bagochillun

Baby Ani thinks she's hot stuff

2011-10-14T12:16:00.000-07:00

* Tooth--check
* Another tooth---Check
*Crawling--- check
* standing--- double check

Mom tries to push me over but I'm discovering that these flimsy sticks can hold me up and get me places. Not only can I ninja across the room, but I can also sceam like a banchee when I'm not the center of attention. Mom keeps telling me to pipe down and quit acting like aunty Adri, but I don't quite get what she means, so I ignore her!

ava's 2nd tooth fell out of her face:

2011-10-14T12:05:00.000-07:00

Ava demands a dollar every time she loses something from her face. The toothfairy gets a little snippy however.

the pea culprit is still on the lam

2011-10-03T17:12:00.000-07:00

After the dinner mess of fried chicken tenders, peas and potato wedges was cleaned up, I went to turn off the lights and I noticed some squished peas on my shoes.
Ewww.
I had just washed my floor last night so naturally I wasn't leaving the pea mess on the floor. When i was on my way up from the floor, to the sink, I saw the secret stash of peas.
But whose was it?
Who could be storing their peas at eye level?
Think Stewart think.
This mystery must be solved. But alas not tonight.
Tomorrow will be a new day and I will settle this quandary later.

Dear State-side Drole

2011-09-20T19:51:00.000-07:00

Hey Sista, why you no post on yo blog no mo? I have 4 kids I work full time, I have a to-do list longer than your trek to work and yet I still find time to blog. I'm pretty sure Violet is not younger than Ani and yet your blog states that she just turned 4 months. Come on Drole,.. blog already!

Hotness UPdate

2011-09-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

Just a quick hot hubby update. Still hot, still my hubby. Nuff said? I think not. WE are like 2 ships passing in the night as of late. We see each other after 8 p.m., after Gabe's football practice is over and my girl time is thrown through the wringer. On Friday's we cuddle and fall asleep around 9ish as the kids watch their movie during family movie night. He's busy as work, so am I. But the vaca to Mexico was a great break and it was much needed before the school year began.

All sunshine all day long

2011-09-12T13:04:00.000-07:00

Clara loves what she loves, and we've learned not to argue. She lobves her vest.

Hating Halloween thru Creativity

2011-09-12T12:54:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows I hate halloween. Other people's kids love candy, but not mine! My kids just cry when you put on their $20 costume on just to parade around begging for candy they won't eat..
I don't like celebrating Satan's birthday and besides I have to feed all the fat kids from OTHER neighborhoods candy all nite long (subtract another $50 dolloar from my food budget for that)!
In order to have a bit more fun on this heathen holiday, I decided to create our own costumes and try to one-up myself with ingenious craftiness each year. Im a sucker for fan fare and spendid reactions to the kids' costumes. Gabe wanted to be a box last year, I said, why?
He had no answer so I just spun his lame idea into my own creative idea. he was a hit.
Clara cried all night long until I started shoving candy in her face. And Ava couldn't even tell anyone what she was, because she refused to wear the entire Barbie horse riding c
heer leader wannabe oufit. Sigh... I hate this day.
Next year I plan to beat the UPS box idea with something greater.

fun photos for ya

2011-08-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

Riviera Del Maya 12 years or bust!

2011-08-03T12:29:00.000-07:00

Joe surprised me with a lil vaca to the Riviera Del Maya, 30 minutes south of Cancun. It was BEE-U-Ti-Ful! We had mucho funo!
Nothing but sun, sand and some snorkling in the fresh water centotes. We zip lined over the jungle fever, and repelled down a wall (unfun and not-so-extreme). Joe went diving and saw some cool stuff underwater and I laid out and burned my lips. Funniness.

Weve been Upgraded

2011-07-14T09:35:00.000-07:00

Apparently a 1.6 processor on our computer is slow. Who knew. I feel better about blogging cuz I don't have to wait 5 minutes for my pics to upload. I may just get rid of my dial up now. Who knows... Sky's the limit now folks.

WE HAVE FRIENDS

2011-07-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

Not only do we have friends (when I say we, I mean me), but they are moving 9/10th of a mile from us. They closed on their house and on Saturday we will help them move in. We will begin Clara's training this week to mindlessly walk over to their house and sit on their front porch until they notice her. She'll say "hi" of course. The problem is Liberty is full of "do-gooders" and will try and stop her from crossing the busy cross street. So traffic awareness with be the hardest part of our training process.
WELCOME TO Whitey-ville Zumies! The Stewart's welcome you.

A laundered diaper La Shay-style

2011-07-14T09:04:00.000-07:00

There is nothing like an organized vacation. everything has its place, everything has its purpose. We arrived in MO with order. All my dirty laundry was in a bag. That bag went swiftly into the laundry room. Before we sat down for pizza, naturally, I started the load of wash. Mentally high-fiving myself for the job well done I enjoyed my pizza.
The next morning I pulled out the wet laundry and discovered gel like balls on all the clothes. Thinking nothing of it I continued to load my dryer. I first discovered between some wet shirts a tore up walmart bag. Shaking my head for my silly over sight I continued to unload the clothes. Hey now what is this, stuffed between the bottom of the wet clothes pile I thought to myself as I lifted up a fully loaded and exploded diaper of Ani's. And as I look inside my entire washer it is slicked down with gel-like beads, bursting from the wash. Ah yes. My organization had a small glitch. A dirty diaper was in my dirty clothes bag, and why not? they both begin with the adjective "dirty", why wouldn't it be categorized together.
Hmm, why is the diaper in a bag? of course because all my poopy diapers go in a bag. Sigh...

Here was my thought process: 1- I could place all the clothes in the dryer with 10 dryer sheets to make sure the gel-like balls separate from the clothes and shake it all off when they are done. Ignoring the washed out poopy diaper all together or 2- shake the clothes out now, wash out the dryer and rewash the clothes.
I choose the latter, due to the preservation of my dryer. I did not want gel-like balls melted onto my dryer barrel.
I left the clothes in the dryer for another day hoping to ignore the potential problem and have new insight a day later.
No insight found.

Clara's new Sweet Seat

2011-05-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

My friend Tracy has a new business making these Sweet Seats! I ordered one for Clara not thinking she was ready for all teh independence around the dinner table and here is her reaction opening her seat. She loved it. She took it everywhere with her and was even excited to eat with us at the dinner table tonight. I'm excited to see where all this independence will lead, all because of one Sweet seat. Check her site out!

