Lazy Day Hodgepodge

It's Wednesday again, must be time for the Hodgepodge, and I'm sure you know by now that it's seven questions and one random thought and I figured I wasn't too lazy to participate today so here goes.

1.  If you could work for any one government agency which would you choose and why?  (If you're in the US here's a helpful list.)

I took one look at that list and was appalled.  No wonder our government is so deeply in debt.  And I was too lazy to look at the whole thing and pick something, probably because I have no desire to work for our government.

2.  How difficult is it for you to forgive someone who refuses to apologize?

Gosh, if I refused to forgive I would be a mess.  I have known plenty of stubborn people who have hung on to a hurt for years and it has made them a not very nice person.  Forgiveness frees me from anger, pain, resentment, bitterness and all the heartache that comes from holding a grudge.

3.  What is your favorite meatless supper?

Growing up if there wasn't meat on the table and a dessert to be had my father said it wasn't a meal.  However there were those rare occasions when we would have coffee cake and/or popcorn for supper.  Mom usually let us make it ourselves and I have fond memories of doing so.  

Today I would have to say macaroni and cheese ( I'm not talking Kraft here people) with a side salad or better yet a fresh picked garden tomato still warm from the sun on a sandwich with mayonnaise, a little salt and pepper, maybe lettuce, a slice of cheese and a great big dill pickle.  Yum.  Now if only I had me some bacon.

4.  Wednesday August 10th is National Lazy Day ... will you be celebrating?  If so, tell us how so we can be lazy too.

Really, I never knew there was such a thing.  Somehow I think that many of us don't need an excuse to shirk our responsibilities.  Must be run by a government agency.  Anyway if I had the time and money I would love, Love, LOVE a spa day.  Pretty sure that won't happen so I guess I will have to settle for a pedicure.  But. . . can't really afford that either.  So maybe I'll just sit on the couch, eat bon bon's and watch soap operas. ;~)

5.  As a child did you have any special back to school traditions and if so, what were they?  If you're a parent did you carry on those traditions with your own children?

I can remember going shopping with my Mom for new jeans and fabric so she could make me new clothes, other than that I think she was just glad to get us out the door (there were 8 of us).

My boys are still little and not yet in school.  Well, HT is going to go to preschool again this year but only for 2 1/2 hours, 3 days a week.  At this age he really doesn't need much.

6.  Write a summer tongue twister.

I'm too lazy, you write one.

7.  Would you be interested in observing a surgery or do you turn away when the nurse brings out the needle?

I have fainted at the sight of my own blood.  Does that answer your question?

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Even though I made light of working for the government above I have a very beautiful, intelligent niece who is working as a liaison for the state department in a place that is anti-American and no respecter of women.  Please say a prayer for her.

If you're not feeling too lazy leave me a comment then click on the button and go see what laziness everyone else is up to or not as the case may be.

Okay for some reason I can't get the button to work and I'm too lazy to figure out why so click here instead.

What's "UP" With That House?

Every year our local HBA (Home Builder's Assoc.) hosts a parade of homes throughout the valley and this year was no different.  Lots of homes in lots of neighborhoods with lots of differing price tags.

I have always enjoyed going and seeing all the new homes and trends in building and decorating, but I haven't been in the last couple of years.  I guess I kind of got tired of traipsing all over the valley and with the price of tickets and the price of gasoline and having to cart around one, two or three sometimes unwilling family members on my whim seemed more than it was worth.

But this year . . . well this year, they did something different, something unexpected and something that had me completely charmed and I just had to go.  One of the builders built a replica of the house from the Disney/Pixar movie "UP".

The attention to every little detail was amazing, every thing about Carl and his personality was felt in his chair, his lamp, his end table, the masculine squareness of it all.

It was equally evident in Ellie's things, soft rounded corners, her tall wing back chair, round lamp, round end table, oval picture frame, teacup and saucer.  Just like what you saw in the movie.

Really very sweet, like Carl and Ellie themselves.

Really loved the kitchen.  It had a decent sized pantry and the turquoise blue appliances were all new and energy star rated.  So bright, so cheery and welcoming if a bit on the small side, there wasn't a whole lot of counter space.  The retro styling really seems to be "in" right now.  

Even though I loved the house and found it charming and whimsical the rooms were on the small side and I wasn't a big fan of the layout.  The house itself was narrow and the lot small.  The back yard though small was fully fenced and had a covered patio just outside the kitchen door.  The master bedroom was on the second floor and the two other bedrooms were in the basement, no bedroom on the main level.  It did have plenty of storage and a very, very small room just off the master that had been decorated as a nursery, but could also be used as a small office.  You might be able to fit a twin bed in the room, but not much more than that.

