Two Poppet Funnies

I haven't posted about any Poppet funnies lately. And I know how much you all enjoy them...

Today, two Poppet funnies occured.



We were in the car, on the way home from my aunts house, where we ate lunch at. The boys were all listening to their mp3 players in the back seat, and Poppet was feeling very left out. The boy's refer to their mp3 players as their I-pods. So, after Poppet had been feeling very left out for a few minutes, she declared: "When I get big I am going to buy me a ear-pod!!"

The other Poppet funny was over Jeff. Poppet, Lolly and I have had an ongoing argument about who Jeff belongs to. I sometimes refer to him when telling stories as: "My Jeff." The first time I did this, Poppet looked up with horror and says, "Deff (that's how she pronounces his name) not your Deff!! Deff my Deff!" From then on we've been arguing about it. I know that this is a sore subject for her, and will always get a rise out of her, so I like to start the argument on purpose. Out of no where, I like to say (loudly, might I add!) "Jeff is MY Jeff!" Poppet looks up and the argument is on. Lately, Lolly has been joining in on the argument. There have been multiple times during dinner, where Poppet will suddenly declare: "Deff my Deff." Lolly looks up with anger in her eyes, and declares that Jeff is HER Jeff. It's quite cute, I must confess. Well, yesterday at my aunts house, Poppet and I were sitting outside in a lawn chair. Poppet was sitting in my lap, and we were playing the "I love you" game. (You know...where someone says: "I love you." And the other one says, "No...I love you." Then the first person says, "I love you more..." the second person says, "No...I love YOU more." On and on and on...) Out of no where, Poppet says, "Lolo...Deff your Deff...and my Deff." I was rather impressed with her, this was a big step for her. She finally came to terms that she has to share. I didn't laugh in front of her, of course, but behind her back I couldn't hold it in. She was so serious!!

Ocean Trip Slide Show

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Be warned...there are a lot of pictures in this slide!

Chili Cook Off Slide Show

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a long awaited post...

I'm not going to apologized this time for not posting in so long. I'm just going to admit that I know I have gotten bad at it. "They" say that the first step to recovery is admitting your faults. Hopefully I have a quick recovery.

So...here's my update.







On Friday evening my friend Anne had a surprise birthday party for her brother, Hayden. It was his 16th birthday, and the theme of the party was...elephants. Don't ask any questions...please! He was extremely surprised, in fact, he actually went red. I've never seen Hayden go red before! I had a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that he is 16 now. I still remember playing beanie babies with him and Annie while the three of us (yes...the THREE of us) danced around in our tutu's. I mentioned this to him that evening, but of course, he doesn't remember that. All he can remember is me "tying a string around his precious Elmo's leg and dragging him through the wet grass. Then...horrors, throwing poor Elmo into the fish pond." Tell me, does that sound like something I would do??? I didn't think so.

On Saturday was our Church's Chili Cook off...that was so much fun! I signed up to help the college and career group with keeping the water/lemonade jugs full, so I had to be to the church at 12:30. Jeff came over at noon to pick me up. After we had been at the church for about an hour, we left to go pick his mom up. Saturday was the first time I met his mom. She was super nice, I really liked her. (I actually got to meet his sister and brother too. I've yet to meet his other sister, who lives out of state. He (Jeff) definitely comes from a good family.)We headed back to church, finished our serving shift, and then just hung out for the rest of the day. I had so much cotton candy that day!! I only get cotton candy once a year (and that is the chili cook off) so that is the one thing I look forward to the most about the chili cook off. How lame is that? Dinner was amazing. I usually do not like the taste of meat...but that tri-tip...whoa!! I could eat that every day. After dinner, it was ice cream time. (Another highlight...) I had the most amazing ice cream bar I've ever tasted. It was a snicker's ice cream bar...and seriously, words can't even describe how awesome it was. After ice cream, came the square dancing. Jeff and I square danced for a little bit, but we ended up leaving after the break. We took his mom back home and headed back to my house. By the time we got back to my house, my family was home. We all made sandwiches (we went to the ocean the next day) and Jeff and I made cookies for the next day. We ate more ice cream and then he headed home.

The next morning, Jeff was back at our house by 8:00. We all packed our backpacks and loaded the small ice chest. After everyone went to the bathroom and filled their water bottles, we loaded up and headed out. After driving for about an hour, we stopped at Casa De Fruta. We all ran around and played on the playground, threw rocks at the small fish in the pond and took a million pictures. Finally we loaded back up and didn't stop again until we were at the ocean. The day was an absolute blast!!! It was really chilly, so we ended up building a fire in the fire pits that are on the beach. Having a fire on the ocean is a ton of fun. We all cuddled up in our blankets, jackets and towels and relaxed. We never built a sand castle, but we did play a family game of football. This was one intense game! Only Daddy and Jeffrey knew what they were doing, the rest of us just ran around like ducks, trying to tackle the opposite team. My team won the first game, with Jeff leading us to infinity and beyond. My dad was stunned and a bit offended. When was the last time someone beat him at a game of football? But in a weird way, he (my dad) really enjoyed it. It was a challenge, and it was nice for him to have someone who actually knows what was going on and was good at it. I believe that the second game was won by Daddy and his team. Jeff and I went on a walk during the afternoon, we took so many pictures! They turned out beautifully!! We packed up and left around 5:00. I wanted to go to Marianne's Ice cream...(most amazing ice cream EVER!!) but my dad just wanted to go home. We did stop at Taco Bell for dinner before heading home, though. Jeff and I tried watching "Napoleon Dynamite" on the ride home, but I ended up totally crashing. Which was a good thing, since after we got home we ended up watching a movie. After we got home (8:45) all the kids cleaned up and headed to bed. Jeff and I served ourselves a big bowl of ice cream (this is really sad...but we are COMPLETELY out of ice cream right now...please pray for me as I have to attempt to live through this tragedy.) and sat down to watch "Wild Hogs." (We have clear play.) My dad watched part of the movie with us, and we all laughed so hard! That movie is hilarious...but definitely a clear play movie. Jeff left somewhere in the 11:00pm hour.

