HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We celebrated Halloween at our Ward Halloween Party.  It was AWESOME!

I think it was the best Ward Halloween Party we've ever been to! Not the usual stuff.  First of all, they held out outside... partly on the baseball field and partly in the parking lot adjecent to the field.  There was face painting, bean bag toss, "fishing" in the kiddy pool, a huge bounce house, a Halloween piñata, and all sorts of other games for the kids.  Of course, all the kids, and many of the adults, were dresed up in their costumes!  The adults had a chili cook-off/contest.  We had 17 different kinds of chili.  I, personally, only took one tablespoon of each kind, and I was STUFFED by the end!  There were about 4 or 5 different kinds of cornbread to go along with it, and also grilled hot dogs, apple cobbler, brownies, and other desserts.  The kids got "prizes" for all the games (that being candy) and so they got to go home and eat sweets again!  The weather was gorgeous!  Just perfect!  By the time the sun went down, we were ready to leave. So we all helped pick up, pack up, and ship out.  Tons of fun!

After the Ward Halloween Party, we came home to carve our own pumpkin! Emily was DYING to carve a real pumpkin, and since we hadn't done it in about 12 years, we decided it was time to do it. All kids deserve the experience of carving a pumpkin!  So here is Emily's first try at it!

 

Not too shabby, huh?  I helped her with the teeth, the top-right bone, and the nose area, as well as the lid and teaching her how to clean out the inside.  Bob helped her with the bottom-left bone.  But she did the rest.  It was fun!  And this was our first "fancy" carved pumpkin!  Usually we just drew our own drawings and carved them, but Emily wanted this skull and bones. Go figure!

Last weekend, we celebrated Emily's 9th birthday at Amazing Jake's. Here are some pictures from that event.

 This is the (actually yummy) food at Amazing Jake's that SAT on the table for what seemed like an eternity, while I had to run around and take care of the kids, the questions, and making sure things went ok.  I FINALLY got to eat it.  After it got cold. That tomato-basil pizza was to die for!

The birthday girl with her friends.... (and Jonathan hiding in the background!)

Riding the Merry-go-Round!

 

I think this was one of the biggest hits!  She had been wanting a "Zumbuddy" for the past 2 or 3 months! I guess it was the "toy du jour!" One of her best friends got it for her! Can you tell she's happy? (heehee!)

 

Then we came home and Emily got to open the family gifts. (No, she didn't get two yellow Zumbuddies! She just couldn't put it down! heehee!)

She had a wonderful day, and got tons of gifts which she LOVES and is crazy about!  I guess it doesn't get better than that when you're 9 years old, does it?

I LOVE THIS QUOTE

The truth oozes from this quote by Elder Boyd K. Packer:

"History demonstrates over and over again that moral standards cannot be changed by battle and cannot be changed by ballot. To legalize that which is basically wrong or evil will not prevent the pain and penalties that will follow as surely as night follows day."

There's been a lot of hype lately over his talk at this last General Conference.  The truth is always hard to take.

You can click HERE to read his talk.

Have a great day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Well, yes, I'm another year older today.  Funny thing is, I feel like I'm still 25.  Time is a funny thing.  You live your whole life (when you're young) thinking about the future and "what will become of me?"  Then, somewhere along the way, life just 'happens' to you. You get your college degree, you get married and/or start your career, you may have children, you are busy, busy, busy with those children for the rest of their lives.... and it never stops.  But somewhere in there, amidst all that "life" that is happening, your mind now shares space with "what used to be of me" right along with what's left of "what will become of me?"

I have this feeling that one day, before we realize it, our minds will be fully consumed with "what became of me!"  And I hope there's an exclamation point at the end of that sentence, rather than a question mark! :9)

I love my life.  I have been blessed beyond measure.  I have the greatest husband in the world for ME.  He is perfect for me... still!  God knew what He was doing when He told us both to marry!  And I am so thankful I listened to Him!  We have three beautiful, intelligent, smart, capable children who have great things in store for them that the Lord sent them to earth for.  I look forward to seeing their own lives unfold and see "what will become of them?"

I was blessed with wonderful, strong, giving parents.  They were not perfect. Neither are we.  But they LOVED us, and we children knew it beyond  a shadow of a doubt.  From my Father I learned that it is never too late to change and improve. That old dogs really CAN learn new tricks!  It just takes you making up your mind to do it.  From my Mother I learned to have faith and never, ever, give up.  The sun will always come out again tomorrow.  Tomorrow is a new day.  It is always darkest right before the dawn, so don't give up! Time has a way of healing all wounds, and things have a way of always getting better.

