The Queen B

A Whole Lot Of Nothing

Hey.

Thanks for the prayers and advice last week.  I am following what many of you suggested...I'm just waiting.

Kind of taking the "no news is good news" approach.

We'll see how that works out.

***

Look at what my freaky cats are doing as I type.

Completely disturbing.

I'm imagining the worst. 

What could be in the fireplace?

A rat?  A bat?  A snake?  

They've been staring at the same spot for 20 minutes.

Weirdos.

***

Two of my friends just returned from Casa.

Wanna see some new pictures of La P?

It thrills me to see her sweet face!

My friend told La P "The Princess (her real name) is mi amiga" thinking that it would be a bonding moment.  

Instead, La P got a teensy bit possessive and said, "NO!  The Princess (her real name) is MI amiga!"

The Princess is thrilled.

33 days until we see her again!!!

***

The paint should finally happen this week.

Which is what I've said for the last 2 weeks.

***

My next housing dilemma is the mantle.  

I want a really cool mantle.  

But not a really expensive mantle.

My fireplace is antique red brick.

Any thoughts?

Paint Delays, Cows & VBS

I know this will come as a shock, but the painting has been postponed until Wednesday. 

Though you can barely stand it, you'll have to wait for the results.

***

You may remember that I have a mild fascination/obsession with cows.

I could watch them all day.  

In fact, I suspect there will be days that I do nothing but stare at the cows.

Their ears thrill me.

Thrill.  Me.

So we went to check out the farm over the weekend.

Turning into the gate, I was immediately welcomed by the loudest mooing I've ever heard.

Constant mooing.

Loud & constant mooing.

We drove around the barn and I realized what was happening.

The calves were being weaned.

Oh my goodness.

The babies were on one side of the fence and the mamas were on the other. 

They were crying.

It broke my heart.

Some of them sounded hoarse from the loud & constant.

This is the worst picture known to man, but I need you to feel my pain.

We went back to the farm the next day and it was still happening.

Only now, the kids were acting out.

There was head butting.  Lots and lots of head butting.

The King thinks I'm weird.

***

And this is VBS week at our church.

Please don't judge me for what I'm about to share.

I mean it.

No judging.

I don't necessarily enjoy the VBS.

Well.  I don't.

Teaching is not my thing.

Guilt, however, is my thing.

There are never enough adults to go around.

I may have been a teensy bit grumpy on our way to VBS yesterday.  

The Princess said, "Mom.  Since when did telling kids about Jesus put you in a bad mood?"

"Um.  Today?"

I totally know that VBS is the only place some of the kids will hear about Jesus. 

Once I get there, I can get into it.  The kids are really sweet.  

Though they do touch you a lot.

But they are sweet. 

It goes by fast.

There are snacks.

Our church does a great job preparing for the week.

It's just the every day part of it that wears me out.

I do get to wear a toga/bedsheet.  Which means more snacks!

Don't tell me I'm rotten.  

Guilt is my thing, remember?

***

I hope your Tuesday is fantastic.

*I have no idea why this post's spacing has gone crazy.  If it looks nutty on your computer.  If not, then ignore this.

All Sorts Of Things

Hello.

Sorry I bailed on most of the blogging last week.

I cannot thank you enough for your sweet response to The Princess' La Princesa bracelets.

Guess how many we have to mail?

92.

For real.

Isn't that awesome?

92 people praying for La Princesa's adoption.

I am overwhelmed with gratitude.

The Princess is overwhelmed with string.

Seriously.  

But she's had such a sweet attitude about it.

I haven't heard her complain at all.

Not once.

I asked her if she regretted us mentioning the bracelets, and she immediately said no.  She is thrilled that people would be willing to pray for La Princesa.

Won't that be a cool thing to tell La Princesa when she's older?

So if you've requested a bracelet...please be patient.  We're hoping to get them all out by the end of the week.

Y'all rock.