I would write so much more, but Jeff and I are going to the afterglow at church tonight, and we need to leave in about 45 minutes. I am working on two slide shows of pictures: our ocean trip, and the chili cook off. Check soon for those.

Humility...

Humility is a paradox. The moment you think you've finally found it, you've lost it. There has yet to be written a book intitled, "Humility and How I Achieved It." And yet, God expects (and rewards) an attitude of servant-like humility in His followers.

God is always here for us

When you need him the most he is there
When you are not in dire need of his help he is there

When you are in pain he is is watching
When you are weeping he is listening

You don't appreciate him but he is there
You push away his love but he is fighting for you

All he is doing is testing your faith
Will you win or lose?

Keeping in Touch

(This is another one of those questionnaires that people like e-mailing each other. I know I just posted one, but I figured I'd post this one too. If you want to answer it and post it as a comment, I'd be delighted, but don't feel like I am really looking forward to your answers and feel pressured. It doesn't really matter to me.)



Here is a fun and quick way to stay in touch.

1) Four places I go to over and over: Church, The Brooks, the grocery store, gas stations

2) Four people who e-mail me regularly: Jeffrey, sometimes Annie, sometimes Caitie ... and Jeffrey again.

3) Four of my favorite places to eat: Mimi's, olive garden, in & out burger, ...home?

4) Four places I would rather be right now: with Jeff, church, the ocean, ...with Jeff

5) Four people I think will respond: Um...depends. For sure Darylyn probably will.

6) Four shows I watch: i love lucy, wipeout, the suit life of zac & cody, i-carly. (those last two are Disney chanel shows, the family i work for has cable and they watch a lot of TV...these are their favorite shows.)

So this was a super short easy one, feel free to respond and post it as a comment if you wish!!

Busy Days...

To all my faithful readers: I apologize once again for my lack of blogging lately. I've been a busy girl.



My past week has pretty much been centered around Jeff. Today is the 1st day in five days that we won't see each other. (sniff, sniff.)
(It was a really good week!)

On Thursday, the school Jeff works for had a half day. So much to my delight, he chose to spend his afternoon with me. Before he headed over, I ran down to Juice it up and got us both a smoothie. Shelbie's Kee's were over for their sign language class, so Jeffrey and I decided to take the boys down to the park. The boys grabbed their baseballs, footballs and basket balls and we all headed down to the park. While the boys scooted around in the tennis court, Jeff and I savored our refreshing smoothies. After we were done drinking our smoothie, we ended up playing on the playground with Shannen for a while. After we got bored of that, we attempted to get a game of basket ball going. Jeff definitely has it lucky when it comes to this game, as he is so tall. Shayden and Shannen played basket ball with him, while Shadd scooted around and I just watched the action. After playing basketball for a while, he (Jeff) went out to the grass to play baseball and football with the boys. The boys showed off to him for a while, before we had to head back to the house. Jeff had to leave our house at 4:45 to be to the church by 5:00 so he could practice for worship before church. I left for church about 1 1/2 hours after him. Church was good (though I can't remember what it was about...wait...I think it had something to do with what our passions in life are) and I ended up hanging out afterwards for about an hour. After I finally got home, my mom and I stayed up for a while talking. I went to bed around 12:00am.

On Friday evening, my mom invited my aunt and uncle over for dinner. And of course, I invited Jeff over. We had tri-tip, fruit, pasta salad, and cabbage salad. It was really yummy. Before dinner, Jeff, my siblings and I all played basket ball and scooted around in the front yard. The kids love Jeff as much as I do, they think he's the "bomb II." (My uncle is the original bomb!) We also made homemade ice cream. We made Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream and it was amazing!!! We made the cookie dough and rolled half of the dough into itty bitty tiny cookie dough balls. Then we quick froze them while we made the actual ice cream. After the ice cream was ripened (and it was SO thick!! home made ice cream is never thick enough...this stuff was perfect!)we stirred the cookie dough chunks in it and sampled it...oh yum. (I could go on for another five paragraphs about this ice cream, but I will stop here.) After dinner Jeff and I built a fire. It burned beautifully! (I want to add: We did it without any cooking spray, cleaning alcohol, paint remover, hot chocolate or other chemicals!) My siblings were only up for a little bit longer (we ate a really late dinner) before they headed off to bed. The adults and I (I have to word it that way, otherwise I'm sure Jeff will correct me!! 'cause you know...I'm still just a kid. ha, ha, ha...) sat outside by the fire for a while before it got really really cold. Jeff and I ended up heading inside to watch a movie. We looked through all our movies and finally decided to watch "The parent trap 2." This isn't the Lindsay Lohan version, it's the Hailey Mills version, but it's a remake where she is the mother...lets just say it was sooo lame! My aunt and uncle left around 12:00 and Jeff followed soon after.

Then...on Saturday night Anne had a formal masquerade party at her house. It was a lot of fun, though I only stayed for about two hours. Jeff and I went together, and we had decided to go over to his dad's house afterwards so that I could meet him. Well, plans changed a little bit, and his dad was only going to be home for 30 minutes, so we had to leave a little earlier than planned. It was still fun though to dress up though.

Aren't we cute together?

After we left Anne's house, we headed over to Jeff's dads house. His dad was really nice, not at all intimidating in any way. (Unlike my dad...I feel so bad for Jeff's first meeting with my dad.) After his dad left, we headed over to my house. We ended up watching a movie ("The Village") with my parents. It was a good movie, but one that left you thinking, "I have to watch that again! I need to think about what I am seeing." When the movie was over, we ended up watching "Bananas," which is a Christian comedy show. We were all laughing so darn hard!!