My parents died when I was 29.  Now I am 46. Ten more years and I will be the same age my mother was when she died.  That is surreal to me.  I miss them.  Especially on special days like birthdays, Christmas, Mother's/Father's Day, and special occasions.  I know they see me and keep a watchful eye over me and my family. I know they see all that is going on - with all their kids.  I just wish I could see THEM.  I wish I could FEEL their skin on mine - hugging me.

Happy birthday to me.

Today will be a normal day.  Getting school done with the kids.  But hopefully Bob will take me out for dinner somewhere! ;9)  Maybe we can even watch a movie together at home.  That's another funny thing.  When we were younger it was "the thing" to leave our home and go "out" for a date.  Now, it is more cozy to STAY HOME for a date.  Sometimes we prefer to send the kids to the dollar theater so that we can stay home ALONE and enjoy our home and our 'togetherness' without anyone else around for a change.  Funny how life changes things.

I love my life.  I have a good life.  I have much I still hope to do and improve about myself.  I want to be more Christ-like.  Less judgmental. More merciful.  A peacemaker.  I want to learn, learn, learn as much as I can about all sorts of things.  I particularly enjoy learning about the Lord's Gospel, politics, history, Geography, Space, America, our bodies/health, how to be a better parent, and so much more.  I love to learn new things.  I love to learn languages and all about people and their cultures.  I love psychology, music, and art. I love nature, the seasons, flowers, and aromatherapy smells.  Particularly Menthol, Eucalyptus, Lavender, Vanilla, Evergreen, and Patchouli. :9)

I love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, above all else.  Secondly, I love my husband.  Thirdly, I love my children.  Everyone else comes after those.  I am so thankful to have made it this far in life, and to have learned all I have learned this far.

If there is anything I would leave the world in terms of 'wisdom'.... well, there are way too many quotes for that.  But here are a few... OK, many...  of my favorites. :9)  It will give you a "glimpse" into my own soul:

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." - Eleanor Roosevelt

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows. It empties today of its strength." - Corrie Ten Boom

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." - Corrie Ten Boom

"Even as the angry vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him....Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness...And so I discovered that it is not our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on His.  When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives along with the command, the love itself." - Corrie Ten Boom

"A coward is much more exposed to quarrels than a man of spirit." - Thomas Jefferson

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." - Thomas Jefferson

"No freeman shall be debarred the use of arms." - Thomas Jefferson

"Be polite to all, but intimate with few." - Thomas Jefferson

"You wouldn't worry so much about what other people think of you, if you knew how seldom they do!" - my mother

"You cannot have a rainbow without the rain!" - my mother

"A home without books is a body without soul." - Marcus Tullius Cicero

"Ability without honor is useless." - Marcus Tullius Cicero

"No $2 prayer will receive a $2,000,000 answer." - anonymous

"Nature soon takes over if the Gardener is absent." - Anonymous

"If you choose to follow Christ, you will not have many friends." - me

"No other success can compensate for failure in the home." - David O. McKay

"The Lord works from the inside out.  The world works from the outside in.  The world would take people out of the slums.  Christ would take the slums out of the people, and then they would take themselves out of the slums.  The world would mold men by changing their environment.  Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature." - Ezra Taft Benson

"When you put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives." - Ezra Taft Benson

"When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power." - Ezra Taft Benson

"Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right." - Ezra Taft Benson

"True repentance involves a change of heart and not just a change of behavior." - Ezra Taft Benson

"The tenth plank in Karl Marx's Manifesto for destroying our kind of civilization advocated the establishment of "free education for all children in public schools."  There were several reasons why Marx wanted government to run the schools...one of them [was that] 'It is capable of exact demonstration that if every party in the State has the right of excluding from public schools whatever he does not believe to be true, then he that believes most must give way to him that believes least, and then he that believes least must give way to him that believes absolutely nothing, no matter in how small a minority the atheists or agnostics may be.'
"It is self-evident that on this scheme, if it is consistently and persistently carried out in all parts of the country, the United States system of national popular education will be the most efficient and widespread instrument for the propagation of atheism which the world has ever seen." - Ezra Taft Benson

"The great task of life is to learn the will of the Lord and then do it." - Ezra Taft Benson

"Rights are either God-given as part of the divine plan, or they are granted by government as part of the political plan. If we accept the premise that human rights are granted by government, then we must be willing to accept the corollary that they can be denied by government. I, for one, shall never accept that premise." - Ezra Taft Benson

