Time for a Change

Since temperatures are supposed to top out at 90* tomorrow, I think it is time I took down the snow day pictures, don't you?

Christmas Wrapping Skin

Love this time of year. And love the fact I got a new blog skin up before it passed me by.

Friday Round Up

Tami decided to do a round-up, and you know this Texan can't let a challenge like that pass me by. So, I'll just do a little cattle rustlin' (that's cowboy talk for 'stealing her post idea'--but it doesn't really count because she invited me). Hopefully, I'll make it through before the bottom drops out and I lose access. We are in for some nasty weather. No kidding, it is time to circle the wagons and batten down the hatches.

1. The master attended our local tea party on Tuesday. He was surprised at the crowd of a thousand. It was a larger group than had ever assembled at our county courthouse. I'm totally disgusted at the way the liberal media is trying to downplay and distort what happened this week--the silent majority at last making their voices heard. I only pray it is not too late. I was stunned to learn that I am labeled by my own countrymen as a "right wing extremist" (because I am pro-life and own a gun) and as such, pose a "terrorist threat." I'm thinking of having some T-shirts printed up: HOME-GROWN TERRORIST.
I wish I could have been at the tea party, but it was right during nap time. Ah well, "The hand that rocks the cradle moves the world." Perhaps we should form a Pacifiers and Pampers protest-to take place in the 9:00-10:00 hour?

2. K did great at the Young Poet's Awards. He placed third in his age division. He writes in praise of books--I just love this kid:

If Books Could Talk

If books could talk, what would they say?

Would they shout, "Read me!", or "Do you want to play?"

Would they talk about adventures galore?

I have these questions and much, much more.

Books can't talk, yes that is true, but books can shout "Read me!" to you.

If you see a book that you want to read, grab it, and you'll see what I mean.

As long as you have a book in your hand, you'll never be bored, now isn't that grand?

When you give someone something, a book is good to send, but not if they don't like

THE END!

3. I did not get any knowledgeable feedback regarding smilebox. Please if you are out there lurking and have smilebox information--leave it. Not to sound like I'm begging or anything ;0)

4. Cara sat up on her own this week. She has been able to maintain a sitting position for several weeks, but we've found her sitting up in her crib twice over the last few days. Her physical therapist will be so pleased.

Well, there you go Tami. That was fun and thanks for the invite, pardner.

Hello and Goodbye!

Just a quick note to let you all know that I am so missing my blogging friend. Hello, everyone! I've taken a few minutes to skim and scam your recent posts, but no time to comment. We moved the vast portion of our possessions on Saturday past, but left the computers set up in our old house. We've been living at the new house since then so I haven't had much chance to veg and blog this week. Incidentally, I've been MUCH more productive. Surely this is merely coincidence?
I've got to type fast, because when the master comes in from clearing out the garage, and finds me blogging, I am in B-I-G trouble. He's going to pull the plug for sure.
This is also a goodbye-for-now post, in that we do not have viable internet options at Sunnyside Mission, and I don't really know what we are going to do. There is a tower going up in two weeks down the road, but the provider is iffy as whether or not we will be able to pick up the signal. Good thing Obama has promised us all broadband, right? Whew! That's a big relief.
Here comes the master...gotta go.

New Blog

I have a new devotional blog. I'm very excited about the Bible study I'm doing with bloggy friends near and far by Priscila Shirer entitled Can We Talk, and also an up and coming study I'll be doing with the church's women's group by John McArthur, Twelve Extraordinary Women. I'll be posting some of my thoughts there for the other ladies in the group to read, if they so choose, and for my own personal reflection. I'm so much better able to remember what I've learned if I write it. There might be a whole slue of them (I've got a lot to lean), so I decided to make a separate blog. If you are not doing the study, you wouldn't find them of interest.

