Undignified

Thanks Matt -for the video! Two of my favorite things...David Crowder and Napoleon Dynamite!!

Jack and Vivi

So last night the husband and I played host to some teeny guests (Jack & Vivi). It was an exciting (and tiring night) of Mac 'n Cheese, chase Uncle Randy and Dr. Seuss books. Oh the joys of kids! I do have to say that there is nothing like the laughter of a 4 yr old being thrown into the air by her uncle!















Or of a 1 yr old laughing at his sister (who was laughing at her uncle).













And there is nothing like making a "happy plate" with your Mac 'N Cheese!












And nothing like a baby face covered in black beans!












And then...at the end of the day...when all is quiet...and the little angels are snug in their beds...there is nothing like standing in your living room and wondering what the HECK happened to your furniture!

Pics of the house...as promised!

Please don't judge the sparse decor! I am working on it - but I haven't been able to hang anything yet.

1) Breakfast Room - The chairs were purchased in a garage sale by my mom and dad - they will be painted black.

2) Dining Room - not much to say about this room. It is on the list to be painted.

3) Living Room - In front of the fire place you will notice a portable a/c. This is how we survived 3 weeks without air conditioning.

4) The Kitchen - The view from the living. It seemed so much cleaner before I took the pictures!

That is all that I have "put together" so far! The gameroom is a major work in progress - we have no idea what we will do in there. And the bedrooms are the current project. I'll post more pics as I progress!

An Ode to my Nephew

For My Nephew on His 7th Birthday!
Happy Birthday to you...
Happy Birthday to you...
You act like a MONKEY...
And you smell like one too!!

Happy Brithday!!!!

The Frisky Frog Story

So in the last post I mentioned that we had a frisky little frog chase us...well here is the story!

So, the pool had been closed for the winter (covered with no circulation) and we were trying to get it open for the spring and to sell the house. Well, if you have ever owned a pool, you know that it gets a little green and "soupy" over the winter. And you will also know that it is a real pain to cover and uncover the stinkin' thing. So we had gone to all the trouble of uncovering it and we discovered the pump wouldn't come on. While waiting for the pool people to come fix it, the pool just sat there exposed and gross. My husband pondered whether or not he could reenact Jesus walking on the water - that's how thick it was!!

So the frogs moved in after a rainstorm one night...and didn't leave. I tried to rescue them a few times, thinking they were stuck (and not wanting to have to pull their bloated corpses out later) but they just got right back in! And every night they croaked their little hearts out.

Well, one night we just couldn't take the noise anymore. So, armed with a flashlight for each of us, my husband and I shut the dog in the house (which she did NOT like) and set out in search of the noisy things. We found one on each end of the pool (the girl they were serenading was in the pool) and we proceeded to tell them to SHUT-UP (like they were going to listen to us)! After we felt like they had gotten the point we headed back to the house. In the meantime the frogs got brave and started croaking and moving around. When we got inside I said "If they followed us back to the house I am going to freak out!" So my husband turned on the back porch light and sure enough there they were (one right by the door, the other one not far behind)!!!! It was like some science fiction movie!!! Attack of the Killer Frogs! We aren't afraid of frogs in general (I quite like amphibians myself) but these guys were slightly demented. So we turned off the light and shut the blinds and let them do their thing outside that night.

If you put a pillow over your head the noise isn't that bad!

Adventures in Owning a Home

My husband and I just bought a new home. We were starting to out-grow the "starter home" (not because of kids, just because of my obsession with furniture)...and we wanted the space to start a family...and the old house had a pool that we used about 6 times a year but cost us a small fortune...so we upgraded. It is a fantastic house, well...except for the air conditioner that has gone out 3 times in 4 weeks (in Texas where it is currently averaging 101 degrees...at midnight). Why is it that when something goes wrong 1) it happens over the weekend when it would cost almost as much as the new house to get a repairman out there - or you have to suffer through until Monday...at which time you have to wait 3 days until they have an opening 2) it always "works just fine" when the over-priced repairman shows up?? Mr. Repairman better watch out...I am about ready to kick him in the teeth.

Here are the Top Ten Worst House Repair Experiences my husband and I have had in our 5 years of marriage:

1) Having the laterals and sand changed out of our sand filter on our pool. The kicker was that Frick and Frack that did the work dumped the old sand on my flower bed and killed all my flowers.

2) Having the tube to the Polaris (pool vac) repaired after aforementioned Frick and Frack punctured it while fixing the sand filter. Guess what they used to fix it! DUCK TAPE!! Yeah, we pitched quite a fit over that and never used the company again.

