My Kids And Their Accomplishments (Or beginning to be accomplishments!)

Well, basketball season has officially ended for Jeremiah. However, I still have to pick him up in the afternoons, cause he plans to spend some time in the weight room. He's got to keep up his manly figure I guess! LOL! The things I do for my children!! There is a parent meeting for Wrestling on Tuesday. I'm kind of guessing, since it's so close to Winter Break, that wrestling won't actually start until after the Break. I sure hope so!!! Of course, they may need to practice through the break to be ready, I don't know. This will be the first time we've entered the world of wrestling with our kids. I know, shocking, since my husband was a wrestler, even in college for a brief time!!! Jeremiah's just never seemed interested until now, and it wasn't exactly something we've encouraged the girls to try. I have no doubt both of them would! Angela has actually asked if she can wrestle, which I'm sure is quite surprising to all of you (sarcasm)! We haven't let her up to this point, largely because of finances and because she's been so inconsistent with the things we have gotten her involved with that we don't want to spend that kind of money on her. She would love Hockey, but that's the most expensive sport out there!!!! She was consistent with that when she played on a scholarship, so if I was made of money, I'd absolutely fork over the bucks for her to play!!! Her music teacher heard her singing the other day, and told her that she has a beautiful voice, but could use some help with the notes. She offered 10 dollars for a half-hour of voice lessons! So we'll be looking into that, probably after Winter Break! We do want her to be active in something. Of course, she wants to be a pop star! What young girl who's told she can sing doesn't?! I'm certainly not going discourage her by telling her that it's highly unlikely to happen!!! What if Justin Bieber's mom had told him that!!!?! Talk about an unlikely candidate. Small town boy in Canada with a single, teenage mother!!!! Yeah, not happening! And look at him now!!!! I personally would not have encouraged my son to enter that world at the tender age of 15, but he's not my kid, so I'll let his parents raise him as they see fit! Angela does have a beautiful voice. My other two can sing, also, but Jeremiah, at least, has other interests. Chloe, on the other hand, I am told is one of the best dancers, maybe THE best dancer in her dance class after school on Mondays and Tuesdays! I can't remember what kind of dance it is. Some hispanic type of dance, but she's very good at it, which is nice. I like that she's found something she does well. Her teacher, who is also her third grade homeroom teacher this year, tells me their are 7 different types of intelligences and based on what she sees in dance class, she would have what they call Kinesthetic intelligence, so while she may not be as strong academically as others (she works consistently at a 1st grade level, beginning to be more consistent at a 2nd grade level) she is smart, just in a different way. I knew this all along, but it's nice to have others notice as well. Maybe she's not "book smart" but she is smart! Not that we're not going to continue to work on her classroom work! We will, of course! Speaking of which.....

She just had her 3 year reasessment and the school psychologist decided to use a different type of IQ test on her this time and she tested in the normal range, at a 90 IQ!!! It's still slightly below average, but puts her in the normal range, which after working with her for some time, she felt more accurately reflects Chloe's true capabilities! This is why she chose to use this test instead of the one they did three years ago! It's so nice to see her testing in the normal range! They also said they have seen a significant change in her attentiveness, so they no longer consider her to be attention deficit! That was good news also, although, I do wonder if it's the coffee I've been giving her in the morning! That's okay if it is! She loves her coffee and obviously there seems to be no reason to change anything! She's progressing well as we hoped she would! Once again, this year's teacher has commented on her incredible work ethic and how self-motivated she is! She says she's not worried about her succeeding in life, because she's the type that will try anything and works hard at whatever she does, and will just keep trying until she gets it! She loves to learn, and you don't have to fight her to get her to do her work! In fact, while I was meeting with her SPED teachers, and other faculty that work with her, she was doing her homework, and was almost done before we even got home! And I hadn't even told her to do that. I had bought her an A&W Root Beer on my way to the appointment (her favorite beverage) to keep her happy while I met with her educators. She did drink all of her root beer, but she also did her homework. Her sister played basketball instead. Quite a difference between those two! I love them both! I had bought Angela a Pepsi which she also devoured! Of course, I couldn't leave myself out. I got one of my many favorite beverages, a Wild Cherry Pepsi:) It was fun!