On Sunday I went to 1st service so that I could sit with Jeff. I stayed and served in the 2 year olds for the 2nd service. Jeff came over that afternoon and we ended up spending the afternoon eating pizza and ice cream and watching football with my dad. My dad had a ton of fun watching football with another male who understood and enjoyed what he was watching. Jeff and my dad will become really good friends when they figure out how to click, they are already almost there. Jeff headed back to church at 3:45 for more worship practice. After church we hung out outside talking with Pastor Steve, friends, and my mom. After hanging out for about 20 minutes, we decided to go to McDonald's for McFlurries and french fries. We didn't want to waste our time eating at McDonald's so we decided to take the food back to my house. We both were driving separate vehicles and we ended up racing home. (literally...racing home.) We had about 1 1/2 hours to hang out before he had to leave. We ate our french fries and McFlurries while watching strange commercials on TV. It was a lot of fun.

Today I had to work, it was a decently short day. (Only 4 hours.) Now I am home, and I am finally posting a blog. I would write way more, but I have bible study in about two hours and I still need to eat, shower and get ready...so much to do, so little time!!

I will repeat my ongoing promise: I will try to post more tomorrow.

100th post

Guess what I just realized today?!? My last post was my 100th post. I am celebrating! WHOOO-HOOOO!!

When I started blogging I really didn't think that I would enjoy it very much. I was convinced that I wouldn't like it, and I cringed at the thought of people reading what I have wrote. But now, here I am several months later and I love blogging! It's been so much fun! Here's to all my faithful readers and commenters: YOU ROCK!

In celebration of this memorial post, I'd love it if all my readers could preview past posts and comment to me which post was your favorite. Thanks to all of you who keep me writing!

Double Date

On Tuesday night Jeff and I decided we wanted to go see a movie. We wanted to go watch "The Dark Knight." We ended up inviting my parents to go with us and we all thought it was hilarious that we were double dating. Talk about awkward! (Not really, it was a ton of fun.) This was my 4th time seeing it, my dad's 3rd time seeing it, and Jeff and my mom's 2nd time seeing it. I was really excited to go see it again, but worried about the possibility of being bored while watching it, having seen it so many times already. That wasn't the case at all, in fact the movie felt way shorter than it did the last several times I saw it. I must have been tired, because I laughed throughout the entire movie! I even laughed during non funny parts! There were a few times where someone would die and I would be the only one laughing. I must have been scaring Jeff, he kept looking over at me and asking, "What are you laughing about?" After the movie he was laughing at me for having laughed so much. (Did that make any sense?) We went to the 6:15 showing and left the theater around 8:30. We all decided to go get some food. My mom wanted Panda Express, but since Jeff and I had just had that two nights before, we weren't overly enthused about that. My dad and mom ended up getting some Panda, and Jeff and I walked down to Cold Stones. We bought a pint of ice cream (yes, I did say pint!). I don't remember what the actual flavor was called, but it was chocolate ice cream with chocolate syrup, p-nut butter syrup, and Reece's p-nut butter cups. We also got to pick one more thing to add to the ice cream. Jeff left that decision up to me, and I picked Heath Bars. (Which I think he thought was weird...but it was sooo yummy!) We carried our pint of ice cream (with our two tiny sample spoons) and went to sit with my parents. We ate half of the pint (the other half is in my freezer to eat next time he's over) before we felt sick. Actually, what really happened was my mom had insisted that Jeff make me eat real food once we got home. I ended up making the mistake of saying that I was "stuffed" and the big bad meany (I say that with much affection, Jeff!) he is, put the lid on the ice cream and pushed it to the other side of the table to remove the temptation from me. I sat and pouted for a few minutes before I gave up, it wasn't working anyways. We headed home around 10:00. When we got home, Jeff came in and hung out with me for about an hour. We ate a bowl of Oriental Chicken Salad while watching a movie on the couch and talking. (I'm not going to say what movie we watched...let's just say it was a really...cute-oh wait!...um, er, um...manly movie? Right...) A few minutes past 11:00 my mom finally came in and told him he had to go home. The way I just worded sounded kind of mean sounding, but she kicked him out in a very gentle and kind way!! (By the way, she only kicked him out because he has to get up for work at 4:30) If she didn't tell him to leave, we all know I wouldn't have told him to leave and he probably wouldn't have left until like 2am or something and he would have been super tired the next morning, so it was a good thing she told him go home! I walked him out to his car, and we both said our sad good-bye's. It was really sad, we don't like saying goodbye to each other. But as my mom likes to say: "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." Anyhow, in all the evening was an absolute blast! We are planning on going to see another movie soon, and we will probably end up asking my parents to join us again. At first the thought of a double date was pretty cheesy sounding (to me at least) but it was so much fun, I'm sure it will happen again.

Character...

"Character is what you are in the dark." ~D.L. Moody~

"Character is not made in a crisis, it is only exhibited." ~Robert Freeman~

"Character is always lost when a high ideal is sacrificied on the altar of conformity and popularity." ~Charles Spurgeon~

"A pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, but a spiritual man is easy on others and hard on himself." ~A.W. Tozer~

"The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken." ~Samuel Johnson~

"Men show their character in nothing more clearly than by what they think laughable."
~Johann Goethe Wolfgang~

"A man should be like tea; his real strength appearing when he gets in hot water."
~Author Unknown~

"Talent develops itself in solitude; character in the stream of life."
~Johann Goethe Wolfgang~

So you think you know me?

I recieved an e-mail today, that normally one would answer the questions and forward it to all their friends, including the person who sent it. I decided to do something different. I am going to answer all the questions in this post. For those of you who are interested (I'd love it if you were!) Please copy and paste the questionare and post it as a comment, leaving your own answers in place of mine. I just thought it would be fun if everyone posted their answers, so that everyone could see the others.
Does that make sense?

Subject: FW: So you think you know me?