The builders worked very hard to make the floor plan livable in today's market while maintaining the charm and authenticity of the house in the movie and the house had already been sold prior to the the opening of the parade of homes.

Got Boys?

If you do then I want to tell you about the M.O.B. Society blog.  M.O.B stands for Moms of Boys and it is written by moms of boys for moms of boys and they are all about giving encouragement and sharing stories and ideas about raising our boys to be godly men.  I have been lurking reading for a while now and have found it to be just that.

They are having a boy mom blog hop until August 3rd for all of us boy moms to get to know each other.

So for those of you who found me through their website, welcome.

I am a mom of two boys age 4 and age 1 and they are  . . .  well, they are boys in every sense of the word.  They love cars, trains, trucks, tractors and pretty much anything that goes vroom not to mention that they are energetic, rambunctious and sometimes unruly.  The only time they pick up something soft and cuddly is to throw it out of their way.  Sometimes I wonder why I keep all the stuffed toys around.  But they can melt their mama's heart with a smile.

This is HT.  The reason my sister started this blog and the reason she used the name "charming tyrant".  You see when we went in for one of our ultrasound visits, in one of the images it looks as if he is smiling.  Charming because he seemed to be smiling at his mama before he ever even looked her in the eye and tyrant because infants are of necessity demanding and selfish and impatient.  (You can see that ultrasound image here.)

Three years shy of one day later EM joined the crew and we were delighted to add an "s" to the blog title.

As of yesterday my husband and I have been married 7 years and we are still honeymooning despite the twists and turns, ups and downs, and detours that have been thrown our way.  And just so as to not make you too jealous I will tell you how we celebrated our anniversary.  My hubby got up early and played 9 holes of golf with one of his buddies, then he came home and we all went to church.  After church we all ate lunch at one of our favorites steak joints.  Came home had a nap . . . well, some of us napped and some of us played Super Mario.  Then we visited some friends had pie and ice cream, came home ate a light supper, put the boys to bed and were in bed and asleep ourselves before the 10 o'clock news.

Isn't that soooo romantic?!

But you know what, sometimes with the circumstances of this life, if that's the way it is then I'd be a fool not to count my blessings.  It truly was a very pleasant day, unhurried and unfettered by expectations and disappointments.

If you do have a boy or two in your house why not check out the M.O.B. Society for a little bit of encouragement and inspiration and "meet" some of the other moms out there and share in the journey.  And if you would like to play along for the boy mom blog hop click here and add your link to the list.

An Inquiring Mind Wants to Know

I have stated here on this blog several time in the past that HT likes to ask the question "Why?" and that he often asks it repeatedly.  I do try to answer his questions but I must admit that I can grow weary of them and every time I answer one he comes up with several follow up questions that sometimes . . . well it seems impossible to give him a satisfactory answer.

Lately I have been writing some of the questions down and I present them here today for your enjoyment and if any of you all can give me any pointers or perhaps give answering some of these questions a shot I would love your input.

"Mama, do spiders like mud? Do dey?"

"I don't know I've never asked a spider."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm big, spiders are little.

"Well if you're in da Thing-A-Majigger, you get small and den you can ask dem!"

::

"Mama, why don't spiders like water? Why?"

"I suppose they don't like getting their hair wet."

"Why can spiders hold lots of things? Why?"

"Maybe because they have eight legs."

"Why do dey have eight legs? Why?"

"So they can hold lots of things."

::

"Mama, do bugs need glasses? Do dey?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because they don't know how to read."

"What about when dey get old?"

::

"Mama, have you ever seen an ant poop?"

"Um . . .  no, nor do I want too.

"Why not?"

::

"Mama, what kind of blood do butterflies have?"

"Butterfly kind."

"Mama, do flowers need blood?"

"No, they need sunshine and rain."

::

"Mama, why do bananas need seeds? Why?"

"So they can grow more bananas."

::

"Mama, do big and taller boys be obedient?"

"Yes they do.  At least they're supposed to."

"Well I should smack dat other idea right out of my head!"

::

"Mama, do ghosts eat dust? Do dey?"

"No, ghosts don't eat anything."

"Why not?  What do dust eat?"

::

"Mama, what happens when people are swimming in da ocean, reading a book and teaching people how to read and get sucked down by a swirly-whirl?"

"They would probably drown."

"How come some swirly-whirls are big and some are little? I never see'd a big one."

::

"Mama, what's Gods phone number?"

