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Saturday, April 28

Quotes from My Girls

Its been awhile since I've posted about some of the funny, silly or profound things that my daughters say, so here I go again:

Isabella after a playdate with her little buddy Sophia: "Mom! We had so much fun! We even got to play Secret Asian!!" (she meant secret agent)

Rebecca had not been eating her snack at school so I told her that I would not pack one if she didn't start eating it. She didn't. I didn't.
Here is what the drama queen said to our neighbor after getting off the bus at the end of the school day: "My mom didn't pack a snack for me today! I didn't have anything to eat! NOT EVEN ONE LITTLE CRUMB!!!"
(I can imagine the neighbors will not be nominating me for mother of the year now!)

Rebecca was talking to herself, then talking to me, then just talking in general. I asked her if she planned to stop talking in the next little while, and she said "NOPE!" So I asked her if she she planned to keep on talking forever and she replied, "That's my plan!"
(somehow I believe her)

Isabella's been going through a phase where she picks up a word or a phrase and repeats it over and over to try it out. Its hard to communicate in writing how cute it is but I will try.

Annoying: "Oh my I'm so annoyed by this!" "I can't believe that is truly annoying"
Such a Pity: "Oh dear its such a pity I don't have school today!" "I can't find my socks, its such a pity!" "My bike HEL-MENT fell down and its such a pity!"
Extrordinary: "I tried my cereal and it was simply extrordinary!" "My dress is extrordinary" "I'm soooo hungry mom, its extrordinary!"
Trowel: "Oh dear! I must weed my garden with my trowel." "Its time to trowel out the grass" " I need my garden gloves so I can use my trowel."
I was born for it: In answer to anyone who asks if she is ready...."I was born ready!"
While riding her bike..."I was born to ride!" Answer to anyone who asks if she is going to kindergarten next year..."I was born to go to kindergarten!"
I'm so embarassed: "I'm so embarassed of my shirt...Mom! What does embarassed mean?"
"I'm embarassed of my lunch" "I'm embarassed of my daddy's supper."
(Still not sure what she thinks this word means but she says it alot!)

Rebecca came home from kindergarten and told me about some of the drama at the school. Aparently a little boy and a little girl were "going out" in KINDERGARTEN!!! (Can you believe it?) She didn't know what this means, but she thought it was cool to say and then she said, "its over now though because they broke apart!" Thankfully, she'd never heard the term "going out" or "broke up" and she remembered the broke part. (Not trying to be a prude but it comes naturally to me and they're in freakin' kindergarten...where are they learning this crap?)

DJ told Isabella it was time to put on her pjs and brush her teeth before bed. She turned on her heel, saluted and shouted, "Sir! Right away! Sir!" I burst out laughing, and without batting an eye DJ said, "That's right private! On the double." And happy as could be, she ran off to get ready for bed. Now I know how he runs the house when mommy's not at home!

When my back was out, Rebecca sat with me in my bed and read me a book. She was thoughtful for a moment, then let me know what my diagnosis. "Mom! I think your back is hurt because you haven't been exercising enough." I told her that the doctor had said I was exercising too much and that why it was sore, and she replied, "Ahhh yes! That's what the problem, you've been exercising too much!" She changed her story so quickly and declared both with such certainty, I think she'll either be a lawyer or a politician! My little waffler!

And now some quotes from Rebecca the Profound....

I overheard Rebecca reading Isabella the creation story from their little picture bible. After the part about Adam and Eve eating the apple and having to leave the garden, she continued,
"See how smart God is Isabella? He gave Adam and Eve the perfect discipline. He didn't kill them for eating the fruit, instead He gave them a second chance, but He was still teaching them that they had to listen to Him. When its teaching and a second chance at the same time, that is good discipline!"

Isabella sat there nodding her head while I was around the corner thinking "What the...?? Where does she get this stuff? I've never even thought of that before!! That's crazy!"

and finally....
Rebecca has had a run in with a bit of a bully this year on the bus ride home. There is a girl in grade one who "befriended" Rebecca for a price. She tries to get Becca to bring her things or do things which Rebecca (thankfully) has resisted.
Things got particularly difficult when Becca didn't invite the girl to her birthday party, but Becca handled herself very well. About a week after her runs-in with the grade one girl, I was tucking Rebecca in when she said,
"Mom, do you know what I think about Kaitlyn? I think I know why she is mean to the other kids. Every day when she gets off at her stop, Kaitlyn's mommy is there and she doesn't smile at Kaitlyn, or giver her a hug or a cuddle or anything. Maybe Kaitlyn needs her mommy to hug her and love her so she won't be sad, and then she won't be mean to the kids."

