Best

I am going to ramble here a bit.

Permission please?

Oh, you said "yes."

I heard it loud and clear.

Why, thank you!

So, the thing is that sometimes when you are waiting for something for so long, when it appears to be coming finally, you are ready to take it any way you can get it. Even when things don't look quite the way you had pictured and it just doesn't feel right, you press on. You do it because it appears to be your only option- your only way to get the thing that you have been waiting for. So, you stuff down the wary feeling and try to gut it out because well, at least it will get you to that thing you had been waiting on.

But that is sooooo wrong. Let me tell you... it is sooooo wrong. Because it might be good and it might even be better, but it is not best.

And the God of the universe does not want you to settle for good or better. HE wants you to have what is best.

Amen, Hallelujah. Walk in that my Mamasistas!

Details, details, yes my friends- they are coming. Do you know that you are very patient?

Boyz at Play!

I know you thought I only had four boyz, but I actually have six. I will always claim my sister's twins. It seems like I was just in the room with my sister when they were born into this world, one a bald, stiff and crying, the other with dark hair that would soon turn blonde and eyes that were very swollen.

Now they are teenagers and I still want to eat them up.

They came to play yesterday and

play they did!

and there was laughter

and smiles

and sillyness

and some tackling and wresting that boys can't help themselves for all the money in the world not to do

which led to some tears

and more wrestling and yelling, "Don't wreck my new shirt."

and some loving of one's conquest.

And that's the gift.

They are cousins who love each other like brothers.

And very soon, this little guy is no way, no how

going to be left out on that kind of fun!

Grandma Betty

When Hottie Husband and I started dating in high school, one of the first things I loved best about him were his grandmothers. At that time, his maternal and paternal grandmothers were both alive as well as two great-grandmothers. None of my grandmothers were still living so I wanted them to all adopt me as their own. They eventually did and for that I am grateful.

This is Grandma Betty. She is one of the most amazing people I know.

Her 81st birthday was yesterday.

She is absolutely in love with Little Bear and will hold him any chance she gets.
I try to pop by her house when he is awake so they can spend time together.

Let me share this incredible woman with you...

She has amazing strength and a servant's heart in her chest. She will do anything to help. When HH and I were first married, she came over and helped move large rocks to a pile in the driveway to help us with some landscaping. This made me a nervous wreck, but HH thought nothing of it because he had seen her do things like this since he was a child. He was used to her being a worker and just jumping in without a fuss. His mother is the same way.

She is thin as a rail, but her strength and endurance are amazing. When she has the family over for dinner, we can never get her to sit down to eat. She is always making sure everyone has everything they need. I think last night was the first time I have ever seen her eat her dinner and it was because it was her birthday and we forced her. She was still last.

Here are a few of her things she gave me permission to share with you...

Can you tell what her favorite color is?

You guessed it! She is the ultimate Purple Lady.

Her closet is full of purple clothes and her house is full of purple items.

And she still drives this cool little PT Cruiser.

My kids used to call it the PT Woozer.

They love it when, from time to time, she picks them up from school in it.

I think the thing that defines her most is her love story.

She is deeply in love with Hottie Husband's grandfather.

His name is Hugh and here is a picture of them together. This is what they looked like when I first met them.

They met when she was just thirteen and he was fourteen.

This is a photograph of them at that age.

They had their first date at those tender ages and never dated another.

They were crazy about each other from the start.

They did have to be briefly separated one time when he was still fourteen. Hugh had called Betty on the telephone, but her sister had answered. Teasing him, the sister had said that another boy was after Betty. Well, Hughie, as everyone called him, got in a car and was racing to her house when he was caught by the police. They sent him "away" so Santa Barbara. She still has the letters he sent to her during that time.

She cut pieces of some and put them together like this.

Isn't that beautiful?

Hughie's parents wouldn't let them get married until he turned twenty, so three days after his twentieth birthday, they were married.

These are some of her treasures from him. The heart is the first gift he ever gave her and the footballs are awards of his from high school.

Hughie and Betty had four children together and years that were not always easy. But, their love for each other never wavered. When Betty was still working and he was retired, he would get up every morning, make her coffee and start her car for her.

