Great Day for a Bike Ride!

Sunny & 78 degrees!

Spring Break 2011

It's Little Man's Spring Break so we wanted to take a quick family trip somewhere. We decided on Moody Gardens down in Galveston, TX. Didn't know what to expect weather-wise but it was great! Day 2 was a little overcast with some showers but they have enough to do inside that you could wait out the weather and not get bored. :)

They had so much for the kids to do! There were the regular attractions like the heated outdoor pool, the Aquarium, the Paddleboat ride, 3D & 4D shows and you could drive down to the seawall or to downtown Galveston (The Strand) to walk around. But they also had special activities at the hotel for the kids. A wii competition, a bounce house, crafts, games and a karaoke contest at night. Lots of fun and lots of kids for Little Man to play with! :)

Opponent and Little Man

on some Samurai game.

Little Man with Dora & Diego after the 4-D adventure show.

Out and about near The Strand.

Bounce House fun!

I'm bigger than the big penguin!

Daddy & Little Man, ready for the 3-D movie,

The Wild Ocean.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Spring Break!

Hit home....

On my way to pick up Little Man from school today, I turned on the radio and this song was playing that really hit home. I couldn't find it in the project playlist site that I use for the blog so I picked one that pretty much has the same message (Thanks D for the suggestion).

I've posted the lyrics of the song that I heard on the radio as well.

"Blessings"

Artist: Laura Story

Album: Blessings

We pray for blessings

We pray for peace

Comfort for family, protection while we sleep

We pray for healing, for prosperity

We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need

Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near

What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom

Your voice to hear

We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near

We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love

As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

All the while, You hear each desperate plea

As long as we have faith to believe

When friends betray us

When darkness seems to win

We know that pain reminds this heart

That this is not our home

What if my greatest disappointments

Or the aching of this life

Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy

What if trials of this life

The rain, the storms, the hardest nights

Are your mercies in disguise

What goes around.....(soapbox time)

I've always been a believer in "what goes around comes around", "when one door closes, another one opens", "Karma"and "God has a purpose / life plan for everyone".

Don't get me wrong, I don't think that life "just happens". You're not "fated" to have a certain life...the choices you make steer you in a certain direction. We have free will to choose to do good or bad things and suffer the consequences. That's where the "Karma's a B%$#h" comes in. :)

I do wonder how some people seem to be hell bent on doing underhanded things and never seem to suffer consequences for their actions. Some would say that once that person's time here on earth is over...that's when they answer for what they have done...judgement at the pearly gates. I try not to be judgmental but when it directly affects my family...well, you don't mess with my family.

Lately I've been wondering about our "plan". Things always seem to work out for us in the end but sometimes I just gotta question the big man upstairs. It's a little more frustrating when it takes months or even years for us to reach the destination (for the time being). And I know that the journey is part of the learning experience, blah, blah, blah...these days I'm just more of an instant gratification kind of person. It was much easier to roll with the punches when I was single...when you have a husband and child, you're not (can't be) as flexible. So I find myself praying A LOT these days, trying to find some guidance.

This is generally how our one-sided conversations go:

Me: Um, I know you have a plan and all but can you give me a timeline on when to expect a change in our current situation?

God: (no answer)

Me: I'm sure you know what you're doing so I'll just go with it...but send me a sign or SOMETHING.

God: (no answer)

Me: Um, o.k. Get back to me when you can.

I know the Big Guy knows what he's doing and I'm o.k. with that! Just impatient.

I'm sure anyone in our family that reads this is thinking, "oh my gosh! what is going on with them?!" But don't worry! We're fine. Just frustrated that we have to deal with Jackholes...guess that's one of God's character building exercises he throws at us. :D

Looking forward to our Spring Break trip with Little Man and having some quality family time together. :)

Goosed!

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while....just not motivated/inspired....until playgroup last week.

Our group met at a local park that backs up to a lake. Really nice because it has a climbing structure for the younger siblings, a large climbing structure for the big kids and you can feed the ducks!

Toward the end of our get together we noticed this lady picking up a big goose in the parking lot and trying to carry it back over to the lake. (Wish I would have had my camera!) I'm sure she was worried that it would get run over. The first thing that crossed my mind was that the sucker was going to bite her in the face!

I'm not a fan of waterfowl. I was bitten by a goose when I was younger and I saw a swan get a hold of my Aunt, so they freak me out.

When it came time to leave, I could hear it honking in the parking lot...getting louder the closer I got to my car. So I peeked around the back of my car and there it was between my car and my friend "A", who was also trying to get to her car. Our other friend "K" was in her car, driving away and laughing...I'm sure the look on my face suggested that I soiled myself. :D

Holy Goose was this thing BIG! I seriously think that this was a goose/swan hybird mutant thing.

