For Good, Not For Evil

This week my 6th grade gifted classes were studying about the digestive system. In order to show them the great length of the system I had them measure and cut different colors of yarn the correct length for the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small and large intestine.

(In case you are interested- your mouth is measured from your lips to the back of your jaw, the esophagus is measured from your lips to the middle of your chest- right below your rib cage, your small intestine is 4 times your height, and your large intestine is your height.)

It was a great activity with lots of time for discussion as we measured and cut the yarn and tied it all together.

I found myself saying the funniest things during class though and kept thinking that if someone had come in or just heard me without seeing me, they would have thought I was totally and completely insane! The kids laughed and cracked up with me when I would say these things.

Things like...................

Please pick up your small intestine from off of the floor.

Now, don't get your small intestines mixed up with someones else. Keep your intestines to yourself!

Please don't throw your intestines up in the air- they will get all tangled up and you'll die!


At the end of each class I explained that I would let them take the yarn digestive system home, provided that they promised to use it for GOOD (like to show to their parents) and not for EVIL (choking a friend, playing with it in the middle of another class). They all laughed and promised.

As Maddie and I were walking out yesterday afternoon to leave school, there were still some kids waiting to be picked up. As I walked out the door, a group yelled........

Hey, Mrs. L.....look what we are playing with!

I looked over to see them jumping rope .........with their INTESTINES!

The teacher on duty said..........

They explained to me what the yarn represented and promised me they were using it for good and not for evil!

So glad to know they listen.............at least sometimes!

HUGE Time Waster

This site is so absolutely ridiculous.

R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S.

Which of course did not keep me from playing on it for way longer than I should have.

Be warned.

Things You NEVER Want to Hear

From a coworker-

You know that lady on Desperate Housewives? The red headed one? I was watching that show the other day and she totally reminds me of you. You two are SO much alike. You act JUST like her. (Really? Because I don't watch that show but I think that woman is supposed to be a CRAZY PSYCHO so how exactly am I supposed to take that comment? I honestly just stood there thinking.........what the heck?)

From your husband-

I had a little accident and I need you to meet me at the Emergency Room. (This actually happened but Honey first told me he just needed me to pick up a few butterfly bandaids for him on the way home because he had had a little cut. After I saw the "cut" we went to the ER where he had 15 staples to close the 6 inch LARGE gash on his chest.)

From your daughter-

Mom, what's male enhancement?
(Good night nurse I hate those commercials.)

Okay, so now it's your turn.

What are some things you never want to hear someone say?

Fill in the Blank

Today I can't WAIT to___________________________.

Today I will____________________ but I wish I didn't have to.

Today I will NOT_______________________even though I really should.

Kindness Matters

It's so easy to feel bombarded by all of the bad, the evil, the sadness in this world we live in.

It's easy to feel discouraged and completely depressed by it all.

I think that's why it's so refreshing and encouraging and lovely to read stories that show you the good that is still in this world. The kind of stories that make you want to be better, to do more, to be the good in the world.

If you are in a need of that kind of encouragement today, please read this precious story here.

It's a wonderful reminder of how far a little kindness can go and what a HUGE difference it can make to the people it is extended to.

False Advertising?

As someone who tries to eat a healthy diet and as someone who also has bit of a sweet tooth, I'm always on the lookout for a sweet, low-calorie snack. I was so excited to recently find a line of 100 calorie Little Debbie's snacks!

They have a 100 calorie Nutty Bar, 100 calorie gingerbread cookie, 100 calorie yellow cake, 100 calorie chocolate cake, and a 100 calorie marshmallow treat that all looked yummy.

As yummy as those other items looked, the one item that I thought looked the best was the 100 calorie Triple Fudge Brownie. They looked yummy and sinful and a package quickly found themselves into my basket at the store.

I took the box to school with me on Monday to keep for those afternoons when I needed something sweet to eat. Imagine my surprise when I opened them to find this:

Now if you can't see the ruler in the picture, that brownie is less than 2 inches by 2 inches.

They look like they were made for a teeny tiny doll house person- not for real life people.

Seriously........would you call that a brownie?

A Treasure Trove

For someone who loves to make things, the Internet is an amazing source of ideas. I can literally spend hours and hours looking at ideas and gathering lists of things I would like to make.



