Clean carpets

I went waaaay too long before I cleaned our carpets. I was pregnant with Zane the last time I cleaned carpets.

Whew.

So I borrowed a steam cleaner from poor, sweet Ronda who has loaned her Hoover Steam Vac (With Power Surge Cleaning) to every living, breathing soul in Shelby County that has had dirty carpet.

And wow.

I love to clean. (Yes, I'm weird.)

So I cleaned half of my beautiful rug that Hayes gave me (and no, you can't have it back.) See the difference? Maybe you can't really, but it's so much cleaner on the right side. I was embarrassed.



I should have taken pictures of it all, but here is the last section I did. In front of the place where I have spent they last 21 months and 1 week. ( :) )

See how dirty it is?

I mean, see?

Do you really see?

Was I trying to get a REALLY good shot of the dirt??

Oh well.

Here is the "after" picture.

It's all so much cleaner. It's hard to tell from this picture, because of the lighting and the shadows, but it's so much better. I even did my stairs. Boy, was that a huge difference.

So I'm lulled into thinking my carpets are "clean." They aren't really. I cleaned the small hallway FIVE times. Five different times on five different days. The water was as black and nasty the last time I cleaned it as it was the first time I cleaned it.

Yep. Nasty. I kept making Allen come look at the water. He didn't really want to.

So my only hope is to rip out all this carpet and put down laminate. Or bamboo flooring. Or something.

Ick. But at least now, it's clean. Kinda. On the surface. I think.

And I'd highly recommend the Hoover Steam Vac with Power Surge Cleaning. Just don't borrow Ronda's! :)

God and parenting

This is a little (lot) scary for me. What God is telling me this week, is that my children are a reflection of my Spiritual walk. I have thought about this all week, mediated and reflected on it and tried to make it not true.

What about the kids whose parents appear to be really great people, but the kids don't turn out so great? What about the families where one kid turns out not great and the other do? What about non-Christian families that have great kids? Why would my spiritual life most great affect my kids and not my parenting skills or my love and devotion to them?

What about the people who say that every kid has to "sow their wild oats"? What about the kids who do wander for awhile (like I did) but then get back to where they are supposed to be?

What about people who come from non-Christian families who change the world? What about preachers' kids? (You know-that stereotype that is unfortunately too true sometimes...)

I don't know. I just know that what God is telling *me* is that my Spiritual walk directly affects my kids. My only shot at giving them the best start they need is to be where I'm supposed to be with my walk with God.

Maybe this is just for me. Isn't that scary....?

ct studd

"Too long have we been waiting for one another to begin! The time of waiting is past! The hour of God has struck! War is declared! In God's Holy Name let us arise and build! 'The God of Heaven, He will fight for us', as we for Him. We will not build on the sand, but on the bedrock of the sayings of Christ, and the gates and minions of hell shall not prevail against us. Should such men as we fear? Before the world, aye, before the sleepy, lukewarm, faithless, namby-pamby Christian world, we will dare to trust our God, we will venture our all for Him, we will live and we will die for Him, and we will do it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts. We will a thousand times sooner die trusting only our God, than live trusting in man. And when we come to this position the battle is already won, and the end of the glorious campaign in sight. We will have the real Holiness of God, not the sickly stuff of talk and dainty words and pretty thoughts; we will have a Masculine Holiness, one of daring faith and works for Jesus Christ."

Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day is a day for spreading global awareness about environmental issues. I am more encouraged than ever about the mainstreaming of "green" issues everywhere I go and in the media. Woo hoo!!!

My new challenge for myself is to read the Bible straight through. I have to extract something profound from each chapter, reading it until I have something I can apply to my own life.

Genesis 1 held a small surprise. God entrusted man with the Earth. It's a gift from God, given to us to take care of. Nothing makes me angrier to me than to give my children a gift and watch them mistreat it, or worse yet, abuse it. It shows me that they care absolutely nothing for what was given to them. I think God feels the same way about the Earth.

He entrusted us to care for this planet. It's our first God given commandment, to care about the place where we live. That means doing things to care for it. It means CARING. We have to care.
A lot of times it's easier not to care, especially with how busy our lives are today. But I feel good when I do things to honor God by doing something green! He blesses it!

So, in honor of Earth Day, I'm going to fire back up the Golden Harvest Blog (http://healthyoverthinker.blogspot.com/). Each day, I'll have a small something that will help us, our Earth and the ones we love be more healthy, Earth conscious and aware of what role we play on this planet.