"It is the mark of a truly educated man to know what not to read." - Ezra Taft Benson

"Testimony is to now and to feel. Conversion is to do and to become." - Dallin H. Oaks

"You can never get enough of what you don't need, because what you don't need won't satisfy you." - Dallin H. Oaks

"If we choose the wrong road, we choose the wrong destination." - Dallin H. Oaks

"Tolerance obviously requires a non-contentious manner of relation toward one another's differences.  But tolerance does not require abandoning one's standards or one's opinions on political or public policy choices. Tolerance is a way of reacting to diversity, not a command to insulate it from examination." - Dallin H. Oaks

"A woman with a mother heart has a testimony of the restored Gospel, and she teaches the principles of the Gospel without equivocation. She is keeping sacred covenants made in holy temples. Her talents and skills are shared unselfishly. She gains as much education as her circumstances will allow, improving her mind and spirit with the desire to teach what she learns to the generations who follow her." - Julie B. Beck

"It is not possible to make real change all by ourselves. Our own will power and our own good intentions are not enough. When we make mistakes or choose poorly, we must have the help of our Savior to get back on track. We partake of the sacrament week after week to show our faith in His power to change us. We confess our sins and promise to forsake them." - Julie B. Beck

"Try a little harder to be a little better." - Gordon B. Hinckley

"If life gets too hard to stand, kneel." - Gordon B. Hinckley

"You have not failed until you quit trying." - Gordon B. Hinckley


"Cultivate an attitude of happiness.  Cultivate a spirit of optimism. Walk with faith, rejoicing in the beauties of nature, in the goodness of those you love, in the testimony which you carry in your heart concerning things divine." - Gordon B. Hinckley

"Be grateful, be smart, be clean, be true, be humble, be prayerful." - Gordon B. Hinckley

"Get on your knees and pray, then get on your feet and work." - Gordon B. Hinckley

"If we could follow the slogan that says, "Turn off the TV and open a good book" we would do something of substance for a future generation." - Gordon B. Hinckley

"The willingness to forgive is a sign of spiritual and emotional maturity.  It is one of the great virtues to which we all should aspire. Imagine a world filled with individuals willing both to apologize and to accept an apology. Is there any problem that could not be solved among people who possessed the humility and largeness of spirit and soul to do either -- or both -- when needed?" - Gordon B. Hinckley

"Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds." - Gordon B. Hinckley

"When I say do your best, I mean your very best. You are capable of so much more." - Gordon B. Hinckley

"The remedy for most marital stress is not in divorce. It is in repentance and forgiveness, in sincere expressions of charity and service. It is not in separation. It is in simple integrity that leads a man and a woman to square up their shoulder and meet their obligations. It is found in the Golden Rule, a time-honored principle that should first and foremost find expression in marriage." - Gordon B. Hinckley

"Forget yourself and get to work." - Gordon B. Hinckley's father

"Gratitude is a sign of maturity...Where there is appreciation: there is also courtesy and concern for the rights and property of others." - Gordon B. Hinckley

"I feel to invite women everywhere to rise to the great potential within you. I do not ask that you reach beyond your capacity. I hope you will not nag yourselves with thoughts of failure. I hope you will not try to set goals far beyond your capacity to achieve. I hope you will simply do what you can do in the best way you know. If you do so, you will witness miracles come to pass." - Gordon B. Hinckley

"If we are worried about the future, then we must look today at the upbringing of children." - Gordon B. Hinckley

"We should not assume; however, that just because something is unexplainable by us, it is unexplainable." - Neal A. Maxwell

"I thank the Savior personally; for bearing all which I added to His hemorrhaging at every pore for all humanity in Gethsemane. I thank Him for bearing what I added to the decibels of His piercing soul cry atop Calvary." - Neal A. Maxwell

"You are free to make your own stupid decisions." - Bob Nine

UNIVERSAL LAWS

I needed laughter today, and I got this in my email box from a dear, sweet friend.  Thank you, Sharon.  Good timing!


1. Law of Mechanical Repair - After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to pee.

2. Law of Gravity - Any tool, nut, bolt, screw, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.

3. Law of Probability -The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act

4. Law of Random Numbers - If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal and someone always answers.

5. Law of the Alibi - If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire.

6. Variation Law - If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now (works every time).

7. Law of the Bath - When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings.

8. Law of Close Encounters -The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.

9. Law of the Result - When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will.

10. Law of bio mechanics - The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

11.. Law of the Theater and Hockey Arena - At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle, always arrive last.  They are the ones who will leave their seats several times to go for food, beer, or the toilet and who leave early before the end of the performance or the game is over. The folks in the aisle seats come early, never move once, have long gangly legs or big bellies, and stay to the bitter end of the performance.  The aisle people also are very surly folk.