***

Yesterday, I made the mistake of going to the grocery store while hungry.

The result?

Really?  

S'mores Ice Cream Sandwiches?

Yes.  Really.

When The King came home, I showed him my purchase.

He immediately tore into one and said, "That's weird.  I kind of taste marshmallow".

  

Really?

Yes.  Really.

***

Wanna see something sweet?

Last week, one of the missionaries at Casa sent us a new picture of La Princesa.

She pulled our picture from her pillow and showed it to him.

I know.  

Breaks my heart to pieces.

Off to braid more string...

We Love Summer

The Princess was filling out one of those All About Me books last night when she came upon the question, "List three words that describe you".

She read the question to me and said, "Well.  I think I might start with Intelligent".

Then, I kid you not, she asked, "How do you spell that?"

Summer is SO already here.

***

Several of you asked about The Princess' La Princesa bracelets.  

(Say THAT 3 times.)

The Princess and I decided that we need all the prayer we can get, so she agreed to send a bracelet to anyone that would like to wear one and pray for La Princesa's adoption. 

No pressure.  We totally understand if you were just saying it to be nice.

Each bracelet has a strand of light pink string mixed with several other colors.  

I'm not sure if I shared the story of La Princesa's favorite color with you...when we asked her what her favorite color was, she quickly replied, "Light pink.  NOT DARK PINK.  Light pink."

So we used light pink string.  NOT DARK PINK.  Light pink.

Just email me your info and we'll send one your way.

Really, though.  NO PRESSURE.

PRESSURE FREAKS ME OUT.

Weekend Recap: Mother's Day Edition

I have written a little poem.

School is over.

The plays are done.

The Palace is happy.

Summer better be fun.

Thank you.

Have I ever mentioned that I'm not a great poet?

I know. Where's the proof?

Anyway.  The Princess is officially finished with the 5th grade.

Hallelujah.

Her 2 plays are finished.

Hallelujah.

Her theater had 4 productions this weekend.

Yep.

Four.

She was a mouse in Alice in Wonderland.

Actually, she was a dormouse.

(I had to look it up.  It is a mouse found in Europe that hibernates a lot.)

Anyway.  She had fun and did a great job.

And it's over.

***

Thanks for the advice on the mirrors.  I'm now more confused than ever.

I'll narrow it down and we'll discuss again later.

The house is completely framed.  WOO HOO!

The view out of my dining room window is just what I'd hoped...

The cows.

I have a strange fascination with cows.

(I know, Jules, I know.  They freak you out.)

Wanna see a cute baby cow?

Or, I mean, wanna see a cute calf?

I think he's sticking his tongue out at me.

How sweet is that?

***

Finally, Happy Mother's Day one day late.

Just to prove the lengths to which mamas will go for their babies...

Look at the mammary glands on that girl.

OH MY WORD.

If you care about me at all, you will immediately enlarge that picture and take a really good look at those mamms.

(That includes you, Jules.)

They (It?) were (was?) swaying between her legs when she walked.

Bless her.

I hope you all have a better day than she's having.

The Skills, They Are Genetic

So I'm not very crafty.

I'm not sure if I've really explained how not very crafty I am.

In Kindergarten, I got an S- in cutting and scissor-work.

An S minus.

I think the root of my not craftiness is that I am not very patient with the fine motor skill type of work.

I like to finish things quickly.

And first.

I'm sorry.  I do.  I like to finish first.

The Princess gives me the worst time about my lack of craftiness.

She wants to paint and mold and cut and draw and glue and paint.  

Did I mention that she wants to paint?

I detest paint.

Anyway, my friend, Shelley, is crafty.

Like, super-mega crafty.

She likes to do all that stuff.

She kindly had a little crafty party for the 5th grade girls yesterday.

I had hoped to drop The Princess and run, but I was forced to stay and participate.

FORCED.

This was the project...