Satan's favorite toy

2011-05-09T19:17:00.000-07:00

I kid you not, as cool as the whole idea of moon sand is, that's how Satan gets you with his crafty ideas and lies. His trick is too make it look really cool, and IT DOES! Moon sand looks cool and the minute you pull it out of the box your eyes go bug eyed for all its wonder! All the tricks, bells and whistles, the promises of creativity and a better life because you have moon sand in your house and all your friends envy you. They want moon sand too. BAM, next thing you know you're on your hands and knees weeping becuase all the fun and creativity has turned into a whole lot of "clean up". Pink sand is everywhere and now the mess is a 2 year old play ground.
Part of this story is metaphor the rest is literal. The worst part is, there's water bubbles spewing out the pink and purple sand and it jumps out the tiny sifter which only gathers so much sand. I am suppose to take this small sifter and pour it into a bottle that is too small to allow the sand in.
The worst part is before Ava and I played with this new set from her birthday, I gifted a bigger set to a friend just this weekend. I will have to call and apologize to the mom for giving the little girl such a devious and mean gift.

Oh, tricky Satan you got me again. I fell for your promises of grandure. They are nothing but lies.

Britax: the newest edition to the family

2011-05-09T19:04:00.000-07:00

I won't even tell you how much it costs (you'll BING it if you care), but this is the newest edition of my family. It carts the girls around effortlessly and I love it. I have named it Clyde (after the horses) and we find ourselves veturing the neighborhods more becuase of Clyde's greatness. JOb well done Stew! Thank you.

What the girls do when mom is still sleeping

2011-05-09T18:59:00.000-07:00

blinged outlawn mower: you're welcome!

2011-05-09T18:35:00.000-07:00

A friend in need of a lawn mower + A friend with a boken mower x a crafting friend with some bling with a willing husband to try and fix broken mower = a spiffed up mower ready r\to wow the neighbors as well as able to cut some grass.
Now that's math well done!

Ava's 6th birthday: Best day EVER!

2011-05-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

Stewart 3 vs Stewart 4

2011-04-09T18:33:00.000-07:00

Who do you think Anika looks like? Her nose boggles us, but then again, Gabe came put looking like Joe Lieberman and Ava had a boxer's nose. By the way, Clara is the bottom photo, Anika is the top photo.

The worst Ava storm in the history of Ava

2011-04-09T10:40:00.000-07:00

Ava has a mess problem. Where ever she goes she makes a mess. You know where she was and what she's been doing in every room that she enters. It's hard to paint a mental picture if you've never seen her mess, but once you've witnessed it you know. Here 's the best example I can give. I walk into the bathroom minding my own business, My bathroom mind you, and there is toilet paper unraveled, an unflushed toilet with no toilet paper actually in the toilet, (why the unraveled toilet paper then?) Pants and gunders crumpled against the wall, toys on the sink counter and the soap tipped over next to a dripping faucet.
Or better yet, every toy emptied from her play drawers on the playroom floor. So when this happens, she decides it's too messy to play in the playroom. She then meanders down stairs to color and destroy the serenity of my kitchen.
"Ava why are you bringing your toys down here to play? Go upstairs and play."
"But mom I want to be by Clara."
LIES FROM THE DEVIL.
Really her playroom is such a mess her and Clara cannot physically play in it. Hence the southern migration into my space.
What is a smart mom to do? I'm glad you asked.
WE THREW IT ALL AWAY, and when I say we, I really mean Ava.

One wonderful Sunday I went upstairs to do some peace-loving Pilate's, my heart stopped and then started again and then stopped yet again.
My eyes then saw red, a really bright vibrant red.
I was blinded with shear mom rage.
The entire playroom was such a mess I tripped and had to rake the mess away with my hands just to place my Pilate's ball down on the floor. The worst part was, less than 12 hours earlier we had watched a movie in the exact spot where I was standing and we had been on a clean floor. Which means in less than 30 minutes she had made the mess.
I sentenced her to her room, and I seethed while doing Pilate's. A quiet voice spoke to me. Have her throw it all away. I'd love to take credit for the voice, but I'm pretty sure it was Jesus trying to save Ava's life!
So the next day, I nicely asked Ava to get 2 garbage bags and meet me upstairs. She was excited because she thought she was being promoted to Gabe's chore of taking out the trash.
I was kneeling on another raked through spot on the floor and I said, "hey Ava thanks for getting the bags. I need you to take everything on the floor and throw it away. You apparently don't like your toys so you treat them like trash, so we better throw them away." I smiled and waited for the Ahh moment.
Tears.
Weeping.
"Mom, but all my Littlest Pet Shop toys and Barbies are on the floor. "
More weeping, Gut crying tears.
Falling on the floor.
Crocodile tears.
"Oh I'm sorry to hear about that Ava, We better get going, we sure have a lot of trash to pick up."
With every rustle of the bag made by a toy in the bag, especially the ones she likes, A gut wrenching sob came from little tornado Ava.
a half hour later, Ava hauled down 2 huge trash bags and put them by the kitchen trash.
Mom was all smiles. This is what I saw.

The next day I took out blue tape and taped off a 4 by 4 foot square around her toy boxes. This is now Ava's blue square. She can't play or mess up outside of her square. If she does, she has to throw those toys away.
So for all those bleeding heart liberals who are thinking just like Ava, I'm a mean mom; She did get to earn one garbage bag back after 2 long days of hurt-heart moping. She first had to promise that she would not mess up her new blue square EVER and she has 2 weeks to earn back her last garbage bag. Her 2 weeks were up today and she actually said I can throw all the toys in that bag.
So the technique was only half effective!

Anika the trouble maker

2011-04-09T10:12:00.000-07:00

Not only did the girl not listen and came 4 weeks early, but now she's demanding to be fed like once every 2-3 hours. She requires me to change her diaper after each feeding. She yells at me at night and then falls asleep after I've woken up to bow to her request. Sometimes I even make Joe get up just to get yelled at by her.
When she is awake you have to talk to her and sing. She just loves it when she gets me to run from one end of the house to the next just to plop a binky in her mouth so she can enjoy her afternoon meditation time. Once I've walked out of her sight, she dos it again.
This little Anika is really demanding and needy. AND THE LAUNDRY she makes me do, I won't bore you with my commiserating!
You'd think as a fourth born she'd know her place.
Accurately so, I wasn't even taking pictures of her, ya know to keep the mystery alive for her when she gets older. but now Anika has Grandma Mary yelling at me from Florida via my father-in-law for more photos. For jeeze sakes does this circus of fracus ever end?
By the way, Anika has taught Clara how to yell for me on her behalf as well. So I'm at home listening to 2 little girls tell me what to do all day. Speak of the creature, Clara just walked in with a Goldfish box the same size as her. I wonder what she wants.

the finger tragedy

2011-04-04T14:57:00.000-07:00

Clara got her finger caught in our heavy garage door. The scream and blood were fooling. It only ended up being a scratch on the Clara canvas. as a matter of fact, she was bored by the whole hospital trip and xray. She also didn't understand who mom and dad did not want her rolling and laing on the emergency room floor.