During my hours of perusing creative blog sites I've stumbled across a treasure trove of FREE, down loadable things that you can print that I just had to share!




Vintage library bookplates from The Blah, Blah, Blahg here



Amazing, ADORABLE vintage gift tags from Sweet Jessie here.



Super cute chore charts at Little Brown Pen here.



An absolutely adorable Valentine's Day treat idea at Design, Wash, Rinse, Repeat here.



Tons of cute things- labels, notepads, stationery, etc. at Creature Comforts here.



A great cleaning list from Real Simple here. (Thanks Donna for the link!)



Monogram templates for every letter of the alphabet from Martha Stewart here.



So many ideas, so little time!

Monday Morning Question of the Day

I don't know about you, but sometimes
I have a difficult time spending money on myself.

It's not that I have any trouble spending money,
definitely and sadly NOT.

It's just that if the money is supposed to be for me,
I tend to spend it on someone else.

Whenever I am given a gift of cash
I almost always spend it on the dry cleaning, a gift, or something for Madison or Tony
instead of spending it on myself as it was intended.


So, my question today is...........


If you were given $100.00 today

and you

HAD

to spend it on a treat for yourself

(that means you can't buy anything for anyone else and you couldn't save it)

how

and

where

would you spend it?

And the Winner is..........................

I absolutely loved reading all the great words each of you are going to focus on this year. It's exciting to me to begin a new year and to have a new focus.

As I read all the comments I so wished that I could make some sort of reminder for each and every one of you.

And so then I thought..........why can't I?

So that's exactly what I'm going to do!

First, I did choose 3 people to do word reminders just like mine.

So those winners are..........

5= Dory

7= BrickMama

15= Becky (and her sister)

But I'm also going to do something for each of the rest of you. You'll have to wait and see what but they will hopefully be a small reminder to help you keep focus this year.

So, here's what I need from each of you who left a comment on the JOY post to do. Please leave me a comment here and tell me what color(s) you would like for me to use for your word. Choosing colors for projects is always the hardest part for me- so if you'll give me an idea of what kinds of colors are your favorites I'll get started making them and send them to you soon! Also, if I don't already have your address, please email it to me.

I so enJOY doing creative things so I can't wait to get started on this fun project!

JOY (and a giveaway)

JOY:

rejoice; feel happiness or joy; the emotion of great happiness; gladden; make glad or happy

Such a simple word but sadly, such a difficult thing for me to focus on.

But this year, I'm really and honestly going to try.

I'm trying to..........

EnJOY more...........friends, family, and all of the many blessings God has given me

See the JOY...........in the good times, the bad times, and all those times in between

Find JOY...............in the little things, the big things, the crazy things, the silly things

Look for the JOY..........everywhere, every day

Focus on the JOY..............instead of checking off things on my too long to-do list

Remembering that JOY is not dependent upon circumstances-

but is based instead on our relationship with God.

To help on my JOY quest for this year, I decided I needed a reminder,

something I would see daily that would put JOY on my mind.

So the other day after a trip to Michael's (for only $7)

I made a little something to go on my mantle as a JOY reminder

and am praying it will help me focus on the JOY in my life.

Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength

Nehemiah 8:10b

PS Leave me a comment with a word you are trying to focus on this year and I'll use a random number generator to choose one of you to make a reminder for! :)

Which is Your Motto Today?

There are days when I feel like this.................


and then there are days when I feel like this......................

Monday Morning Question of the Day

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

(Did you achieve that dream? If you didn't- why not?)

Sunday Morning Inspiration

Do you ever feel like you are running? Running from God? If you are like me and you do, go read this great post................... Running from God .


"Amazing things are possible, indeed, especially when we don't allow what otherwise might stand between us to stand between us. " Read this amazing and precious story (by an old college friend of mine) about Possibility.


Here's a great post by a wonderful pastor in Nashville, Tennessee about how we need to stop playing church and Be The Church.


Happy Sunday sweet friends!

Friday Fill In

Fill in the blanks.............

Today I feel_____________________

Today I hope to___________________

Today I am afraid of________________

Today I want to___________________

Today I absolutely WILL_____________

Today I don't want to_______________

Chicken and Dumplings

This is one of my all time favorite comfort foods. One that's perfect for warming you up on a cold winter day! It's easy to make- just takes a little bit of time- but is so worth the effort!

