Praise the Lord and Pass the Pizza

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My kids have the nostrils of a champion bloodhound. Unfortunately for me, they can sniff out the many things that I am desperately trying to hide, disguise, or otherwise keep them in the dark about.

Like my candy stash. Or chocolate. Because I want it all for myself and am trying to convince myself it's really for their own good ~ they really shouldn't eat it anyway, right (and somehow that makes it ok for me to inhale it all).

Our kids are usually in bed and asleep somewhere around the 7:30 to 8pm time frame. The other night it was 9:30 and we could hear Kaleb singing and shouting in his room, so I went in to tell him to be quiet.

I should probably 'preface' that to say that I had just eaten several yummy, warm chocolate chip cookies.

As I leaned over him and put my face right up next to his little face, I whispered, "Kaleb, you need to be very, very quiet. It's time to go to sleep."

To which he whispered back, "Chocolate."

Shoulda brushed my teeth first.

______________________________

Rick was gone last week on business and we headed to Costco for a quick dinner after he got home (because frankly, I was too pooped to cook). When Zachary realized we were heading towards Costco, he got all excited (and I really wish you could have heard the tone of his voice because we just laughed out loud)!

"Are we going to Costco for dinner?? Praise the LORD!! We are going to EAT!

Don't get me wrong ~ we love to praise Jesus, but it was said so evangelistic in style we had to laugh out loud! Because of a piece of pizza!

Head on over to Mary's at Not Before 7 for some more Tiny Talk Tuesday!!

My Life Summed Up by Bryan Adams

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My friend Crystal sent me a few questions to answer with one little stipulation: use only song titles from ONE artist to cleverly answer the questions below. Took me a little bit (especially since she took the coveted U2 titles..ahem), but I finally warmed up to Bryan Adams and had a little fun too!

1. Are you a male or female? She's Got a Way

2. Describe yourself: She's Only Happy When She's Dancing

3. How do you feel about yourself? 18 Til I Die

4. Describe your ex boyfriend: Win Some, Lose Some

5. Describe your current boy/girl situation: All I Want is You...and...We Found What We Were Looking For

6. Describe your current location: Here I am ...and... Home Again

7. Describe where you want to be: Heaven

8. Your best friend is: I'll Always Be Right There

9. Your favorite color is: Black Pearl

10. You know that: We're Gonna Win

11. What's the weather like? Summer of '69

12. If your life was a television show what would it be called? (Everywhere I Go) Kids Wanna Rock

13. What is life to you? I Do it For YOU

14. What is the best advice you have to give? The Best Was Yet to Come

15. If you could change your name, what would it be? Star

On My Nightstand: April Week 1

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That fiction is flying, I tell ya! Thanks to a nice plane ride down to Puerto Rico, a rainy day without a car, and then just plain quiet...I polished off 5 books in 3 days. And as I'm pulling together this list from the last 2 weeks I rather surprised to see that I read 8 books! That little fact just amazes me - I know I didn't have any kiddos with me for some of that time, but it's been a loooooong time since I've focused that much attention on reading!

Pure heaven!

I even managed to delve a little into a non-fiction book (can you believe it?).

Here are the books that I've read in the last 2 weeks:

~ The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks. This is probably one of the books I've enjoyed the most lately by Nicholas Sparks. Not sure why exactly, but it wasn't quite as predictable as some of his others.

~ A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks. Quick read but a bit predictable - doesn't mean I didn't like it!

~ The Choice by Nicholas Sparks. Ok, I take it back. I really enjoyed this one even more than the other two {grins}. But another quick read for vacation

~ Blue Shoes and Happiness and The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith. These two are the seventh and eighth book in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. If you haven't read any of them, I would really recommend them to you. The books take place in Botswana and although they involve various mysteries, they are much more about the lives and adventures of the various characters. I still have 2 more to read in this series and then I will look into some of his other series too since I've enjoyed these so much!

~ The Butterfly Farm by Diane Noble. Interesting read, but not necessarily one of my favorites. I will look into some of her other books because I do like her style of writing....just the story line was a bit far-fetched in this one. :)

~ Twilight and New Moon by Stephanie Meyer. These books seemed so intimidating size-wise but I polished one off on our plane trip down to Puerto Rico. And then quickly hurried to the library for the next one. There are still two more in the series and now I just need to wait til the library gets them in! I wasn't too sure about the whole vampire thing, but I am liking them a lot (for me, not my kids :).

Be sure to visit 5 Minutes for Books and their monthly meme called "What's on Your Nightstand?"

Here's the current stack next to my bed (and if the library calls...you know there will be another one or two added to the pile!):

• Daisy Chain - Mary DeMuth
• Grace Based Parenting - Dr. Tim Kimmel
  
• Finding Favor with the King: Daily Inspirations- Tenney
• Finding Favor with the King - Tenney
  

What books have you found recently that you are enjoying? (Like I need any other distractions!!)

The Itty-Bitty Winner is....

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FIRST (before posting the name of the winner) I have to tell you all how much you have blown me away with your enthusiasm for this giveaway. Between this blog and my homeschool blog there were 119 entries!! And another HUGE thank you to Itty-Bitty Bookworm for being immensely generous in giving away a Year 1 of Bo's Curriculum!

I've been reading your comments and I truly wish that I could bless each and every one of you, but there could only be one winner. The comments from both blogs were all timestamped and using the random number generator to help me be completely unbiased I am happy to announce the following winner:

Congratulations to Heartfelt Homemaking on winning the first year of Bo's Curriculum from Itty-Bitty Bookworm! I know that you are going to love it as much as I do!

Little Dorrit on PBS Masterpiece

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Have you been watching the series "Little Dorrit" on PBS Masterpiece Theatre? If you loved period dramas, you might enjoy this series based on the book by Charles Dickens. If you missed the first (or any) episodes they've shown, PBS has the first episode available online if you follow this link to Masterpiece.

"Amy "Little" Dorrit lives in the Marshalsea Prison for Debt caring for her father William Dorrit. To aid her family, Amy works for stern shut-in Mrs. Clennam. Son Arthur Clennam returns from China after his father's death, haunted by his father's final, mysterious words. Is there a long-buried family secret and does it somehow involve Amy and her family?"

Little Dorrit is based on the book by Charles Dickens, who as you know wrote several other masterpieces {grins}. PBS has also been showing some other mini-series based on his books over the last few months during their 'classics' showing. This mini series is going to be about 450 minutes long (the DVD is being released at the end of April).

If you perhaps fell asleep during the first five minutes of the series due to your allergy medication {ahem}, the online viewing is a pretty handy little feature!

A Little Scenery for You...

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Since I was alone for some of our time in Puerto Rico (Rick had to work), it was just me and the camera ~ and self portraits aren't my thing.

Translation: Much scenery + my camera = Could be boring for you.

But as I'm looking back over the pictures, I'm struck by how creative and amazing our God is.

The little tiny shells up close and then more in perspective...

And how much He cares for even the smallest creatures around.
(Do you see the teeny, tiny hermit crab I almost stepped on?)

The detail and variety that He gave to seemingly insignificant things...like flowers.