And then, we went to what has turned out to be the last basketball game of Jeremiah's I would make it, too. I was not able to make the last two night's games :( It was the closest game I've seen them play, but I think they pissed off the other team when at the half it was 13-12 Moscow! They were proving that they are not pushovers! That they are truly becoming a force to be recconed (sp?) with! I think many of these boys, like my son, are playing competitive basketball for the very first time, so they are just learning the skills! Jeremiah has improved quite a bit, and just like in football has shown his athletic capability and aggressiveness. He has been known for his aggressive playing in baseball as well, as he loves to steal bases. That is one of his specialties with those quick legs of his! He did meet his match at one point this basketball season, as I watched him play against a boy he was supposed to be blocking, who at one point, flew past Jeremiah like he was standing still!!! And Jeremiah's pretty stinkin' fast, let me tell ya!!!! There's a reason I had to put him on a leash as a toddler! That kid could MOVE from day one! His uncle had him pegged as a running back in football from the moment he learned to stand steady enough on those little legs to run!!! He called it! That's for sure! Anyway, the second half of that last game didn't go so well. They were pushing those boys all over the court, and the refs were only calling about a third of the fouls that should have been called and nothing on the kids fouling Jeremiah!!! They were literally SHOVING him! He hit the floor so hard, even if you didn't see it, you could hear it at least 3 times! Jeremiah says there were about five times he should've gotten free throws! At one point when he was pushed I did hear the whistle blow, and thought, "It's about time!" but no! They didn't blow the whistle on that kid! They actually called it against someone on our team somewhere else on the court!!! It was ridiculous! He was pretty sore that night and came off the gym floor limping, cause he kept landing on that hard gym floor on his knee!!! It was awful! I hope he had a better time last night! They still lost, but hopefully, he got some good, positive playing time in! The whole team has improved a ton during this season! Pullman slaughtered them in their first game! I'm very proud of the boys! They've come a long way!

Oh, yes! And I can't believe I forgot to mention that Chloe tested out of Speech Therapy!!!! Go Chloe!!! She's still considered to have a learning disability, but she's improved so much in so many areas!!!!

An Alien Has Invaded And...Justin Bieber? What's He Doing On My Blog?!

Well, once again it's super-duper late, and I don't have much to say, but wanted to check in. I finally decided to get a real cold, not just that little itchy throat, and a little bit of fatique I was having there for a while. Not to mention, my toe flairing up again, my eyes hurting like I might be getting an infection there as well, and my ears plugged up. That sucked! But no, the kids had another 4 day weekend for parent-teacher conferences, which I got out of the way on Wednesday afternoon, so I could just relax and enjoy having my kids home for the rest of their long break. Well, I woke up from a nap on Thursday afternoon with what felt like much more than a scratchy throat. Sure enough, soon I was sneezing, and my nose was getting stuffy, and my head started to feel to big! This was not good. Angela and Jeremiah got a bunch of stuff in the mail for their birthdays. Cards and money. So, of course, Angela wanted me to take her out. I refused, and her dad said she could wait till tomorrow. It worked out well, cause Jeremiah would be going hunting with his daddy, for his 13th birthday! Yes, we now officially have a teenager!!! Not that we weren't dealing with hormones already! The kid's a hormone crazed....I don't know what he is? He's an alien, I think! That's it! The aliens came down one night, took the sweet little boy out of him, and put one of their aliens inside of him, so now he's all alien. He just looks human! That's it! That explains everything! Even the little glimpses I get of that little boy, because surely they missed a few parts, right?

Anyway, yeah, so now I've spent the entire vacation sick! I did take Angela to the grocery store, so she could buy a magazine full of posters. Mostly Justin Bieber posters, and then I helped her download some songs onto the iPad. Mostly Justin Bieber songs there as well. I was at one point going to make my kids only listen to Christian music, but I've decided that as long as it's not really evil they can listen to it. JB's okay. Nothing too immoral in his music. I've decided if I push her too hard, she'll really revolt on me and that could get ugly. The Bieber Fever ends, I do believe. Like I got over my mad crush on Donnie Wahlberg in the nineties, she'll get over Justin Bieber. (Did I just admit to being in love with Donnie Wahlberg on my blog! OMG!) Someday! Here's hoping! And praying, of course. That always helps. Anyway, after that I just stayed drugged on Nyquil, which I should go into my Nyquil induced coma right now, but I'm talking to you all. Anyway, wish my babies happy birthday! And good night!

