She is here!

Her flight arrived last night. My sister made it from "good ol' Chiner" (as she would say). She is here with me and the girls. We are relaxing, enjoying each other's company and the warm weather. We made waffles. We swam in the pool. We are eating waffles again and learning Chinese (Mandarin) words. We are all very happy that she is here. Her luggage didn't arrive with her. I think it stayed in Hong Kong but it should be arriving here at the house SOON (maybe this evening). Perhaps then we will venture out. In the mean time we are enjoying being home.

Journal Entry 20100628AM

It's morning still (barely) and I find that I'm reading about the conventional approach to water protection (don't ask me why right now, OK?), listening to my daughters fuss at each other, needing to do some shopping for upcoming camping trip, trying to figure out which flight my sister is arriving on, looking longingly at the pool, thinking we'll go to the library soon and kind of wanting to start this day over already or end it... these kids of mine... I think we all need to get out of the house BUT I find that I have very little to wear these days that I feel comfortable having on when I'm out and about in public.  Oh boy.  I just heard my four year old shout: "Shut Up!"  Clearly I am attempting to ignore them hoping that they'll miraculously fall back in love with each other and want to play like the little lovers I know they are.  ~ great-big-heavy-sigh ~

OK. Time to rally!  Gather camping menu, change into... SOMETHING appropriate for a public place, gather library books and movies for a return, head to library.  Hm. Walk or Bike?  Walk. Think ahead for lunch today... and (in the words of Dora) VAMANOS!

A Few of My Favorites

These are a few of my favorite things.

Braids. Eggs. Beds.

It's after midnight and I am STILL awake. This is neither my goal nor my desire and yet... here I am! So I figured I would write a bit. Eventually it will totally exhaust me and I will have to pee. I will waddle to the toilet, take care of business, wash my hands and then I'll go to bed. Sorry. A bit TMI, eh?


This evening after a late afternoon swim with my girls and showers for all three of us, we conjured on the couch in our jammies. The plan: comb out their hair, braid it and review some school work at the same time. Dinner? No plans. No thoughts toward dinner whatsoever. None. Can't we just have chips and pico de gallo again? I wasn't really sure what time my darling spouse would be home but I knew it would be later than the norm. We were nearly through the braiding of the hair and the home work review when hubby walked through the back door (that was weird). Thankfully my genius four year old decided she wanted to make dinner tonight: eggs and pancakes. GENIUS! And these are the exact moments that arise to give me reason to keep pancake mix in the pantry. It really is OK that I don't make EVERYthing from scratch. Hallelujah! She and I busied ourselves in the kitchen while Daddy finished home work review with the six year old. The four year old kept cracking eggs into the bowl so I kept chopping veggies to go with. We ended up making omelets (luckily I was the only one who ended up with egg shell in my mouth) and pancakes and were able to squeeze in a bike ride before bed for each of the girls. We even met our new neighbors tonight (she is expecting baby #1 in December - pretty cool!) before our bedtime book reading ritual. Nathan managed to watch "So You Think You Can Dance" while I managed to get three home work assignments done. And then we both did a bunch of other random things on the computer and.... here I still am. But guess what? I have to pee now and I think my eyes are officially burning which basically means: I'm exhausted!

Good Night.

25 Random Things

Have you ever seen those lists of 25 random things?  I compiled one of my own.

25.) I love hot creamy drinks. (think Chai Tea Latte; I also love the song with the same name)

24.) My favorite reality shows are Survivor & Top Chef.
23.) I love office supplies.
22.) I hate being cold.
21.) I love/cherish my sister & our relationship.
20.) Grilled veggies in the summer time: portabellas, eggplant, zucchini & red onions. BLISS!
19.) My friends call me “Mother Earth.”
18.) I love reading books to my kids when we’re cuddled up in my bed.
17.) I lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina during college.
16.) I would go to the international airport for lunch so I could people watch and LISTEN.
15.) I recently had Swedish meatballs at IKEA & was surprised how well I liked them!
14.) I really enjoy playing my guitar and singing when no one else is around.
13.) My husband must have live plants in our home (I love that he has a green thumb).
12.) I look forward to Thanksgiving every year.
11.) My sister moved to China the beginning of 2009, I miss her!
10.) I am a fan of Wikipedia.
9.) I love black mascara.
8.) Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM) has changed my life.
7.) I have been to Rome three times. LOVE it there.
6.) My kids are fun and funny and loud!
5.) My mother lives in Thailand.
4.) I love heirloom tomatoes.
3.) I have spent time in ten countries outside of the United States. (Is that all? Boo.)
2.) I love spending time with my husband. No one makes me laugh like he does.
1.) I love the Creator of the Universe & I love my life.

I Choose to Believe the Truth.

So I'm rethinking the frown.  Yesterday's post was all about favorite things except for that frown.  Interestingly enough yesterday itself was not FULL of my favorite things.  I chose to pull some faves from the day to focus on some positive things.  Yesterday was a yucky sort of day in many ways.  I woke this morning hearing: "Choose to believe the TRUTH."  It's interesting when I choose to believe the un-truths.  I end up with yucky days.  Anyway, considering it was a yucky day full of un-truth believing, I am re-thinking the "favorite frown" bit from my post yesterday.  I think I WILL return to that store and simply share more smiles with the shop keeper and love on her with patience and kindness.  I choose to forget that she was mean to my kids.  Perhaps she was just having a yucky day too and perhaps she was choosing to believe some un-truths.

Favorite "fuh's" of the day

Favorite food moment of the day: cinnamon toast as brought to me in bed by my four year old. Toasted bread, a glop of butter in the center and a very large measure of cinnamon powder covering the butter only.  Not exactly tasty, but it was my favorite food moment so far today.

Favorite find of the day:  Eureka Tetragon 1610 tent  I haven't decided yet weather or not it will be the final tent we purchase, but so far I am leaning in that direction.  Most reviews are positive.

(Not-so) favorite frown of the day: shop keeper yelling at my daughters and glaring at me as we exited the store. Boo. I probably won't be spending any of my money there. Ever. Bummer.

Favorite phrase of the day so far: "Pure thigh-enlarging decadence" as penned by the lovely Brooke Fraser Ligertwood here in her latest blog post (about desserts!)  Delicious - on plural levels.  :)

Favorite photo of the day (so far): my treasures enjoying one of their favorite cuisines with me, the Mama