A friend from another blog, Lori, started this and I thought it was a great idea - so here it goes - thanks Lori!

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4.

The book closest to me is "The Well Trained Mind" - and there is nothing on page 18, so I flipped to 17 - line 4 is " Rigouros, systematic study has two purposes." - - - ooooh, fascinating - isn't it?

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What's there? shelves - piled with school stuff and work stuff.

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV? The Today show (like 10 minutes of it).

4. Without looking, guess what time it is: 1:27

5. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time? 1:03..oops! rushing time as always!

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear? The girls arguing over flarp! You know the lovely putty that makes horrible, wretched noises!

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?

Unloading groceries! I am living the life - woohoo!

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at? An email message from a colleague

9. What are you wearing? black shorts, converse sneaks, and an Inspi(red) shirt.

10. Did you dream last night? Yes - it was strange - what I remember, I was in a different city - one I did not recognize - it was cold, dreary and snowing. I was getting ready for a party.

11. When did you last laugh? At Soph, earlier (well me too) - we were in the car at a light and she pointed right and said "we need to go Yat way!" - I said "no hon, we need to go this way" - she asked "not yat way?" - I said "no, Yis way" - Sophie speak is kind of catchy.


12. What is on the walls of the room you are in? A timeline for Bella's history lessons, Photos of the girls and two large Maps - a US one and a World one, for geography lessons!


13. Seen anything weird lately?

Hmmm, Sophie had these tiny bumps on her chest and side - yesterday - I put Hydracortesone cream on them and they are better today - not sure what they are/were!

14. What do you think of this quiz?

It's making me think - sort of!

15. What is the last film you saw? Kung Fu Panda - I think that is the name. Last movie for ME - Sex and the City.

16.If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?

Another home and that is about it. I would donate alot of it. Okay, let's change that a bit - I would invest in sound proof walls, so as to avoid hearing the constant arguing (like what is occuring now) between the girlies! Oy!

17. Tell me something about you that I don't know: I would love to do mission work.


18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do? that's a big one - there are too many things I would love to see changed. Guess one of them is our dependance on "things".

19. Do you like to dance? Yes - I love to dance !

20. George Bush: I respect him as the leader of this country.

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her? Bella! :-)

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him? Shepherd- Shep for short! Family name!

23. Would you ever consider living abroad? Absol - friggin- lutely!

24. What do you want to say to God when you reach the pearly gates? Thank you!

St. Louis

The girls and I had a mini vacation in St. Louis. The weather was great and our time there truly relaxing. It was great to play tourist a bit, we went to Grant's farm - land in the city that is home to many wild animals from bald eagles to texas longhorns and elephants, we went to Ted Drewes an icon of frozen custard, the arch and several other places. I can't begin to tell you how wonderful the girls were, they absolutely enjoyed their time with their Dad too!

Swimming

Bella is an excellent swimmer - always has been - guess she gets it from her Mom (LOL!! ;-)) Anyway, when we go to the pool she has a blast just plays and swims like crazy...well Soph is no different..since she was one she seems to have gotten the idea of swimming and has been able to doggie paddle with the best of them. Today we were working on actually swimming and floating. She did pretty well, but the times I let her go under a bit, in no way pleased her and she let me know that. Fingers crossed she'll be swimming without her safety seal by summer's end - heck if she can master potty training in less then two days this week....I figure this is a piece of cake!!!

Oh - gotta share a funny thing - while I was helping her float, little bubbles came from the water and with a big grin on Soph's face and at the top of her lungs, she bellowed "I TOOT" with a giggle! Kids - what more can I say!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

"I had a great day Mom...."

Was a great day! First of it's kind in quiet awhile - truly. Bella started VBS yesterday and when I took her she was extremely nervous.....she never has been in the past. She is a really outgoing child and never has trouble meeting anyone, even this year. She can walk into any room and immediately have a friend for life....it's just the way she has always been. Given that, I was surprised yesterday when her eyes started to well up and she remarked that she might just want to go home....I encouraged that she "could do this" and gave her a big hug and Soph and I headed out. I felt badly for her and through the day, in my constant conversation with God...just kept asking for "my girl back" - wondering what was happening to my family....and further devastated at the emotional destruction that has taken place over the past months and year.

While Bella was at VBS in the morning I turned my attention to Soph. She has not gotten as much time with me in the past year as I would have preferred. Homeschooling Bella was something that we needed to do and definitely something God called me to do, but entirely limited my time with Soph....so I was so excited to really have a morning with her. I let her choose and we went to the park, played tag, took a walk and when we got home took another walk - well I walked, while she slowly, very slowly rode her trike around the neighborhood. She would stop for anything that looked interesting...branches in the road, pretty weeds (okay, her perspective - flowers), birds, planes - you name it......in short, we had a blast! I loved it! REALLY REALLY enjoyed our time - wait I didn't stress that enough - - - IT WAS LIKE OLD TIMES, and a I LOVED IT!!!

12 noon rolled around and it was time to get Bella. We got there a little early and sat in a pew while we watched the end ceremony. I saw Bella's head bobbing to the music and laughing...she was talking to a couple of girls around her and her smile could not have been bigger. There was a twinge in my heart and a tear in my eye - - I saw her from a distance in a way I used to always see her - it was phenominal!!!!

When she spotted Soph and I, and the program was over, she came running - telling me that this was even better than New Orleans - - Whoa nelly!!! Can't believe this child said that - she has missed NOLA so much, I was beginning to wonder if anything would suffice! She was counting down the hours until Tuesday!!! What a blessing. I had to lift up an immediate thank you to God.....in such a short time, my morning prayers were answered and my girls were more like themselves then I had seen in eons!!!

The day continued from there, we had a fun lunch together, worked on school work (only a few more weeks) and played card games, dress up and just rough housed the entire rest of the day until bed at 9:15 or so! They both went to bed with smiles on their faces and after putting them to sleep and walking out - simultaneously, as if planned, they shouted "love you Mom" - to which Bella added "I had a great day Mom - thanks!"

Say what you will about the things in my life of late - but that, THAT is what makes it all worth while - life, in my eyes, doesn't get much better then the joy I saw on my girls' faces yesterday - and it didn't take fancy toys, or magnificent movies, incredible food or a theme park - just normal, simple moments - - - and they were fabulous - - each and every one!!!!!

My beautiful girl!

My Bella boo has such a precious spirit, such a loving soul - it just exudes itself on the exterior!!!

Vacation

Normally this time each year, we would be preparing for our annual beach trip. We have been going to the same beach every year with my sister's family and her in-laws, they are wonderful people, since Bella was 3!!! We have always had a blast. They will all be leaving soon and I am so bummed that we won't make it this year!!!

Thinking about that trip though, makes me remember one of my favorite Bella pics - so of course I had to share!!!

Fingers crossed that next year will be different!!!