I Had A Few Semi-random Thoughts

Well, my internet's been in and out for a couple of weeks. Now it seems to be more in than out, so maybe we'll actually be able to accomplish something on here.

Thoughts after my first week and a a half of having a 7th grader (some related to that, others not so much.)

1. Why does my son's head turn into a tomato when you mention girls?

2....And he grins from ear to ear, showing his adorable dimples! (I can never get him to do that for school pictures?)

3. What is it with our family and death on school picture day? My grandma died on school picture day and we got the news just before. My son got the news right before(and I do mean RIGHT before) they took his pictures that his best friend's baby brother died. Still don't know waht happened. I'm guessing SIDS, but do not yet know. He was 2 months old and perfectly healthy. Jeremiah loved that kid and I know his family did, too. Please pray for them. Jeremiah's friend, Christian, is also in the 7th grade, and they have a few other kids as well.

4.In all my selfishness (am I sick or what?!) I thought, "Great, now I'm definitely not going to get a smile out of him in his pictures." In light of everything, WHO CARES!!!!!!

5. Is it really necessary for boy's to stick their hands down their pants every 20 minutes or so?

6. Why do they not care if they get hurt as long as they got to hurt someone else in the process? (Tackling in football.)

7. Why don't we just paint my car yellow and paint "Taxi Cab" on the side, cause that is what I am. I would really rather not live in my car, but alas, I am.

8. I had a whole lot of thoughts for you yesterday. Today, not so much. But then, that was before I got the above news about nearby families baby. Why must things like this happen?

Shopping, Shopping, Shopping: It's A Girl's Life!

Wow! The last couple of days have been a whirlwind of activity! Mostly with my darling girls! The Cub Scout weekend camp that is coming up this weekend is having a medieval theme, so Josh has decided to dress up as a king, since he is Camp Director, and therefore, in charge of the camp. (So, he is kinda king, if you think about it.) And, of course, as always, his girls are his princesses! And they are! I mean really, they don't need to dress the part. They KNOW they are!!!! That's one of many things I love about my man! But...he wants everyone else to know it, too. So we went shopping the last couple of days. For dresses and tiara's...and we just had to slip in a few other fun things :)

Yesterday, I got busy with some stuff I do for a little extra cash, online, so it was late in the evening before I was ready to shop. We went to the Dollar Tree first, to look for tiara's. They had really cheapy cardboard ones, which we didn't want, but I needed some other things like notebook paper and journals. Things like that, so we did buy a few things. We also bought some cheap, but very colorful and sparkly make-up for the girls for the weekend. They're so excited about getting to wear make-up that they've been playing around with it all day! We also got some pretty nail polish, which they also couldn't wait to experiment with! Girls! You gotta love 'em!

We then went to Claire's at the mall, because I knew they would have some fantastic tiara's. After all that I've been through, and even though I know I've got a long ways to go from here (who doesn't, really, if you think about it?) I thought it was only appropriate that I get one for myself, too. Angela and I got actual metal ones. I don't know if they're real silver or not, but who cares! They had what looked like probably cubic zirconia that sparkle! Wow! Do I ever love me some bling! Even if it is fake! (No excuses, Josh! I still prefer the real thing :)) Chloe got a plastic one with a pink poofy thing at the bottom. (Hey, did I ever claim to be sophisticated and know what these things are called? No judging!:)) She also insisted on a wand to go with. Okay, she didn't actually insist. I never would have put up with that, but she sure wanted one, and I was having so much fun, I wasn't about to argue! So we bought the wand as well! So much fun! I asked Angela if she thought it was bad that my tiara was more expensive and had more on it than there's. She said, no way! Mine should be bigger and fancier! After all, I'm mom, and therefore the queen, even though I'm God's princess, just like them! She said it shows my "authority" (such a big word for a little girl), so I went with it! Afterwards we went to the new frozen yogurt place, "Jamms," that just recently opened up in town. Angela and I've been dying to go. As soon as the sign went up indicating what they were building there, we were excited. Not as excited as we were when we were told, originally, that IHOP was looking to build there, but excited, none the less! It was delicious, and Chloe particularly like the spinning stools at the bar! (It's not a real bar. They don't sell alcohol there.) They were pretty cool! They had the little step thing like a hair stylist's chair and adjusted heights kind of like them, as well. So cool! Yes, we're easily amused. It was self-serve and you pay by the ounce, so that was fun! They had all sorts of toppings, candy ones, and fruit! Delicious!!!! Love it! Definitely going again sometime!