On Valentine's Day, two weeks before Jackie Boy was born, Grandpa Hughie gave Grandma Betty two gifts in the morning. He gave her a new purple wallet and a purple purse. Later that day, he died quickly and peacefully in the waiting room of a doctor's office. It was a complete shock to us all, especially Grandma Betty. I remember her being so graceful and composed and her worrying about pregnant me when I sobbed. She took care of everyone else at her most painful moment.

Just the other day, she told me it had always been their plan that she was going to go first. Sometimes when she speaks of Hughie, you can tell that she is just waiting to be with him again.

We commiserated about how blessed we both were to love and be loved like that.

Wanting to learn more about her, I asked her what her favorite thing was. She doesn't like to throw anything away, so I was curious how she would narrow it down. But, she had found something very special recently. It was a postcard from her father to her mother.

Then, she couldn't remember where she had put it and it bothered her. She searched all day and was so happy to share it with me when she found it. I'm so glad she did.

This is the front of the postcard. I love the poem.

It was sent in 1914 and it cost two cents.

He wrote- I am still waiting to get a real long letter from my baby doll. I am getting awful lonesome.

Last night as Grandma Betty's son said a prayer over her birthday meal, he said,

"Dad was our hero, but Mom is our heart."

BB

Yesterday I was sitting, having lunch in a sandwich shop with Hottie Husband when something unexpected happened. Toots was with us, working on his lunch and Little Bear was happy in his car seat. Then Little Bear started to fuss. I knew it was getting close to naptime so I took him out of his car seat and sat him in my lap. I continued eating my yummy chicken salad wrap with my right hand while holding him on my left knee and bouncing him up and down.

We were chatting, having a good ol time until HH looked at the vacant car seat, then at me and almost gagged. He then pointed at the front of my shirt and at the car seat. I followed his eyes and I was stunned. There was poo all over my shirt, all over the car seat, all over the baby's leg and all over my skirt. And my lunch was sitting in front of me.

The bouncing had caused orange baby poo to be scraped up and down my black tank top from between my boobs all the way down to my belly button. So, I looked at the poo all over me and then the puddle of it in the car seat and what was smeared on Little Bear's leg and then I looked at Toots and he was pointing at me and gagging.

I just sat there frozen for a moment. I didn't know what to clean first. My wipes were in the car. A wipeless mother with a poo blowout is helpless. So off to the car we went and Little Bear got cleaned up. New diaper, a wipey bath and new clothes for him. Poo covered shirt and skirt for me. Then, I had to walk back into the restaurant like that, with what little dignity I had left, and try to clean myself off in the bathroom.

As I gave myself a paper towel wipe down, I started thinking, "Good thing I wore a black tank top today and a camo skirt because even though it is there, you can't REALLY tell what it is. Even though I know it is poo, at least I am not wearing a white shirt. Cuz then everyone would know.'

HH cleaned out the car seat. He is good for so many things I tell you.

Then he handed me a $100.00 bill.

I said, "What's this for? For letting your child shat all over me?"

He just raised his eyebrows.

Not a man a many words is he!

Although he did suggest we change Little Bear's name to Blowout Bear

...and call him BB for short.

THE PLAN

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

This is one of my favorite verses.

I like plans.

I like knowing what is coming.

I like knowledge and details.

I like that God knows the plans that he has for me.

I love that they are to give me hope and a future.

I love that it is to prosper me and not harm me.

Those are good plans and I like that HE knows what they are.

I like that it isn't at random.

I love that He loves me this much.

But sometimes, I wish the verse went more like this...

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future and these are all of the details of that future... this is how it will all go down."

And then there would be a document with paragraphs and details and bullet points and precise instructions. Wouldn't that be so much easier?

But, if I knew what was coming, then I would probably worry about how to handle what is coming because I wouldn't have gone through the process of "today's thing" to prepare me for the next "thing" because I would just skip ahead thinking, "well, I already know how this turns out." The growth of my character would be stifled and I would be bored.

So, I guess maybe I don't need to know THE PLAN.

We can just keep that verse the way it was written.

Aren't you relieved?

Maybe, just maybe, God knows what he is doing after all.

Photoshop Actions Sets- My New Playground

I have always had an interest in photography. When having professional pictures taken of myself or my children, I must be an annoying client because I am always saying, "oooh, could we do this? or wouldn't it be cool to...?" I like the vision of what can be captured so much that I don't just relax and let them do their job.