Big brother and sister & the baby Alarm

2011-04-04T13:01:00.000-07:00

Each sibling has taken on anew roll in the house. Big brother, of course is care-taker and tries really hard to be mom and dad even when he doesn't have to. We try to ease his worry of beng a parent as much as possible.
Ava is scatter-brained baby holder. She loves kissing baby and counting how many times she spots her with her eyes open. She'll wake up early n the morning just to give mom and baby a kiss. She'll ask to hold baby Anika and when she gets her chance, it takes at maximum, 1.3 minutes and then she's done. She'll oh and ash over baby and kiss her head and then say, I'm done. Take her mom.
Clara's roll is simple. Every time Anika cries she yells Baby cry. No matter where I am, even a step away from baby she'll let me know. Ava is always amused when Clara does this and now refers to her as teh baby alarm, with a giggle of course.

Stewart Cupcake wars

2011-03-21T18:44:00.000-07:00

Naturally I won the cupcake war. The new Food network tv show inspired me to go hard for first place with my cupcake assistant, Ava, at my side and more excited that me for this competition. I will admit that I failed at the internal caramel melting, but soared at the presenatation of my hand made blue cream cheese frosting. Check out my swirl technique. Being the only contestant, I took first place!

This is what keeps me busy all day long!

2011-03-21T18:37:00.000-07:00

Brilliant Artists

2011-03-21T18:34:00.000-07:00

My girls are so talented. They love to do things together. Anything creative they will tackle on 2 fronts. Clara dove right into the paints ankle deep and painted some Chinese character art. She then proceeded to paint her hair and with her socked feet and pant leg.
Ava on the other had, had a vision. She had just got a new library book and a particular picture inspired her. She opened to the page and she began to paint what she saw the character had already painted (look at the mouses painting). She makes my heart smile!

Gwen got a new dishwasher at my house.

2011-03-21T18:27:00.000-07:00

Gwen was so disgusted with our dishwasher that she went out and bought herself a new one. She was so ecstatic about washing all my dishes, I caught her sleeping next to it one morning. It was a bit awkward.
Truth be told, I didn't know you could drink out of a cup without food residue on it, and you really don't have to wash dishes before the machine does, it's extraordinary what new gadgets can do.
The dishes haven't been done since she left however, so they're really piling up. Gwen when you coming back to catch up on some dishwashin?

Anika Elizabeth 4 weeks early

2011-03-21T18:20:00.000-07:00

For those who didn't hear directly, Anika was born 4 weeks early on February 20th, 2011. I was totally shocked that she was wanting to show up so soon. I tried to convince her that I wasn't ready and neither was she, plus was going to make us miss church! She insisted.
So Voila, Anika came at 4:16 p.m. weighing in at 5.11 and 18 & 3/4 inches long. She was struggling with her breathing, so they had to taker her away from me for the first 24 hours. It was the strangest feeling to push out a kid and then have her taken away from me. The nurse saw that I was bothered by her quick departure, so she let me hold her for a few minutes. This is the picture if our first short minutes together.
She's four weeks old now and getting bigger every day. Thus far she is a pleasant baby to hang out with all day.

3/4 done

2010-09-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

People, with a baby on the way, I celebrate the little things. A simple accidental trip to TJ Maxx lead me to the missing link to my unfinished chair seats. The fabric!
Now that all 4 seats are covered and done, the once free chairs are almost 100% upgraded. I just have to sand one more chair and give it a firm coat of paint and voila, the task will be complete.
My 1 chair and my corner of my deck are the last 2 tasks I have to complete. My goal is to have then both done by November, before the belly becomes a hinderance.
Like I said I celebrate the little things.
Just in case you couldn't tell the darker chair is the upgraded version.

2010-09-27T15:47:00.000-07:00

Football Season 2010

2010-09-27T15:46:00.000-07:00

Our season of turf watching has begun. We all get to be out doors and watch Gabe's fancy foot and arm work on the flag football field. Coach dad is working his magic as head facilitator and discovered a dad tougher on the kids than him. This guy makes Joe look like a lamb. How nice for once. Stats will be passed down later, they're still in the making.

Lost to the feminist LOT

2010-09-27T15:40:00.000-07:00

Another election year for 4th grade student counsel has come and gone. Gabe created a fabulous poster that should have brought home a golden representative award (in the form of a t-shirt and a whole lot of pointless meetings) but the majority voted their heart rather than their conscience. They voted for a girl, BOOOOO!
We still stand firm behind his canidacy and most of all his awesome poster. We're starting to strategize for next year, his last year in elementary school. I think we'll start by hiring our cousin Jordan, I hear he'll be jobless in November. He can start right away digging up dirt on all the other potential candidates for next year. Based on some of their sketchy pasts, in 3rd and 2nd grade, I'm sure gabe will take this next election by storm.

Wanna free ride to HEAVEN? Vote GABE IN 2011!

First day of school pics...there are more below

2010-09-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

I got a first day of school pic with the kids at 5ish which pretty much guarantees photo chaos, but some photos are better than none. The other photos are of the girls at visit your teacher night, taken by the same classmom. It's good to have other observant parents around me to take pictures when I'm constantly forgetting my camera!

Babies having babies

2010-09-06T12:23:00.000-07:00

Granpa Norm and Gina bought Clara her first baby doll. It laughs when you touch the tummy and it scares the crap out of Clara. At first, Clara would sweep it away from her, but now as long as the sound is turned off, she'll hug it and carry it aournd like a little-momma.
It's amazing how instictual caring for babies is for little girls.

Closeup of Arnie

2010-09-06T12:20:00.000-07:00

Arnie the arachnid

2010-09-06T12:18:00.000-07:00

Arnie was swept out of a corner from our overhang. Ihad no clue he was there until I saw him falling approximately 5 inches from on Gabe's head. Gabe screamed like a chick in a horror movie and promptly slapped him. Sometime you have to slap some sense into a boy who is afraid of nature. After all I was bothering him, was I not?
We were so impressed by the shear size of this monster we put him back on the house where we found him. And a fine web he did spin the next morning! During our Labor Day Crap boil, I watched him eat random life forms as he came alive aournd 8 p.m.

First day of school pics

2010-09-06T12:12:00.000-07:00

Ava's first day of kindergarten

2010-09-06T11:57:00.000-07:00

Ava had an Ava day at kindergarten. She is in a class of 20 or so, and is so wiped out from a full day of school that I can't get a word out of her once her day is done.

To be honest I totally missed her first day of school on the account of my own first day of school. I hate working. Especially since I miss my own children's daily ins and outs for someone else's kids. I look forward to the day where I can say, "I QUIT for my kids sake" with a smile on my face, and not a single regret. Perhaps next year will be that day!