So, then, today we needed to get Angela a proper princess dress. Chloe already had one, but Angela needed one, so we took off again to shop this morning! First we went to our favorite thrift store, The Hope Center, and looked around just in case. No princess dresses, but we did find Angela a "new" bike, which we've been looking for forever! We also got the girls some barbies and we got some laundry baskets for their rooms! I also bought Chloe a pair of adorable shoes, she just had to have (you know how these things work, right?:)) and we found a small and very simple sewing machine for small projects! So, of course, we had to have that, too!!!! So, then, it was off to the mall again. This time, to Ross, where we found a very frilly, white dress for Angela. It was darling! We tried on the size 12, but it didn't seem like it was quite as long as it should be, so I found one in a size 14. It fit!!! (gasp) She's growing up so fast, I can hardly stand it!

Of course, after that, we had to have a "dining" experience to go with our shopping, so we did our traditional Orange Julius run. I didn't do it the day before, because I wanted to try the new fro-yo place instead! Of course, it was great, as usual! Then, we wandered up and down the mall, sipping our Orange Julius's. So much fun! (How many times have I said that now!?!) Then, we came home.

I do have to admit, Jeremiah seems to be a bit jealous, especially last night, when he discovered me and the girls spread out over my bed in our pj's settling in to sleep. He snagged my iPhone and said rather bitterly, I think is what I heard in his tone, "Since you guys are having yourselves a little party it seems, I think I should get this." I was fine with it, and I'd actually promised him earlier when he complained about the frozen yogurts (he complained about the Orange Julius's today, too) that he and I would have a mother-son date, just the two of us, soon. He was excited about that! How blessed am I, to have an almost 13-year-old son, who's excited about the possibility of some time alone with his mama?!! Now, I just have to figure out how I'm gonna make that happen, and what we're gonna do. I mean, after all, I'm obviously not going to buy him a tiara and a princess dress :)!!!!!! I'm thinking it will mostly have to be food, considering what he was most jealous of :) I was going to take him to Bumpers (the local arcade, if you can call it that) and spend some time in the batting cages, but we discovered today that they've gone out of business!!!!! So, unfair!!!! I was even going to attempt to hit a few balls myself, and let him laugh at me!!!! I'm sure he would have loved that! Now, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. And, of course, unlike him, the girls can't stay home by themselves, so what am I gonna do with them while I hang with Jeremiah. After all, recruiting season is about to begin for Josh after school starts back up again, so I won't hardly see him at all for a few months! Trust me, this is how this works! There are certain times of the year, where it just is sun-up to sun-down with his job, and fall is one of those times!!!!

My Own Personal "Shack" Part 12

Well, it rained here after a fairly hot day. I love rain, however, I am really hoping that the rumbling I'm hearing outside is not rumbling at Camp Grizzly as well, or that, if it is, my man is at the cabin with the girls, because I know how terrified they are of thunder! Of course, I just smiled to myself as I pictured in my head what the scene would look like if he's not there. I can see each girl on either side of Jeremiah squealing in fear and hanging on to him for dear life! And, of course, him just standing there straight as a pin, eyes as wide as saucers, with the look on his face, like "Oh, brother!" Yes, oh, brother is right! You are their brother and they love you dearly and need your protection as much as they do their daddy's. Well, maybe not quite as much, which is a good thing, because I can tell you that at almost 13 years of age, protecting his sisters isn't exactly at the top of his priority list, much to my dismay! But, I do know that when it comes right down to it, he will defend them. I know this, because I've seen him do it. Unfortunately, I've also seen him not defend them, because it was one of his friends teasing his sisters and then, it doesn't matter, apparently. Only if it's someone he doesn't like either. Personally, I think they shouldn't be friends with anyone who's mean to one of their siblings, but that's just me. I'm sure that either Josh or Jeremiah is making them feel safe right now.