12. The Coffee Law - As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.

13. Murphy's Law of Lockers - If there are only two people in a locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.

14. Law of Physical Surfaces - The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich landing face down on a floor, are directly correlated to the newness and cost of the carpet or rug.

15. Law of Logical Argument - Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.

16. Brown's Law of Physical Appearance - If the clothes fit, they're ugly.

17. Oliver's Law of Public Speaking - A closed mouth gathers no feet.

18. Wilson's Law of Commercial Marketing Strategy - As soon as you find a product that you really like, they will stop making it.

19. Doctors' Law - If you don't feel well, make an appointment to go to the doctor, by the time you get there you'll feel better. But don't make an appointment, and you'll stay sick.

WHICH PART IS MINE?

As a wife, a mother, and especially a homeschooling mother, I often have sleepless nights wondering if I'm doing all I can? Am I hurting my family in any way my not doing something I should, or by doing something I shouldn't? When is my 'best' good enough? What IS good enough? When should I do it all and when should I rely more on Heavenly Father? Which part of this issues is mine and which part is God's?  Which part is mine, and which part is my child's?  Which part is mine and which part is my husband's?

Today, I was deeply hurt by something one of my children said to me. It cut so swiftly and so deeply and so quickly that I could nothing more than just cry. This child felt badly immediately and apologized over and over. But the cut had been made.  Now it was time to let it bleed and heal.  I went to my room, and needed time alone. As I cried, I poured out my heart to God, and literally asked Him "Do you hear me? Are you there?  Are you listening?  Please let me know you are aware of me and how much I'm hurting!" 

Somehow I finally mustered the strength to just pull myself up and go shower.  I heard the faint echo of my mother's counsel from long ago: "If you shower and clean up, it'll help you feel better."  It did.  A bit.

Still a bit somber though, after I was done readying myself, I came back out and spoke with that child and said I DO forgive them.  It's just going to take some time right now to heal my heart, because is was broken. 

As I pressed on with my day, I felt that I needed to read an article from my "homepage", Meridian Magazine online.  So I went to my homepage and began reading over the titles of the articles from yesterday and today.  One stood out.  "Which Part Is Mine?" by Michael McLean, who just so happens to also be one of my favored LDS musicians/composers. 

As I read the article, my heart was filled, and my eyes turned into leaky faucetts.  It was the exact answer from the Lord that I needed.  I knew, yet again...... yet again! that, YES!, He IS aware of me.  He DOES listen to me.  He DOES care about me.  He DOES know what I'm going through.  And He will help me through it, if I only "let Him".

The article mentions: "...and not knowing if and/or when you’ve done enough can really make you yearn for answers to life’s big questions like “which part is mine, and which part is Yours?” Yet when you’ve been struggling for a long time, and wondering if anyone up there knows what you’re going through, and then you feel that closeness, it’s so healing you don’t ever want it to leave. It’s curious to me that what often brings the comfort is not a specific answer to a question, but knowing you are actually being heard."

That is EXACTLY what my heart has been feeling this past week, month, year.  I need to know that someone knows and cares and understands.  I said just those words to my dear, tired, and SLEEPY husband last night!  I need to talk, to share.  I need to know you care and understand.  I need to know someone is aware of my strugles and empathizes.  (I actually told him I need a wife! You know, Men are from Mars and don't really understand us Venutians, much less empathize with us!)

So, I thought I should capture this moment on my blog. I'm not sure why.  I guess to testify to the world that GOD LIVES, and He answers prayers, and that no matter how much we may be struggling, just to know that He is there, guiding, protecting, watching over, UNDERSTANDING and EMPATHIZING - makes it all worth while.

Being a mother, and especially a homeschooling mother, is a thankless job.  But I know that feel again today what I have felt many times in years past:  My Heavenly Father thanks me!  Because I'm raising His children, and teaching them, and I am doing the very best I can with His help.  So long as I have His help, I can't go wrong.

That doesn't mean I'm perfect, nor that everything will turn out peachy.  It means things will turn out as He already knew they would, because He knows each of us, His children, so very well.  Yesterday at church there was a talk by our High Councilman and he said that what we think might be "weaknesses" that we have, God may not see them as weaknesses.  What matters to Him is that we spiritually draw close to Him, read our scritpures, say our prayers, and do our best.  He helps us take care of the rest.  I know that's true.

