Just Something I Am Praying About

Since Cam moved out and Eric is getting bigger my heart has been feeling the tug towards foster care. I see the foster kids at my school and I just want them to come live with me.

We don't have a large home,but we have a large amount of love and I really think we have a lot to offer even if it is just a stepping stone in someones life path.

I have no desire for a girl although Steve has always said we could adopt a girl but my heart and desire is for a boy, not a baby boy but one 7 or up...

Steve and Eric are on board but like I said, it is just a prayer... For now

Funny what you get used to

The other day I was leaving the Doctor's office and I needed to use the restroom.

When I was leaving the stall I was almost out the door when I realized I needed to manually flush the toilet.
How embarassing.

Then I went over to the sink and ran my hands under the faucet and realized I needed to turn on the water

WITH MY HANDS!!!

I actually had to pull down my own paper towel too.
What is this world coming to.

Hee Hee Hee Hee

I'm in a good place...

My new years resolution was to get back into Bible Study. I started the Heart to Heart bible study several years ago when we attended Hillside Church but God had other plans for our family that took us away from Hillside and placed us elsewhere. I have loved all the churches we attended and love our church home and family at crossroads but I miss the Heart to Heart study because it is the kind of format where you take the scripture and dissect it and adapt it to your own life. I just love it.

For years I have tried to get back to the study but always found something to keep me away. This year since I made my resolution to study more God put it on my heart to go back and so I did.

I have only gone three times and I have been greatly enriched and eternally blessed. It was so much fun to see some faces I have not seen in 9 years, they all look great. There are a lot of women who attend the study but you sit in small groups so you connect on a more intimate level. God is so good, the leader of my table is a woman I knew 9 years ago when I previously attended, I just love when God does stuff like that. The ladies at my table are an amazing mix and I love that too.
We are studying the story of Joseph in Genesis and all the obstacles he faced, but all in all, he knew at a young age that he had the favor of God and this faith got him through all his trials.

Joseph's faith was rock solid, he also reflected God's love and was unapologetic about whom he served. In a land where multiple Gods were adored, he never waivered and therefore, he was blessed.

Wow, Blows me away... Gods favor...

God Favors me in so many ways... Do I reflect? Sure hope so...

I am a friend of God... He calls Troy Friend

Memoirs of a Kitchen Lady- A Good Day

A really good day to me is when we have food choices the kids love and plenty of it.

#1 Food choice is Pizza, it doesn't matter if it is pepperoni or cheese, my bringing another pan of pizza out of the warmer always brings cheers to the lunch line.

#2 Food choice is Chicken Nuggets-One of my favorite kid comments happened when I was re-stocking the chicken nuggets, he looked at the giant pile of nuggets and said "Now that looks like heaven" Still makes me smile.

Today for breakfast we had a new item the kids loved, breakfast bagel pizza, I love feeding them something warm and satisfying, bagel pizza was a hit.

For lunch we had a super duper favorite Fried Chicken, boy oh boy did I hear the cheers when I re-stocked my well full of chicken. Just for added excitement, I put out several pieces and let the kids choose the one that I said "Called their name" Since it was Hot Dog Day which is also a giant lunch fave the chicken lasted all the way through the day, we normally run out of super favorite items but like I said, this was a good day.

Conversations...

" Hey Troy" (By the way, I LOVE LOVE LOVE hearing them call me Troy) "Hey, Troy, look, I lost a bottom tooth and guess what? It is a Big Boy tooth!!!"

Well, that deserves an air high five ( note: I am standing behind a counter and can't actually touch the kids so I make motions in the air. Air High Fives and Air Hugs are the most common)

"Hey, Troy Me and four kids in our class got 100% on our test!!!, Teacher thought we couldn't do it but we did!!!"

"Great Job! I know your teacher must be amazed!!!" (Air Hug)

"Hey Troy, I got the attendance award! It's my second time!!!" the kids around him confirmed it and were excited for him too!

"That is so great Mikey!!!" (that is the name I gave him cause one day I caught him playing Ninja Turtles in line, so I named him Michelangelo and his buddy Leonardo)

Like I said, It was a good day

Memoirs of a Kitchen Lady -Brain Food

One of the kindergarteners has been giving us quite an "Attitude" lately, I know both of my kids got what I called the Kindergarten attitude when they were that age, but this little one takes the cake.

Today in the lunch line he took he said he didn't want any lunch so he just took the minimum two items.