Chloe At The Park, Me On The Computer, Jeremiah's Crazy!!!

This is Chloe at the park in Potlatch, Idaho. Isn't she beautiful?! I have no idea what this is she's standing in front of? If someone who's maybe spent some more time at the park in Potlatch could tell me what this is, I'd love to know!?

Okay, it's official! My son's a freak!

Umm, there must be a cute girl nearby??!!!
This is me sitting at my our family computer at home, looking like my usual dorky self!

It's kind of late at Camp Grizzly, my toe hurts, and it's been a long day, so I'm sure I'll have more to say tomorrow. Good night!

Jeremiah's 6th Grade Graduation! (Please Tell Me I'm Not Going To Blink And It's Going To Be High School!)

Okay, obviously, as you can clearly see, it was impossible to get this kid to let me take any serious pictures on graduation day. He tried very hard in the second picture down to keep me from taking his picture. Either that or he really wanted you to see the top of his graduation cap, as if you'd never seen a mortarboard, right?!!!

Oh, yes, and obviously I found the cord to my camera. Of course it does have a card, so we would have gotten the pictures on here eventually, but I couldn't charge the camera without that cord either, so I wouldn't have had a camera long without it! Can't really afford to buy rechargable batteries over and over again. They're rechargeable for a reason! You're supposed to be able to recharge them, which is why they're more expensive and from what I understand this camera doesn't have the option of using non-rechargables!!! The cord was used for both downloading and charging. I have an adapter for the charging part. They didn't lose the adapter! They've been let know that they better put my stuff back where it goes when they're done with it or they won't be allow to use my camera at all!!!

One More "Wounded" Picture And Jeremiah As A Baby

Apparently Jeremiah took the pictures that are on my camera, of his own "battle wounds." Apparently, battle wounds are always worthy of camera space with boys! They show them off like some sort of trophy! What's up with that?! To me it's just another thing that will probably produce another scar when I get hurt! I guess that's just how we women are. Constantly worried about how everything's going to affect the "beauty" factor! But the "manliness" factor with them is totally different! I'd forgotten I had this on my camera. This is actually a picture of a picture that's on my wall! Normall we'd try to take it out of the frame, but it's stuck to the glass and when we took Angela's baby picture out a few years ago, we ripped the bottom of it. We were not about to make that mistake again! We needed a baby picture for his graduation! I absolutely love this picture and yes, he has always been that adorable!!!
By the way, Sojourner5, thank you for reminding me not to hug and kiss him and call him my little man when I drop him off at junior high!!! LOL! He's normally the type of kid who hugs and kisses ME in public, and tells the other kids, "Hey, what's wrong with you! Don't you love your mama? You should love your mama!" But I would imagine that at least for a while he'll be feeling a little awkward around all the students he doesn't yet know, so having me hugging and kissing him wouldn't help! And I certainly hope I remember not to call him my little man! That would be humiliating in front of people he hopes will be new friends! The only reason I'm not commenting in a comment is for some reason when I try to comment, Blogger no longer recognizes my account, even though OBVIOUSLY this is my account!!!
Anyway, this is my little man when the "little" part of that statement was much more accurate! People have been pointing out to me when they see me with him, lately, that he's just on the verge of overshooting me, heighth wise! I have no doubt, he understands that does not make me "below" him! He knows, because we've taught him well, that no matter how big he gets, I'm still the parent and he's still the child! At least until he moves out, and then that relationship will shift a little, as long as he doesn't want money :) He also understands that he will always be my baby, but he would prefer if I didn't call him that in front of his friends (I've slipped a time or two!)!

Jeremiah's Owie

Neither of these pictures are very good, but this is what Jeremiah's ankle looked like after he slid into home plate with shorts on. He was safe, too! He says it wasn't worth it, though! He had a limp for a while and he said there was dirt in it and it stung. This was at school on the playground obviously. He wears baseball pants when he practices with his team. And, of course, when he plays a game! He had a game the next day, too, and had a bit of a limp still!

Talented Kids

For some reason when I first put this on my computer wouldn't let me type! That was so weird! I also couldn't comment on anybody else's blogs or find another website. Anything that involved typing I couldn't do. I had to reboot the system to be able to type.