My sould has received some balm in Gilead today.  Thank you Michael McLean - for that song, and for the precisely timed article.  It is what I call "Divine coincidence" that was published at this precise moment in time... right when Father in Heaven knew I would need it.

I thank THEE, Heavenly Father! For today, I know now which part is mine, and which is Thine!

(if you go HERE, you can read the article, and at the end you can listen to McLean's beautiful song "Which Part Is Mine?"  It's inspiring!)

WE WENT ON A STAYCATION!!

OK - so when Bob and Jonathan were gone for two whole weeks on Philmont, I pondered at that very time how it is that each and every month Bob gets to go on a "vacation" because he goes camping every single month with the Scouts. And for him, camping with the Scouts IS a vacation!  Then I thought: "when was the last time I went on vacation?"  The answer: 2005.  FIVE YEARS AGO! :'(  That made me sad.  I LOVE to travel. I am a travel agent by profession, and I always had the dream that half of my children's education would be through travel.

Well, the Lord evidently had a different plan. It's ok.  But I still need a break every so often.  This past week, after I broke down in front of the kids (after one of them had the courage to tell us that life isn't fair and that we should be nicer) and had a crying/raising my voice session of "don't you tell me what's fair or not fair, and don't you tell me about needing a break!" - it became very obvious that the time for that "break" for me had come!
So, Bob and I decided to take a "Staycation" - a vacation right here at home, where we take all day and at as if we're in a hotel, visiting another place and we eat out and tour around all day.  So that is what we did this past Saturday.
We slept in, then got up and ready and went to IHOP for BRUNCH.

After that we headed to the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science - an awesome place to go with your kids!  The main exhibit was "WATER" and we also watched the IMAX movie "ALASKA".  I think that's the first time I've ever seen an IMAX movie that was cute, interesting, AND FUNNY!

We saw dinosaur bones, Bears, Fish, Birds, and plants. We learned all about water and how it affects life on Earth.

 
 Emily loved doing a floor puzzle of Earth, and the kids especially looked forward to one of their favorite activities there:  BUBBLES, BUBBLES, AND MORE BUBBLES!!!

 Emily looked forward to playing with the ducks in their "pool"!

Daddy was looking to see if the "milk bags" were full.  Nope.  No more "milking" 'ol Bessy. And why Jonathan and Jessica put on these silly NASA hats beats me!

 Emily loved the penny swirling down into the center of the dish, and Jessica had fun playing optical illusions with the mirror. "Look Ma! No legs!"

It was bearable in the shade that day.  A mere 100F instead of the 105F in the sun! 

Bob and Emily had a wonderful, relaxing time on the Swan Paddle Boats, and we all just had a wonderful time.  Here are some more pictures of our day.








 After the Museum, we headed to Joe's Crab Shack (another favorite) for dinner (and dessert!)...

... and more FUN TIMES!!!

Then we ended our wonderful day with a movie, "Despicable Me".  The movie was cute, funny, and entertaining.

We came home, showered, and crashed into bed!  We were tuckered out!  But we had a wonderful "Staycation" together - more fun family times, and more memories built.  That is what makes it all worth it!  And today, we still had those great memories floating around in our head!  It was a wonderful, needed "day off" - especially for ME!

CONGRATULATIONS TO JEFF AND DIANA!!!

My cousin, Jeff, just got married last night.  The wedding took place at his parent's home (where I have MANY childhood memories) in Salt Lake City.  I wish SO bad that I could have been there! :(  I was really SAD to miss this occassion.  There were so many "new" family members there that I wish I could have met (new babies, marriages, etc. over the years).  But, alas, it was not meant to be.  But here is their announcement.  I think they are a cute couple and look very happy together!  Congratulations Jeff and Diana!  Our family wishes you all the very BEST!!!

MY FIRST BORN TURNS 20!

Our Jessica just turned 20 yesterady! I can hardly believe it. Where did the time go that I thought I 'd have?   We celebrate as a family by taking the birthday child out for dinner at a place of their choice. This year Jessica chose The Rainforest Cafe. 

It's a really fun place with decent food.  It's like you're inside a Rainforest and every few minutes the "animals" come to "life" and move and make LOUD noises! We even had "Cha Cha" the Tree Frog stop by and we got a photo of him with Jessica!

