All Play and No Work!

When I was growing up there were a few times my little brother and I would go to bed, say on a Thursday night for school the next day. Homework done, ready for another day of school. 7am would come and instead of being awaken for breakfast, getting dressed, catching the bus we would wake to our dad bursting into our rooms like a kid himself announcing we were going to Disneyland instead! I mean, could you imagine anything more exciting as a kid? We would head off to breakfast (blueberry pancakes are the only way to get you ready for a day at Disneyland) and then head to the park. Missing school to be with our family and spend the day together, no TV, no computer (ok, there were no computers then) and no work was just a perfect fantasy.

On Friday, Savannah came home from school with an amazing report card. Great grades and evidence of a lot of hard work. We woke up this morning (Monday) and surprised her with a trip to Disneyland! I could really see why my dad loved to do this! We had a blast, Bethany discovered it for the first time and it was precious. We hit all the major rides and even had time to have lunch and do a bit of shopping.

I am so grateful for days like today. For the entire day to spend as a family with no TV, work, computers and even cell phones. Savannah wasn't as excited about missing school as my brother and I were (she loves school!) but was just thrilled with her surprise of where we were going! This day will help get us through all the days of homework, getting up early and tests to come! Way to go Bug! We are proud of the hard work you have put in!

Where the Heck I've Been...

Well, hey there Peeps! I have missed you all sooo much! Life around this here place has been nutty! Last we spoke was three weeks ago! Oh my!!! I have neglected all my Peeps and I am hearin' from you all! I'm gettin' lectures from my mama, Hubby's friends are wonderin' if I'm alive and all you readers in Twitter-Land are threatin' to boycott! Ok, ok, I'm here!!!

In late March I went with Savannah and her fourth grade class to Coloma and Sacramento. We spent one night up there so it was pretty much a turn-around trip. Coloma is where gold was discovered in California so we got to see Sutter's Mill and even pan for gold. All of the 20 kids found gold! Imagine how much gold is still up there!!! I can easily see how the gold rush got started! The next day we went to the capital building in Sacramento. It was wonderful to see! We even had a private tour of the governor's offices. Afterwards we went to Old Town Sacramento to see an old schoolhouse from the mid-late 1800s and then a train museum. After dinner we headed home! Whew! It took me the entire weekend to recover!

Easter was next! We went 'home' (where I grew up and where we last lived) and the girls got to have 2 Easter egg hunts and we had dinner with family. Savannah's Easter break was great, although we spent most of the week at home it was warm enough for the girls to have lots of play time outside.

Hey, did you hear that? That ringing. There it is again. It's the sound of grandparent's phones all over the west ringing off their hooks. It's Law Enforcement's Baker to Vegas relay run this weekend! I can just hear all those phones ringing and the begging of parents asking Nanas and Papas to babysit their grand kids! Hubby has run this race several, several years in a row. A few years he's gone without me (I was home with a baby) and come home right after running. Last year though, I went with him. It's a huge endeavor for whoever plans it! Law Enforcement agencies from all over the west (and even some points east!) participate. It's really awesome. Hubby and I take this opportunity to have a trip just the two of us. It's perfect because we are in Las Vegas, about 3-4 hours from the girls in case something goes wrong (it's more for my piece of mind, I'm a nervous nelly of a mother!) and we have plenty to do for a few days. This year we are taking a few extra days for ourselves! We are going on Saturday and returning on Tuesday! Oh boy! We are excited like kids in a candy store. We've been planning this for months! Vegas is ok, we don't really do the Vegas thing so we've been checking out things like going out in the desert on quads, going in a hot air balloon over the Grand Canyon and maybe even river rafting. We shall see! One thing that is there in Vegas is the CSI experience. You get to pick one of three crime scenes to investigate and solve. I am going to do that! I love crime scene investigation (remember, there's law enforcement all over our family, it was bound to rub off on me) and I'll get to pretend! I'll let you know if it's worth it!

