All in a day's work

Believe it or not, I don't have anything exciting to share today. I just got done playing an excruciating game of Candy Land! The makers of that game (and Chutes and Ladders, too, for that matter) did an excellent job of making sure that one game lasts FOREVER! Just when you think the end is in sight and someone; anyone; is about to win...WHAM! It's back to the Peppermint Forest! Biff! It didn't help that my cat was convinced that she was yellow, so she kept taking off with Trevor's gingerbread guy! (Hey, I warned you that this wasn't going to be exciting!) Well, it was some quality time with Trevor and that's what counts! (I tried my best to play that game with passion! Ha! See previous "This is the day" post.) So, on days like today, when I don't have much to say (am I a poet?), I will take the opportunity to post one of the many pictures that I love! This one is of Gavin about a year ago. What a nut! (Not to be confused with "Gramma Nutt" of "Peanut Acres"!) And now, "Princess Frostine" is off to clean the "Candy Castle"! Which, at the moment, looks more like "Gloppy Swamp"!

Settings Things Straight

It's my turn, finally! Some of you may be confused about what it is I do all day or where it is I go to provide for my family. For those of you who know I do something with concrete, but are not exactly sure, I will elaborate. I operate a concrete boom pump for the largest concrete pump company in the U.S.; Brundage-Bone, Inc. The 'boom' refers to the extending arm on top of the truck through which the concrete is pumped, not the noise it may or may not make. It operates on hydraulics and electrics through a remote box that I wear like a harness around my torso. People wonder if it's like playing video games all day. At first I say, "You must be thinking of my friend Kurt's old job." Then I tell them, "Yeah, Atari. You should see my score on Missile Command." Ultimately I confess and tell them that it's more like a giant etch-a-sketch, except you can't flip-shake-erase if you mess up. When people hear 'concrete pump truck' they usually block out the word 'pump' and hear 'concrete truck'. What comes to mind hearing that is usually a cement mixer. This is not what I do. Mixers are vital to my job though. Having a cement mixer is the only way a concrete pump can pump concrete. Ironically, it's the only way a wood chuck can chuck wood, but that's beside the point. We are there to put the concrete in places a cement mixer can't - like patios behind a house, upper decks on buildings, and tall walls, just to name a few. I hope I've enlightened you a little bit about the world of concrete pumping or at least about Atari. This job has no doubt been a blessing for the last 4-and-a-half years. Pump on!! "For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 3:11

This is the day...

I am NOT a morning person! I press the snooze on my alarm for an hour every morning; at which point the alarm turns off; so I have to wake up! I then prop myself up on my pillows, turn on the T.V., and watch the news for 15 minutes. (Baby steps!) On Sunday mornings I like to lay in bed and watch Joel Osteen from 8-8:30, on channel 8. (You should check him out if you haven't! www.joelosteen.com He's great!) Something he said today, that was very encouraging to me, was: "If your assignment right now is to raise your children; do it with passion! Do it with enthusiasm!" I am so thankful that my "job" right now is to be a mom! I hope that you will be encouraged, as I was, to approach each day with passion and enthusiasm! Whatever your job may be! This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it! Psalm 118:24

Viewer Discretion Advised!

In keeping with the original intention of this blog, which is to keep you all apprised of the funny doings and sayings of our family (etc), I am going to set aside my pride and embarrassment to share the following with you: Last night I turned Gavin's shower on for him and, as he was about to get in, he noticed that my bra was hanging on the shower curtain rod (to dry). He said to me, "Mom, will you please move your 'nipple guarder'?" I have NO IDEA where he came up with that one, but Bryan and I both about fell on the floor we were laughing so hard! Hope you all enjoyed that.

Treadmill..? Who needs a treadmill?

After reading Jessica's recent post about her diet and exercise journey, I thought I'd let you know what I've been up to. Here's the situation... I used to have a scale in the bathroom and I would weigh myself every once in a while just for the heck of it, as I had pretty much just settled into a comfortable (not ideal, mind you) "coasting weight". That's all fine and good. Well, when we got our kitten in December, I had to put the scale in the closet to make room for the litter box! (Kitty's gotta go somewhere!) Well, I "coasted" through the holidays with my scale tucked safely away in the hall closet. All of a sudden, for some strange reason, my clothes started to not fit! Hmmmm... I thought, "Something must be wrong with our new washer and dryer! All of my clothes shrunk!" So, just for the fun of it, I decided to dig out the scale. Well, I don't know what happened, but apparently if you put a scale in a closet for two months, it goes bad!! I stepped on it and it had the nerve to tell me that I had put on some weight! (Whatever.) So, still convinced that it had just done too much time in the closet, I made both of my boys step on the scale to "test" it. Well, they BOTH registered higher than I remember, so there ya go! Two healthy, young, growing boys couldn't possibly have gained any weight since their last doctor visit! It must be the scale! Yes, that's just how in denial I was. Ha! Well, regardless of the inaccuracy the scale, I thought I should probably make some life style changes, just in case it was actually me, not the scale or the washer or the dryer! So, I say to the scale (not really), "You want to tell me I've gained a few pounds? Fine! I'll just stop eating cookies and chips and do a few jumping jacks and those pounds will be gone in a week! Then I will be happily back to my (not quite ideal) coasting weight again! No biggie." Take THAT, stupid scale! Fast forward 2 months...Not a single, even half a pound lost! Not only is my faulty scale weighing heavy, now it's stuck! For heaven's sake. It was finally time to be brutally honest with myself. I am (gulp) over 30 now, and since I didn't really want to make any more sacrifices in the food consumption area, it was time to step up my work outs! So, I pushed the coffee table out of the way and started running laps through my house! It must be quite a sight! (Trevor sure thought so when he woke up from one of his naps and I was still running! "Mom..? What are you doing!?" Pay no attention to the crazy woman running through your playroom...diningroom...livingroom...playroom... You get the idea.) I know what you're thinking..."You must have a huge house!?" Um, no. I'm surprised I don't get dizzy and fall down! Anyhoo, all that to say that I agree with Jessica (and Jodi and Kim...), on the benefits of running! I have now officially lost one whole pound!! Woo hoo! And we all know that scales don't lie! ; ) P.S. Jessica, I want you to know that I appreciate your friendship and I'm not going to take Blogger's spell check advice and replace you with "cheesecake"! LOL

The Two Peas!