Later on I was sitting in the cafeteria and he came up to me.

"I need food for my brain"

Troy- (Trying not to laugh) But you didn't want any lunch

With this he took my hand and put it on his head.

"Feel that, See my brain needs food"

who can argue with that.

Perfect Pair

My hubby Steve and I are a perfect pair...

Steve in the bedroom watching TV

Troy in the living room watching TV

Troy- "Hey Steve what are you watching?"

Steve- " I am going back and forth between the rise and fall of the Roman Empire and the O'Reily Factor, What are you watching?"

Troy- " I am going back and forth between Deliver Me and American Idol"

Thank you Lord for multiple TV's

Ten On Tuesday - Winter

I Love Winter, We get some, I could do with more. But then I am a total weather wimp and if we had more I would be crying the blues.

1. Rain- I love it! The sound of it pounding outside makes me feel so safe.

2. Blankies- I am a lover of blankies of the plush microfleece variety. DON'T TOUCH MY BLANKIE!!!

3. Long Sleeved Jammies- My faves are my fleece bunny jammies with my thermal tee. Ahhhhh

4. Heater- Don't like turning it on for long but knowing you can if you need to is wonderful.

5. Hot Cocoa with Marshmallows- I love trying different varieties and love Starbucks. You know my friend Kathy went to Paris just for a $15.00 cup of Cocoa?

6. Snow on the mountains- first the tips of the hills are covered but on days like today the snow is so bright the hills are solid white and the way the pure whiteness reflects makes you truly understand it when you read the God will make you white as snow.

7. Snow on the mountains when it goes all the way down to my neck of the woods. Makes me feel like I am in Colorado and not in Cali. Rocky Mountain High... California

8. Hail- Heard a funny line in a movie "Hail, what a pathetic form of precipitation" Made me giggle

9. Mary Jane Slipper Socks- I am a lover of the slipper sock but I could have a closet of slippers. LOVE EM!!!

10. Double Rainbows- I saw one was many years ago with baby Eric in the car and again yesterday with almost grown up Eric in the car. Rainbows are Gods miracles.

Memoirs of a Kitchen Lady- Conversations

It is amazing how much conversation goes on in the lunch line in the 30 seconds or so that they are in front of me...

Breakfast Day 1- "Hey Troy, Do you think $60 is too much to spend on a Lizard?"
Troy- "I don't know, what kind of lizard?"

Lunch- "Its a bearded dragon"
Next day breakfast
"Did I tell you it comes with the Aquarium and the heat lamp"
Lunch-"I am buying it with my own money"
Troy " Well, if it comes with all the stuff then that doesn't sound too bad"

Next Day Breakfast "Guess What Troy? I got TWO Lizards"
Troy " Cool" Thinking... Glad its you...

Today
Breakfast "Troy, where is your mommy?"
Troy- In heaven
"Why?"
Troy- Because she was sick and died

Lunch- "Troy, where is your Dad?"
Troy- In heaven too
"Why?"
Troy- He was sick and died too
Troy- (turning the downer around) BUT I have a doggie and three kitties and my doggies name is Yogi"
"Ohhhh (Excited) That's a funny name"

Who knows what tomorrow brings...

Competitive Me?

Last night for Valentine's we did the sweetheart special at our local Bowling Alley and had an amazing time.

How great is this. Two hours of bowling with your main squeeze, a pitcher of soda, appetizer, heart shaped pizza and candles. It was the best $30 date we have ever had.

PLUS!!! I had my best bowling game ever, made me re-think of myself as a gutter girl, maybe my years of lifting as a kitchen lady have made me stronger.

Our Church has a bowling league that Steve has participated in for the past few years, because I remembered my last bowling session 15 or so years ago as a nothing but gutter session, I have reserved myself the role of Steve's A1 Cheerleader.

Last nights date and my actually breaking the triple digit mark gave me confidence to do the unthinkable... Substitute in our church bowling league.

So... I put myself on the list and today was my first bowling day...

YIKES!!! Well, how did it go you ask?

No triple digits, and yes a few gutters, but all in all I had fun, I had a terrific time of fellowship with a church brother.

Breaking your high bowling score... didn't happen

Fellowship and having fun bowling... Priceless

Hmmm wonder if I could find a Barbie Princess bowling ball and pink bowling shoes... I know that would improve my score...

All I Want For Valentine's Day Is...

A Caramel Apple...

My Stevie, Easy to feed, Hard to Understand...