The aftermath

2010-07-08T09:28:00.000-07:00

Clara's 1st birthday party

2010-07-08T09:25:00.000-07:00

Clara had her first birthday in May. We celebrated in small doses for about 3 weeks. She didn't know the difference.
I baked her egg free cupcakes which turned out sludgey. I guess you don't need 3 cups of applesauce to replace the 3 eggs. Regardless she liked them. She had 3 diapers full of sludge the next day.

baseball babe

2010-07-08T09:18:00.000-07:00

Gabe had his first season of baseball under his belt this late spring. It was a good season of learning. I think I'm going to sign him up for baseball picture modeling next year. He looks pretty good in his uniform and poses, it just might pay better.

Ava's graduation: celebrating mediocrity

2010-07-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

Ava graduated from Preschool and forced us to celebrate her success. Joe scoffed at the idea but I coaxed him into cooperating. Of course Ava was extactic and practiced her songs for months. She sang shly and quietly as she took the stage. She's more of a private entertainer in the comforts of her own home.

I forgot to tell you my kids are both N.P.P. winners

2010-07-08T09:01:00.000-07:00

I think I totally forgot this, both Ava and Gabe won the Nobel Peace Prize back in November. They were totally flabbergasted and excited to be nominated in the first place, but to WIN! Well I guess I was the lucky one, having not just 1 but 2 winners in my family is unheard of and an honor for me. Thanks for sharing this moment with me again.

Cute Clara couldn't be any cuter

2010-05-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

Could this child be any cuter? I didn't think so. I wish Nara's kids were cuter so mine could have some competition.

her teeth. There are many.

Ava's birthday pursuit

2010-05-01T12:41:00.000-07:00

Strawberry shortcake arrived as Ava's favorite birthday gift. She came with her own beach pool

She also delivered her birthday cupcakes to all the neighbors. She was stoked. Her friend loved crossing the road. This was a VERY independent venture.

She's five!

2010-05-01T12:38:00.000-07:00

A delectable chocolate delight, inside and out! Ava and I finished it in 3 days.

Ava planned the menu. Chicken nuggets, canned corn, and french fries. Healthy and delicious.

She made her own flower hat and wore it all day, even without a shirt.

Clara liked the menu

Ava's first ballet

2010-04-03T07:20:00.000-07:00

Ava loved her first ballet care of Granma Jan. We were so close to the action we actually saw sweat whip around. Also sweaty crack. We had so much fun. The ballerinas were so beautiful. There was one show where there was more male dancers, and I began to get a weee bit uncomfortable, AVa was bored by that one and kept saying, "where's the girls?" I was thinking the same thing.

Hatin car rides

2010-04-03T07:16:00.000-07:00

We went to drop the older 2 kids off in MN for their Spring Break and found out that Clara hates the long 5 hour car ride. Go figure. These are shots I captured from behind me while we were driving. She was amused by the camera flash, but that got old too.

Best big brother in the world

2010-04-03T07:12:00.000-07:00

Spring flowers

2010-04-03T07:07:00.000-07:00

Ava loves flowers. She loves picking them even more. My flowers in my yard do not have a chance, when she is around. Hence my neighbor gives them to her. She makes me put them in a vase and then we Oh and Ah over them for atleast 2 days.

OMG I'm LDS!

2010-02-13T11:19:00.000-08:00

I have to share this one important life experience with you. I think you will appreciate the humor in it. I'm a bit embarrassed, but if you can't laugh at yourself in your time of need/ desperation, than you're bound to go crazy.
Let me set up the scenario for ya:
Setting: Joe has been gone for 4 months, and 2 long more months are tos still to pass, and the longer he is gone the harder it is getting. Not so much physically, but mentally. I missed him. He was my friend and the other adult in the house to talk to and commune with during the evening. When he was gone, I had a smarty pants 9 year old and a 4 year old to talk to after a long day of speaking to 6th graders.
I felt desperate, out of tune with myself and just plain lonely. And for some odd reason, Jersey Shore and Orange County House wives didn't quite meet my needs to fill in that loneliness gap. Go figure.
In this time of great need, I tried my hardest to depend on GOD and allow him to meet my needs. I failed at times, trying my own formula for this, but other than that, He taught me a lot about my selfish nature and my stubborn human nature to try and quick fix my dilemmas.
I digress...
In this new age of high tech classrooms, parents communicate and plan e-via mails and I saw at the bottom of one e-mail a quote that I really could identify with and it seemed to have encouraged me. I thought about it for a week and then went back to the e-mail and wrote the quote down.

“Trials and tribulations tend to squeeze the artificiality out of us, leaving the essence of what we really are and clarifying what we really yearn for.

- Neal A. Maxwell

I felt encouraged reading this and thinking on it. However, all week something in my spirit kept pressing to identify the quote or to dig deeper into it's truth. Hence, I googled it (this was before I knew about BING Jason)
Lo and behold my first click onto the first web site enlightened me!
EMBARRASSING REVELATION!
Here is what I found:

Neal A. Maxwell
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Neal A. Maxwell

Full name
Neal Ash Maxwell

Born
July 6, 1926(1926-07-06)

Place of birth
Salt Lake City, Utah
Died
July 21, 2004 (aged 78)

Place of death
Salt Lake City, Utah

LDS Church Apostle
Called by
Spencer W. Kimball

Ordained
July 23, 1981 (aged 55)

Ordination reason
Gordon B. Hinckley added to First Presidency

End of term
July 21, 2004 (aged 78)

End reason
Death

LDS Church General Authority

Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Neal Ash Maxwell (July 6, 1926 – July 21, 2004) was an apostle and a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1981 until his death.

Okay, I am so brought down to my real size, and to make a learning moment out of this, when desperate people seek guidance,unfortunately there are more CREEPY creeps out there providing it over REAL Christians, established in their faith, to help a person out.
SHAME ON US CHRISTIANS!

Any who, Jesus and I had a good laugh over this situation, and I happily call myself LDS, because I feel like I have to be one now, solely out of loyalty to the cause and my location.
If you want to figure out how LDS saturated my area is, BING Liberty or Independence, MO or Liberty, MO for it's LDS history.
Their prophet was jailed in Liberty, exactly 1 mile from my house. Call me and we'll schedule a tour through the jail sometime, it's now a LDS national monument. And then we'll drive to the stair way to heaven, where Jesus will walk down, it's 20 miles from my house.