Nicknames

A new blog friend, Faith, is hosting a give away. To enter, you must blog about your family pet names. I think I'm actually posting after the deadline, but maybe she will show grace. I've blogged in the past about my father's penchant for nicknames, so I will focus on my kids.
K-widely addressed as 'Bubba' by his siblings. His name is a little tricky for toddler tongues, and Abby deemed it too difficult to even attempt. Abby's motto for life is, "Why trouble yourself?" 'Bubba' he became and I'm afraid he will forever remain. Whenever he is rescuing them from certain destruction [aka Ethyl (we'll get to her later)], they refer to him as 'Super Bubba.' As in, "Super Bubba, saves the day again!" Also, all my kids have F names, K's is 'Frick.'
Abigail or Abby- 'Abs-a-rooski,' 'Abera-ka-dabera,' Her super-hero name is 'Amazing Abby,' and her F name is 'Frak.'
Ian- 'Ian Bian,' 'Incredible Ian, 'Mansie' (pronounced with an /a/ as the vowel in 'caught'), 'Fester'
Marina-'Little Russian Senorita' (because she loves hot sauce, and when we brought her home, she could eat a man-size plate of enchiladas),'Ruthie Robot' (long, long story on this one. Requires a separate post), 'Marvelous Marina,' 'Fiona'
Randy-'Rando Calrecian' (We're Star Wars fans, can you tell?), 'Randy La Rue' (on account of his being our only true coonie baby, with, "a fine French nose.") He is too little to save any younger siblings, so has not been christened with his super-hero title. 'Farcus.'
Cara- 'Cara-Beara,' now this is a crazy one, and I can't even tell you where it came from, but I said it one day, and it just fit her.....wait for it......'Poodles N' Snoodles' And finally, 'Fatima of the Seven Screams.' (You'd have to be a Ray Stevens fan to get that. Fatima only appears when Cara gets off schedule. See post below.)
Me-the master and I generally call each other 'babe' face to face. He introduces me to other people as 'Jessy' or 'Jess.' I have to remind him that is not my name. He said his vows to 'Jessica K______' Never calls me 'Jessica' unless he is very, very angry with me. Lastly--and this is not a nickname for me, this is the name of my alter ego, who has on occasion taken possession of my body--Ethyl. In religious contexts, she is referred to as 'Sister Ethyl.'
J-you know him as 'the master' (not capitalized). This name is only used in blogland. When he reminds me of my dad, he is 'Donald Richard' and when he behaves entirely too much like a S______, he is referred to as 'Aunt Betty.' His alter ego is named 'Herb' or 'Pastor Herb.' Herb is married to Ethyl and together they have six kids: Frik, Frak, Fester, Fiona, Farcus and Fatima. But they are not nice people, you don't want to meet them.

Here's hoping I win the Starbuck's card. Someday--far, far in the future--I may get to use it!

Was It Something I Said?

I was doing a little surfing, killing time until the master came home from P*p* John's, and since Debbie has a HUGE blog role, I decided to try out some blogs that I don't normally read. Quite by accident I discovered a post from a blogger named JOY (never visited her blog before) that was addressing a negative commenter. Do you remember the sad situation I mentioned earlier in the week--where the adoptive parents had just found out that the birthmother was having second thoughts? Well, the adoptive mother's name is Adrienne, and the birthmother did decide to parent. Anyway, Joy was saying that a commenter--ANNIEMAC--had used both Joy's and Adrienne's blog as a platform for her views. Intrigued, because ANNIEMAC is a first/birthmom, I decided to find out what "views" these were. I must really have too much time on my hands....
After reading ANIEMAC's comment on Joy's blog, I clicked over to see if I could find the offensive comments on Adrienne's blog, because, quite frankly, ANNIEMAC's writing was not completely coherent, and I hoped that in reading her other comments, I would better understand the point she was trying to make. Long story not so short, I noticed while skimming the hundred's of comments on Adrienne's blog, that my two comments--one of congratulations and one of condolences--have been removed. Or at least, I'm assuming they have been removed. I can't find them anywhere. I know for certain that the first comment I left published. On the day I posted it, I went back to read the string later in the day and it was there. I'm not sure about the second one.
I can't remember exactly what I wrote on each one. The one I left when they were waiting to hear if the birthmother was going to parent was something to this effect:
"I am so sorry you are going through this. I'm praying that the birthmom will be given wisdom to make the right decision."
Do you see anything wrong with that? The first comment (from when everything was going great), might have been a little more controversial. Adrienne kept referring to the baby as a "gift" and saying that the birthmom was "giving" them a baby. I gently (or so I thought) shared with her what I have read and heard directly from birthmothers first: this adoption language is inaccurate at best. They don't "give" adoptive parents their babies; they give their babies the gift of adoptive parents. I said how that change of perspective had been meaningful to me as an adoptive mom and made me feel very special. I hoped it would make her feel special, too. Hmm...guess it didn't.
I'd like to get some honest feedback on this. This family is in a crisis situation and I would feel terrible over saying anything hurtful. If ya'll think I have written something insulting, I would like to apologize to Adrienne. But presently, I'm at a loss to know why my comparatively mild comments (to my way of thinking) were trashed, while other comments--like ANNIEMAC's rants--were left.

Picture Challenge

This is a challenge post. Hence the title. You are supposed to post the sixth picture from your sixth file on your computer. I haven't yet checked what that will be....Yikes! It is a picture of a very pregnant me unwrapping gifts at Randy's baby shower. At least the gift is covering much of my hugeness. Thanks, Tami, for that little walk down memory lane. Anyone else?

Blog Skin

Cari, I think you are right. I would like a little less picture in the header. I'd love to paste the title and subtitle (verse) along with a some of the heart/flower graphics. I'm wanting it to have a sort of scrapbook look at top. Ideally using several photos instead of the one large photo. The only problem is that I'm working with the online free version of PhotoShop, and it isn't very user friendly. Especially if you are not a computer graphics geek. I've been playing around with it, but can't seem to manage any effects except for black and white and text. I can't even shrink the photo!
Debbie, I like your header. Simple but clean and crisp. I think I might try it and see which looks the best. But I don't know how you got your nifty framing. Did you design it in blogger?