We also had the coolest glasses that "sparkled" underneath with multi-colored lights going on and off. It was a FUN drink! (You may not be able to 'see' all the colors in the photo. Trust me, it was pretty!)

Emily was pretty scared of the elephants.  Bob tried to DRAG her over to them, but she started crying and saying "NO!" really loud, so he finally let her go, and just he went over and stoof by them, trying to show her they're not real. lol!

After the dinner, Jessica was "surprised" by the crew having her stand on her chair and dance to "Happy Birthday to You!" while flapping her "wings" like a toucan!  That was followed by a HUGE and YUMMY "Volcano Cake" with brownies, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, caramel, fudge, and topped with an "eruption" of sparkling tinsle!

We had a great time.  It was good to be together as a family again.  Jessica has moved back home and is trying to straighten her life out and make better choices.  We're hoping to support that as best we can.  It's hard to be a young adult in today's world if your values and standards are that much higher than the world's.  But then again, the Lord's people have never fit easily into "the world."  Be IN the world, but not OF the world.

I love my family.  I am so blessed.  I have the greatest husband.  In the almost 22 yrs of marriage, he has never once complained about a weakness of mine. He has never corrected me or chastised me, telling me that I need to better in this area or that.  He fully supports anything that I want or need to do, and he trusts me completely, as I trust him.  I'm so thankful for that. He is truly my best friend.  I cannot imagine life without him. I hope I never have to. I hope we'll die together when the time comes.  Although that will be twice as hard on the kids, at least they will only have to experience it once - much like what I had to do, and I am thankful I don't have to go through that again!

Goodnight world.  Off to be with my family!

LOST

We have been TV-free for 7 years this month!  It has made such HUGE difference in our family life.  We not only have more time and less fights over interruptions of TV shows, but we also have a better Spirit in our home because there's so much less worldliness from the TV shows and the commercials.

That being said, we did "find" the TV seasons of LOST on Netflix about 4 weeks ago.

I began watching it as a fluke when I was home alone one night and felt like watching something new.  I got hooked, I think, after the first episode!  That following week, I invited Jonathan to watch it with me.  So he and I have turned this in to a "mother/son" bonding activity each night.  After Bob and Emi go to bed, we watch LOST.  That has worked fine and dandy until we finished season 5 (last year's season) and season 6 isn't on DVD yet.  We've been going nuts trying to find it somewhere on the internet.

FINALLY we found the site that has all the seasons, including this last season 6.  The website is http://www.cucirca.com/ and it has worked fine.  The quality of movie isn't too great.  It's rather fuzzy and choppy.  But it  works well enough to watch it, if you're as desperate as we are to watch the final season.  HOWEVER... there is one little glitch: you can only watch 72 minutes worth of streaming before the website requires you to take a 54 minutes break.  So we get about 1 1/2 episodes in, then have to start over.  When we went back today (after watching 1 1/2 episodes last night), we fast forwarded to the middle of that episode (since we'd already seen it last night).  Well, guess what?  IT COUNTS THOSE MINUTES! :'(  We are so bummed!  So we waiting our 54 minutes (doing much needed other things like chores and schoolwork) and then we shall resume watching it.  Ahhhhh!!!  I'm pulling my hair out!  

Ok, truth be told, I will survive just fine without ever watching the last of LOST.  But since I don't ever get to go on vacations, I never get a day off as CEO (Chief Everything Officer around my home) and since I NEED a break every once in a while, I am indulging in LOST and allowing myself the pure pleasure of purposefully addicting myself to it while it lasts. :)

So.... I'm thinking perhaps of watching "24" after LOST is done.... or do you have any other recommendations?

It HAS been a FUN time watching this series with Jonathan.  We have our treats, and enjoy the laughs and the guessing games of who's who and what's what as we work our way through the episodes.  I love sharing "free" time with my kids - where homework and chores don't need to get done, and there's no parent/child conflict.  It's a time we can just relax and play and laugh together without any other pressures.  I love it!

Facebook vs Blogspot

Why is it that we start something and then never finish it?  I started this blog a few years ago and really enjoy posting.  But it seems that Facebook has kind of taken over the blogging world and everyone logs in to Facebook daily, whereas those same people do not log in to friends' blogs daily.  I much prefer the blogs, because it's private and more "you" than facebook.  But EVERYONE is on facebook and it's hard to post on TWO 'blogs': facebook and blogspot.  So what should I do?  Hmmm..... thinking, thinking, thinking,.....

If you have any ideas, let me know. I really only have time to blog in ONE place.  which one?