LOL, and one small tear

there is no button for the stupid people

2010-01-06T16:02:00.000-08:00

People, I need your help. I would like to send a message to corporate McDonald's. Yes, I have a new mission in life. I am livid for the 2nd time. I normally don't take on the big establishments, but much has changed in my life as of late. I normally don't even eat McDonald's nor do I subject my offspring to it, but since Joe has been gone for 5 months much has changed due to necessity.
Now, I will warn you, that my predicament may be a local MO thang. So be it. Than I will take on the man here in the Midwest.
I'll lay out the scenario for you.
It's a cold winters day. The schools are closed, I'm bringing the kids out to a movie to avoid cabin fever. Instead of warm home-made comfort food again, we take a vote for a 20 minute meal, and McDonald's wins (skip to the bottom if you want the short version) .
I pull up to the screen and talk to the speaker with every bit of cheeriness, cuz I'm just like that. "yeah, I'll have the 2 crispy chicken wraps (an order for those who like to fool themselves about eating healthy at a fast food restaurant)& 2 kids meals. 1 with the chicken nuggets,and fries. for a girl. (Gender specifies the toy for those of you empty nesters or offspring less folks out there) and the second I'll have a burger, plain, with fries, for a boy.
The mysterious voice through the speaker says, "what to drink with that?"
I'll just have water please."
I've been through this before, so I watch the screen dreading what I'm about to see. I promised myself since the first encounter with this exact event that I would take a stand if it were to happen again. So here it goes.
My price jumps 2 dollars. 1$ for the first cup of water and 1$ for the second cup of water.
"listen, you need to take off that 2 dollar charge for the free water."
"well there is no button for that."
I should be shocked but quite frankly, I'm not. I know we're raising a bunch of non thinkers, so it's time to school them with logic and see if the stupid people budge.
"then don't push any button and hand me an empty cup."
LONG PAUSE the price goes down 2 dollars Another LONG PAUSE.
"Ah you can pull around to the front then. Ah"
oh great I confused the button pusher. I've started a war. Now 2 ladies are standing at the register and the one I was not speaking to tells me it is 11.97, back up the 2$.
"You are charging me for the empty cups?"
"yeah, that's right/"
"For free water?"
"Yeah."
"can I speak to your manager?"
"I am the manager."
"yeah, you want to charge me 2$ for an empty cup that I will fill with water?"
"Well the meal is already discounted with the beverages."
Yeah I'm confused. If the meal is already discounted with the soda, then why did the price go up when I am taing now even less than what is being offered. I'm just wanting the empty cup, I'm not even asking them to fill the cup of water. I just may fill it with water, or maybe even air, depending how crazy I want to get. The manager will not budge, so I told her keep her food. I drove off and went to Burger King.
I ordered the same meals for the kids but asked them first, are you going to charge me extra for the ordering water with these meals?"
"Ah I don't think so, but let me check? Nope we sure don't."
I placed my order and then I was given bottled water in place of the cup which was suppose to be filled with soda. On top of all that goodness, they asked which sould I prefer, bottled water or a cup full of water. Well, everyone loves the idea of closing a bottle again, especially if you have kids. So without being charged a cent more I got bottled water with my kids meal.
I may be Math challenged, and I feel like I know the food industry well enough that there must be some sort of reasoning for 2 separate locations to now start charging 1$ for water; perhaps inventory reasoning of stocks are down...
If I were to physically walk in and order the same thing, they don't charge you a 1$ more for water, they just hand you a cup and you fill it with whatever you like. Water perhaps, how about iced tea, or even better, how about kidney killing soda!
Here are my 2 principles of my McDonald's boycott. Principle # 1- I have always ordered water before and now that times are tough on every ones' wallet they choose to charge drive through peeps extra for driving off with cup of water instead of soda, which is discounted somehow from free water. This probably is the case due to no one looking at their receipts, not really because there isn't a button for a water cup!
Principle #2- Water is better for a child's body and its free. I'm already paying for the cup via the happy meal, the water is FREE! We could argue that water isn't free and that nothing in life is free, but my only retort is, there are too many fat kids in this nation and we all could use a bit of discounted water in our happy meals.
Now, if you have any explanation to McDonald's Stupidity on charging 2 extra dollars for an empty cup or for free water to replace the soda please enlighten me and the audience so I can end my boycott and my new mission to get this system changed!
I'm going corporate on this fight and I would love some team work. Join me on getting our free water back at the drive through, or at least have a button installed on the McDonald's computers so we don't have to teach anyone to think!

It's the final count down

2010-01-02T17:39:00.000-08:00

People the end is near. I know that song is ringing in your ear... "It's the final count down" na na na... For those who had no clue, let me give you one. Joe has been gone since August. I didn't put him out, nor did he opt out. He's been in Brunswick GA training for his new job. HE WILL NOW RETURN IN 30 DAYS. If this is news to you, you're probably saying to yourself, "but didn't you just have a baby 7 months ago?" Yes, yes I did.
"Oh well good thing you stay home than."
I do not, I work. I still teach 6th graders all day, ones that don't speak English. And I hired a nanny, Nanny dawn to fill the morning voids! So now that you're all caught up...
The kids and I made a daddy count down calendar and we flip the new page each morning. It keeps us going.

I know that military wives do this all the time for much longer than I have or will have to, but nonetheless, I have been stretched beyond what I like. God's teaching me a few lessons through this. And I have kindly reminded HIM that I'm a bit to frazzled to reflect on any of it right now, but I bet the lesson is going to be really good when it sinks through my abnormally hard head! I'll be honest, the last half of Joe being gone is so much harder than the first.

It's just so dang lonely. I find myself chit chatting in the drive thru lines at McDonald's until we awkwardly sit in silence and I'm ask to drive off. I start random arguments with check out clerks just to have an adult conversation. And I find myself smiling needily at Walmart at other obviously single moms.
30 more days folks, and tomorrow it will be 29, and then the day after that it will be 28 and then the day after the next it will be 27 and then th......

Easy Bakin

2010-01-01T22:33:00.000-08:00
She waits for her 100 watt bulb to heat up

Her apron is pressed and her cake mix is stirred

12 looooong minutes later... chocolatey perfection

Going, going

CAKE is GONE

53 nose hairs

2010-01-01T22:30:00.000-08:00

gabe wanted to see how far we could zoom up his nose. Answer: pretty far!

My CHristmas Joy

2010-01-01T22:28:00.000-08:00

Christmas staretd early for us, actually as soon as AVa started learning her Christmas concert music it began! She still belts out her songs when ever her little heart hears silence. Her latest concert took place in the emergency room while we waited for her head staples. She sang for 2 hours straight. She told me that the momma shows, I love Raymond, was borin her. The nurses checke to see where the sweet songs were coming from. I let her keep singing.
Gabe and Clara enjoyed the concert, but not half as much as Cym did. SHe joined us for teh show and made sure that little Clara was dressed to uimpress adn ready to smile for the camera.

Singing sunshine

2010-01-01T22:23:00.000-08:00

this is the girl that went with thr dress, that had matching tights, that went wih the gold shoes, that drove to the church with her mom singing all the way there, that sat anxiously for her turn to sing, only to lip sync along with the music!