1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? no
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? today
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? no
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? turkey
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS ? do siblings count?
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? absolutely!
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? ...yes...
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS yes
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? NO!
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? lucky charms
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? only hightop converse
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? no...have you seen me try to throw a football?
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? I am not picky!! I love them all!
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their eyes
15. RED OR PINK? pink
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? my humor
17. WHOM DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Jeff
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? yes
19. WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? I'm barefoot
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? a bowl of rice w/beef and broccoli on top, from Panda Express
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Shaylah is reading Charlottes Web to Shayden
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Hot pink with sparkles
23. FAVORITE SMELLS? flowers, ice cream, babies
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? my mom
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? yes
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? If I had to watch anything, it'd be soccer
27. HAIR COLOR? blond...or is it brown?
28. EYE COLOR? uh...what's up with the color questions...blue? green? both??
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? no
30. FAVORITE FOOD? ice cream & french fries...together they are even better!
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? both
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? High School Musical 2
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? a gray shirt with a pink tanktop under it
34. SUMMER OR WINTER? both...I love all seasons
35. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs
36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Ice Cream
37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? hmmm...hopefully Jeff
38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? ummm...Hayden?
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? The Last Sin Eater
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? numbers
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? something about Sara Palin (did I spell that right?)
42. FAVORITE SOUND? laughter
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? I haven't really heard either...
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME??? Wisconsin
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? um...making cookies??
46. CRUISE OR FLY SOMEPLACE? Fly
47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? Jeff's (pressure!!)

Two Things...

Okay...two things:

a) it's Pizza my Heart...not pizza my way. (Why didn't I just read the t-shirt? I dunno)

and

b) a "hoolie" is the Australian word for "party" "fun" and "have a blast"

Ocean Trip

Yesterday I went to the ocean with my church's college and career group. A friend and I were the coordinators of the trip, and up until yesterday we were really worried about how it would all play out. When we first decided to plan the trip, I was supposed to invite girls, and he was going to invite the guys. I invited nearly 10 girls, and only two of them made it! Up until the day before the trip no girls were going to make it. I was really really disappointed, but I kept telling Jeff (the friend who helped coordinate it) that I would not go if I couldn't find a girl to come with me. Around 6:00 that evening, Anne and Mandy called me and said that they would make it. Yay!! What a relief! We planned on getting to the church by 8:00am and leaving by 8:30. But of course, the one time my being on time is super important, I was late. It turned out okay though. After everyone was assembled at the church (9 people came) we piled into two cars and headed down to Starbucks. After coffees were purchased, we started out. After a loooonnnnggggg and windy drive we finally were there. It was really chilly when we first got there, and it was also really foggy out. At first I was disappointed, but I kept being told that the clouds would lift around 12:00--and they did. After the clouds lifted it was beautiful out!! Before we went down to the water, every one went shopping. We walked around for a while, looking at all the cute shops and Jeff and I took pictures of all the beautiful scenery. Eventually people were mocking us: "Hey, do you want to take a picture of this flower pot? It's tooootttaaaallllyyyy beautiful." "Oh, look at this rock...wow!" It was pretty humorous, actually. During our shopping trip we walked into a taffy shop. The entire store was full of buckets of taffy. Taffy in every flavor imaginable! It was actually a beautiful and delicious sight. When we were done in the taffy store we headed back to the cars to unload all of our stuff. We hauled all our stuff down to the beach and picked out the perfect spot to spend our day. (Actually, it went more like this: "Okay, I don't want to carry this anymore. Let's stop here.") After blankets were layed out and buckets were strategically thrown around, a few of us went down to touch the water--it was so cold! Two of the guys were brave enough to actually go swimming, but their swim only lasted maybe three minutes long. Then Jeff decided to try to teach me how to throw a football. Let's just say...I didn't do so well. There are two things about me that not many people know: a) I can't throw a football b) I can't skip rocks. After we played football for a while (long enough that my arm and shoulder is really hurting today,) we went back up by the rest of the group. Annie, Mandy, Grant, Jeff and I decided to dig a deep hole. While we were digging this random hole, we were finding a ton of complete shells. Eventually, our hole digging became shell seeking. We found countless shells! They were cute little shells, too! None of them were more than 1/2 an inch long, and they were all spirally. I hope that makes sense, because it makes no sense whatsoever to me! After digging our hole, Mandy, Annie and I walked down the beach to some rocks. There were little tide pools in these rocks and there were shells and crabs everywhere! We decided that we wanted to catch some crabs, so Mandy sent me back to our blankets to fetch a bucket to put the crabs in, and to bring back a guy to catch the crabs for us. Jeff and Grant came over. By the time we were done, we had caught at least 10 crabs. Some of them were shelled crabs, and some of them were the type that can only walk side ways. They were pretty cool to look at. Eventually we got bored on the rocks, and headed back to our blankets. Then we all laid on our blankets, and soaked up the sun for about an hour. Then we all went to get some food. We all got pizza from Pizza My Way...I think that's what it is called. They were running a special where for a few dollars more you could buy a slice of pizza and get a free t-shirt with it, that's what we all did. So now, most of us have a super cool (a.k.a. stellar!!) t-shirt to remember our trip by. After we got our pizza, we went and sat on the wall while eating it. I had been craving ice cream all day (so what is new?!) so as soon as we were done with our pizza, Jeff and I went to get ice cream. Surprisingly, nobody else wanted any. I branched out and tried a new flavor: Pistachio and Almond...it was amazing. It was actually a really good day for me, I had two servings of ice cream within the same hour. That is a new record for me! After the group had reassembled we all loaded up and headed to Marianne's. Marianne's is an ice cream shop in Santa Cruz...it is the best ice cream shop in the entire world!! They have OVER 40 flavors, and they are amazing tasting! If there wasn't a huge line behind me, it easily could have taken twenty minutes to decide what I wanted. We all hung out outside of the store while eating our ice cream. After we all finished our ice cream, we loaded up and headed home. On the ride home, Jeff and I watched "Kicking and Screaming" on an i-pod. I have never seen that movie, but it is hilarious!! We laughed so hard that I ended up with a slight headache. We got back to the church around 6:30. Many details of the day have been left out. But in a nutshell: the day was amazing. Every minute of it was absolutely wonderful. I can't wait for the next ocean trip.

Worry...

Matthew 6:34
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about its own things.
Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.



Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength. ~Corrie Ten Boom~

Faith ends where worry begins, and worry ends where faith begins.
~George Mueller~

Don't take God for granted...