So, over the past months, I have decided that I am going to learn how to do it myself so as to put professional photographers out of their misery when dealing with me. A student at heart, I have been doing some late night studying about light, lenses, angles, and composition. I read and read and read articles on the internet and then I play and practice and torture my children and husband. But, it is OH SO FUN!

One of the coolest things for a mother with many loud and boisterous children like me has been Photoshop. This is a tricky program when you have no idea what you are doing. But, as soon as you learn a few things, just let me tell you girlfriend, it is like a playground of pure delight.

Now, picture the coolest playground you could possibly enter. It has the most amazing slides and swings and it is colorful and artsy and innovative. That is Photoshop for me. Now picture that same playground with electricity- lights that add bling and flash to the equipment along with power that makes it spin and dance. That is Photoshop with Action Sets.

I first read about Action Sets on Pioneer Woman's website, where she offers her free PW Action Sets. Oh Ree, I just love you for these. She has my enduring adoration just for these gifts. Other sites sell action sets too. But, why buy them when you can get them for free? The idea of an action set is that it takes multiple steps of Photoshop and puts them into a set to save time- you click the button and voila- you get the desired effect. And if you mess up, she has one called, "Start All Over!" Love it.

Here is an example of the same picture of Toots

using different actions.

This is the straight out of the camera shot.

Not bad, but just look what can be done.

I just love the possibilities.

Here is the same shot with the actions- Boost and Quick Edge Burn

Here it is with Boost and Bring Out the Eyes.

Take a look at the eyes. They are a little overdone on purpose.

I wanted you to be able to see the difference.

I would tone it down to look a little more natural if I were to print it.

This one is PW Black and White

This one is called Heartland and I think it goes well with the cowboy photo.

But, this is my favorite. It is called Sunshine.

I love the softness of it and what it does with the light.

Off to discover more possibilites in my playground.

The County Fair!

I can't stop thinking about the chocolate covered bacon. I didn't actually try it, but the sign caught my eye and I exclaimed loudly, "chocolate covered bacon??" and a friendly passerby had to tell me that it was so good and tasted like caramel at first and then just melted in your mouth.

But, I walked by and now I mourn that I may never actually know what it tasted like. I mean, bacon and chocolate- TOGETHER! Oh My Goodness! I also walked right past the Deep Fried Twinkies and the

and the

and the

but seriously... it's the bacon I just can't get over. I did get to enjoy the most delicious chocolate dipped ice cream bar rolled in almonds and toffee. It was one of those moments when you feel like, "Yes! I made the right choice. This IS as good as it looked and well worth the calories." Mmmmm... yes, that was good.

So while I try to get the thought of chocolate covered bacon out of my food obsessed mind I'll tell you about the lovely day I had at the fair with my boyz.

I strangely rode a ski lift in the middle of Pomona and was able to get this shot.

We watched the boys swing high in the sky

zoom zippily in water wagons

nervously wait to go on high speed spinning spirals

and slip smilingly down super stretch slides.

Hottie Huband noticed that the horses were going to be racing so we snuck up to watch and allowed the kids to see their first horse race (while they begged to go back to the rides).

It was pretty cool to be so close to the action.

The number 3 horse won.

I zoomed in and noticed that

he must have floated to the finish line because this horse's feet are

not touching the ground.

Then we headed over to see the farm animals.

The kids were able to see newborn baby lambs and witness one lamb stand up for the first time. They loved this moment. There were too many people so I could not get a picture.

Durn people!

But, another miracle was captured. The miracle of Hottie Husband actually holding the camera in his hands and pushing down the button to capture a picture of

little old me with farm animals trying to eat me.

Well, they weren't actually trying to eat me, they were trying to get the food in that cup.

But, these guys were aggressive.

They chased the boys and even jumped up on them. I had to get the baby out of there.

I was worried they nip his chubby little toes.

Aren't they looking at Toots like he might be edible?

One of these guys even ate Jackie Boy's paper cup.

I'm still wondering if that hurt coming out.

After surviving being pet by the petting zoo,

we went outside and some birds attacked

Little Bear.

See them trying to eat his cheeks.

Speaking of eating..

I felt so bad for this mama with her yunguns a clamorin and a fighting to get to her nipples. And she was a justa layin there tryin to shut out the ruckus.

I feel so bad for her that out of respect, I don't think I'll ever be needing that chocolate covered bacon.