This is Trevor and his good friend, Cami. They are definitely "two peas in a pod"! Everyone has a hard time telling them apart. Even Cami had to ask which one was him when he saw this picture! (Trevor is on the left, by the way.) The really funny thing, though, is how similar their personalities and mannerisms are! They are both so full of character! It's really fun to watch. I'm so glad (as are they) that they get to be on the same T-ball team (and soccer and basketball)! If they ever get split up to do drills or something, they just look at each other like, "What's this? Separate?" Ha! Last night at their big brothers' game they had the best time just playing with rocks! (Ahhh, to be a kid, again!) It has been such a joy to get to know Cami and his whole family...Zach, Kim, Justice, Cami & Sloan! We love you guys!

"...a real friend sticks closer than a brother." Prov 18:24b

Never a dull moment!

Spring break is over and it's back to the ball fields! Trevor had a T-ball game last night and we have a game (between he and Gavin) every night this week, including Saturday. Well, by the time we got home last night, it was pretty much bed time, but we couldn't just skip bath time! [Do the math: (1 boy x ball field) + (1 boy x playground) = 2 very dirt boys!] So, we get Trevor in the bath and Gavin in the (other) shower...(Stick with me...it does get more exciting!)...Bryan went out to the living room to watch some Mariners and wait his turn for the shower, and I went into the boys room to start laying out their pajamas. (Have no fear; Trevor was never really left unattended in the bath! We were both only a few feet away! Our house isn't that big!) All of a sudden we hear, from the bathroom, "BANG! BANG! KSSSH!" Bryan and I looked at each other and, in a split second, had the same thought: "That couldn't possibly be the sound of glass shattering...Trevor's in the bath!?" The next split second: "KSSSH!", again! Bryan and I went running into the bathroom to find Trevor surrounded by shards of glass! He had my hand held mirror and had banged it on something and it shattered! So, I quickly scooped him out of the bath and he started crying hysterically because we scared him with our collective "(GASP)" and "OH NO!" For the next 15 minutes, Bryan cleaned broken glass out of the tub and Trevor cried because he felt so bad that he broke mom's mirror! Thankfully he wasn't hurt! Like I said...never a dull moment!

Who are you today?

This is King Peter the Magnificent, of Narnia! (Yes, he is wearing Trevor's pajama pants!) As most of you are aware, one of Gavin's all time favorite things to do is dress up as various characters. He is very creative and very particular, down to every detail! (Remember Chewbacca?) On any given morning, he has usually been dressed up as a few different things by the time I get up! (He changes clothes about 10 times a day.) Well, this morning's "get up" involved his snow boots. Now, it's important to note that it rarely actually snows out here...it rains! Which means that his "snow" boots were completely caked in dry mud! So, I had the pleasure of waking up this morning to a house completely covered in dirt!! (Which was nothing compared to the dreaded "pull-up incident", mind you! I think there are only a select few of you who know of what I speak!!) Needless to say, Gavin got to vacuum the entire house this morning before school! All in all, I'd say that worked out very nicely for me! (See, I told you it wouldn't be long before I'd have some crazy antics to share!) "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." 1John 3:2

Drum roll please...

Well, here it is! Our much anticipated debut into the Land of Blog! I’d like to dedicate my very first post to Yvonne; my sister-in-law and good friend; as she is the first person to introduce me to bloggville and she has been pestering me to get a blog for almost two years! Ha! So, obviously I’ve been dragging my feet about starting a blog. I’ve had my reasons…or maybe excuses, is a better word. My first excuse was that I didn’t think that anyone would read it! But, let’s face it; I have things to say, and how could anyone not find me fascinating!? As Yvonne so eloquently put it in one of her posts: “It’s my blog and I can say what I want to.” (I think you’re suppose to sing that to the tune of “It’s my party and I can cry if I want to”.) Another reason this excuse didn’t hold water is because, as those of you on my IM list can attest, I don’t have a problem talking to myself! (Or maybe I do have a problem with that! Hmmm…) My second excuse was that I thought blogging would take too much time. For most people it’s probably not that time consuming, but it might be for me because I’m a perfectionist! (If any of you ever wondered where Gavin gets it…well, between me and Bryan, he really never had a chance!) My last hurdle to over come was that I am paranoid and I wasn’t sure if I wanted my family out in cyberspace. Then I was reminded that… “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity,

but of power, love and self-disciple.”

2 Tim 1:7

So, here I am...blogging! I'm excited to start sharing with you all, the joy that my family brings to me! I thank God every day for blessing me with my wonderful husband and my two amazing boys! So, stay tuned! It's bound to get more exciting as I figure out what I'm doing! (Did anyone read this? Ha!) “Whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do,

you must do all for the glory of God.”

1 Cor 10:31

P.S. I also thank God for spell check! And how silly is it that "blog" is not in blog's spell check!? Craaaazy blog world!