They had to do this loom thing with scrunchie doo dads and then make a purse by putting two of them together.  

With a needle and thread.

Watching the girls make the uneven teeny purse with poor color combinations almost sent me over the edge.

Well, it did.

The Princess worked very hard.

She skipped snack time.

She didn't say a word to anyone.

I asked her if something was wrong and she said, "I'm serious about my crafting".

Ok, then.

It came as no surprise to me that she was the first one finished.

(She is my child.)

Shelley had to give us some tips on how to needle and thread.

The Princess gave me a smirk as if she had it all figured out.

Until she tried to open her little handbag.

SHE SEWED IT SHUT.

I have to say that it was my proudest moment.

Seriously.

My non-crafting tendencies are influencing the next generation.

I am definitely proud of her for having the desire to craft.

But I love that she is a bit clumsy.

(I also love that Shelley has taken the non-penetrable purse home to attempt a surgical procedure that would allow for its opening.)

Are your crafting/non-crafting skills leaving a legacy?

I Was Forced To Post This

I was kind of not sure what to post today.

(Which is really not unlike any other day of the week.)

I considered a tag that I'd received a week or so ago.  Julie tagged me to post the 6th photo in my 6th folder.

I assumed that the picture would be boring and I'd opt out of participating.

Um, that is until I checked it out...

The Princess.

Crazy Hair Day. 

2nd grade.

I couldn't NOT post it.

She'll be seeing that picture many times in her future...

Now I'm supposed to tag 6 people.

Because I'm totally creative, I'm going to tag the first 6 commenters with a blog from yesterday's post.

Did that make any sense?

Here they are:

Capri Kel

Kellyn

Dawn W

Angie

Kari

Tonggu Momma

I wish each of you a ridiculous picture in your folder.

I Just Thought It Was Over...

MmmHmm.  

Do you see that?

We're going to Regionals.

Yippee.

Guess Who's NOT On The Naughty List...

You will not believe what The Princess did for her mom and dad.

Yesterday was The King and my 14th anniversary. 

(Love you, King!) 

The Princess sent us this beautiful Edible Arrangement.  

Who knew that chocolate-dipped pineapple was the best taste combo on the entire planet?

She picked it out all by herself and called Mimi to help her get it ordered because "I'm only 11.  I can't order things".

How sweet is that?

Now.  That is all the blogging I can do, because I'm eating the pineapple.  

And hanging with The King.

She's Making A List And Checking It Twice Or Thirty-two Times

Here's the deal.  I am blogging about Christmas and toys and gifts and all of the worldly things that Christmas has become.

That is not the center of our Christmas. We totally love Jesus and love celebrating His birth.  It is our priority.  

I'm just mentioning the gifts today.

I'm wondering about those of you that buy for kids.  Especially parents.  

My daughter is a marketer's dream.  She is sucked into each and every "Toy of 2009".  She even added a "Toy of 2009" that was for preschoolers to her list.

She's 11.

What in the world do you do about the 4 bazillion commercials and catalogs and store displays?  Especially in times of financial strain?

Do you have your kiddos make a list?  Do you decide what they receive without their input?  

What in the world do you do with a list that is 57 toys long?  

And has a weekly update.

I love the thought of 3 gifts (like Jesus received).  I've heard of the twist of a need, want and surprise for those 3 gifts.  One gift?  10 gifts?  

Do you try to get them their entire list?

What about when you know their BIG, MOST AMAZING WANT is something that you know that they'll play with for only 2 days?

You might have noticed that I'm struggling with the gifts this year.  

As my daughter gets older, her list is smaller but more expensive.  She MUST have a Flip Camera and I'm not sure that she's ever even seen one...

Are you cutting back this year? Are you explaining this to your kids?  

Is Santa suffering from the recession?

We are certainly cutting back this year.  We needed to anyway.  With grandparents and great-grandparents it all gets to be too much.  The gifts begin to make me nervous.

Which is why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.