So here I am throwing Little Man into the car so he doesn't get attacked and A is trying to shoo it away so she can get her daughter in her car. Then A says, "It's like Cujo!" I thought that was hilarious...and fitting. Cujo the Goose.

Cujo the Goose

The real Cujo

I suddenly get the bright idea to try and lead it away from us with Little Man's leftover PBJ, but it just waddled toward me and then followed me back to the car when I tried to sneak around it. (apparently geese don't like PBJ).

Little Man is in the back of the car watching the whole thing, waving his arms and yelling something I couldn't hear.

Then this brave woman walks up waving her flip flops at the thing and it moves away enough for us all to get in our cars. I'm sure she thought, "Get a grip ladies! It's just a goose!"

We were finally able to back out without hitting it. As crazy as it was, I didn't want it to get hurt but seriously goose, don't hang out in parking lots! You freak people out! And not everyone will be as nice.

Man Cold

The History of Valentine's Day (and Kissing)

Instead of whispering sweet nothings, impress your sweetheart with these Valentine’s Day facts.

• No one knows the real story behind Saint Valentine (at least three different saints named Valentine are recognized by the Roman Catholic church), but one legend claims that he secretly married young couples against the orders of an emperor who had banned marriage because he believed single men made better soldiers. (How Romantic!)

• Today’s tradition of trading love notes on February 14 became popular in England in the 17th century.

• The first box of chocolates was introduced by Richard Cadbury in 1868.

• The oldest known valentine card dates back to the 1400s. Charles, duke of Orleans, sent it to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London.

• “Be Mine,” one of the original messages on Necco’s Sweethearts candies when they debuted, still appears every year. Recent additions? “IM Me” and “Go Girl.”

But there’s plenty you may still not know about philematology, or the science of snogging (seriously, it has a name). So wrap your orbicularis oris muscles (lips) around these tidbits of trivia, and next time you greet your valentine, you can kiss and tell.

• Some anthropologists believe that kissing originated with early Homo sapiens passing food to their babies mouth to mouth. (EW!) As humans developed, the mouth-to-mouth feeding stopped, but the learned behavior of kissing remained.

• The first on-screen kiss was between John C. Rice and May Irwin in the 1896 movie appropriately titled The Kiss.

• Birds and bees may not be able to kiss, but bonobo apes do. The oft-studied primates, who are closely connected to humans, love to lay one on each other after a fight, to form social bonds, or―arguably the best reason―just because. (Who doesn't like to cuddle?!)

• As a prelude to KISS, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss, and Ace Frehley were known as Wicked Lester. In 1973 Stanley had the idea to change the band’s name to KISS, while Frehley came up with the iconic design for the KISS logo.

• They may not have been sitting in a tree, but British couple James Belshaw and Sophia Severin achieved a record for k-i-s-s-i-n-g back in 2005, when they smooched for 31 hours, 30 minutes, and 30 seconds. No word on whether it led to love, marriage, or a baby in a carriage.

That's how he rolls.....

The other day Little Man and I were at a stop light when we saw a car (shiny, new & expensive) filled with teenage boys speed through the intersection with the cross traffic.

I looked at Little Man in the rear-view and said, "Just want to let you know that Mom & Dad aren't going to buy you a brand new Volvo when you learn to drive". "I didn't have a new car, I had a used Toyota hatch-back that I helped pay for."

((geez, does that make me sound like an old geezer or what?!))

((Silence from the back seat))

So, being curious I asked...

Me: What kind of car do you want when you learn to drive.

Little Man: A Van. (without missing a beat)

Me: A what? I had heard him right but was surprised at his answer because this is what was going through my mind.

The Star Wars "Love Machine" Van.

Little Man getting ready to go pick up his date.

Over. My. Dead. Body.

But this is what he said,

Little Man: A Van. Like Grandma M.

Me: Oh, (wave of relief coming over me) you mean a mini-van?

Little Man: Yeah, cause it has buttons you can push to close the doors and that's cool.

Ahhhhh. Guess I can wait until he's 15 to REALLY panic. :D

Little Man's sweet ride.

Maybe we can still paint the Star Wars graphics on the sides. :)

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Jedi Wannabe...

As many of you know, Little Man is a HUGE fan of Star Wars. So a couple of months ago we were on the way home from McDonald's (yes, I caved) and Little Man says, "Mommy look at me! I'm Anakin pod racing!" You gotta give the kid credit for being creative! :D

Little Man in his pod racing helmet

and wearing his "Jedi in Training" t-shirt.

The real Anakin from Star Wars Episode I

May the force be with you!

Another JibJab/Little Man Production...

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