Anyway, this is Angela singing at our church's talent show. I didn't get a picture of Jeremiah cause I was too busy watching him. He didn't tell me what he was doing beforehand. He wanted it to be a surprise, so I was watching intently and forgot to take a picture. He played his recorder with his legs crossed and walking on his knees! Goofy kid! He couldn't just do a real talent. He had to be silly!
This is a picture he took of his baseball uniform for his facebook page!

More Dumpster Pics

Some people post pictures of pretty girls in Easter dresses the day after Easter, others post pictures of silly preteen boys huddling up to a dumpster in baseball uniforms and jackets (the smart ones wore jackets or at least the ones with smart moms who are mean to their kids and make them wear jackets!). Hey, what can I say, I like to be different! Maybe we'll do girls in pretty Easter dresses tomorrow. Jesus came to save silly boys relying on dumpsters for heat, too! (Lord, knows, they definitely need saving!!!) See the boy with his arms stretched out on the dumpster! This is what they all were doing moments earlier. The ones with jackets had to spend less time hugging the dumpster!!!!

Hugging The Dumpster

This was before opening ceremonies. The boys totally cracked me up! At one point in the morning while they were waiting for their instructions they were all hugging the dumpster! The metal was warm and as is typical in Idaho, even though it was fairly warm later in the day, in the morning, it was COLD!!! It was windy and cold! It ended up being a nice day though really. I mean you still had to wear a light jacket, but that's really good for this time of year, around here! It was the best opening day we've ever had! And, again, Jeremiah's team won! Go Phillies! (You're gonna hear me say that a lot around here for a while:))

Another Picture Of Jeremiah And Talk To Me?

This is my goofy kid, who really just wants to play ball, thank you, very much! Not have his picture taken in his spiffy uniform! This year they even have their names on the backs of their jerseys. In all the years we've been involved Cal Ripken has never done that. Babe Ruth always does, but not Cal Ripken. He'll be playing Babe Ruth baseball next year! So crazy! He's growing up way too fast! Now, I realize it's Easter weekend and all, and I've been out of control with the blogging, but I would really like to see some comments on the blog! As you probably noticed, I've gotten bored once again with the design and colors and all, so it has a new look. What do you think? I played around with this for quite a while today, and I like it, but I don't know! I wish the blogs I'm following could be moved somewhere else, but I haven't been able to do that in a way that I'm satisfied with, so I guess I'm okay with it for now. Please do check out some of the other blogs when you have time. There are some really great ones!

And let me know if there're some other things that you'd like to see on the blog. I may or may not comply. I'm trying to be real careful where boundaries are concerned, but their are some places where some are a little sensitive that I'm willing to stretch the limits a little bit. I think some are a little too sensitive and they need their limits stretched a little bit. As far as my faith is concerned, I don't worry at all about offending people. I refuse to be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ! But let me know if you like what you see and if there's something you'd like to see more of! Please, talk to me!

My Little (big?) Baseball Player

Okay, this one on the left, is kind of silly. I'm not really sure what's up with that face, but okay! The one below is slightly better.

GO PHILLIES!!!!

I do have more pictures for you. I'm just not on the computer my pictures are on right now. But I do want to let you all know that Jeremiah's team won their first game of the season against the Diamondbacks, another Moscow team, 7-5. It was a close game. It caused me heart palpitations. Not that that takes much to do that to me. I just so want my kids to do well in all that they do!

GO PHILLIES!!!!!

Play Ball!

Jeremiah in his new baseball jersey.

