.

54. I rode the bus to school in elementary school and did not like it.

55. I drive my kids to and from school. They'd probably rather ride the bus. I'm sure they will appreciate my efforts one day.

56. I have a scar on my chin where I flipped off a little riding toy and had to have stitches.

57. People who smack when they eat drive me crazy.

58. People who chew with their mouths open drive me crazy. This is a huge cause of #57.

59. I don't like it when people scrape their fork or spoon on their teeth. You have lips, people!

60. I like to do yard work. At our first base house in 29 Palms we had to rake the sand. It looked so nice when it was finished and it was therapeutic.

61. I never liked history classes.

62. However, I love to visit historical places and think about the people who actually walked those places.

63. I wanted to be a missionary.

64. I did go on two mission trips in college. Does that qualify for #63?

65. Yellow roses are my favorite flower. (This must be the random thing P.K. doesn't know about me. Just kidding!)

66. I can't sing. Not well anyway.

67. I don't like to wear a coat.

68. I like to bird watch. My grandmother can identify several birds by their sounds. I'd like to be able to do that. (That might be two things. If I get stumped, I'll have to separate this one.)

69. I could sit and watch waves roll in for hours.

70. I want to take another family trip to the Grand Canyon.

71. I've been to Niagra Falls twice.

72. I would like to visit all 50 states. I think I am over half way there.

73. I would love to take a trip to the Holy Land with P.K.

74. I don't like to fly. Kind of makes #73 more difficult. Doesn't help #72 either if I want to make it to Hawaii. Can we say long cruise?

75. I had awful morning sickness with all three pregnancies. It was more like 24 hour sickness.(Mentioning a cruise made me wonder if I would get seasick and I've heard that seasickness feels a lot like morning sickness.)

76. I had a miscarriage between Rachel and Aaron. That was one of those times where God reached down and granted me comfort beyond measure.

77. I'm a social drinker...of coffee. I don't really care for it, but will drink it in a pinch.

78. I'd rather have a shower first thing in the morning than a cup of coffee.

79. I'm not a cheery morning person, but I function better in the morning than at night.

80. I love road trips. It is great family time. My kids travel well. I will stop to see road side attractions. Ask me about the "live buffalo" sometime. Flying saves time, but you miss out on so much of the beauty this country has to offer.

81. I'm naturally shy, but will say or do what needs to be said or done.

82. I would love to own and operate a bed and breakfast.

83. I love to roller skate. I gave away my skates that I had owned since I was a kid when I was pregnant with Rachel. I have found a local rink and need to take the kids.

84. I still have my wisdom teeth. The dentist says they need to go.

85. I love to play board games. It is a favorite family activity around our home.

86. I would watch cartoons or Disney movies before I had kids.

87. I have one ear tripled pierced and the other doubled.

88. I only wear earrings in the first hole.

89. They are diamonds that my hubby bought me. I don't even own other earrings anymore.

90. I don't have a favorite food, but am very fond of mashed potatoes. (NOT instant!)

91. I don't really have a sweet tooth, but I do love cake with butter cream frosting.

92. My favorite color is blue.

93. I love to read. Usually nonfiction.

94. I like to watch the weather channel. My husband finds that to be entertaining. Not the weather channel. The fact that I like to watch it.

95. I am not spontaneous. I like to have things planned out in detail well in advance. I actually enjoy planning things. There is something inside of me that is very happy when ever detail is planned out and ready to go.

96. I started praying for my kids' spouses when I was pregnant. God knows who they will marry. I pray that whoever they are that they will know God's love and follow Him. I pray that if they are not part of a Christian family, that their family will come to know Jesus as Lord and Saviour. I pray for God's peace and protection over them.

97. I've been called a control freak. I will admit to having control issues. I don't know that we need to go as far as saying control freak.

98. I was a rabbit in the second grade play. I don't remember the entire story line, but I know I was captured and had to stand in a large metal pot. Then my line was, "They don't call me Jumpy for nothing and here I go." Then I jumped out and hopped away.

99. I like my natural hair color.

And finally...

100. I take my rings off whenever I am home. I don't currently own a watch, but when I did/do I take my rings off and slide them on the watch band. Taking my rings off is just a habit. Putting them on is one of the last things I do before I walk out the door. I have had this habit since grade school.

What Have the Kids Been Doing?

This is Hannah the day she learned how to blow bubbles with her gum. She was so excited and proud of herself. I can remember the first time I blew a bubble. It is a huge deal or right of passage. Could someone please tell me how she could possibly be old enough to figure this out? Wasn't it just yesterday that I was teaching her to blow raspberries (you know with your tongue and lips)? That is a trick I proudly and in all silliness taught all three of my children. I can remember walking through the K-Mart in Yucca Valley, CA with Rachel when she was about 3-4 months old. She made eye contact with me, grinned and let loose with raspberries.

Rachel and Aaron had their parent teacher conferences last week. Both of their teachers had very nice things to say. Rachel got straight A's. She worked really hard and it paid off. Way to go, Rachel!!

Aaron also got a great report card, but he does not yet get letter grades. Before the conference he told me to look around his desk when we got to school. I thought the class probably made something for the parents to see. I walked straight to his desk when I arrived in the classroom. He had taken a little scrap of paper and wrote, "I love you Mom. Aaron" on it.

Too sweet. I often put notes in the kids' lunch boxes and they usually let me know that they have found them. I'm guessing he likes recieving them so much he thought he would give me one. I would have grabbed him and kissed him all over, but he probably would have died from embarrassment with his teacher standing right there. That boy will be a great husband one day.