Because of Nana and Papa (my mom and dad) coming to stay here with the girls I've been doing some spring cleaning. Ugh. It's one thing to have company here while I'm here, it's a whole other ballgame when I'm not here! I've been cleaning blinds, organizing drawers and closets and pulling stuff out we don't use for a garage sale. More ugh. But one suggestion I'm following is putting all of our sheets inside one of the matching pillow cases. What a trick! My linen closet was a mess before thanks to little curious hands and now it's soo organized! Mom will be impressed!

I will be posting some pictures from Easter (girls in new Easter dresses, is there anything more adorable?) and from the fourth-grade trip. I'm just having some difficulty with my camera! Plus, I will have Hubby take some of me solving some CSI crime in Vegas! I will also take some of him running out in the middle of nowhere! I just don't get running but he loves it. If I'm running someone had better be chasing me...

All Things 'Mom'

Ok, I don't have a ton of time to blog today but I've got some great things to tell you, so, pay attention!! Haha! I'm feeling like all things 'mom' are swirling around me today! Bethany is officially 22 months old! She's two months away from being two! I can't believe it! Sometimes I feel melancholy about them growing up and sometimes, like today, I am thrilled for each milestone reached, each bit of time passing. Let's face it, Bethany's 'babyhood' was a bit of a trial! She tried what she could to get away with anything, she tried (and succeeded) many new things, she tried to be like her big sister, she tried (and usually succeeded) to pull the wool over her daddy's eyes, and she tried her mommy's patience! Oh, and just this morning she tried to get out of her car seat (and almost succeeded) coming home from taking Sissy to school. She calls Savannah Sissy. Savannah wanted her to. Savannah wanted to be a sister for so long that when Bethany came along all she wanted to hear was 'Sissy'. The 'trial' has been worth it!

My mother-in-law sent me some great 'mom' quotes today that she thought I could relate to... oh, yeah, I can relate! She'll get to relate in a few months when we fly back there for vacation and she gets her granddaughters all to herself!

Real mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably in the sand box

Real mothers often have sticky floors, filthy ovens and happy kids

Real mothers know that dried play-dough doesn't come out of carpet

Real mothers don't want to know what the vacuum just sucked up

Real mothers know to panic when the house is quiet

Yep, that about sums it up! My favorite is the one about the sticky floors and filthy ovens! I cook constantly. My kitchen is always in use. My floors and oven show it. But my family is happy and always wants to know, "What's for dinner?"

The last 'mom' thing to share with you is about an owl. Her name is Molly and she is a barn owl. Her husband (because they can't have babies without being married, duh) is McGee. They just became parents to Max and are awaiting four more owlettes to hatch any day now. A man named Carlos provided an 'owl box' fifteen feet in the air for them and then he put a web cam in too! Children all over the US have been watching and learning all about owls! Ok, you caught me, not just children. When Max was born you would've thought he was my baby. I cried. I can't help but to check in on them every once in a while to see what they're up to. Sometimes Molly stands up to stretch and you can see baby Max! Oh, squeals of delight! McGee brings them food and visits at night. Otherwise, he parks himself in a tree nearby to keep watch. I told you he was her husband. That's what my husband does, anyways. He provides food, protects us in our nest and visits at night.

You can go watch all about Molly, McGee and baby Max (who is soon to be a big brother) at

http://www.ustream.tv/theowlbox it's addicting, your floors will stay sticky and your oven a mess, don't say I didn't warn you.

Good 'Ol Floyd

I was driving home from taking Savannah to school, usually Bethany and I are contemplating the day ahead but this morning I was itching to just listen to some music. Turn on the radio and start surfing... usual stations just not cutting it. I went to a station I don't usually listen to... it's a soft jazz station I only put on when 1) Bethany is screaming in the back seat or 2) the girls are fighting because Savannah is antagonizing her sister and Bethany has lost her temper or 3) I just don't want to know they are back there (come on, admit it... you've done it too).