3) Having the sewer system back up and break the cleanout cap off of the outlet in the front yard. The neighbors came to tell us that we had pooh in the front yard. Nice.

4) The fridge went out and we had to wait 4 days for the warranty company to come fix it (and of course I had JUST bought groceries the day before). When they finally did come out, the guy burned holes in my kitchen floor with the solder. Nope, he didn't use a drop cloth.

5) The main water pipe in our front yard burst - quickly filling the yard and street (and of course it was a Sunday). We had to call the emergency line to the plumber and they sent out a man with one arm that wasn't able to do the job, plus he wanted to go to his son's going away party and only had about 20 minutes to help us. HELLO!!! We had to fix it ourselves. By the way, I have nothing against one-armed plumbers.

6) We had a leaky shower...the plumber came out 5 times...yes, 5...before he finally fixed it. Here is how it went:
-visit 1: thought it was fixed
-visit 2: a week later, after finding mildew growing on the floor under the cabinets (while the cabinets themselves were dry), we realized there was a leak in the wall
-visit 3: bathroom flooded after one shower, obviously not fixed yet
-visit 4: now the cold water handle is on backwards and, you guessed it, shower is STILL LEAKING!
-visit 5: FIXED! Finally!

7) While trying to re-open our pool in the spring - the swimming pool pump went out, we were on the waiting list for 3 weeks to get it fixed. In the meantime frogs took up residence in the pool and kept us up nights while they sang their little love songs to each other. (One frisky little frog chased us to the back door one night after we tried to get him to shut-up. It freaked me out a little bit!)

8) Here I am going to count all the other times our pool pump went out...I think 3 times in 5 years - which included 2 brand new pumps.

9) The head was broken off of one of our sprinklers and flooded the backyard.

10) We had a "pool house" bathroom (so that people didn't track water into the house) located next to the pool - and we didn't realize that the toilet was constantly running and not shutting off. It went on like that for an entire month...when we got the water bill it was $450. My husband almost had a heart attack.

So, now begins the adventure in the new house!!

OK GO Treadmill Dance

Happy Friday!

Read Receipt Requested

I hate it when I get those emails with a "Read Receipt Request" - you know that little box that pops up and says that the sender would like to know if you bothered to take the time to read their annoying email. I hate that. Maybe I don't want you to know if I read your email or not...or maybe I didn't read it at all and never knew that you requested a receipt but didn't want you to know I didn't read it. It is such an invasion of privacy! Get out of my world!!! So, FYI...if you send me an email with a read receipt request I will always click - no...no I don't want you to know I did or did not read your email.

Do you like my nails?

I work at a church, and let me tell you - it can be really entertaining at times. We have two little elderly ladies that re-stock the pens and envelopes in the Sanctuary every week. And every week when they are finished they bring us whatever they found lying on the pews. Most of the time it is money or crayons and occasionally it is something more important like glasses or jewelry. So I gladly take them and put them in the lost-and-found or the trash or in with the offering (depending on what it is). But one week I got quite a shock when they brought me fingernail clippings. That's right...I said FINGER-NAIL-CLIPPINGS. Now what possessed them to gather each one of those little nails up and carry them in their sweet little hands all the way to the office is beyond me (or - more importantly - who decides to clip their nails in CHURCH)! But there they were - being held out to me like some sort of offering. This time I just handed them the trash can and tried really hard not to say anything rude.

Guess the sermon really made an impact that Sunday!

Who has the answer key?

I read this blog every single day. I love how this guy throws out these little questions that really get you thinking. Some of them are silly, but some of them are really deep. More than anything, though, I love to read the comments. He has such a wide range of readers that have such a variety of beliefs. I find it fascinating.

But this particular entry has really had me thinking today. Not about why God does or does not do things (I'm just not worried about that - He is in control) but how do I make those around me understand that type of faith. We live in such a cynical world. It often feels to me that people are too lazy to have faith, maybe too independent. They don't want to work to understand the Truth or give up control in order to believe. So how do you effectively share, with a non-believer, how to have that unexplainable faith. That trust that, in all actuality, doesn't always make sense.

This is something I really struggle with from time to time. How do I make them see that God loves them no matter how "happy" he makes them. Why did God allow the girl to be raped? I really don't know. I have a lot of theories - I'm just too lazy to type them all out (there goes that "lazy" thing again). But when all is said and done, I am okay with saying that I don't have all the answers. God doesn't want us to know everything - what would be the fun of heaven if we already knew what it was all about?? Now I just have to figure out how to make others understand.

Life is an adventure!