Last night I went to church and ended up in a small group with one of the most encouraging women I know. Somehow our conversation strayed off onto people in different countries who's faith in God is so alive. We were talking about how, people who come to God in these foreign countries, usually do so with a complete knowledge that this decision could cost them their lives. Daily, it is a struggle for them to live for God, and keep their heads. We were talking about how so many of them are persecuted on a daily basis, and when they make this decision to open their lives to God, they know...that could be the end of them. They make it their complete life goal, to live for Christ in every way, and bring as many people to Him as possible, all while they fear for their lives. But, they would willingly lay down their lives to prove their love for God. We were talking about the difference between their faiths and our faith. It is such an easy thing for us Americans to come to Christ. We make that decision, and the thought of losing our life never crosses our mind. For the most part, losing our lives for God is not very common, and we don't have to fear it. We were discussing how these people in different countries, know the cost of having God in their lives, and they treasure Him greatly. They don't take God for granted, as so many of us do. We can have Him in our lives, with pretty much no pain or fear. We don't see how important this really is. We take Him for granted so often. We don't live our lives for Him to the fullest. And we don't see the full picture of God, we will probably never have to make that choice: God or us. The leader of our group was telling us how these people in other countries pray that we experience persecution. They pray it in the most Godly way of course, they just pray that we learn how important this gift of God is, and we need to learn how to treasure it the way we should. They have learned this with their own lives, and they pray that to a point, God permits some type of pain or persecution to occur in our own lives to teach us of His true greatness, and how we should treat Him and our faith in Him. I don't know if any of that makes sense, I hope it did. But ever since we had this conversation, it has really been on my heart and mind. I realized it is so true, we all take Him for granted. Would we treat Him the way we do now, if our lives were at stake? No...we'd live our faith out to the fullest. This is just something for you to ponder for the next few days. Ask yourself, "Am I taking God for granted? Am I living my life the way I should. Am I treating God right?" Is God just a friend, an acquaintance...or is he your best friend? I could ramble on this subject for a long long time, but I think I got most of the point down. I honestly challenge each of you to think about this for a few days and see what you can change in your lives to make sure that you aren't taking the gift God has given us for granted.

Who Is the Real You?

Who is the real you?
The you at home?
Or the you away from home?
We all wear masks,
but which one is real?
The one that hides your face?
Or the one that is your face?

A little bit of everything...

I just realized that I never wrote a title for my last blog...that really bothers me.

So, hopefully this post will be more interesting than my last few have been. I've really been struggling lately. I am hoping I don't have writers block...that'd be awful!! Also...I have an itch to write another book. If any of you have any good ideas for a story line let me know. I do pretty well with anything freaky and I can also do pretty much anything modern, but I have also written a few books from the 1800's era. Make sure if you give me a story line, you give me the whole plot. From beginning to end...otherwise I'll start it and get 1/3 the way though and quit. Which is totally disappointing. I have started countless books, written multiple chapters and quit. (I was actually just telling someone this the other day.) Then, it is totally embarrassing for me to reread them, as they sound soooo lame! I have actually only written one thing that I have been impressed with. Unfortunately, that is one of my unfinished projects. Actually, maybe I will blog that sometime for you guys to read and tell me what you think...maybe...we'll see. Um, then again...maybe not.

I am in the mood to write right now, which could be a good thing...but then again, it might not be. I'm going to make this a very random post, with no one subject. Bear with me...

Yesterday was my 12 hour day. It stretched on and on and on and on and on and...you get the picture. Actually, it was a really bad day. (And I have never had a bad day over there.) I am not going to go into any details.

Yesterday morning, my siblings caught a bunny in our front yard. It is a big black bunny with curly fur. He is so sweet! It is sad though, because he's underfed and has scabs on him, so he's obviously been abused (Because he's so tame, we know he had an owner)and has been attacked. My dad actually wonders if his fur was longer at one point, and if maybe he's been shaved. Anyways, like I said...he's so sweet! Normally, when you pick up a bunny, they freak out and start flopping around. This bunny is different, he loves being held and doesn't flinch when you pick him up. This morning the girls brought him in the room and put him on my bed. I was petting him and he totally conked out and fell asleep on my pillow. It was really cute. They named it Teddy, because his fur looks like a teddy bear. The girls had asked me yesterday if I would name it for them. The only name I was able to come up with was Pedro...and believe it or not, that was with help. I probably could have come up with a better name if I would have thought about it longer. The girls are mad at me, because I refuse to call it Teddy, I'm going to call him Pedro. He looks like a Pedro...if any of you know what a bunny named Pedro would look like... I think we are going to breed him and our female next month. This bunny is way nicer than our other male. And we'll have a shot at getting solid black babies.

Let's see...what else?

The other night...um,...Tuesday...yea, Tuesday. On Tuesday evening Jeff came over for dinner and ice cream. That was a ton of fun! I made Fettuchini Alfredo (with way too much garlic, unfortunately) and it turned out okay. It wasn't one of my better batches, but it was still good. We all ate dinner outside and the weather was simply beautiful! It wasn't too hot out, nor was it too cold. My brothers like him almost as much as I do, and he is so great with them! He's been teaching them how to juggle (I have never seen anyone in real life juggle...if you haven't seen Jeff juggle, ask him, it's amazing.) He got each of the boys a three pack of tennis balls to practice with. Since the 1st time he came over, they have been practicing like crazy. They are getting better now, and the art is slowly coming together. Before dinner, Jeff was playing baseball with them. I was walking across the yard, and he was getting ready to pitch to Shayden. He says, "Watch out, Shyloh! You might get hit." I quickly ran across the yard and he pitched the ball. I had my back to him, as Shayden hit the ball, suddenly I hear a "smack!!" and then a "ouch!!" Long story short (or not so long...) Shayden totally decked Jeff in the face with the ball. I felt sooo bad! It was pretty red and looked really painful. But, amazing guy he is, he found so much humor in it! For those of you who know us Ney's pretty well...we aren't very nice. We laughed at him all evening long. During our dinner prayer, Shayden was praying and he said, "And please help Jeff's face go back to tan..." I was on the verge of laughing, but held it in. Suddenly, my mom started snorting and blew up laughing. Jeff and I started rolling and eventually the whole room was in an uproar. It was absolutely insanely hilarious! By the way, his face is back to tan now. Anyways, after dinner, he was done playing ball. He had had enough!! Then we were ready to start the fire, I gathered wood and cardboard and an ax and matches. We pulled the burn barrel out into the middle of the lawn and built a little Indian tipi with our kindling. Then, Jeff poured tiki torch fluid all over the wood and dropped a match on it. Let's just say it was one beautiful fire. I've never seen a fire catch so quickly, nor burn so well. All the kids were in bed around 9:00, and we sat out by the fire wrapped up in big blankets eating ice cream and playing with the fire until 11:00.

