Okay, once again, I took several days to finish my latest post, so if you want to know what's been going on, scroll down past "Diatribe," and you'll see the true latest post. I don't know why I can't swap 'em, but once I start a post and save it as a draft, it stays put.

A Diatribe About Blogging (How appropriate.)

Hmmmm.......All ya fellow bloggers and blog-followers, chew on this---This evening, at church, a couple women were talking about how selfish they think blogging is. It's food for thought. I mean, I guess it can be. You know? So, it's time to examine myself (hey, that's selfish, too! Ha ha.) I don't have to justify my blogging to anyone any more than anyone would have to justify writing their memoirs, or penning a Christmas letter to friends. I know that, but it's a topic worth exploring. An unexamined life is not so good, the saying goes. So, a blog can be a lot of different things, can serve various purposes and can be about anyone or anything. It can be an online journal, personal, like a diary but not so private that others reading it would be a horror to you. It can be an update focused on the lives of one's kids for the viewing and reading pleasure of doting grandparents and loving family and friends (as ours became that when we moved 2,500 miles away while pregnant with Wendy!) It can be about baking, about scrapbooking, a forum for venting, advertising for your business. It can be about you only, or you as a couple, or about a loved one in critical care, unable to speak for themselves but nevertheless in need of prayer and support, and in this case, as a mercy for those desperate for information. I love to blog. It's a past-time. I find it worthy of my (granted, little) time and effort because it's a glorified baby book--and I enjoy writing about my children! Where the binding of my baby's albums can stretch only so far, here is where my blog comes in. I get to record, and know that I will remember, the dates of their first this...their last that. I can save it for them to read, and we all know that kids, and adult-kids, often enjoy reading about themselves! This blog is about an ordinary couple of kids who are two parts of an ordinary family. It's nothing extraordinary, but the ability I have to whip out the camera, add pics as illustrations to words I can type so much more fluidly than I could ever write them, is a blessing I am thankful to have! Is my blog selfish? Hmmmm...yes. I indulge myself when I approach that feeling of satisfaction at a post nearly finished, a post about a birthday party complete with all the funnyisms of the day, a post that I can perhaps print and pass out at Wendy's rehearsal dinner. Will everyone read it? Heck, no. It's true that there are folks out there who don't care even slightly about any one's blog, don't feel they're important. They aren't important to them, and that makes sense. But blogs are important to others. I very naturally ask new friends if they have a blog because I enjoy reading blogs! I like clicking on links to blogs belonging to friends of friends! I'm a blog person. I'm not a Facebook person, and folks have gotten irked with me for that, but I choose my outlet. And, people who think blogs are stupid have their outlets too--like talking about blogging in a crowd. Everyone indulges themselves by getting their own personal thoughts and feelings out there--one way or another. It's healthy. It's good. So what. And the gals who think blogging is lame, they'll never know I blogged about this because--they aren't into blogs! So, live and let blog. Oh, and another thought just came to mind--if blogging about a vacation or your latest recipe is selfish, than what would people who think that think of Facebook peeps informing the entire world, more invasively, that they just finished a slice of pizza? Live and let blog, or tweet, or talk. It's all the same.

Rather Lengthy Update~~~

A while ago, I was in the Mommy Dog House. I had told Wendy that the following school day would be their Halloween party and she'd go as a princess! The following morning, I checked the calendar, and, gulp, I was mistaken. I had two weeks until her party! So, that day was a boo-me day. This morning, however, was the day of the party! So, instead of ponytails and shorts, Wendy drove into school as a fairy tale princess at last! And as we walked in, with Linc taxied on my hip, I took Wendy's backpack from her after she declared, quite like a princess I might add, "Here's my backpack, Mommy. It's too heavy!" Ha ha. Her princess breakfast consisted of princess pink and peach yogurt with a purple spoon (what, you think she ought to have a silver spoon in her mouth?), a star-shaped peanut butter and honey sandwich, and cold milk.