3-4 large chicken breasts
2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
2 cups flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
3 T shortening
3/4 cup buttermilk


Place chicken in a Dutch oven. Add water and 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 1 hour or until tender and almost falls off the bone. Remove the chicken from the broth and cool being sure to reserve broth. Bone the chicken and cut meat into bite-sized pieces. Bring the broth to a boil and add pepper. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Cut in the shortening. Add the buttermilk, stirring with a fork just until moistened. Knead the dough 4 to 5 times and roll out flat on floured surface. Cut dough into small rectangular pieces using a butter knife and drop into boiling broth (or simply pinch off small pieces for less uniform dumplings). Reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring often but gently. Stir in the chicken and serve.

An Accident Looking for a Place to Happen

This is what I found as I opened Tony's drawer last night to get out the toothpaste.

(In case you can't tell, that's a tube of CAULK next to the tube of toothpaste)

I said.....



Honey, I'm thinking that looks like an accident looking for a place to happen. Those two tubes sure do look alot alike- and it would be easy to mistake one for the other. You know?



He said...........



Well honey, it's a mistake you would only make ONCE. Trust me. Just once.

Christmas Break in Review

This was Tony on Christmas Eve. I had asked him to cut up the ham and when I looked at his yellow shirt, I knew it would not stay clean so............I took off my grandma's apron that I was wearing and put it on him. He looked so cute, I just had to take a picture.

He said.........

So we are going to reverse roles tonight huh?

I laughed and said.................

Oh yes, let's do......... so that means I am going to go take a nap while you finish cooking and then after we eat, I'll go take another nap while you clean up. Okay?

He chuckled and said....................

I'm thinking we shouldn't reverse roles after all.

Number of days off of school= 10 (16 if you count weekends)



Number of days I stayed up past midnight= 4 (that is truly amazing for me since I wake up at 4:30am every single day of my life)



Number of days I slept in= 0 (isn't that sad?)



Number of movies I went to see= 7



Number of lunch/dinner dates with friends= 7



Number of times I went to the gym= 7



Number of miles I did on the eliptical= 35





Number of text messages Madison sent me while she was gone to Missouri= at least 100



Number of hours I spent on Facebook= 1,000 (or so it seems)



Number of closets I cleaned out = 0 (isn't that shocking?)



Number of trips I made to Waco= 3



Number of old friends I saw that I haven't seen in years and years=2



Number of massages I got= 1 (heaven, pure heaven)



Number of trips I was tempted to make to Kentucky= 1 (very, very ,very tempted)



Number of Wii games I lost= ALL of them (but it sure was fun playing)



Number of books I read= 9



Number of times I thought about how blessed I am to have 2 weeks off at Christmas= Countless

A New Year= A New Look

I thought it was time for a blog makeover so...........................what do you think?

A Plan for the New Year

I love thinking about my goals for the new year. A new year is like having a blank book, a fresh start, a new beginning and I love, love, love that.

Here are just a few of the things I will be striving to do this year...............


Speak what's in my heart

Spend more time on my knees in prayer

Stop being a JOY STEALER

Surprise others

Slumber more

Savor the precious moments

S-L-O-W down

Stop worrying so much about what others think

Spend time enjoying my life more

Say NO sometimes

Spend more time exercising

Say I Love You in all sorts of creative ways

Sample new things

Save precious moments with pictures

Salvage and repair hurting and wounded relationships

Salsa dance

Sacrifice more

Skip complaining and whining

Saturate others with love and prayers

See the joy in everyday

Sigh less (Tony will love this resolution)

Smile more

Spaghetti less

Sleep more

Stop keeping score

Search for God's calling daily

Seize the moment

Simplify

Serve others

Shine God's love to others

Sing (but not in public because that would be cruelty to others)

Sit and be still.

Sincerely speak

Stop pretending- be REAL

Smooch more

Shower others with kindness

Shrug off the little things

Spend time in silence

Stargaze

Sympathize

Swiftly deal with problems so they don't fester

Sow good deeds

Say thank you to God for the many blessings He gives me





My prayer for each of you is that God would
bless each of you in 2009 as never before!

Happy New Year 2009

We will open the book.
It's pages are blank.
We are going to put words on them ourselves.
The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.
~Edith Lovejoy Pierce~

Happy New Year's my sweet friends!