So, on went the soft jazz station and it was so nice, soft, pleasant. A song came on that just transported me away to another time, another place. It was a song by Floyd Kramer (I waited to hear who it was) all instruments, no vocals. In one moment I was 'mama' heading home to do mundane chores, change diapers, clean, do laundry and the next I was fourteen years old, in a Honda Accord with my parents and my little brother (who would've been eleven) as we drove to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon on vacation. I believe my parents loved Floyd Kramer because they listened to it during the entire drive. No Michael Jackson, Madonna or even Hall and Oats (it was the '80s). Just Floyd Kramer. In the small car with their kids killing each other in the back. We were at the height of our sibling rivalry. He just drove me nuts as I'm sure my teenage self did to him.

I remember the weather was cool and overcast (the North Rim is like being in the mountains, trees and all) and I had on a Members Only jacket (why in Heaven's name would I remember this?) and we stopped to see some deer. Then we headed to the North Rim 'resort' we stayed at. We stayed in an adorable cabin, there were many. I met a friend who was staying there also. She was sweet, we vowed to keep in touch but never did. I think that was also the year we headed to Durango, Colorado. We rode the Durango to Silverton railroad (a three hour train trip up the mountain in open cars being pulled by a coal locomotive). Many years later Hubby and I found a painting of the exact same railroad going up the mountain and it's in our bedroom.

So, I drove home, not quite sure of how I got here because the entire time Floyd Kramer played I was fourteen and fighting with my brother in the Honda. Music is transporting and magical. Thanks Floyd.

So, What's Your Story?

I have been getting to know my bible study group of ladies lately. They're very sweet, Christian sisters who come from all walks of life. One's a former business owner who once had lots of money till this economy took hold, one is mostly deaf but is a practiced lip reader, one is a mom to four and in severe dire straights financially speaking, one is in very poor health with diabetes and has to go to dialysis a few times a week. They all have one thing in common, though. They love the Lord, they trust Him no matter their circumstances and they see the brighter side of their lives because Jesus is their savior.

We all got together at my home last week to just get to know one another better. After I got to ask them all kinds of questions to find out about them they then all wanted to know my 'story'. Well, I filled them in on the, "I'm a mama, a wife, we moved here in August of '08, my Hubby is in law enforcement" stuff. They didn't want to know that stuff. "We already know all of that!" Oh. They want to know me. I'm sometimes not great at telling that. I'm not proud of a lot of it. Yes, it's what brought me to the Lord in the first place but, ugh... it's not pretty. I hesitate to even think about it all, let alone tell it! But then, what if it helps someone? What if my story helps turn someone to the Lord? Isn't it worth it? Yes. It. Is.

I asked Jesus into my life as my Lord and savior when I was 16 and had dealt with teenage 'stuff'. I was in a youth group through church and knew I needed to be saved from myself and needed a savior. My Hubby and I met in our senior year in high school. A year after graduation we were married. He was in the Marine Corps and we moved a lot but amazingly, we always stayed in California! We went to church. He was constantly gone in training and in schools. After 8 years in active duty he decided to leave the corps and join the police department. More training, more schools. We tried for 4 years to have our oldest, Savannah. One of the sweetest moments I ever had with the Lord was when I found out I was pregnant! I was on my knees thanking Him and praising Him. I was crying wonderful tears of joy. Savannah was born and we became parents finally, 8 years into our marriage. A year after her birth our marriage hit the skids. We separated and came very close to divorce. In the midst of our marital strife Hubby was called back to active duty with the Marine Corps due to the war in Iraq looming on the horizon. By then, Savannah was 2 and a half and we had moved back to 'home', the small town I grew up in. On February 23rd, 2003 Hubby left for Iraq. We had done what we could to strengthen our marriage and to have him leave under the best circumstances we could. We were together as a family as Hubby left for war in Iraq. Savannah and I stayed as busy as we could, writing Daddy and being with family as often as we could. She was my little trooper. On April 9th, 2003, coincidentally the same day Saddam Hussein's statue was pulled down in Baghdad, Hubby was shot at the UN building in Baghdad. God uses all kinds of things for His good. Even horrible, bad things, the Lord can use those as His tools, for His good, for His purposes. He doesn't cause the awful things in our lives but He allows them and hopefully those things will cause His children (all of us) to turn to Him in our need. This is exactly what happened with Hubby and I. After Hubby came home (sent home as a casualty of the war; this just means he could no longer fight, not that he was dead!) we made a commitment to one another to put our marriage back together, to not even consider divorce as an option. We made a commitment to God too. My relationship with the Lord became so much closer, so much more intense. I promised to seek His will for my life in everything and only do what His will for me was! Hubby made a full recovery and our marriage began to as well. This is when I really began to have a relationship with God. Our marriage became what it never had been before.