Last night, she clicked on the Zhu Zhu Pet commercial, over and over again, on Youtube, and the series of four shots below prove that my daughter is freakishly enthused over Zhu Zhu!

Last Sunday, 4-6-ish, I took Wendy to A & M Church of Christ for their Trunk or Treat night! I got her Zhu-Zhu-ready, and off we went! On the way there, Wendy asked me, "Mommy, why do they say TRUNK or treat instead of TRICK or treat?" I had no clue. Once we got there, we figured it out. Each participating family had their trunk open holding bowls of candy and a game out in front for the kids to try out---usually some version of toss the bing bag. Wendy was delighted. She was more afraid of the dogs on leashes than of kids in spooky costumes. I had to keep my eye on the dogs and avoid them because girlfriend has a phobia and she can scream! As the late afternoon wore on, the sun did its Texas thang, and melted little masks and noses off of the little masqueraders.

I had to sit on the curb as my church heels were starting to take their toll, and I watched as Wendy and others waited to climb up into the bounce houses. From my angle, I thought, "Now, who is that tall child?" "With the hampster tail?"

~Starting to feel slightly more plugged in here. The change is that we actually run into Wendy's classmates! Here she is with Cameran, and Cameran and Wendy bumped into each other at the mall not long ago! She was at Kyla's birthday party, too, so Wendy and Cameran are becoming quite good friends.

A highlight was the face-painting, always a hit, and also, one family handed out TOYS instead of candy. Wendy scored a necklace and bracelet set.

There were so many creative costumes this night, and I took pics of Thing One and Thing Two, the Mad Hatter, etc, but below is one worth sharing on my blog for its "Awwwww" factor. Little Red Riding Hood tot-sized. CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This furry rascal amassed quite a bucket of goodies and she looks like the hampster that swallowed the Skittle!

Another super thrilling thing Wendy did lately was attend Kyla's birthday party at Mt. Aggie! I'd heard of the thing, but had never been and couldn't visualize skiing in College Station, Texas! In the car, Wendy would ask me, "Mommy, are we almost at MOUNTAIN AGGIE?!" Well, y'all, I am convinced that this is the place for kiddos to par-tay. Hey, how can you improve upon sledding down white astroturf hosed down with water?! How?! Anyway, the little girl below is Megna, a great pal of Wendy's, also a school friend.

Here is Kyla, getting ready to get with the present-opening!

And up the hill they go! It took some coaxing to get Wendy to try it the first time, but after that first swift descent, she was all over it! "Let's go AGAIN!"

Megna, Cameran and Wendy dragging their sled back up the mountain.

And DOWN they go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Linc and I just reclined in the sun and watched the fun.

Now, forgive me for being all crazy on this post, you see, for days now I've had trouble posting pics, so I don't even really know how "in order" my events are, but oh well. So, we had a visit in Houston recently and here is my sweet older bro, Walker, holding his nephew. I think Linc might have his tree trunk thighs! He might be a soccer player, too! We'll see!

And, while there, I took Wendy and Hattie to the movies! As we walked in, all holding hands like a chain, sang to them the movie song from Annie, "Let's go to the movies! Let's go see the show-oh-oh!, Let's go see that grand illusion! All of it's yours! Right through these doors!" Here they are right before Alpha and Omega started...

Beforehand, we had time to kill, so we played video games!

And ate hotdogs. I promised them movie treats if they ate most of their hotdogs. You know, one hotdog would've been enough for the two of them to share. Live and learn. For the movie, we ate popcorn and candy. Those girls put it away!

As my brother, Sean, recently said, "I'm glad the girls are so close." Me, too. They're only 2 mos. apart afterall. Tea party at Mimi's.

And Mimi, like Grandma, always has quarters, and Wendy knows it, so of course, "Mimi! Can I ride the pig?!"