I made cinnamon rolls today. They turned out really well, and they look beautiful. I'm hoping they taste the same!

Let's see...what else?

On Saturday I am going to the ocean. I helped plan an ocean trip for our college and career group, and I can't wait! It will be so much fun. Last time we went, we didn't have any buckets or shovels, so building a sandcastle was really difficult. After that trip, I went out and bought a ton of buckets, so this time, we should be set! I need to make cookies tomorrow to bring with us on Saturday. This time, I don't plan on getting a sunburn.

I have come to realize that two things are an art to me: Eating ice cream & Sleeping.

Eating ice cream should be something you do carefully and deliberately. It should never be rushed or forced. When eating ice cream, never scoop it while it is frozen. It will make you irritated and cranky, not to mention it is a big bummer when the scooper slips and hits your hand. Trust me, I'd know! Never do tiny pathetic scoops, they always need to be big and heaping. Never ever think about your weight while eating ice cream, it will ruin it for you. Big spoons are a definite no-no while eating ice cream, eat ice cream with small scoops so that you can enjoy each and every bite. Freezing the spoons for a few minutes before eating off them helps the flavor out in a big way. (But for this to work, they have to be real silver spoons!) I'm sure there is more to mastering the art of eating ice cream, but currently, this is all I can think of. As the rules come to my mind, I will post them.

Now...for sleeping.

Every bed should have more than 3 pillows on it:

a toddlers bed should have at least three pillows on it.
a twin bed should have at least four pillows on it.
a full bed should have at least five pillows on it.
a queen bed should have at least six pillows on it.
and a king bed should have at least eight pillows on it.

I have a full size bed, but I am blessed enough to have eight pillows on it. The rule with pillows, is you never want your head to be on two pillows, otherwise you will wake up with a terrible kink. Here's how my bed is set up at night: my body pillow goes against the wall, for my back to be parallel to it. One pillow lays flat at the head of my bed, while another one goes beneath that, but at a steep slant. The fourth pillow goes on the other side of me. The fifth and sixth pillows go under the blankets, for my legs. And the last two pillows are thrown into various spots of my bed, for my random sleeping habits. Every bed should have a nice mattress and a nice memory foam pad. Unfortunately, my bed does not yet have a memory pad, but it will eventually...soon. Again, these are the only rules I can think of for mastering the art of sleeping. If I come up with more, I will definitely post it. I want to see all my readers become masters in the arts of eating ice cream and in the art of sleeping.

This is all I can come up with to blog about right now. I need to go finish my cinnamon rolls now.

This morning I had to be to work at 8:15, because Joslyn wanted me to go with her to a bible study and serve in the Shelter Cove childcare. I went to bed last night around 12:00 and was awake until about 1:00 praying. I finally ended up falling asleep, and thankfully, I slept like a log. I woke up this morning at exactly 8:00. I panicked!! I jumped out of bed and quickly got dressed. I ran a brush through my hair and then threw a hat on my head. I quickly brushed my teeth and rushed out the door. Amazingly (It's all God's grace!...) I made it to her house on time. I helped load the babies up and we headed out. Childcare was insane!! It was completely unorganized and wasn't set up very well. There were three room to divide the kids up among and there were five aides. And this is counting Bennett (who's 11) and another girl who was also 11. I was all over the place. I started out in the classroom full of 1-4 year olds. These children were so mean!! They kept taking toys from each other, hitting each other, screaming at each other and starting fights. It was amazing...and not in a good way. Eventually, I went to help out in the room with the babies. There was only one lady in this room with five screaming babies (all under 3 months of age.) I had fun serving in this room, I love holding babies. After helping calm the babies down I went in to check on the 11-year-olds who were watching five 4-5-year old boys. I walk in the room in time to see one of the boys climbing on the counter, one of them hiding in the cleaning cupboard and the others were terrorizing the room...all while Bennett was sleeping on those soft building blocks that our church has in our toddler room, and the girl had taken the only little girl out to the playground. Needless to say, I was not very happy. I got them back together and grouped and went back to help in my original room. These kids had finally calmed down and were eating snack and I was getting bored. When I get bored, I start to get nosy. I was opening cupboards and peeking behind doors. (It's bad...) Anyways, I opened up one cupboard and there was a box of those valentine's conversation hearts sitting on the shelf. I got all excited (I love those things!)I poured one out and popped it into my mouth...I almost broke a tooth on that darn thing! It was soooo old and hard! I don't know why this thought didn't cross my mind when I first saw the box, but I was pretty irritated. Why would someone leave a box of valentine's candy in a cupboard, knowing very well that someone is going to try to eat it eventually?? After further thought, I realized though, it was my fault. I deserved to break my tooth. I shouldn't have been raiding cupboards and eating unclaimed food. After church ended Joslyn ran a few errands while I sat in the car with Bennett, Hudson and Addie. After her errands were ran (the babies were asleep by this point) we went by Garcia Jo-Jo's for lunch. It was so-so...I don't know if I'd go back again. But anything is better than macaroni and cheese!! (I eat that every time I'm at their house...which is a lot!) After lunch we headed home. I helped her get the babies to bed and cleaned her kitchen. Then I headed home.

Now, here I am...

