Well, What Have We Here?

Y'all are probably going to get annoyed with me for posting The Westie Wildlife so much, but seriously, all these bugs and creatures fascinate me.

So today, when I saw this bright red spidery looking thing hanging on the net of the trampoline, I was compelled to go grab my camera.

Upon closer inspection, it is definitely NOT a spider (in fact, it appears to be dining on one... sorry!), but I have no idea what kind of insect we have here. It looks like a land-dwelling shrimp with those tenticles, but what do I know? Any guesses, or better yet, any positive ID's?

Thanks!

Somebody Give Bubo Some WD-40!

We have been out-of-control busy over the last two days! On Tuesday, I went to our summer ladies Bible study first thing in the morning, then I took the kids to the Dollar Theater. (Incidentally, local friends, on Tuesdays, not only is your movie just $1, but your popcorn and drinks are as well.)

We saw Alice in Wonderland, which was pretty good, but I really want to get back to see Clash of the Titans. I used to love the old movie with Harry Hamlin in it when I was a kid! Did you remember that? The one the squeaky metal-y looking owl named Bubo? :) I'm willing to bet that Technology gave Bubo an EXTREME Makeover in the newer one, aren't you? Hee-hee!

Yesterday, Mark, Andrew and I went to see Jacob for Family Night at Summer Camp. They are having such a great time, as evidenced in this picture:





They do some kind of "mud course" every year called Adventure Valley and they come out every time looking like this. To say they LOVE it would be a drastic understatement.

I'm really missing my kid, though. I won't keep harping on about it, but suffice it to say, I'm never so happy to see a dirty, stinky, T-I-R-E-D boy as I am on the Saturday after camp!!

But back to those cheesy 80's movies, though. :) Do your kids ever watch them? Mine do and they mostly like them, which I find hilarious, because they aren't even on the same planet as far as the cool graphics and sound and all that techie stuff goes!

They really like The Goonies and Karate Kid and... Heaven help me... Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure... <---ok, I really had a hard time admitting that last one because of how cheesy and downright annoying it is. So moving right along, they are currently on a Fat Albert kick right now... HA!!! "Hey, hey, hey!" :D

Anyway, what was your favorite movie/cartoon/t.v. show growing up? I'd love to find some more stuff on Netflix for our downtime that I'm forgetting about.

Have a good Thursday!

Sa-lute!

Sometimes, I admit, I get envious of my hubby who gets to go out to lunch on a regular basis at upscale restaurants with customers or suppliers or whatever, because it's part of his job description.

But then on days like today, I realize, upscale restaurants or not, my lunch companions are 1000% more entertaining. You just never-ever know who's going to join you at the table around here, folks.



And that makes the Chef Boyardee ravioli not only bearable, but more delightful than lunch anywhere else on this planet. :)





Happy, happy Monday!!

What if a Bug Flies Up His Nose?!

I got so tickled when I looked out the back door yesterday to see this Peeping Tom: :)



Actually, there was a gallon of sun tea steeping on the deck to his left and he was trying to figure out how to get around it in order to help himself to the birdseed that Mark put out. Ha! We perplexed the little fellow, for sure. ;) Isn't he cute, though?!

Today, after church, we dropped off one of our Boy Scouts for their annual week-long camp. They ALWAYS have a blast, but my motherly blood pressure is invariably raised, too, because:

1. It's 754 degrees in the shade out there.
2. I'm afraid he won't drink enough water to replace lost fluids (wow... that is SUCH a "mom" statement, hee-hee... nevertheless, I'm undeterred).
3. Speaking of water, I worry about the lake, and the snakes that live within it.
4. I know he'll forget to apply his sunscreen.
5. What if it storms, like badly? Who will make sure he isn't scared if it's night-time?
6. What if a mouse gets in his tent? What if a tick gets on his back? What if....

You get the idea.

I know how nuts all of it sounds as soon as I see it in print! Yet, that's my boy, and I'm his Mama, so I kind of can't help it. It's part of the job description, I'm positive. However, I'm going to just trust my Father... his Father... and recite this frequently:

"Be anxious for nothing, but in all things in prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, then the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

I think I'll take some of that peace, with an extra helping of guarding the old heart and mind, thankyouverymuch!! :)

Now, I think I'll go curl up with my remaining Crew and watch a movie.
Have a wonderful Sunday!