Wendy has her ways, always has, always will, and most of her ways put me in stitches. Take for example her insistence that she help me fold and put away the laundry. For the life of me, I wondered what had happened to some of my unmentionables. Well, I found 'em. Mom, sorry for photographing my unmentionables! Too funny not to share. Might regret it later. If I do, I'll take it off.

And, Linc has his quirks, too. He doesn't care for the real toys I've bought for him. No, they're too simple, too colorful, too annoying or something. His preference? My car cell charger. Like the one below. No, I mean, he crawls around the house with it in hand, dragging it behind him, for HOURS! His fist is tight about it and he won't give it up to anyone! If you try, he fusses! He knows to switch it from one hand to the other when I'm belting him into the van or dressing him! We took all of the small pieces off and out of it before letting him have it as his toy, and now, my $20 charger is another item I have to write in on my "To Shop For List." Since snapping this pic, other items have made their way into his realm of acceptance. Like the cumbersome hose of the vacuum. (I cleaned it before letting him have it and we never used it.) He clung to that ribbed monstrosity for so long, I had to let him have it in the van on the way to church the other night, and James opened the door for me and said to me, "Honey, we can't let him go to the nursery with that thing." He was right.

"What's that you say? Back off, I love my charger and that's that!"

Flashlights made the cut...

You know, I think I might make his birthday cake with chargers on top of it, and flashlights.

More hilarious things to share---

Wendisms--

She talks...and talks...and talks. The other evening, James called her a Rebel Without a Pause. So true. And, after either he or I put her to bed and complete the entire routine, she always, without fail, hollers after us to come back oh, about 3-10 more times for various and sundry requests. It's exhausting. Well, one evening, I told her that after I was done tee-teeing her, pj-ing her, socking her, brushing her teeth, reading her a story, praying with her, brushing her hair while sharing with her 20 pleasant thoughts to dream about, bringing her her half-full sippy of water and making sure her Pooh Bear and Pillow Pet were in the bed and the night light and bathroom light and fan were on, that I'd need to be left alone to rest so I could take her to the play area the next day. She hollered out for me immediately. I told her I can't keep coming back, that I have things to do, and she said, "But MOM! I have TWO things to tell you! TWO secrets! One is that I love you to the moon and back, and the other, well....it's not that important really." So, that was so stinking cute. Had to share.

Lincisms---he grabbed at James' hair the other night, and James, aware that his hair is going, said, "Yes, Lincoln, Daddy's hair is just like yours only there's less of it." Ha ha. So cute. And then, his big toe. Can I talk about that? In the pic below, James called it his kick stand. Ha!

Well, that's about all the updating I have, so until next time, take care!

Mini Bridal Me

When Wendy was a wee toddler, I pulled her wispy blond strands up into a top-knot and slipped her tiny body into my heavy, beaded bridal gown and "snap! snap! snap!," took her pics. Last night, I did this again---so it's been a couple years since we last did this. So fun for me to see how she's changing. If I do this every 2 years or so, we'll get to watch her grow into my dress, literally. Talk about self-indulgent. So, this first one is of her at, I believe, 2 years old. Scroll down and see last night's photo session! "Oh Mommy, you are so silly."

"Since Mom says I can't marry Daddy or Lincoln, I guess I'll marry a prince."

"with lots of money for Zhu Zhu Pets."

"This is the last picture, Mom, because I want to play with my new tea set! Hmph!"

If I want to cry, gazing at my little girl in my bridal gown now, how will I feel when she is 20 or 30-something, and I'm taking her to the boutique to choose her own gown? That she will wear in her own way the day she leaves us and cleaves to another? SOB!!!!!!

A Poem I Wrote for Wendy~~

Once Upon a Time

Once upon a Time,

I traded jeans for crystals

Your father seized my yearning heart,

A pillow held our symbols--

These rings became the shot

that rang out to potential,

the shot that set the race ablaze

and made your life essential!

Once upon a Time,

the story's still unfolding

Some day in your future,

A rugged hand you're holding

And you will trade your denim

for a sparkling train of glory,

and then, my darling baby girl,

You will begin your story!