I just got done painting my nails, and I keep blowing on them in hopes to not chip the paint yet. After I painted my nails, I made some bread (which is kneading in the bread maker). I'm going to finish blogging, then I need to go shower. After my shower, I'm going to roll my bread out and let it rise. Then I've got to get dinner started and make some tea. We're having company over tonight, so I also need the boys to clean the backyard up and pull the burn barrel out. It will be an absolute hoolie.

I was thinking today, (with much excitement,) that next month is kitten month!! (If you don't remember...next month I'm supposed to be getting a kitten for my birthday, to replace my last two.) I was telling someone a few nights ago that I've never been a cat person, but having two kittens die has made me a cat person. I've litterally been counting down months and days until I get my new one. I'm very excited if none of you can tell.

Anyways, the shower is calling me.
I'll blog more tomorrow...

Finally a minute of free time...

To those who faithfully read my blog: I am so sorry I've been so bad at posting lately!! I've had a really busy few days. I finally have a moment of free time, I'm going to try to quickly blog about what's been going on lately. Bear with me, I'm not in the mood to blog right now.





This past week, I've worked an odd shift of hours. I worked four half days in a row. It worked out nicely, I didn't get too tired or burned out, but I still made a decent pay check. This week however, will be different. I work tomorrow, but only for a few hours. Then on Wednesday I have a really really long day! On Wednesday I'm going to be working a 10-12 hour day. I am going to come home so exhausted!! I think I also have to work Thursday and possibly Friday. But I'm not sure about that yet...I usually find out definite hours or work days with only 12-48 hours ahead of time.

So...a quick update on life lately...

On Friday I worked for a few hours. I pretty much only cleaned and watched Hudson and Addie. I got off work around 2:00 and headed home. I had company over that evening, so I spent the next several hours cleaning the house and getting dinner ready. That night we had a bonfire and roasted marshmallows. It was a ton of fun!! The boys only stayed up until around 8:00, then they headed off to bed. Us bigger people had ice cream, then the girls went to bed around 9:00. The whole evening was an absolute blast! We didn't go to bed that night until around 1:00am.

On Saturday we were supposed to do chores. However, I didn't get much done, as I was really lazy and loafed around all day. That evening a girl from the college and career group texted me and invited me to a bonfire that she was having at her house that night. I didn't want to go, but my dad made me go (something I'm really grateful of now!). Another friend ended up going, and it was a lot of fun hanging out with him. There was home made ice cream (which was amazing!) and their bonfire was enormous!! We all ended up playing the "I've never game" but the musical chair version...it was so much fun! It's amazing how much you learn about people while playing that game! I got home around 11:00 that night and ended up staying awake until past 12:00 playing on the computer and talking with my parents.

On Sunday morning, I got up at 6:30 to go to the 1st service. I managed to stay awake through the service (which was really hard, having had several late nights prior to this) and after 1st service, I stayed and hung out for a while. I had planned on running a few errands during 2nd service (which my family attended) but ended up helping out in the 1st grade instead. That afternoon a friend came over for about 45 minutes to eat pizza with us and hang out for a while. Even though it was a super short visit, it was a ton of fun! That evening I went back to church. I really struggled through that service! (Don't take me wrong: it was a really good service! I was just super tired!) We ended up staying at church that evening until about 9:00. We hung out in the courtyard and listened to Alyssa Veltkamp sing (great job, Lyss!) and chatted with a friend for a while. When we got home we had ice cream...believe it or not: this was the worst ice cream I've ever had to choke down. It had absolutely no flavor to it, even though it was my favorite flavor of Dryer's. I must have been sick...

I babysat my siblings for a few hours this morning. Then in the afternoon, I did some stuff around the house, and ended up running a few errands for my mom. I also had to go to the bank and fill my gas tank (I get so excited when I get gas! There's something about having a full tank of gas...not many of you would know what this feels like...) This evening I made dinner, we ate dinner, we cleaned up after dinner...and now here I am several hours later.

Like I said, bear with me...I'm not really in a posting mood. I'd try to write more, but I want to go check my e-mails and then get ready to go to bed...

I'll try to be better at posting this week!

Shyloh's New Diet Plan

So I came up with a wonderful diet plan...and it actually works. It might sound a bit cooky, but hey, if it works...






Here's how it goes:

When you wake up in the morning...only eat a string cheese or a pastry of some type. (Twice a week eat leftovers from the night before or make something random that has nothing to do with breakfast: salad, or a sandwitch or a potato.)

If you must eat lunch...make it small.

Snack often throughout the day. Small snacks, that is. (Like a icecream bar...or a cookie, or a icecream sandwich, or a yogurt, or a icecream cone...pretty much anything with icecream is a good choice.)

Eat a good dinner (no meats...) lots of pastas and salads.

After dinner eat a big bowl of ice cream. Here's the catcher though...it has to be "good" icecream. Like Bryer's or Dryer's.

This has been the most effective diet plan I've ever attempted. Try it...you'll be amazed.

**I assume no liabilty for anything gone bad while on this diet plan. Attempt it at your own risk and the risk of your bathroom scale.

The Katinas ~ Eagle's Wings

This was a really good song. And the lyrics were awsome.
Copy the link and paste it into your search bar.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=485167&content=songinfo&songID=4111573

Lyrics:

Here I am waiting. Abide in me I pray.
Here I am longing. For you Yeah
Hide me in your love Bring me to my knees
May I know Jesus More and more
Chorus//
Come live in me all my life Take over
Come breathe in me I will Rise on eagles wings
Beutiful Savior Lord I love to feel your touch
You never forsake me lord you are your always there
Each passing moment it's you that I adore
I love you jesus more and more and more
Chorus 2X//
I can fly i will rise on eagles wings
I will run and not faint away
soar in your ways like an eagle bird
Put my hope and trust in you God. Yeah Yeah

Verse of the Day

I read this verse this morning during devotions and it really stuck out to me. It's pretty self explanatory.

1 Peter 3:15
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear...

You cannot appreciate the strength of the anchor until you go through the storm.

What a day...