P.S. you'd think my little singing diva would love her fluffy princess hair, but YOU would be wrong, and so was I. She cried her little blue eyes out and begged me with a pouty lip to undo it. We compromised and put it back in clips. She loves Barbies hair on Barbie, but not on the Ava

The Christmas Clara

2010-01-01T22:19:00.001-08:00
This is the baby that wore the pretty purple dress

which had matching purple shiney shoes

who listened to her sister sing at a Christmas pagent

only to look like Uncle Fester!

a scrumdiliumptious Lasha-kinda Christmas

2009-12-29T09:02:00.000-08:00
The photos really say it all, but knowing me, you'll all expect a few words. So be it. It was a grand day. The roads were hazardous with some Minnesota snow and ice, yet the room was pleasantly warm when we arrived first at Tom and Carol's home for the Hanson festivities.
My family did not make an appearance, so I had to be the sole representative, and represent I did. Being the first to arrive at the house, I greeted everyone at the door.

There's a whole lot of me to love in these photos. Probably because I was the center of every one's attention. Without demanding it of course.

This is me demonstrating what it would be like to look really good after being fat. The natural result of lap band surgery of course.

Greg and Sandy are enamored with my quick wit and articulate nature.

The children, of all ages, were fascinated with my story time and storytellers charm. They were asleep before dark!

I don't know how this picture of Seena got on here, but she tried to steal my light with the coveted drinking helmet. I threatened her and she stopped stealing my sole-representative-of-the-Dennis-clan-lime-light.

Of course Joe had successfully tried to get into my pants on this trip. Please pardon the double entendre it was necessary for maximum laughage!

The Stewart children are the DELIGHT of the Hanson Christmas!

2009-12-28T08:44:00.000-08:00
Once again my children are the delight of the crowd. I dare say that if they didn't show up, perhaps joy would have not shown up also! Gabe laughed and played in the snow. Ava bossed the big girls around and conjured up some adorable sassy sayings. And Clara cooed and wowed the crowd with her very advanced babyness. JOe and I just sat back in awe of our products.

Dinner at Lasha's very merry Christmas 09

2009-12-27T09:59:00.000-08:00

Oh those Hanson's sure know how to cook! We had Lamb chops, my favorite, fresh cheese ball, made by Doris, (she know's I crave those) as a prequel to our eating of the lamb, and washed down with some wine provided by Tom. He said he picked the grapes himself, that may be another Tom Tall Tale, but I know the wine was selected just for me. What a very merry Christmas it was for me!

Cookie overdose at the Lasha CHRISTMAS

2009-12-27T09:55:00.000-08:00

Look at all the cookies the Hanson ladies baked me. STOP, STOP, I can't take it anymore! There are just far too many delicious morsels to consume in such a short time. Oh those ladies are so thoughtful to over indulge me with sugar!

A Very Merry LASHA Christmas it was!

2009-12-27T08:57:00.000-08:00
These people were all at the Hanson Christmas too. They look like they had fun!

bath time with Gma Gwen

2009-10-12T08:50:00.000-07:00

Baby loves her baths. Anytime, anywhere. Grandma's baths are even better though!

Ms. Independent

2009-10-12T08:48:00.000-07:00

Clara can hold her bottle all by herself at 4 months and 3 weeks. What can your baby do?

Walnut picking season

2009-09-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

I just lost 9 dollars paying the kids to pick up the walnuts that fall from our trees, 5 cents a walnut. If I were smarter and had more time, I'd collect the walnuts, and sell them for the $9 a pound they're worth and make a $40 profit. But alas I'm not that smart and I don't have any time!

Gabe's very serious first campaign

2009-09-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

We have been working very hard these last 2 weeks on Gabe's first political campaign.
It all started with the loss of his pick for school PREZ... His candidate of choice, the not cool looking 5th grader was running against the "cool looking" 5th grader. The rest of the crowd voted for the cool looking guy (Does this ring any political bells or what?)who didn't have any good ideas. Gabe came home SUPER upset that the not-so-cool kid lost, " Mom, he seemed like he really cared for the school."
How can you deny this kids heart?
So, 1 day later he decided to run for class rep, to work under the cool-kid--with-no-good-ideas office.
Gabe's platform: that 3rd graders should be able to run for president and not just 5th graders!
Classic case of big dreams. So naturally, mom and dad swung into action. Like all good campaigners, we started strategyzing.
We all have our roles:
Mom-- she is the PR rep, also community organizer neighborhood canvasser!
Dad-- number cruncher, poll analysis
Gabe-- the face behind the campaign
My first step was to come up with a catchy slogan. We ruled out Babes vote for Gabes, not school appropriate. We also ruled out all of Gabe's ideas, such as " vote for me and you might get a pizza party" When we asked him where he was going to get the pizza from, he said, "Mom, I said 'might'" We than had to remind him of our current political status in the US and said, that he was not allowed to be like a real politician, he has to run this race with integrity an politcial savvy not political scurvy.
Which is when it hit me, BABY CLARA. Everyone loves babies, and if they don't it's totally uncool to say so. Hence our campaign slogan. The "Hope: Change we can believe In" people can suck it, cuz they don't have anything on Baby.
She isn't an empty promise, she isn't even saying anything! She's just merely suggesting that if she's smart enough to vote for Gabe, you should too. The power of baby and voter influence wrapped up in one dramatic poster.
The love for babies are gender neutral, appealing to boys and girls alike. The silly face she is making appeals to the boys cuz it's funny and the sheer cuteness appeals to girls cuz it's Clara. The poster had to include reasons why Gabe was interested in running and once again Joe and My community Organizer brain went into full swing. Appealing to the male voters: Transformers & blowing heads off with pure awe of a great idea... Appealing to the female vote: grandma's and signing...
We think the poster covered all voter demographics. The speech writing is next so we have to sum up our big ideas in 1-2 minutes to really pull in those swing voters. Bribes of candy and pizza have already been ruled out by the boring teachers. But no one said anything about hiring ACORN to help us conjure up some mystery voters or find some ballots in a teacher's trunk. We'll let you know as of Friday who the winners are...

Clever Clara

2009-09-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

Clara is so cute and cuddly. She is apicky sleeper, for a 3rd born. She loved her Johnny jump up. She loves to stare and observe her big brother and sister. She's mom's biggest fan as well. Can you blame the girl?

Ava 100 piece + puzzles DOMINATED

2009-09-10T16:29:00.000-07:00

Ava rocks the puzzles. She loves sitting down and gibber jabbering about the characters and then sets in with shear four year old ferociousness until it's done. AND DON"T LET THERE BE A PIECE MISSING! oh no, she'll remind me to find it days on end. Grandpa bought her 2 new outfits and she decided to Charlie Angel pose for the camera, in true Ava fashion.

tender Clara moment

2009-09-10T16:19:00.000-07:00

It took exactly 4 minutes for Clara to fall asleep on grandpa's lap. A SUCCESSFUL SLEEP OFF!

Grandpa's 1/2 birthday Party

2009-09-10T16:17:00.000-07:00

Yet another bogus birthday party and a 4 layer chocolate cake has come and gone at the Stewart house. Grandpa was official 13 or 31 depending o how you read the candles and Ava got to blow out the candles twice and had cake frequently within a 2 day time frame.