Wow! Such wisdom. Maybe we should try letting the United Nations be run by 6 year olds for awhile and see how the world changes...
Erica at 10:21 PM
3 comments

Friday, April 27

Its All Good

Did you ever wake up with a funny feeling that something really AMAZING is about to happen?
I know I'm an optomist but there are times when an impending sense of JOY overwhelms me.
I just know that things are about to arrange themselves in such a way that it would appear that God is giving me a wink and a nod. This morning I woke up at 5:30am with just such a feeling.

This is odd today as my week was not particulary joyful or full of promise. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
Besides the theft of last week, our van broke down in the busy of intersection whilst I was taking my mother-in-law home from the hospital. She was just released for an attack of asthma so her breathing was borderline normal...she could not help me push a van out of the way, and I couldn't do it by myself. So we sat there for half an hour being berated by passersby, honking, yelling, giving the finger because we were so stupid as to stop at an intersection. One big truck with two big burly guys in pulled up close enough to yell that we should move the van forward.
If I could have, I would have. Not an option. No one stopped to help us, just yell and scream and honk. It was quite humiliating. I had to wait for DJ to come and rescue us as the tow truck took an hour and a half to come. Very stressful and exhausting. It was the alternator and it cost $540 to fix.

We got my mother-in-law safely home, thank goodness and she didn't have a heartattack from our stressful situation. Quite a relief on my part. If I had to roll her out in the street to give her CPR, can you imagine how much more people might have honked and yelled! "Pull her on to the sidewalk! I'm trying to get by!"
AN ASIDE: Guess who was the worst for being rude with the honking and gesturing? It was senior citizens! They were absolutely rude, obtrusive and relentless. This really offends me as in my line of work, they often complain about youth being rude and having no manners. But I digress...

The next day, I got a call from Rebecca's school that she had fallen at recess time but she was okay. She had gone back to class and all was well. She really is okay but her face is kinda banged up, and I will post a picture later to show what she looks like today.

My point is that my week was full of unwelcome events but this morning that seems to be the past and I feel as though something in the heavens has shifted. I'm very happy in the middle of my chaotic, messy life. There is a break through coming and I'm going to celebrate knowing that it is coming. I know I sound like a flaky church freak but when the Joy gets you, it just gets you.
Enjoy the day! There is good out there that might just chase you down, whether you have faith to believe in it or not.

Quote of the Day:
"Don't ever argue with an idiot. People watching might not be able to
tell the difference."
Erica at 7:09 AM
2 comments

Saturday, April 21

Break In

Unfortunately our van was broken-in to. (that expression results in bad grammar!)
We had theives jimmy the passenger side of our van and steal whatever they could grab.
Fortunately, we had very little of value in the van.
They stole our flash light from the glove compartment, and took the girls library book bags
from the hatch. No one was hurt so all is well.

We went to the library to explain that their books were stolen and filed a police report.
The library said they put the books on a hiatus for six months in case they are turned into
a library or we recover them somehow. At the end of the six months, if we do not return them we will have to pay for the books. The books cost four hundred dollars!!!

Please pray that some kind soul finds the books wherever they were stashed (I'm assuming car thieves are not interested in children's literature) and returns them to the library.
I'm really praying that God could help us out on this one because we can't afford to fork out $400 for no good reason.
Please pray with us that the books would be found one way or another.

Oh, the theived also stole our antenna!!! Can you believe it! Now we have crappy radio reception to remind us of this event. ( I didn't even know you could steal antennas!)
Erica at 6:47 PM
10 comments

Wednesday, April 18

Emotional Well-Being

My mother taught me the importance of knowing yourself, knowing and understanding your feelings. From a young age, she taught her children how to recognize our emotions, and to express them so we could deal with them and have a healthy emotional well-being.

In turn, I have passed this gift on to my children. I want to tell me how they feel, to know how to deal with emotions and understand why they feel the way they feel and how to move on from there. To achieve this goal, I've spent time with them on how to communicate and the importance of letting people know what they are thinking and feeling.