I'm looking forward to learning new things. I want to learn how to please God by caring for His second greatest gift!

Happy Earth Day!!!
(and no snickering at the picture. i had been awake for all of 15 minutes!!!)

Jude Wipes Out

*Edited to add* Yes, he had on underwear, but he wanted a blanket on that "didn't touch his hurt knee." So it's wrapped around him. He didn't want to put on shorts, because of them touching his knee!! I didn't want to flash his undies on the web either! lol...


We were on a family walk today, and Jude and Laney wanted to go down the "big hill." I am always the fraidy cat and never let them do it. Today I wanted to not be a worry wart, and just let them be kids.

He wiped out BIG TIME. It was in slow motion, and I saw it all.

He's on the sofa, all doctored up and not moving much, which is RARE for him. Even with a fever, he runs around like normal.

And yes, Hayes, I did check to make sure his pupils were equal and reactive. You have taught me well, Obi Wan.

So, you know, I'm feeling pretty good about being an over protective helicopter mom. Had I been the ocd control freak that my inner self wants to be all the time, my little boy wouldn't be camped out on the sofa, enjoying a perfectly ruined Sunday.

:)

(Zane, on the other hand, was hard pressed to offer up much sympathy. I'll blame it on his age... :) )

Dave Barry explains the Economic Stimulus Payment

Be sure to mail your return in a timely manner, because this year, filing taxpayers will receive an Economic Stimulus Payment. This is a very exciting new program that I will explain using the Q and A format:

Q. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment?

A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.

Q. Where will the government get this money?

A. From taxpayers.

Q. So the government is giving me back my own money?

A. Only a smidgen.

Q. What is the purpose of this payment?

A. The plan is that you will use the money to purchase a high-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.

Q. But isn't that stimulating the economy of China?

A. Shut up.

---

Surprise, surprise, surprise

Gomer Pyle, here. I hated that show, but that phrase has been in my head all week! I'm late, but my sweet, precious and VERY sneaky friends planned a surprise party for me (and my equally April friend Ronda) last Saturday night. I was truly surprised, and we had a blast.

THANK YOU to everyone who came, and for those who couldn't, we MISSED you!!!

Thank you too, to my little elf friend, who ran herself ragged all week, just for little old me (and little old Ronda). I love you to the moon...I love all my friends. I'm the luckiest and most blessed girl I know!

For more pictures, check out Ronda's blog. This picture shows the theme for the night. "We laughed till we cried..." (And Allen said, "I can hear that laugh..."!)

Springtime in Alabama

Since January 1st, I think we have had a storm every week but one or two. That's great news for the drought, and great news for me. I'm one of the few people in the world who LOVE rainy days. I mean I get so excited when I see clouds. Very strange indeed. Anyway, we've had a couple of scary days, and this day, we actually piled into the bathroom. It's hard to stay calm and reassuring when my heart is pounding. As you can tell, Zane wasn't worried at all, and insisted on sitting OUTSIDE the bathroom. On his potty. In the hall. Close enough, I guess.



I've been in a couple of tornadoes, and while I'm not necessarily scared of them, I do respect their destructive forces. But you'd think I'd be used to it by now. It's the norm for us here, this time of year. And another reason I love winter! ;)

Jenn said to...

"INFJs, making up an estimated 1% of all people, are the most rare type (males even more so). They are introspective, caring, sensitive, gentle and complex people that strive for peace and derive satisfaction from helping others. INFJs are highly intuitive, empathetic and dedicated listeners. These traits tend to act as a "tell me what's wrong" sign on their forehead, hence the nicknames Confidant, Counselor or Empath. INFJs are intensely private and deeply committed to their beliefs."

"INFJs have a strong love of learning, and they tend to do well academically. Through persistence, diligence, and conscientiousness, they complete their assignments on time. They are likely to enjoy research and will go great lengths to find answers."

"INFJs orient themselves toward their goals using a personal, values-based framework. They do not 'advertise' their values and priorities because they believe in harmony and positive relationships. However, one would do well not to underestimate the amount of perseverance, energy, and time INFJs give to their priorities. What they do, they do with an almost religious intensity." (Shut up, Jennifer and Ronda...)

You can read more about me here (because I know you want to!) : http://www.geocities.com/lifexplore/infj.htm

INFJ Career Matches

INFJs are often happy with the following jobs which tend to match well with the Confidant/Visionary personality.