In March of 2008 we were still living in my small hometown when my brother-in-law, a pastor in Colorado called to tell us a family up there was looking for a home for their baby. They knew they could not take care of her, she was the second child they were due to have in a year. She was due in May (two months from then!!), they knew it was a girl and had we ever thought about adoption? Huh? No. We. Never. Thought about adoption. Never. Why? It just never went through our minds. We had Savannah and had hoped for another baby but it just never happened. I had gotten pregnant in '05 but lost that baby. I surprisingly had an easy time getting over that loss. I didn't know why. I had really wanted that baby but it was like God put a heavenly salve over my heart and I grieved quickly. And here we were being asked to consider adoption. We prayed about it but knew that this was our baby. God created her with us in mind. On May 22nd, 2008 our Bethany was born!

That's my story. Believe it or not, it was the short version! There are so many times in my life that I could tell you God used something bad for His good. Learn the lesson quickly, turn your face heavenward and maybe it won't be so bad.

Keep this in mind during your next trial and tribulation.

A Winner!! And she's so deserving!

Congratulations are in order for Myra Lewis who won the HGTV dream home in Santa Fe NM!

I just watched her win and cried for her, tears of joy! Her story is amazing! She had a home in New Orleans that was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina! Just goes to show that God knows exactly what He's doing! I really wanted to win but knew I would be thrilled for the real winner, especially to hear how deserving they would be. The Lord didn't disappoint! I am just as pleased as pie that the new owner of that amazing home, new car and $500,000. is someone so deserving! I will just try next time! You can't win if you don't enter...

We have been busy as a family! Yesterday we went to the Pasadena Rose Bowl Swap meet. I had never been and we went to see Hubby's grandparents. Bethany and Savannah would much rather have been doing something different than walking around looking at "old stuff" (antiques!) with their parents! But they both did have a blast at the park we went to after the swap meet. The weather was beautiful... 75F and not a cloud in the sky! We all had lunch and the girls played with their Uncle Bradley and visited with their great-grandparents. If you live in SoCal and have never been to the Rose Bowl Swap Meet like me, I highly recommend going!

The entire parking lot is filled with dozens and dozens of vendors of antiques. The place is huge! It almost requires 2 days! Bring sunscreen, water and plenty of cash!

One Man's Trash is Another Woman's Treasure

Have you seen it yet? I just found (hey, it's not 'found' unless you know it's there, right?) a great show called American Pickers on the History Channel Monday nights at 9/8c. It features 2 men who go picking (a new word for antique hunting... ok, sometimes it's junk but then it becomes treasure!) all over America finding great antiques to rehab. It's great! Fascinating! I have, myself, been known to tell Hubby on a Saturday afternoon that I need to get away for a bit and head to my favorite antique/junk store in town or even to Goodwill. Many things in my home that people comment on are from these stores! Sometimes I leave things as I find them, sometimes I spray-paint the heck out of them! So, go to American Pickers and get motivated!

I found the White House print at such a store in Solvang (our last name is White) and the small America the Beautiful box next to the cup is actually a music box I found in a shop in Pennsylvania!

When I go looking, I look for my favorite color (red) and for the scale I may need to fill a space.

I don't worry about something not being quite right if I can paint it or change it somehow to make it work! I have different things I love... Americana, cherries, roosters, and polka dots. If I find anything with these elements on it I am likely to make a purchase! Keep these ideas in mind when you go searching and you can't go wrong! And check out American Pickers!

Pictures: top, many things in our downstairs bath are from an antique shop in town like the towl hooks, small lamp and large glass container filled with travel toiletries for guests.

bottom, the White House print and America the Beautiful music box