Reaping the HARVEsT of 09

2009-09-10T14:42:00.000-07:00

No one likes Negative Nellie, so all you haters bess be quiet! I wanted to share the pics of my bountiful harvest teriffic 09 summer. Granted its not much, but I grew it, even in this global warming type weather. My plentiful garden is located near my front walk way where the sun actually hits when it's out.
Now all the haters out there might make jokes and snicker, but I'm still a proud farmer! I know I could compare myself to others and get all downtrodden, but why would I do that when I could simpley have the attitude of "Just wait til next year" it's only up from here folks!

kissing daddy long distance

2009-08-23T14:07:00.000-07:00

Now that Joe is away, Ava gets to kiss mommy while Joe is on the phone. Ava didn't like kissing the phone. She said, there's no face! So she kisses my cheek. She's super excited for the first day of school. I bet she won't sleep tonight. More pics to come of Preschool day 1!

Gabe's first day in publec skule

2009-08-23T14:02:00.000-07:00

No knife fights, no gang violence or obscenities thrown at a teacher! Gabe's day at public school sounded a bit mundane. He loves his new class and knows most of the kids in it from summer school. Mom is somewhat at ease, although vigilantly standing by to yell at someone!

Beauties in the Hotel

2009-07-17T07:37:00.000-07:00

This is what I got to see from my corner of the hotel room. Ahhh... they are so beautiful!

Clara update

2009-07-17T07:35:00.000-07:00

Fat lip chillun

2009-07-17T07:26:00.000-07:00

Joe went to Omaha for work and returned only to give Ava and Gabe fat lips. They loved them.

Percy's yearly photo

2009-07-17T07:24:00.000-07:00

Just in case you missed seeing Percy. She's been neglected now that baby Clara is here and will fight you to scratch her, or should I say fight you if you try to stop. This is your Percy fix!

Our old Springfield Home

2009-07-17T07:22:00.000-07:00

Here is the newly ernovated home my rents use to live in. This is also Naarah's old school. No wonder she's so dim-witted, how can you educate children in a shack!

Tattoos for the Chillun

2009-07-17T07:20:00.000-07:00

What does the average American family do on their family vacation? They tattoo their kids, because that's what they love! These tats were one step above prison tats and one step below the real thing.

Duck Ride Tour in Hellish Branson

2009-07-17T07:17:00.000-07:00

Here are the kids enjoying the tour of Branson from a D.U.C.K. They are old WWII land/water mobiles. It was fun, but the trip was a bit hellish on my end. Nothing says great family vaca liek no sleep and fussy baby strapped to your chest. We were suppose to go to Silver Dollar City, but Gabe and Ava have just enough distance between their ages that it takes 2 adults to entertain them. We decided to just hang around Branson then see a MAGIC show. It was fun for the kids; something different for July 4th weekend.

Ava Rain dancing

2009-07-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

Clara gettng big and chubby

2009-07-06T09:02:00.000-07:00

No touch her Binky

2009-06-22T10:11:00.000-07:00

She means it too, unless of course, you're shoving it in her mouth. Don't touch the binky folks!

Finsihing my stepping stone project

2009-06-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

4 down and 3 more to go. It takes atleast 3 days to complete one stone and I have been busy lately, so I'm excited to see this project complete. I think this summer in my summer to end this hippy-type project. Alas my front garden will be Lashified!

Momma Ava's first Clara feeding

2009-06-22T10:02:00.000-07:00

After a good dance, Ava got to feed her baby sister for the first time. She had the attention span of an ant but was so excited to be big sister Ava. She did a good job.

What my New Dress looks like doing chores

2009-06-22T09:47:00.000-07:00

It was amazing, I found this new dress and I discoevred that it inspires me to clean like a crazy lady. Today in my new dress I cleaned the kitchen, fixed a drain pipe, worked on Joe's car, and weeded my front herb garden, and it's only 11 o'clock. I can't wait to see what else this dress and I can accomplish today!

hey Aunty

2009-06-09T12:26:00.000-07:00

Aunty Nara, this is Clara. I heard what you asked Grandpa Dennis over the phone when I was like um 2 hours old. No, I'm not ugly! As a matter of fact, I'm darn right precious. Of course what do you know about that? Grandpa Dennis said it was a down right miracle that they had more children after they had you, freakin crier, I think is the exact words he used. Stick that in your yapper! I've gotta go and continue being pretty. Over and Out!

More Clara photos

2009-06-09T12:20:00.000-07:00

Check out her baby blanket. I had a co worker recommend this lady who custom makes baby crib sets. I picked out the fabric and she does the rest. Now Clara will have her own blankey like the rest of her siblings!

Clara 4 weeks old

2009-06-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

Isn't she cute. Or as Ava would say, "Ahhh, Clara you're so cute, cute, cute!" Clara is just busy being a baby. She eats, sleeps, poops, and cries. In a nut shell, she likes to cuddle, cling, and be warm. A typical baby, not much to share.
Oh, yeah here's a fun mom story. Joe went to Barbados on mock business/ 1 day vaca, and I was home for 4 days ALONE, all alone. Well clara, who had been sleeping for 4 hours during the nights decides to get up every 2 hours to eat, burp and cry all 4 days Joe was gone. FUN! Well, when he got back, guess who decided to return to her 4 hour sleep habit, yeah that's right, CLARA. Way to go Clara, or should I say, way to go Joe!

Awana Awards

2009-06-09T11:59:00.000-07:00

We had another great year in Awana. It was tougher on me than the chillun, due to me waddling around a huge church chasing 5th & 6th graders around. I had the best volunteers cover for me 3/4th of the year however.
Gabe and Ava had a great year and walked away all the richer with God's word hidden in their hearts.

easter picture fiasco

2009-06-09T11:52:00.000-07:00

What the heck. The spirit of Dennis the picture ruiner has invaded my offspring. We attemped to take our own famly photos for Easter, becasue I'm too friggen cheap to pay for quality and these are the least painful results. Why do I torment myself, right?

