The Orange Dork Suit

The 5-K was a huge hit. The rain stayed far away and it was such a fun night. This is my son who did the 5-K in 29 minutes and won 2nd place in his age group. Might I add he had no training schedule for weeks leading up to the 5-K, he just put on his running shoes and did it cold turkey last night. NO FAIR!

I saved a child's life at the 5-K, good thing I was there. Okay..so I put a band aid on his scrapped knee....still, he might have bled to death if I wouldn't have used my skills to help him. Beyond that we had no major medical mishaps.

I forgot all about getting my picture taken in my dork orange suit....I was busy saving lives people, I didn't have time for silly pictures...however, don't be sad! In the above picture if you look behind my son you will see a bright orange glowing person (a fellow worker). Don't stare at the picture for too long you might burn your retinas. But you get the idea of the dork-ness factor.

Here is a picture of the kids running in a 100 meter race

I think this next picture is so funny- my husband better not quit his day job to become a photographer. Here is my nice arm in the picture of my son crossing the finish line- I was trying to high five him.

Finally, my kids often hijack my camera and when I try to upload pictures onto my computer from the memory card I find surprises like these:

She deserves having this pictures put in the public forum for all the world to see. :)

In closing, my husband and son have been downstairs for two hours trying to learn the Axle Foley song from Beverly Hills Cop on our keyboard. They found it on YouTube and now are obsessed with learning it. They are getting close! We live an exciting life around here don't we?

Friday Report

How can it be Friday again already? I wonder why it is that when you are a kid time goes V E R Y slowwwwww and when you are an adult...time goes VERY FAST!

Life can slow down already.

So it is Friday- everyone loves Friday. Our church is having a big 5-K event tonight. They have fun things for kids and a 100 meter kid race. Usually I WOG (walk/jog) in the 5-K but this year I'm "working" by carrying the medical radio. (I'm a nurse) so they position us throughout the course and we wear BIG BRIGHT ORANGE VESTS..that you can see from a mile away- they say MEDICAL on it ! We have cool ear pieces that make me feel like I'm in the FBI or CIA....or secret service. Very cool! We all communicate to each other during the race and respond to any medical needs. (Hopefully there are none!) Anyway, so no wogging for me tonight...I already did my 4 miles this a.m. so I'm good. I can indulge in a hot dog or two guilt free! :) Now, we are just praying the rain holds off for us!

Maybe I'll surprise all 7 of you and have my kids take a picture of me in my BRIGHT ORANGE DORK OUTFIT tonight. :)

So the nurse thing...yea, I am an RN...but I haven't worked officially in about 5 years. When I did, I worked at one of our local hospitals on the cardiac floor. I worked nights 7 p.m.- 7 a.m. that about killed me! I only worked per diem- one shift a week, once my kids were born, but when I did work, I'd have to stay up all day to care for my kids, work all night, and then come home and stay up all day to ...yes....care for my kids. I used to be so tired, it took me the whole week to recover from that crazy shift. One time I was so tired after working all night and being up so long, I was giving my kids, who were babies at the time, baths..and I looked down and oooops...my daughter was in the tub with her socks and diaper on. I was too tired to realize it. Not good!!!! I was scary back then. One time I fell asleep as I was waiting behind a school bus who was picking up kids in front of me-on my drive back home from work.

I keep my license current, just in case....you never know. I doubt I'll go back to ICU or cardiac nursing-too intense and stressful, but Hospice nursing sounds like something I'd be good at-if my emotions could hack it (my husband thinks not). But for now, I'm thrilled to be a stay at home mom, and I use my nursing skills on the medical response team at church and at events like the 5-K. Good enough! Plus, it comes in handy when I have a sick kid, puking cat, or injured husband.

Happy Friday......God bless any of you who come back here more than once...I ramble so much, I feel sorry for you. :)

Rest and Recover

I'm in a rest and recover mode. After a very busy year of homeschooling, running kids to activities, teaching Bible study, and the usual hectic stuff that comes during the months of Sept-May....I'm LOVING the down time. I'm two weeks into our summer break and I'm finally just now starting to feel calm and relaxed. The first week I had a million projects that I couldn't seem to get to during the crazy school year.

We changed my son's bed from a loft bed into a normal bed, and I painted his whole room a new color and we cleaned really well and went through his drawers and closet. I love to get rid of stuff!!!!!