"God doesn't have a phone number we can talk to him anytime.  That's what we are doing when we pray, talking to God."

"No, Mama, what's his phone number!?"

"1-800-PRAYER."

::

"Mama, why does sometimes when you bend over God sees your butt?  God can see through houses.  Did ya know dat?  Somebody told me dat but I can't remember who."

::

I asked him the other day why he asks so many questions and he told me, "God gives me questions at da night!"

Who Doesn't Love a Parade?

Some of you may not know this but yesterday was a local holiday.

It's the day when the majority religion in these here parts celebrate their arrival in this valley.  They call it Pioneer Day.  And might I put forth that some of them celebrate this holiday with more gusto, more vim and vigor than they do our countries Independence Day.  That's pretty much why we have had fireworks going off in the neighborhood since the end of June.

Despite yesterday being the official day they are celebrating today with parades all over the state.  (Our State's unofficial motto is "Never on Sunday").

So. . . yeah . . . who doesn't love a parade?

Don't get me wrong as a kid I couldn't wait to see the parade, the anticipation building, the excitement barely contained as I waited to get that first glimpse of glued and papered glory . . . and the chance to load up on salt water taffy that was sometimes hurled from the floats, kid nirvana.

But now the prospect of standing and/or sitting for an hour or more in the hot humid sun, while vying for position with the crowds for a clear view on the shady side of the street is not appealing.  The asphalt is radiating the heat of the day causing the thermometer to rise even higher and the sweat to trickle down our backs, while we watch extravagantly decorated motorized trailers covered with religious symbolism creep along the parade route interspersed with marching bands, hand carts, covered wagons, local dignitaries and certain religious leaders in vintage convertibles all pelting us with candy as they pass by.  Then there are the horses who leave behind meadow muffins on the pavement and the clowns with the super soakers spraying confetti into the crowd.  Inevitably despite my careful planning and packing of a bag with water bottles and sunscreen I leave it sitting at home on the kitchen counter.  I hide behind sunglasses in agony with a fake smile on my lips as the vein in my temple starts to pound in tempo with the passing marching band and my skin starts to turn a shade of red that only belongs on a buttered lobster and I have to keep reminding myself that we are doing this for our kids because we don't want to deny them the experience.

That's why when I heard that there was a parade float preview the other day in the large, well air conditioned exposition center I packed up the boys and went.

Wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Fun in the Sun

So how's your summer going?

Swimmingly I hope.

We have been busy, although it doesn't seem like we stray very far from home and we are always exhausted by the time we get back, even if it's just to play in the back yard.  The heat will do that to ya, ya know.

We have had play dates with friends, both old and new.

Found a new park in the middle of suburbia, with a pool and a little bit of wilderness.

Saw some cactus in bloom and identified some wildflowers, had a blast throwing rocks into the raging river and dipped our toes into an ice cold stream.  I had never really noticed how delicate and papery thin the flowers are on a cacti.

Had fun making "dinosaur skeletons" out of rocks and twigs.

Went to the zoo and saw some "real" dinosaurs and bones.

Rescued a gopher from the window well.  I think the time to put covers on the window wells is long past.  We have now rescued no fewer than three critters from its depths, a snake, a gopher and a baby skunk!

Fed some ducks, chased a chicken, "drove" a tractor.

We have even taken the time to stop and smell the roses.

And welcomed the rest that comes at the end of the day.

So, what have you been doing all summer?

Mercy

The bedtime routine at our house has evolved as the boys have gotten older.  We have tried to keep it somewhat consistent with a story book or two and sometimes a song or two.  There is one song in particular that gets more requests than any other and that is a hymn.

One that I learned as a girl, one that we used to sing in church.

One that was written by a man my parents knew and bound in a little hymnal with others that had been written by members of the congregation.

So it is one that only a handful of people may know.

HT calls it "Mercy" but that is not the title of the hymn.  It's called "Tell Me of Jesus".

And I have been singing it to HT since I first held him in my arms.

I was reading the blog of a friend a year or so ago and noticed that she had an Etsy shop.  That's when I discovered that she had a hidden talent.  A talent with pen and paper.  She was selling hand made cards in her shop with hymns that she had drawn on the front covers.

It took some doing but I found that little hymnal and I asked her to make me a picture.

When HT saw it and asked me what it was and I told him it was "Mercy" his eyes got all wide and he asked excitedly if we could hang it in his room.

I was happy to oblige.

Thanks Ann.e

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly

in all wisdom, 

teaching and admonishing one another

in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,

singing with grace in your hearts

to the Lord."

Colossians 3:16