Please Pray for this Family

Blazy* Lately, But Repentant Now

It's September!!!
I'm forty years old now.

I celebrated with my family (way too much ice cream! and some fun, cutting the rug in our living room), and I had fun the next day, discovering Bed Bath and Beyond with my mom. Ever the thoughtful gift-giver, she gave us a whole new set of my favorite flatware (Thanks, MOM!), and took me out to lunch for my favorite fajitas, and to BBAB.

Kids are back in school, and work has been ebbing.

Two of our kiddos were assigned to do an "All About Me"-type of project.

Here's my version.

Cookie

eagle-eyed editor who loves to dance

Will proofread and procrastinate if given the chance

Loves letters, lingo, language, and to sing and prance

Blessed beyond belief, but seeking better balance

* See Naomi's blog @ durrantramblings.blogspot.com

A Daddy Blogger is Born

They say that when a child is born, so is a grandma. Well, when a blog is born, so is a blogger.

Ever since I started blogging, my hubby has been saying stuff like, "Why DO you blog?" and more recently, "I wish I could stay home and blog!" So yesterday he finally did it. Check him out!

My Magnificent Obsession

Written by Lloyd C. Douglas, my favorite book of fiction is called Magnificent Obsession. I have now read it at least 2 times through completely, but I think three times, actually. Anyway. I can't leave it alone. Now I have to talk about why I love it.

Themes: Work makes me happy. People need each other. Loneliness brings sadness. Service makes me feel great, and anonymous service is far better; in fact, anonymous service makes me a far better person. Science and religion are not as far apart on the belief spectrum as you might suspect. In romantic love, anonymity may have its place, but must give way to openness, in order to allow for unity.

There. I've said it. I LOVE Magnificent Obsession, even though it's a pretty impossible fairy tale, and has all these themes that might put some readers off. In fact, I'm pretty sure the outdatedness of the writing is a pretty big deterrent.

So here's my challenge for you, my dear reader. Yes, you. The few (only), the proud, the labonnedanse reader!

I DARE YOU TO READ Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd Douglas.

Please let me know if you are up to the challenge. Just leave me a comment. You can find M.O. at your local library, I'm betting, or buy it online on eBay. But don't bother with the movie. It's just not worth your time. That is, until I remake it. ;)

Still Clueless But Trying

So I tried again to post my Mosaic Meme here. Not sure this is the best way, but at least now there are pictures :)

Mosaic Meme

OK, I am clueless when it comes to adding pictures here. So you'll just have to click on the title please to see these gorgeous pictures :)

I just found a fun meme at Chocolate on My Cranium.

Aren't these pictures DELICIOUS!?!

I hereby tag Naomi, and everyone else who reads this ;)

Here's what you do:

1. Type your answer to each question below into Flickr Search.

2. Using only the first page, pick an image.

3. Copy and paste each URL for the images into Mosaic Maker. Choose 3 columns with 4 rows.

Questions:

1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favorite food?

3. What high school did you go to?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. Favorite drink?

7. Dream vacation?

8. Favorite dessert?

9. What you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. One word to describe you.

12. Your flickr name (kid version: favorite animal?).

What Did You Just Say?

You know how sometimes, when you hear somebody say something, you just have to say, "WHAT?!?!"

Even though you're sure you heard what you heard, you just have to ask.

Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's shocking, and sometimes it's just plain original.

I don't usually read my horoscope, but if I did, I'm pretty sure this week or last, it would say something like:

Hold on, buckle up tight, and open your ears. You will get lots of bad news and strange surprises! If you tell the truth, and just try to show love to those around you, you just might find yourself showered with more loving kindness than you know what to do with.

First thing this morning, my 2-y-o said, "Please get the booger outta my nose."

And if that weren't cute enough, later, when I held her on my lap and asked if she was hungry, she answered, "I'm hungry for your milk," all while doing this darling move where she tilts her head to the side, shrugging her shoulders, and slid her hands up to my shoulders.

At church on Sunday, I was nursing this darling in the mother's lounge/ladies' room, when a probably 5-y-o cutie pie I used to teach in Primary (kinda like a junior Sunday school) came in to use the bathroom. She asked what my daughter was doing.

I said, "She's nursing. I'm feeding her." Since Cutie Pie is the youngest in her family, I wasn't sure she knew about nursing babies.

Cutie Pie said, "She's old to be doing that."

I loved hearing her say just exactly what she thought. Notice she did not say "TOO old", just "old". And she's right.

Last night at the dinner table, my 6-y-o special daughter said, "Thank you Mommy" and "Thank you Daddy" several times. Every time she said it, I was like, "Awwww!"

How sweet it is to hear these precious darlings' sweet signs of gratitude!

Just now, she woke up and started humming. The first thing she said was, "Mommy, I love you."

Sometimes I wonder if my sweet little girls are whispered to by the angels, to know just what to say, and just when to say it.

Lately, I've heard a lot of bad news, and I've been so tired of the excessive drama going on around me.

Just yesterday, I barely made it home in my vintage station wagon, with 3 overheated daughters (2 of whom were excessively whiny, by the way), after having traveled the wrong way, on the wrong road, for way too long, and the poor car was overheating for about an hour before we got home. We were sad, hot, tired, and hungry, and we had to use the bathroom!

We had been inside for maybe 10 minutes when my hubby came home with the news that his car was dying, and he'd had to use some gutsy daredevil driving tricks to get himself and his car home, too.

So the rest of the day was spent indoors, where we enjoyed our air conditioning, being together, and the tender, spontaneous offerings of love and affection from our little darlings. 

Yeah, I'm choosing to focus on the positive. I thought that was a better direction than gritching about the obnoxiousness of teens and ancient vehicles.