I'm so two faced!!!

I am such a two-faced person when it comes to those "how are you" questions. Only my closest friends and family even really want to hear that answer if we're really honest about ourselves. There are others that you have to know well enough that you have to give them your upbeat positive answer because they within themselves cannot handle the negative, not even a hint of negativity. It's like it throws off their emotional equilibrium and they can't function. So, I have those I speak candidly to and those I speak superficially to based on their reactions so that I don't stress them out and tip them over. Now that you're all lost in a literary lego pile......

Tomorrow is the biopsy. A lump on my neck that is a cyst within my thyroid. It's like someone has their thumb in the base of my throat and each day is different. Somedays its pushing a little harder than others. My thyroid is perfectly normal in operation no overactivity no underactivity, just foreign objects floating around in it. This is soooo common. Nodules, or cysts are found in lots of people and lots of people have them in their thyroid. 90% of the time they are benign. But I have enjoyed living my life thus far as an outsider looking in on "those" "they" "them" that have these common (?) anomelies, which is how it was ironically described. Anyway, I am not worried about the outcome, either way it goes I'm good. I give glory to God for my life and my blessings. This is a blessing, I know that. I may not know how just yet, or ever, because it might not be for me to know, but I know that I am blessed. I don't like the idea of cancer being active in my body. Apparently, we all have those dormant cells that can become cancerous in our bodies, but I'd rather not have mine come out of hibernation.

I am asking for those readers who dare to do so, to pray. Pray that the outcome is benign and this is a one time thing. Pray that our finances will be blessed so that we can pay the wonderful people who are using their God given gifts at this time in my life. Pray that my kids will remain in God's presence no matter what happens. Pray for my life to continue to be blessed and for my ability to handle the blessings no matter what the package looks like. Pray that God will get the glory throughout this whole process.

Sing along if you know this one:
"My life is in you Lord, my strength is in you Lord, my hope is in you Lord, in you, it's in you,
I'll praise you with all of my heart, I'll praise you with all of my mind,
with all of my mind, with all of my strength, all my hope is in you"

And for today:
Philippians 4:13
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

An Excellent Day!!!!!!

I love my kids. Shocker, I know! We had a really great day Friday and I thought I would share the proof. We headed off to Inner Peaks the indoor wonder of Charlotte with thousands of square feet of indoor climbing extravaganza! Don't get me wrong, it wasn't just the place that was great, 'cause it really wasn't. It was the whole experience with the kids and their honesty spewing from their innocent lips!

Miss Lyss was insistent that "french fries ARE good for you, 'cause her mommy told her so and she tells the truf!" So in the defense of the healthy lifestyle, Miss Liz gave up the argument. Her philosophy? Why argue? There is no winning side to an argument with a 4 year olds beliefs in a root vegetable cooked to a soggy state in what some like to call liquified animal fat. Anyway, there was hunger, feet stompin', rock climbin', belly laughin', people droppin', boulderin', melt-downin', trader joe-in' fun!

Miss Sims even gave us a lesson in seat belt safety and chimed in on the fact that her mom was "gonna get a ticket from the po po!" Which led to a frantic police watchin' the whole way to trader's!

The lesson that we learned on Friday is that life is great! Life is fabulous! If you take the time to emmerse yourself in the life around you and glean those great moments into your brain. A cerebral memory flash drive to open up later and relish those times God gave you. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. They didn't think it was quite so funny, though.

My favorite moment: As Liz and I were belaying those cute little bodies up the rock wall she turned to me and said, "Do you get that feeling, you know the 'Coolest Mom" feeling right now? Think what some others are doing right at this moment and what we are doing right now!" You know what.....we are VERY COOL MOMS!

Tower of Terror!!!

I have decided that I would just put all the talk to rest. Yes, all of those rumors that lurk around every corner of society. Those rumors that have for so long defined those of us who work from home. The ones that start like this: "oh, you're a stay at home mom, how lucky you are, I wish I could do that." "Wow, you must get so much done working from home!" "You have so much more time to be on the computer, because you are at home all day." This used to cause the lava from the core of my being to erupt into a tirade of job applications filled out just to see if I'm still a viable member of society. Those days have passed.