I went through all of our school curriculum and books and got rid of a bunch of stuff we don't need at the used book sale our homeschool group has each year. Then I went through all of my catalogs and planned our next year of school and made a list of the books I need to buy. I'll place my order in the next few weeks. I like to get my school books early so I can go through them, make my plans and set up our schedule early....then I am all ready to start in Sept. This is our 7th year of homeschooling coming up-6th grade WOW!!!!

We planted our garden, power washed our deck, weeded our landscaping, put mulch around all of our trees, cleaned the garage, and I cleaned out our storage closet downstairs. I feel on top of my game now!

This past weekend we duck sat our neighbors ducks. They have a really nice duck condo down by their pond. So we would just go over 2 times a day to feed them and give them fresh water and let them out to swim in the pond.

Yesterday the kids and I went and volunteered at the Humane Society. We took dogs for walks and played with the cats. I love going there. Then we went to the Library. My kids are reading like crazy right now. I love to read too and I have a book I'm almost done with and then 4 more waiting for me when I'm done. I'm also reading the book of Job in the Bible right now.

So, that is the update. Sorry for my rambles. My brain is coming out of a fog of hectic and crazy schedules and we are enjoying a slower pace, days with no place to be, and free time.

Sunday Stuff

I love Sundays.

I love Sunday School and church! I love seeing friends and worshipping God together.

Our kids have been having so much fun today. They make each other a treasure hunt. They hide clues all over the yard and draw maps. Then they leave a surprise at the end of the treasure hunt.It has kept them busy for hours yesterday and today. Brooklyn left Braden a dollar at the end of his hunt yesterday- that is so cute. He gave it to God today! Doesn't that just warm your heart?

Today she left him a small bag of M&Ms at the end of his hunt. He left her a coupon to play a board game together-which they did.

Now they are out in our Suburban playing "Rocket ship" they sit in the seats upside down and pretend they are flying into space. They are so creative. I heard Braden ask Brooklyn if she would be his flight attendant today in the rocket ship.

Some days it seems they want to rip each other's eye balls out, other days they get along so well. That is a great thing about twins, they always have a playmate!

I have a stack of books to read- I get so excited about books. A sweet friend handed me a book today at church-she bought it for me, just because she knew I loved books so much. I can't wait to read it. She bought me: Too Small To Ignore-Why the Least of These Matters. It is the story of the President and CEO of Compassion International and how he became involved. We sponsor a Compassion child-Shivan who lives in Uganda. I have her picture on my nightstand in a frame. I consider her one of my children. I love her so much and pray for her often. I love to get letters from her-and write her back! I've been praying that God will make a way for me to go meet her someday in Uganda.

Soon I'll go out on PATROL to check on all of my animal friends on my 4 mile walk. :)

My heart is heavy with prayer needs of so many people in my life today- I'm praying for my sister's health, friends with cancer, lost souls, my husband's knee that is really hurting, and my friend Krysta (Hi Krysta) who is adopting a baby!

Psalm 131:2 But I have stilled and quieted my soul.........

Happy Sunday!
Kelly

Little Miss Perfect

While the kids were playing outside today- I started to fold laundry on my bed. I flipped on the TV to turn on CNN and see what was going on in the world (sometimes I really don't want to know)......but THE LITTLE MISS PERFECT beauty pageant was on......WHAT????

It was one of those reality show type deals, and I sat there with my mouth WIDE OPEN and gasping! Are you serious? These little girls were about 5-10 years old, totally made up, fake tans, BIG hair, nails, and posing in skimpy type clothing. The mothers were WORSE and so hard to watch. They swore at their kids, put total pressure on them, yelled, and just got so wrapped up in their daughters beauty....I just seriously don't even know what to say.

I had to run not walk to my blog to vent about it. Just the title alone LITTLE MISS PERFECT......what does that mean? WOW......I can honestly say, I would NEVER and I mean NEVER EVER EVER want that life for my daughter. I would never want her to feel her identity is wrapped up in her outside appearance and the judgments of others. Those girls were already starting to compare themselves to other girls, many had CELL PHONES and were all wrapped up in the attention.

I could go on and on and on.....but I won't....I had to turn it off after 10 min. UGH!!!!!!!

It will be a HARD reality when Little Miss Perfect finds out, she isn't at all perfect (as none of us are) and that it is so shallow and worthless to put your hope in your appearance and the praise of others. I felt so bad for them. The girls didn't even look REAL...they looked so scary and fake.....the moms were RIDICULOUS-dancing, trying to coach from behind the judges, clapping really loudly, and if their child didn't do well YELLING AT THEM. NICE!