What a day!! Today we planned on going to the Labor Day picnic at our church. We all had a late night last night, and didn't get up this morning until 9:00 (and 9:30 for some of us). We all got ready to go and I made a batch of cookies. We finally got to church an hour late (which was fine, it's just a picnic.) Everyone was having a great time, the kids were all off playing with their friends and my mom and I were talking while watching the baptisms. Shelbie and her friend Catie were leaning up against the wall talking to each other and giggling. Shelbie suddenly went quiet (for about thirty seconds) which is no big deal, she's quiet by nature. The next minute she was slumped over on the ground, out cold. I didn't watch her go down, I was watching the pastor baptize a girl, and I heard my mom say, "Shelbie...SHELBIE!" I turned around, a bit confused. I was thinking Shelbie was just ignoring my mom, which surprised me...I was even more surprised when I saw her on the ground. My mom and I both quickly grabbed one of her arms and tried lifting her. Her head was rolling and her eyes never moved not to mention, they were really glassy looking. We both lifted her dead weight and started walking as quick as possible down to the bathroom. We kept asking her if she was okay, but she was still really out of it. She kept saying she felt like she was going to get sick. We were almost to the bathroom when Seth (from the college & career group, he's a nurse) came running over to see what was wrong. He had his backpack full of his medical stuff and started helping out right away. Another guy, who's name I don't know, carried her into the inside bathroom (where there's a powder room) and laid her on the couch. Seth was great, he immediately started checking her vitals and trying to cool her off. In the mean time, several people had gathered around outside of the bathroom to pray. In this group was Jeff (so many thanks to you, Jeff!) Annie, Katelyn O, Laurie Kee, Deb O. and a few others. They were all so wonderful. Everyone was praying and telling my mom and I that Shelbie would be okay. During all this, the rest of the children were outside playing and carrying on. They ended up finding out what happened, but it didn't really effect them too much. I think that it helped where we were at, they were preoccupied. After Seth checked her vitals (something was wrong with them...like her heart rate or something, I'm not sure what), someone called the ambulance. I totally freaked out with this, I pass out a lot, but I've never gone to the hospital, so I was convinced it wouldn't be okay. The ambulance came and loaded her up, which took a while. During this, Shelbie finally started coming too. I wanted to go with them in the ambulance, but the driver wouldn't let me. They left, and the rest of us kids were at the church still. Everyone was so concerned! Everyone was offering to drive the kids home (my dad was still at work, he was on his way to the church when she passed out). I wanted to go to the hospital, which is why I wasn't driving the kiddos home. My dad called and it was decided that he'd come to church, bring the kids home and leave his car for me to take to the hospital. While he was heading to the church, the Kee's totally took over with my family. The boys (Hayden & Chris) were so sweet, and took it upon themselves to make my brothers their lunches, while Annie and I think Mandy or Katelyn made my little sisters their lunches. Jeff stayed with me and kept reminding me that God was in charge and it would be okay, just keep praying. All the women kept praying too. After Annie made the girls their lunches (might I add...the lunches the boys made were actually nutritious, that impressed me.) she made me a plate and insisted that I eat, though I never did. Finally my dad got to the church. We quickly packed up the chairs and blankets (with Jeff's help) and walked out to the van. My dad, seeing my current condition (I was really shaky), wouldn't let me drive and decided that he'd just drop me off at the hospital on his way home. Jeff then offered to drive me to the hospital, I felt bad taking him away from the church, but he was truly genuine about it, so I took him up on his offer. My dad headed home, and we headed to the hospital. On the way there, he kept reminding me about God's goodness and played k-love on the radio to keep our thoughts on God. I was really thankful when we got to the hospital, he actually walked me in and waited with me until my mom came out to walk me back into Shelbie's room. (I had been dreading going in alone, so this was so appreciated.) After he left, my mom and I went in to see Shelbie. A ton of tests were ran on her and they all came back fine. My dad came down after dropping the kids off at home and getting them settled. When he got to the hospital, I had to go sit in the waiting room (only two people could be with her). For over an hour I sat alone in the waiting room (without my i-pod...which really stunk.) listening to all the sick people cough, gag, get sick, groan, whine and cry. I felt totally germ infested. I'm bathing in alcohol tonight. It was sad sitting in there though, seeing all the sick people. So I guess it was a good thing I didn't have my i-pod, I was able to sit and pray for people. Finally, my dad came out with me. He said all the tests came back fine. The doctor wants us to follow up with our own doctor and gave us a bunch of paperwork to give him tomorrow. She recommend having Shelbie wear a halter monitor (which will monitor her heart for a few days), and maybe a MRI. As of this point they are guessing that it is just a girl thing, as alot of girls will have fainting episodes when they are her age. She was discharged from the hospital and came walking out looking fine. We headed home (had to stop at the church to get my dad's car) and she was totally fine. She was actually really sparky too. She made a lot of funny one-lined jokes. She still doing great, she's just tired. (This is actually the 2nd time she's passed out in about 4 days...not to this degree though,and she has been having dizzy spells for the last month which is why they are more conerned and want more follow up tests.) So keep her in your prayers. For those of you who prayed or helped out with various things...thank-you so much! We really appreciate you!

Then, as this wasn't enough excitement for the day...after we'd been home for about an hour. Poppet was playing in the hallway by the wooden bench. I was in my room and I heard a huge thud! and then screaming. My mom quickly ran into the hallway and scooped her up. When I came out to see what was going on, she had Poppet's foot in the kitchen sink, running cold water on it. Apparently, Poppet had tipped the bench over onto her foot, and somehow it only landed on her tiny toe. Her toe is so swollen and purple, with a nasty little cut on it. We think it's broken. Poor Poppet! She's handling the pain well though, she's still hobbling around playing.

Anyways, these are just a few of the fun things we encounter on a day-to-day basis in a big family. I was laughing and telling Shaylah a little bit ago, it's funny...when something bad happens to us, it's usually multiple bad things at once. At least we only have to dread bad stuff a few times a year!

Anyhow...What a day!