The smitten older brother

2009-05-22T10:31:00.000-07:00

Gabe is smitten and often claims that Clara is his favorite sister . We let him think that for now. What a blessing to have such a loving brother.

a big sister at last

2009-05-22T10:08:00.001-07:00

Baby Clara Ann "broccoli" Stewart

2009-05-22T09:34:00.000-07:00

Baby Clara was born May 18th, induced early due to mom's misery. Thank you Dr. Drikell
Baby is named after Great Grandpa Clarence and my sister Adriel Ann. It was also the name Joe and I didn't debate and argue over. Joe and I loved Grandpa so much. When we were first married we'd go over and visit Great grandma and Great grandpa and he would tell us funny stories about the good ol days.
He made us laugh and think about life past 20 years of age. We still reminisce about him and our happy pobre time in Grand Forks. Our favorite part about visiting with him was when he'd shout at grandma from his swivel chair, " Momma, give me some coffee!" and she'd yell back, " In a minute, I'm making your sandwich,". But in less than 2 minutes, there was his coffee on a hot afternoon day. Joe tried that on me once and I'm pretty sure he got a shoe thrown at him.
Ann comes from Adriel Ann, reaon being, I still like her after all these years, so I thought I'd name something after her.
The name Clara means BRIGHT and Ann means Favored or Grace. Clara is and will be Brightly Favored!
Birthing Story:
Joe and I went into the hospital at 7a.m. to be induced. I stole some toast on the way out the door because I knew I'd be starving and couldn't eat. I was hooked up to the "speed it up" meds and off the contractinons went. I was fine a happy for 2.5 hours. The contractions went every minute on top of each other all the way down to every 7 minutes. For jeeze sakes is all I could think. I have plans, come on baby! Watch what you swish for, right?
The Dr. came pre warned that I deliver fast starting at 5 months of pregnancy, so with this in mind she broke my water at 10:57. The contractions started immediately and I went from peace loving happiness to PAIN, in less than a minute.
I told Joe that if the pain lasts any longer than an hour or more I couldn't take it and he needed to help me make a decision for drugs or no drugs. Every time I contimplate them, I end up with a baby on my lap, 30 minutes later, so the plans for a spine shot nerv fully develope. The nurse was also the best EVER. She said, give it 15 minutes and I'll check to see how far along you are and you can make a decision from there. I agreed.
The pain worsened and I was feeling the need to push with in 15 minutes. She checked me again and said I was at 5 cm, then 6cm., then 7cm...Every 2 contractions, if not less, I was dilating 1 full centimeter. The nurse and Dr. were ready though, unlike my other deliveries, which seemed to surprise everyone but Joe and I. We always warn them; I deliver fast, but no one wants to believe me, until they're catching baby in a baseball glove.
I went from 3.5 cm at 10:57 to delivery in less than an hour. She was brorn at 11:39. It was super fast and Clara even got a bruise on her forehead to prove it!

Ava's B day

2009-04-26T20:27:00.000-07:00

Babyshower Rock

2009-04-20T11:37:00.000-07:00

The best way to usher in a new life: American Idol Kareoke! The kids were more impressed by their own skills, but honestly the women were the higher scorers. It had something to do with being able to read words or something.
Anywho, do you want to know something super unproductive? 3 youngins helping me open presents!
Fun times was had by ALL! More pics to come...

A life in Review: 4 years in review: snap shots only!

2009-04-17T07:13:00.000-07:00
Ava is so excited about her princess party. I have possibly 8 girls coming over in their princess attire to act like royalty. I will be playing the role of mother servant and I have a lot of high expectations that Ava has made quite clear to me on many occassions.
Wish me luck and I will blog the video and photos as soon as the princess lets me rest!

Romans 8:38

2009-04-14T07:38:00.000-07:00
"(38) For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, (39) neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

I'm not sure if it is my old age (crawling up on 31 folks, send presents after June 1st please. They will be accepted until late Sept.)or the pregnancy hormones (these will pass in June as well)but ever since my trip to Cambodia my life verse of Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, be not of your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge HIM and He will make your path straight" has been upgraded to Romans 8:38-39.
Why you ask? Well, because life has changed a bit for me. That's all, no real big revelations, no real life or death situation (beside the grease fire) but simply life's consistancy has allowed me to focus on God's consistancy. I pity those who do not have what I have, and i am not talking about my kids, hubby, home, car or job. I'm talking about my security. Plain and simple hope, peace, and unconditional salvation and grace.
With the increasing of my offspring comes added pressure to not fear, Obama doesn't help the situation.
After having Gabe 8 years ago, my fear meter went up. Than working in a very dangerous inner city environment increased that fear ten fold. But Proverbs 3:5 brought me peace. Jesus always reassured me, why fear? What's the point? I brought you here, do you think I'd allow you to be hurt?
The answer was no. No HE did not bring me to ATL to get hurt, shot, beat up or act dumb. I learned my surroundings, adapted a bit too much, but grew in my understanding that HE is still in control as long as I let HIM be.
After having Ava and moving to MO, I realized that I didn't want danger anymore or the stress of pouring more into someone else's kids in a classroom only to return home to my hubby and kids totally spent! I wanted home time. Hence, Proverbs 3:5 gave me my current job. EASY LIKE BUTTER, or better yet, "Sunday morning". I was able to come home earlier, not as tired, my job was a bit more fulfilling and life seemed to settle down and I regained a focus I felt I lost.
Now I find myself looking for more challenges. I'm not in danger persay, but here comes the added danger of growing luke-warm, Sunday-Christianesque, and I say "No thank you complacency", "I'll pass apathy".
Cambodia reignited that fire to be bold in the everyday monotony of life. And not because anything dangerous or miraculous occurred, but rather the opposite. I'm content in planting seeds, teaching and seeing no immediate result, just making a plan to do something I was designed to do and follow through with it.
Is that not the meaing of life, just live "it".
American Culture has slapped us with an identity problem that I don't identify with at all. If we are not doing something deemed Wonderful or attention grabbing than we have no value. But that is simply "LIES from the DEVIL". I have purpose and meaning regardless of others given attention and/or kudos. I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and somehow the joke has lost humor now that Richard Smally has possible become a Senator. I digress.

Easter reminded me that when you have the Peace that Passes all Understanding the only limit there is to the HAND of God is what I put on HIM. Ask for the impossible, demand the best, Wait for the Hope longed for (not Obama's version). There is nothing lofty in expecting God to be God. What's the worst that could happen?
Nothing can steal or rob me of Peace and assurance of Jesus? What can steal heaven from me? I know you Karma people are knocking on all the wood that you can find right now, but I don't fear that. Karma doesn't exsist when there's true peace. I'm not under a knife of the world's scale and scrutiny, or other people's meter of goodness and justice.

I read good news today about my grandfather. My heart rejoiced, I was in the middle of testing my students, so there was no dance of joy, but I know the angels did that for me. It also reminded me that I will be over critical, my weakness will resonate, I will lose arguments and friendships, I will be disappointed and grieve, but all this pales when put into an eternal perspective that it all passes and in the end, HE who has won, will greet me in the end.

Let's hear it for the BOYS!

2009-04-03T07:11:00.000-07:00

April 6th: an all day event
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December 4th: an all day event, he gets less presents due to Christmas mind you.

June 26th: all day event, but not an all month celebration, he shares the same birthday month as me!

< Did you all know that it was Joel's birthday on MOnday?

We are terrible, and I shame all of you, I am exempt because I am blogging the shame.
Every year comes and goes and the men who were daring enough to marry us, and into our family have gone unsung during their birthdays. Well I say no MORE!
We need to be better at remembering them, and celebrating their courage, their patience, their resolve, more importantly their longsuffering!