Enough said.....CNN would have been better than this!

VICTORY! One small step for animals!

VICTORY VICTORY !!!!!!!

This is an update from my last post about the pet rescue-bunny saga.

I went out on my 4 mile walk this a.m. (my husband teases me now that I'm not walking for exercise-I'm going out on PATROL) I checked on my new bunny friend-after I left a NICE note on the owner's door last week asking them very very nicely to please find some protection for the bunny in his cage, and letting them know they could buy an attached food dish that screws into the cage so the bunny wouldn't tip his food and not have any to eat all day. I was as nice as I possibly could be in the note, I figured I would get more reaction with being nice and supportive rather than being rude (which I sort of wanted to be!)

So, today was my first patrol since the note- and VICTORY...the bunny had an even nicer-bigger cage, an attached food dish filled with food, a new little house inside his cage where he could go for protection and safety, and a big tarp and board over the top of the cage to protect him from sun and weather. AWESOME!!!!! I giggled like a school girl! I just felt so happy and such satisfaction. I thanked God because I have been praying all week that the owners would have compassion and respond to the note in a positive way and they totally did.

One small step for animals- we can't fix every problem in the world, but if we just do ONE THING, SOMETHING, it really really makes a difference. That was the lesson I learned after all of this.

I feel like Mother Nature when I go out on my "patrols"....I pass a ton of different animals when I walk (since I'm walking out in the country)....they are used to seeing me, since I go almost daily. Three horses come running towards the fence when I walk by, I always tell them Hi, a cute cat greets me each time, a very cute dog comes and gives me licks and lets me pet him, a mom cow and its baby, and of course the bunny. :)

It made me think- what if we all had our 4 miles to patrol daily- to check it out, keep it clean, protect animals and help others along the way. I'm sure the world would be a better place.

:) As for today, I'm pleased and thrilled. Next up, my kids and I have our eye on a nest of four baby Robins, one already fell out of the nest and my daughter saw it and put it back in the nest...they are really small still and have no feathers, so they aren't ready to leave their home. They are right under our second story deck so we have a clear shot out our sliding glass door downstairs. It is really fun to watch the mom Robin come back with worms and see their little heads pop up for food.

Pet Rescue

So, every day (usually) I have this 4 mile walk outside that I take.....it is all out in the country. I drive my car to the starting point and take off from there. I love it, it is really peaceful and quiet.

I passed this house that had a bunny cage with a cute little black and white bunny in it. The cage was just propped up against their shed, with NO PROTECTION at all for the bunny from the sun or rain. Just a cage. NICE!! So, it started to sprinkle on my walk today, I barely made it back to the car before the rain started pouring down. I drove home upset, thinking about that poor bunny. I got home, did a few things, kept thinking of the bunny. Finally, I swear God pulled me up off of the couch and gave me the idea to ACT!!! I told my kids about the bunny and they said "Lets do something"....so I grabbed a tarp we had in the garage and clothes pins and we jumped in the car, drove to the house- I got out in the pouring rain and put the tarp over the bunny (who was SOAKED!!!!!!!!) (GRRRRRR!!!) and pinned the sides down really well with clothes pins. It worked GREAT. I didn't even care if someone from the house came out or saw me (they didn't).....then I drove away!

Why are people such IDIOTS??? That is so mean! I walk by there almost daily, so I'll be monitoring the bunny!!!!!!!!! I feel so much better knowing it has protection, at least for now. Wonder what they people will think when they come out and see the tarp? I HOPE THEY ARE CONVICTED!!!!

In other news.......I started a reading program for the summer for my kids. It isn't summer yet, but why not start now? They LOVE to read and they need to keep busy all summer and have a way to earn some money. I told them for every chapter book (approved by me) they read they get $1.00.....every third book they read, I get to pick. I'll have them read Heroes of the Faith books or biographies, or classic stuff. They are really good with their money, they tithe off the top and then usually put it right into the bank. There are a few small things they each have been wanting to buy so this gives them the chance to earn some money-and read a bunch at the same time.

We just started this on Monday and I already think I'll need to appeal to Congress for a bailout, because at the rate they are going already, I'll be broke. They stay up late into the night reading, and constantly say, "I LOVE this book" which makes me so happy! My daughter has already read 5 big chapter books and is on her 6th one IN ONE WEEK, and my son is on his 5th book. The books I chose for them were Joan of Arc and The Revolutionary War (Landmark books).