GOOD LORD they talk alot! Sometimes I with they would just shut up for two minutes togeteher!!!! What have I done? Do I sound like that? Who cares if your feelings got hurt because your sister didn't say you're hair looks pretty today? Get over it! Shiza!

Don't get me wrong, I love my daughters. The girls are brilliant, compassionate, super-sensitive and articulate- I'm quite happy about that - but I think its time to learn a new skill...

NOT saying everything you think and feel OUT LOUD is the skill of the week.
Let's take all our thoughts and feelings for just ONE day and NOT say them.
That way mommy will be sane tomorrow! What a great life lesson!
Erica at 10:09 AM
2 comments

Tuesday, April 17

Churl's Birthday



TODAY IS MY BIG SISTER'S BIRTHDAY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHURL!
(She is sitting by a pool in Arizona right now! What a wonderful way to celebrate your birthday! As far as the 80-20 rule goes, going south is definitely in the 80!)
Now go party with the NASCAR freaks!
Those Rednecks sure know how to party!


Erica at 7:00 AM
5 comments

Saturday, April 14

Spring Has Arrived!

I am so happy that the warm weather has finally arrived!
We are outside as much as possible.
Biking rides to the park and to the ice-cream shop are in order!
Hooray for Spring!
Erica at 12:07 PM
0 comments

Wednesday, April 11

Are You Beautiful???




Don't be too quick to answer.
You could be stunningly beautiful and you just don't have the right make-up artist yet.
Check out these girls!
Finding the proper make-up artist was all it took.

Maybe the face of the average woman isn't the problem, maybe its lack of access to resources.

I think I will write a proposal to the government, urging them to fund average housewives with access to make-up, hair and air-brush artists.

We can beat this epidemic of bad family pictures, and looking like hags in the photos of our kids birthday parties.

Look what it did for these women!
You could be next!

Maybe you're beautiful! Maybe its Maybelline, and Cover Girl, and Max Factor, and Revlon, and a team of make-up people with spray on tan, and four hair guys from the salon! And a personal chef and trainer and a graphic design team with air brush expertise?

Who knows?
Are you beautiful?














































Erica at 8:46 AM
8 comments

Monday, April 9

Not again!

There are certain characteristics I absolutely can NOT stand in people. To use one of my mom's expressions, "it drives me buggy!"

There are certain things people do or say that make me wanna punch them in the mouth.

Yesterday I had a quiet moment of revelation, and I caught a glimspe of myself in the mirror.
I saw a characteristic in myself that I HATE in other people.
Its one of the really annoying
ones that I hate more than any of the others.
Grrrrrrr!!!! I hate it when this happens!

I did not punch myself in the face. I asked God to change me.
Good gracious! I don't want to be that guy/girl! I don't want to judge them but I don't want to be them either! Perhaps I'll have my name legally changed to Judgy McJudgerson.
Erica at 8:26 AM
5 comments

Friday, April 6

Eagles...

DJ got the DVD of the Eagles farewell tour in Australia. We've watched it over and over again.
I have always liked the Eagles music but this is something else.
Watching them perform is such a joy. They dress like your dad or a really weird uncle but its not what they look like that is impressive.

You can see that they love what they are doing, that they love making music and they are enjoying themselves! When they have a solo, you can see the concentration even though they're playing that little bit of music they've played a million times before...they want it to be excellent!

The current "pop stars" are all about how they look, is everyone looking at me, do they want to BE me? Its about shocking, and selling tickets. Most of them don't care about the music rather about how to be a star. Its getting old. The whole thing. I'm not a music connaseur by any stretch of the imagination but I can tell the difference between a cheap immatation and the real deal.

When you watch these "old" rockers make music, they don't care if everyone is looking at them. For all they care, they could be in someone's garage and they'd still have a huge smile on their faces.

I don't know what it is about the Eagles. If its being real, or doing something with excellence, or not caring about the appearance but caring about content. Maybe its the joy they have. Whatever it is...I LIKE it!
Erica at 11:11 AM
3 comments

Tuesday, April 3

April's Fool

Out like a lamb?
My Aunty Fanny!!!

Erica at 9:15 PM
2 comments