Jeremiah's "Injury" And Friends

The picture on the left totally freaked out a lot of people on facebook a few weeks ago :) Okay, really. I shouldn't even be smiling about that, but it was kind of funny! This was actually stage make-up, done by a professional, who is my children's theatre teacher. This really did look as realistic in person as it does in this picture. It's a good thing he's a bad actor, unlike his amazingly talented sister! I she'd have done what he was trying to do you probably would have been visiting ME in the hospital! Oh, my! And then, of course, I turned around and just put pictures with no captions on facebook with no caption, freaking out some of our friends who love him almost as much as we do! So not nice of me! When he came home he sort of had his hand up by that side of his face, trying to look like he was in agony, except he was smiling the whole time! His friend, said, "You really need to look at his face, to which he then slowly removed his hand and I saw this! I also remembered the theatre teacher talking about getting a new shipment of stage make-up and telling me she might use him as a model. I wouldn't have remembered that in the moment if he wasn't such a poor actor, though! I mean, seriously! I've seen him cry over a scrape. A painful scrape mind you, but nothing compared to this! He'd be screaming hysterically if this was real! I remembered the conversation with his teacher, and smiled and said something to the effect of "That's stage make-up, you goof!" But then, like I said, decided to put my friends in the hospital! Now, the picture on the right is a picture Angela insisted I take of her friends at our prayer group. You probably recognize the one on the left of the screen from my last post. That's Lilly. The other two are Emma (in the middle) and Maggie (on the right). Now, this isn't the same Maggie that is my daughter's best friend from school. I actually really miss that Maggie. My daughter has been spending more time with another friend she's adopted as her best friend, named Riley. I sure hope she hasn't completely ditched Maggie. She's such a sweet girl and they've been friends for a long time. Since Kindergarten actually. Those kind of friends cannot be replaced. Anyway, these girls really enjoy each other's company under the care of a baby-sitter, once a week, while we parents pray. They play all sorts of games and have so much fun. Sometimes it's a little hard to hear in the other room while they're...um...having fun :) but they are having fun, so we really don't mind:)

An Update On How I'm Doing and Josh With Pie In The Face (OH, Yeah!)

I know I'm way behind on blogging, but this was the highlight of Jeremiah's Court of Honor and really the only reason I went. It was a bit of an overwhelming day with a meeting with my pastor, a phone call from LPM (long story, not telling....sorry), and coffee with a friend (that was really wonderful, but still more to take in after all my emotional trauma.) I told a friend there that after he had sent me chocolate, I got chocolate from a few other places to. That was after I said goodbye to all my friends on twitter and facebook. He asked me if next time I could just ask for chocolate. He said, "I'm sure we all would appreciate that." Problem is, I can't have chocolate anymore for a while. For thirty days, no sugar, no dairy, no corn products, and no wheat products. Yes, I caved. I'm sick of my pudge and I barely came in under the max weight that the Boy Scouts accept for camp. It was a wake-up call. I'm seriously addicted to food and I need help!!!! (In case you hadn't figured that out already) Except for the food addiction thing. The only acception I'm making is creamer and sugar in my coffee. Don't mess with a mom's coffee!!! A girl's got to have her limits. That is one addiction (besides God) that I have no intention of being cured of....EVER! So Don't. Even. Try. It!!!!! I get one cheat day a week after the first 30 days. So no Mexican food for 30 days!!!! This and the chocolate (and the coffee thing) were the reason I was never going to do this. Thirty days without Mexican food and no chocolate???? Why don't you just send me to the torture chamber now! But seriously, it's been eight and a half years since I last had a baby and I still look like I just gave birth! That is serious, people!!! I used to look like barbie. And I ate whatever I wanted. This figure is really hard for barbie to take. I'm not kidding either. I wish I had a picture to show you. When we got married, Josh could wrap his hands around me and touch his fingers in front and his thumbs in back! I don't want to get that skinny.....well, okay, I want to, but I was probably too skinny, and probably can't get that skinny no matter how hard I try. And I've been known to try. At one point in between having Jeremiah and Angela I was working out three times a day and not eating regularly (Did I mention that I have an addictive personality?) But no more. I'm going to do this right! You're going to help me, right? Okay, you don't have to. I have Celebrate Recovery and my counselor for that, but all the help I can get is good! Now, I've gone to the other extreme until last week, eat what I want whenever I want and LOTS of it! I'm beginning to wonder if all I am is extremes, seriously!!!! Extreme depression, extreme eating habits (or lack thereof), extreme drinking....maybe I shoud take up extreme sports? Ouch, never mind! I'm way too old for that and I don't have insurance!! Anyway, the counseling is going well. That's all I'm going to say for now. It's all a little too raw to talk about. I may never talk about it publicly! Well, maybe a little bit, generally speaking....VERY generally, but who knows. We'll see what God has in store, but for now it's for my counselor's ears only. I don't even like talking about with her, so don't even expect me to tell you what I'm dealing with right now anytime soon!!!! Heck, I don't even like thinking about it, so I'm not! Back to the pictures. Last fall Josh promised that if any of the Boy Scouts in Jeremiah's troop sold over 1500 dollars worth of popcorn he'd take a pie in the face so here he is! Is it mean that I went for the sole purpose of seeing this happen? Really, though, doesn't he look adorable with all that whip cream in his face (that's really all it was, not an actual pie)? And yes, he was on the diet at that time and he didn't lick any of this off! Now that is self-control people! He's my hero!!!! I'm not sure what that little girl was thinking! Maybe how she'd love to lick that stuff off his face (that's what I was thinking!) if only it wasn't on that big scary looking dude (I wasn't thinking that! He's just a big teddy bear really, but don't tell anyone. I kind of like everyone being scared of him!)