And I will be a crying mess, but filled with joy for you.

Goofed.

The blog post BELOW the art post is my post from today. I had started it a few days ago, saved it as a draft, finished it with new pics this morning and published it. However, it still has the date stamp from before and posted below the art post. FYI.

Healing~~~

I blogged about this piece of artwork in March of '09. I had done this way back in high school, and James had gotten it professionally framed for our home shortly before I shared it with you all. It meant so much to me for several reasons. I produced the piece when I first truly understood my salvation in Christ. It won at state, and I remember a man wanted to buy it, but I couldn't part with it because I wanted to build upon it with a series, and it was too close to my heart to sell. When James thought nothing of paying over $400.00 to frame it the right way, as you would something else you cherish, that, too, made my heart all warm and fuzzy! I don't have this artwork anymore. God, in His permissive will, let something happen, something beyond my control, as is often the case with life. The moving company we hired to move us from Washington either lost...or perhaps even stole it. I know I'm not famous and that this is high school art for goodness' sake, and not every one's taste, but we singled it out to the movers as something to crate carefully. It was the only thing we even mentioned needed extra care. Given the fact that this company did about $7,000.00 worth of damage and lost goods and didn't care, nothing is beyond the scope of possibility. We did all that we could to recover it. We fought them as far as we cared to go with it, and now, their A-rating with the BBB is an F. We succeeded in protecting others, but we did not find my art. Wherever it is, if it still exists, whoever has it now-----all in God's hands. I have felt frantic, enraged, and sorrowful. Now, I have to come to terms with its loss. And, I decided that in order to feel restored, I have to reproduce it. No, it won't be the original. It won't even be identical. I have the photo of it, but no projector, so this recreated "Cross Man" will have different proportions, brush strokes, etc. Three days ago, I went out and purchased my art supplies. I did the sketch. Yesterday, I added some torn paper. This is my therapy. I'm beginning to heal over this, and I praise the Lord! And as I work, I remember something comforting James said the other day. He said, perhaps God will do something with this piece of art by ordaining where it goes and who it touches. I can only hope and pray that it has a path and a purpose further-reaching than it would if it were to hang on our wall. The love of anything other than God, himself, is idolatry. Moving on...

Behold! My art supplies!

Here is the first hour of work!

Coming along...
Somewhere, hidden in the composition, I want to hide words of affirmation for myself~~~something that makes this one the rebirth of the first...maybe something like "Art Lost is not An Artist Lost."

Have I got the man for the job!

My searching is over. I FINALLY found a guy who knows vaccums and fixes them quickly and charges very little for his services. I got him to take a look at my vacuum for a bowl full of apple and rice! Plus...he looks so cute in his muscle shirt!
"It should work fine now, Maam." "Problem was simple. You gotta remember to empty out the dirt---right here."

As I stood over and learned, "And this hose...eh, it's a good idea to replace these things every now and then. I'll check my shop to see if I have one. You can have it if ya got some of those sweet baby wafers."

Here are a few cute ones of the moments after James got home from work one day last week.

And Wendy was so ecstatic that she was up in the tree!

That's my girl!

I enjoyed a weekend BY MYSELF---ALL WEEKEND LONG! First time! Yes, James took the kids to La Vernia so that his folks could enjoy some time with them, they could go to the game, etc, and I got to see Nicole! And her folks! They came in Sat. morning, her folks went to the Aggie-Missouri game, and Nicole and I got to go out for a luxuriously quiet 3-course lunch, java shakes from Sweet Eugene's, and a nice drive around town. We later got her folks and had dinner at the Blue Baker. I couldn't get over how adorable her folks looked in their fan-fare, so I want to share with you all just how spirited they are!

These pics of The Woo Loo are from about a week or so ago---In her classroom, with her new hairstyle, and reverting to babyhood.

By the way, last night, Linc said "turtle," for all of us, twice, in the tub! I showed him a turtle and he repeated the word! SO PROUD!