You see I run my own business from home and my computer and I am a "stay at home work all freakin' day long with no monetary return on the dirty laundry kind of mom", unless someone forgot to empty the change from their pocket, then I count that as my compensation! Anyway, it's such a glamorous life! From the mystery animal that has metamorphosed in the corner of the room from an unknown dust and hair source to those mystery stains in the laundry to the ever popular toilet scrubbing, hair in the drain removing, lunch inventing, and oh yea, I better not ignore my actual paying job in the office. Glam, that's all me. I don't get mad when people assume that I do nothing. I do however wonder what my house would actually look like if I do absolutely nothing. This week I feel as though I am being swallowed up by Gap, Old Navy, Walmart, Target 100% cotton, polyblend, lycra, spandex and denim mound of material I like to call "The Tower of Terror!" Clothing factories across the globe are operating at full speed because of my family. 5 children, a hard working husband and myself all contribute to the TofT. The only good thing I have found about this is that as long as its on the floor it keeps the dust off of that portion of the house and therefore cuts down on my sweeping. I do what I can. I tried flylady but inadvertently let off the flea bomb in my house and she met the unfortunate maker somewhere in the chaos. JK! We had friends over last night....the dad went upstairs to get his daughter....I was mortified that he saw my laundry TofT in the upstairs hallway....I am doing laundry today.

In all things find blessings and thanksgivings! I thank God everyday that I am at home with my kids. I thank God for the ability to be able to wash clothes indoors and not risk being eaten by an alligator while beating my capris on a rock on the bank of the Zambezi River. I thank God everyday that I have food to stick to the plates of my life. I thank God everyday that I have a roof over my head to keep all of my ....uhm....stuff in. I thank God everyday that my children sleep safe and sound in a place where God is, where the Holy Spirit lingers, where in every corner of my house has God residue stuck to the walls, to the furniture, to the doors, to the stuff. I need less stuff so I can see and smell and touch where God is in my home. Thank you God for me being here, in this place, at this time for these people, for your Kingdom. Thank you for residing in my heart.

So I Went...

To the Dr. that is. The endocrinologist. OOOOOOO....big word alert! Just a consultation however. She did determine that it is a single cyst and will be biopsied on the 19th. She is very positive and totally cool!
Anyway, my point of this blog is to say...I am now a tree hugger! Why? Because there is too much paper work to fill out at the dr. office that made me come to the conclusion that my medical records have taken down a forest somewhere and there are little creatures homeless wandering the barren land now looking for a new home! What I find so funny are the questions and the information you fill out on each sheet that tend to make me wonder if its just a ploy to get you to not realize how long you've been sitting in the waiting area. You don't notice that you've been delayed because you're still filling out your address for the 15th time on the 15th sheet of unrecycled paper. There must be a better way! I'm beginning to see where the rising cost of health care is coming from.....office supplies.
Not to worry, I did my own little test to see if anyone really reads this stuff. You see one of the sheets is the get-to-know-ya sheet. How many kids? What are their names? Ages? How far away do you live? How long is your drive to the dr? Then the ever dreaded questions. You know the ones. The rude ones that ask, "are you eating healthy" or "when do you excercise" or "what form of excercise" or "how many times a day do you excercise" or "length of excercise". I decided....ENOUGH OF THE MADNESS! So, here is what I said....
How often do you excercise.......All day
When do you excercise.......All day
Length of excercise.......All day
Type of excercise.....Kegal
Needless to say, noone asked me about my excercise routine we just skipped right over that one! That'll teach em!
Don't you judge me! If you've had children, you know how important it is! If you've had 5 children you know how IMPORTANT it is!
Have a blessed day!
Love to all!
God Bless Every Breath!

Joy Personified

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Wednesday Highlights!

This mutha was in my face today as we were cleaning out the flower beds for wintering over, so I decided that I would wait to cut down anymore flowers. Very, very big dude or dudette. It's a writing spider my daughter says. I'm not sure if I care......










Yes, I did it! I ate the whole thing all by myself, salt and all and it was so good! Sad, but true! Again, not sure if I care!



So, that's my day, in a nutshell! I wish I had read Liz's post, she had pie and wanted to share with coffee! I hope there's some left. My life is so.....quiet....(nice way of saying boring). TYG! Happy Wednesday!

Blessed and Grateful

I am grateful to be a daughter of Jesus Christ, Almighty God and the Holy Spirit himself!
I am grateful to be an american!
I am grateful to be the wife of a Godly man who loves me bunches!
I am grateful to be the mother to the coolest children on the earth!
I am grateful to be an un/life/homeschooler!
I am grateful to be a friend to my bestest buddies, Liz and Beth!
I am grateful to be a woman!
I am grateful to be a Dumford daughter, thanks to Carl and Jan!
I am grateful to be a sister to my bros and sis!
I am grateful of my life as chaotic and wild and unpredictable as it is.
I am grateful of my past, my present and my future.
I am grateful for food in my fridge, cause scraping the frost off of the freezer walls to make a slushie does not convince my kids, nor does it taste great!
I am grateful to be in a country where I can say "Praise God" and not be arrested!
I am grateful for the fall leaves and the magnificent colors.
I am grateful for gas in my gas tank.
I am grateful.....I am grateful.