And I bet you can't guess which scout sold over 1500 dollars worth of popcorn?!?!

Oh, yeah!!!! His very own son!!!!!!!! The former salesman passed on his gift! I think it helps that he's adorable! I mean, if he asked you to buy ANYTHING, you know you would! Look at my last post! Could you resist that face?!.......Ummm, okay.....look at another post with him in it. It will be labelled Jeremiah or kids. You might be able to resist the kid in the last post! Why was he doing that anyway?!?!

More Pics of Boy Scout Stuff

Silly boy! We don't want to see you! Just your accomplishments! Okay, okay! I admit it! I want to see you! You're pretty cute, but could you move out of the way so we can see your accomplishments, you big show-off! Thank you! I do not for the life of me remember what that merit badge was for! Sorry! The five ribbons, which he got all five possible. These were special awards only offered for the year 2010, the Boy Scout Centennial year. They are for outdoors, Achievement, Character, Service, and Leadership. I wish I could remember what the merit badge was for. I have no idea what he had to do to earn these. If I had, I might have actually known he was going to get them.

This is his troop. I'm not sure I got a single picture where they were all looking at the camera.

Okay, in this one I think they were intentionally being silly, but seriously this is generally what happens when you try to take their pictures!

An Update On My Treatment For Depression

Here's another picture from the Boy Scout Court of Honor. Now, I know you all are wondering how things are going since my major emotional crash, which is really the best way I can describe it right now. I know it is quite inadequate, but the best I can do with my limited understanding right now. I'm doing quite well, considering where I was. I'm seeing a really wonderful lady who's offered to counsel me in my home once a week. She's still in training as a counselor, but I can already tell definitely has the gift and a deep desire to see people experience healing in Christ. She's been a great help in redirecting my mind and I really appreciate that, and she listens, which is definitely an element I was missing with Pastor Kim. She allows me to work through things, with the understanding that I need to work through some of the hurt and anger before I can get to a place where I can completely and fully forgive. Some things are so painful that just forgiving right away is not that simple. I'd like to, but I need time to process things. Sometimes I need time to process things to even realize that I need to forgive someone that maybe I didn't even realize fully that I hadn't forgiven them for. I have people in my life that have done so many things to hurt me, that I'll think I've forgiven them and I may have for some or most of the things they have done to hurt me, but then there might just be that one thing that I've been avoiding even talking about or was so buried underneath the other stuff that it didn't pop up until I'd dealt with the stuff that was more prominent in my mind at the time. So I didn't even realize it was there. I don't even know if that makes sense, but that's kind of where I'm at right now. Sorting through what issues need to still be processed some I guess.

Also, I saw my doctor this week, where my hubby and I got a mini-lecture on not calling her earlier. We already had the appointment for this week and never called her when I became suicidal. We figured we'd discuss it when we came in. She said she would have appreciated a phone call sooner. She says she understands that a lot of phone calls were made to a lot of people and that for future reference she needs to be part of that loop. She's absolutely right. She does need to be and next time we'll make sure she's contacted. Anyway, she doubled my antidepressants. I've been taking the double dose now for a few days. It's making me a bit drowsy. Of course, I don't think that's the only reason I'm drowsy. The kids had two evening activities at school this week, the last one being earlier this evening. Also, tomorrow morning (or I should say this morning!) my son has baseball tryouts. My husband is out of town, so I'm going to have to take my son myself. I'm not even sure what time his tryout is scheduled for, so I'm going to have to just take him at 8 tomorrow morning and try and find out. Ugh! Which means, I really need to go to bed!