Swings, Heartstrings, and Curricula Things

Well, summer vacation is here!! We've already inaugurated the pool and we've been to the beach/dear friends' house, so we are well on our way into a great season!


I woke up at an outlandish time for a Saturday (6:15), so I thought I'd pop in here and catch up a little while my Crew continues to snooze soundly.


Here's something rather mundane to tell you: I FINALLY got a new swing!! I've mentioned before how much I love to sit on a swing to read, talk, or have my quiet times. Well, I've been swing-less for about a YEAR! I had a nice little nook out on our deck that was beautiful and all that, but it just wasn't my swing. So, last weekend, while I was gone, my SWEET, SWEET hubby bought, painted, and hung up a new swing for me on (what will be) our screened in porch. I LOVE IT!!! I've been sitting out there for an obscene amount of time each day this week; even with the highs being in the 90's. I wasn't kidding about loving my swing, peeps. ;D




We still have a ton of work to do, like paint the deck and hang more screening... oh, and replace the Sterilite box end tables.. HA!!, but I'm still enjoying it right now!









This is the now poor, neglected spot where I used to sit:









Even Mikey is like "Seriously, Mama, are you on that thing AGAIN?!"









He's a hard little guy to capture with the camera, by the way. I don't think he sits still for more than 1.5 seconds at a time. But we sure do love him. We lost our Oreo (our shih-tzu) almost 2 weeks ago because she had some degenerative bone disease along with severe skin issues. It was so sad for all of us, but it was especially hard on this little guy because he didn't know where his best friend went. It's so hard when something happens to our pets. ;(




On another, not so sad, note: I signed up for The Old Schoolhouse's Homeschool Crew this year. That means that chosen vendors will be sending us products over the next school year and I will be reviewing them here on ye olde blog! I'm so excited about this!! We received all of our information this week and now I'm anxious to get started. I hope you will benefit from these reviews as well. I always appreciate another Mom who can give her honest opinion about how something works for her family than any other information. Plus, I'm a curriculum junkie, so having a steady flow of stuff to try is really NOT going to kill me. :)


I guess I need to sign off. I'm really looking forward to a great weekend with my family. We don't have much planned, except getting ready to send Jake off to camp, but that's the way I like it... low-key! What are your plans? No matter what, I hope it's a good one!

Random Dozen!

One of my favorite bloggy friends is hosting a meme so I'ma gonna participate! Here goes:


1. How do you feel about "Gladiator" sandals, also called "Roman" or "Jesus" sandals? A fashion yea or nay? Weeeeelll, for this second, I have to say "not so much", HOWEVER, I'm nothing if not *swayed* when it comes to fashion trends, so I'm sure I'll be sportin' a pair if they hit the big time. I'm a sheeple like that. I think I'll go gag now...

2. What is your favorite pizza? I'm a weirdo (SHOCK!) in that I don't like meat on my pizza at all. I really prefer it loaded down with veggies and tons of cheese. There is a Tuscan pizza that our local market... oh who am I kidding, it's Walmart.... sells, and it's muy bien!

3. There are plans in the works to sell roughly 1,000 items from Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas. This means you could buy Picard's chair for your family room. If not a Star Trek item, what prop, background, set, etc. from what TV or movie would you buy if you could? [Ex: Hurley's "I Love my Shih tzu" shirt from LOST, the plantation home "Tara" from Gone With the Wind, or Tracy's tambourine from the Partridge Family.] I'd buy Mr. Rogers' trolley and then I'd let it whisk me away daily to the Land of Make Believe where I'd fix all the problems of the day and dance and twirl and sing like Lady Elaine Fairchild. ~sigh~ ;)

4. Name a local food or restaurant that your area is famous for. Ummmm, Dreamland BBQ? I think?

5. What is your current favorite snack? Smoked Almonds have my heart right at the moment. That, and Dove Dark Chocolate together is the thing making my world spin on it's axis. YUMMY!

6. Hypothetical: You are required to be a reality show contestant. Which show would you choose based on your probability of success? (You cannot choose "none.") A. Dancing with the Stars B. Biggest Loser C. Survivor I'll have to go with Survivor on this one given that I have 2 left feet and that Jillian Michaels makes me want to put my head into a bucket of bleach and inhale. I have some deep-seated bitterness over my encounter with The Shred last year. I'll probably never get over it.

7. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being uninhabitable and 10 being cleanliness that meets the standards of OCD, how clean is your vehicle's interior? Heh-heh.. can we go into the negatives on this one? I do have 4 children.

8. It doesn't feel like Spring until _________. Well, THIS year it wasn't until the temps got above Ever-Lovin-Frigid! Dern, that was a miserable winter! Usually, it's the flowers blooming, though... and Easter.

9. Something that made you laugh really hard recently is ____. We watch America's Funniest Home Videos ALOT as a family and I howl every single time over something on that show. It's quality programming if there ever was any. :)

10. Tell me about a goal you're working toward. Summer. The end.

11. Share a thought-provoking or inspiring quote this week. "The idea that motherhood, fatherhood, and family are not as honorable as high-income careers or highly visible ministry positions is biblically uninformed at best and grossly heretical at worst." Voddie Baucham from the book Family Driven Faith. I'm loving this book and I really respect it's author for his drive to recapture the biblical role of family. God's been opening my eyes alot for several months about this, but that's a whole other post.

12. Name one thing that you do as a parent that you absolutely know will make your kids happy. Going to the drive thru for a chocolate, creamy, dreamy, Chick-Fil-A milkshake. It's aaaaaaaall good then, even for Mama. ;)

Click icon at the top of this post to write your own answers! I'd love to read 'em!

Thoughts About the Last Few Days

Have you ever had a period of time that hits you like a tornado with it's ferocity and leaves you feeling wind-whipped and disheveled after it's over? Well, that was my last week. It was such a hard one on so many levels.

It started with the sudden and tragic death of my precious sister-friend's Dad on the eve of Easter Sunday. It was a car accident that was caused by someone who was probably abusing some substance which makes it all the more difficult. He was such a Godly, wonderful man and it was proven by the sheer number of people who came to pay their respects. If only we could all leave a legacy like that.

The hardest part of it all, though, is watching my friend and her family suffer. As I type, I have her precious children all sound asleep in various places around the house because they spent the night with us last night. They have been through so much in such a short period of time. It's hard to see it on their sweet, innocent faces.

I have several other friends and family members that are dealing with incredibly difficult things that erupted last week, too. Out of respect for their collective privacy, I won't share, but it's some seriously TOUGH stuff, folks, and all I can do is be there for them and pray my head off. I hate it when my loved ones are hurting. The only comfort I take is that I know God will use it for their good in ways that only He can orchestrate. What a blessing it is to be His child because we can rest assured that even the really, really hard places are never in vain.

On a personal note...and I must tread lightly here... I had a "critic" make their voice known behind my back last week in the midst of everything else. Things like that always punch me in the gut especially when it's not meant for any kind of constructiveness, but pure maliciousness. My skin is definitely tougher than it used to be, but I'm human and I certainly have to deal with the hurt and even anger that I inevitably face afterward.

I'm trying to let it serve as a reminder to ME that when we are image-bearers of Christ, we are called to love in His name. Part of that love is kindness and protection (1 Cor. 13:7), which I believe means protecting the name and certainly the confidences of others. Why are we, as Christians, so easily loose with their tongues when it comes to other brothers and sisters? Do we not know the destruction it causes? James 3 tells us that for such a little part of the body, it has the ability to corrupt the whole thing!

We've all been the recipient of the hurt from a person's careless words, so why do we not realize that this is exactly the way it makes others feel when we are tempted to do it ourselves? Are we that harsh that we don't care? If that's the case, it's so NOT ok... that's a major heart problem.

We're supposed to love others the way we love ourselves. So I ask, would we hurt ourselves the way we hurt others with our judgement and criticism? Probably not. We usually wind up giving more grace and understanding to ourselves than to anybody else.

Finally, how does our gossip or maliciousness or backbiting make us look any different from the world? How does this bring honor and glory to the Lord at all? Of course, it doesn't. It has the opposite affect. It causes people not to trust us. Not to trust the Church. There is no telling how many people have walked away from a Christian whose words crossed the explicit boundaries that the Bible gives us with a skewed view of the Father. How incredibly, horribly tragic.

Please don't take this as a post from someone who's been jaded and then went on to rant. It's something God has been showing me for a long time. It's something He knows I've failed at many, many times myself. Yet, it's something that I absolutely had to get out this time. I hope God will bring it to mind every single time I'm tempted to not protect in Christ's love.

Redeem the time, friends,