Actor Alternative Medicine Artist Child Care Worker Child Development Chiropractor Church Worker Clergy Computer Programmer Computer Specialist Consultant

Dentist Designer Doctor Educational Consultant Entrepreneur Human Resources Lawyer/Attorney Librarian Marketer Missionary Musician

Photographer Psychiatrist Psychologist/Counselor Sales Representative Scientist Social Worker Systems Analyst Teacher/Professor Trainer Writer

Um, yeah. I've considered at least 10 of the above careers.

So, were they right????;) I'm rare, you know..... lol...

Sandi's Invitation

These are the invitations for Sandi's shower. She is doing the nursery in several children's books, and that was the inspiration for the invitations. The characters here are some that will be in the nursery!

Whew

We have been in a whirlwind these past few weeks, er, months. I'm ready for things to slow down. I love nothing more than staying at home, day after day, doing school and puttering around the house. I need for life to slow down so we can slow down too.

So here I am, reminding myself of some things, before they slip from my memory forever.

Zane is super into Elmo right now. It's so funny that each of mine did this at this age. Actually Laney loved Elmo much earlier and for much longer, but Zane and Jude did this at the same time. Hayes made this blanket for Laney, and it's been loved by each child. She even made us two blankets, for when one was in the wash. They are definitely going to have to go in the keepsake box.

We had some work done on the house, to get some siding and rotted wood replaced. They found the precious treasure of termites in our house. Live ones. It was a crazy week. I'll spare the details, but here are some of the pictures!

Mario is scrapping up the termites to put into a bag with the other live termites to show to the district manager of our termite company. Lovely, huh? Mario's not scared of anything!! lol...

This is what your house looks like after termites have been snacking on it...

Guess what Jude is into these days.




Is that not hilarious? I love that picture!

(I said, "Zane, show me your new Cars Crocs!!!)

Zane thinks he's a big kid. In so many ways, but he loves to wear big kid shoes. After watching him clomp around in Jude and even Laney's Crocs, I decided to splurge and get him some. We went to the store, and I kept trying them on him, and we finally got to the right size.





They just happened to be the same size that JUDE wears!! Jenn R. says Zane has Barney Rubble feet, and she's right! Luckily they had some Cars Crocs on clearance, and I got him a pair that he can wear for a little while. Then he and Jude will be wearing the same size. I may have to move Jude up so they won't wear the same size! lol...





I got this shirt today with a gift certificate from a friend! (*wink*) I love it! I know it's a little Paris Hilton, but anything to get the message out, you know?



They have these bags, at WalMart, too. I know some people have said that the WalMart cashiers don't want to fool with the canvas bags, but these are $1 each and hold a whole lot of stuff. If you buy one or two of them, and then have some of your own, they should be happy to load up your bags. We have found one sweet lady at the Alabaster one who is fine with our bags, and we always find her! She even told me today about a really cool handmade bag a lady had that she really liked! Hope that helps!!!


Jude got a bag of toys at the thrift store today, and in it was a little happy surprise for me!!! Lol!

That's a nice note to end on!!!

Thank you!!!!

I had the best birthday! It started off the night before my birthday with a little surprise party from my Bible study girls. Jennifer even made my favorite buffalo chicken dip, Rebecca brought cupcakes and Sandi brought lemon squares. We ate and laughed and talked about how to be submissive and respectful wives. That was fun!!!

The next morning, Allen and the kids had me a cake from Savage's bakery. My favorite! Allen got me a cross necklace and a gift certificate to get my Bible commentary. Laney had painted a beautiful painting with Aunt Emily's help. It's pretty big and just wonderful. She was so proud of it! We had birthday cake after breakfast, so Allen could celebrate with us. Then the kids and I went to the Thrift Store and the library. Our two favorite places to go!

I had phone calls all day, beautiful cards and presents from my sweet friends, and family too. From my very oldest friends (My favorite memory of Lee was his introducing me to Madonna in 7th grade...) to my old friends (who I've known for 10 years and more) to my new (5 years old about) sweet friends who put up with me on a daily basis!

THANK YOU to everyone who called and/or sent a card and/or a gift. I felt so loved and treasured on my birthday! I am blessed with the most wonderful, thoughtful and preicous people in my life. I am truly humbled to be a part of your lives! *smack*