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Bowling, Candles, Heart Shaped Pizza

Who has more fun than us!!!

Teacher Memoirs of a Kitchen Lady

"Teacher"
"Teacher"
"Teacher"
"Teacher"
"Teacher"
"Teacher"
"Teacher"
"Teacher"
Seriously, I counted him saying "Teacher" 15 times before I went out there to see what was going on.

He just wanted her to see he was sitting quietly...

The Number Of Thanks

My life is such a blur these days that I can hardly remember what day it is let alone if it is Thankful Tuesday or not...

This week, I have been missing my blog. I miss writing and I miss reading, so here I sit with water in my special Sydney friendship glass and I am thankful................

Here's the countdown

One- We have but One dog. He is a great dog and I can understand why people have more than one dog but we are a one dog family. Our one and Only Yogi.

Two- I have two sons, I would have loved to see what a female version of Steve and I would have looked like,but I have been OK with no daughters. I have always said God knew I was on a budget that is why he gave me sons. My daughters shoe collection would have been BAAAAAADDDDD.

Three- My ideal number of cats. I love cats and when our sweet boys come up for lovies I wonder why doesn't everyone love cats too... Three cats is a great number, the most we have had is five and that is way too much, everywhere you turn there is a cat. With three it's cool.

Four- I mourn the loss of my family of four and pray that I one day have a wonderful family of five or more. My heart is open.

Five- Star Wars Movies... I have never understood the "Episode" numbers, I just know there are five movies. We have them in several different formats DVD, VHS, Extended blah blah blah. We love em.

Six- The MINIMUM amount of Grandchildren I have requested.

Seven- Rhymes with Heaven

Eight- The number of old movies I have recorded on my DVR. I love scrolling and recording the movies I would normally miss. Commercials Ewwwww

Nine- Smell the color nine. Nine's not a color, and even if it were you can't smell a color... But that's my point exactly (You cant always see and smell what's real)

Ten- Number of Pins I hope to knock over on our Valentine's date this Saturday. Heart Shaped Pizza, Candles on your lane and two games of bowling. I know, we are so romantic...

Whould He Cry For You?

A tragedy happened in our lives recently. Three boys age 15, 11 and 9 went on a joyride that cost them their lives. In one minute it was over, wow, the magnitude of the impact is amazing. My dear hearted 14 year old son lost a classmate, a mother lost her only two sons, another family lost their son, a school lost two students and another lost one, and I can only imagine the shock endured by the Highway Patrolman who witnessed the entire incident.

My son was devastated, the boy that was his classmate used to make him laugh, he was the clown and Eric was crushed, one day the boy was there and the next he was gone.

I had no way to console him, I lost a friend in a car accident as a senior in High School but not in middle school. Kids their age don't die. Eric handled it in his own way by writing his friends name on his arms as a tribute. He wore the memorial ink for a few days and got in the car one day after school and was crushed at what a kid had said to him.

"You hardly knew him, I'll bet if you died he wouldn't cry for you"

Made Eric think... Would he have cried for me?

I told him that did not matter at all, what happened to his friend was a tragedy and tragedies deserve our tears. I did not know anyone who died in the 9/11 attacks and yet I cried for them. Never feel like your tears and sympathy should be given to only those who would cry for you. Emotions are not a contest.

Cry away my son...

Let's Just Face It

I am a happier person when I blog.

I love the way I view life in anticipation of getting home and writing it down, even the seagulls that occupy the field at Eric's school amaze me, how do they know to huddle in the dip in the middle of the grass to avoid the wind. God is good.

I have not even been on my dear MySpace in ages... Why? No Reason... There are just as many hours in the day, I know I am working more hours and that makes me tired, but my job demands only a portion of my brain, I still have plenty of time to write about the great blessings in my life and yet I choose silence.

I want to be a daily blogger, I want to navigate to my friends sites and see how they are doing, I want to respond to their wonderful blogs in my own loving way, my online friends are such a blessing that I have been ignoring and need to come back to.

I want to write about the funny things the kids say at school like my coworker was adding milk to the count and wanted to judge the amount needed to get through the rest of the service so she asked a girl "what grade are you in?" the girl replied... "fourth... Why do I look small?"

I want to write about what I see when I sit and wait for my son to get out of school like who do the ditchers think they are fooling walking back to school in time to be picked up by their parents. Busted!!!

I have vowed to read and I have now vowed to write...

I just feel more blessed that way.