My Friend and Her Crazy Notions

Let this be a learning experience for all of us:

When you get all caught up in New Year's resolutions,

and eagerly buy stuff online, with pipe-dreams in tow, they take you seriously

and send you your order.

They don't chuckle and say, "Oh, sure...you're going to keep your resolution...

sure you are..." then wad up your order and throw it in the trash.

They don't do that.

They go right ahead and send it to you.

Never mind the fact that by January 11th, you've all but long forgotten about it.

But, no...you open your mailbox, and like a punch in the gut,

there it is.

That's what happened to a friend of mine.

I'll keep you posted on this...

 

Dodging Possums and Bad Bras

Here's a list of things that I've done this week, thus far:


1.  Wore a new bra that was not only NOT an 18-hour bra...but wasn't even a two-hour-and-fifteen-minute bra.  (Could not wait to fling that thing across the room at the end of the day!)

2.  I almost stepped on a frozen possum while feeding my chickens.  Long story.

3.  Held up the pick-up line at school because I had to clean up a pile of poo that my little Oliver left for me under the seat.  (Rethinking his liberties while going bye-bye with me.)

4.  I received this shipment of DELICIOUSNESS!

I'm not much of a candy bar person, but I'm telling you, THESE are such a wonderful treat that I had to buy a whole pack of them (I only eat a few six or seven squares a day...so they will last a good long time, and well worth the price!).  And now they're neatly hidden away, just for ME.  Buy some for yourself.  You'll thank me!  Go here:

(Six BIG bars!  And cheaper than Whole Foods. ;)

5.  I started following my sister's new fitness blog!  You should too! 

6.  I woke up at 2 AM on Tuesday, with THE worst tummy ache, then hurled it all away, again and again.  UGH!  I spent the whole day in bed, completely wiped out.

7.  And thanks to #6, I am well on my way to crossing off my weight-loss resolution.  Haha, take THAT, diet and exercise!

8.  I'm back up and running now and ready to face today!


That's all.  And that's enough!  I hope YOUR week is going splendidly.  And never forget, life is too short for uncomfortable bras, a lack of chocolate, or dodging frozen possums.  You can quote me on that.

Love you, deary friends!!

work, work, and more work!

Well, guess what?  I have a job interview this afternoon!  Just a little part-time gig for an work-at-home research thing.  But I tell ya, I am so second-guessing myself on taking on one more thing.  Am I crazy?  I'm thinking so.  Because here's the jobs I've got going on so far:  (NOT TO MENTION ALL THE MOTHERING AND WIFING!) 


1.  I bake for people every single week:

2.  I do hair:

(Can you even stand this picture??  This was Isaiah's first haircut that I gave him after we brought him home.  Oh my goodness.  He's just too cute!!)

3.  I am a cute waitress at a unique eating establishment:

And now this new opportunity.  Goodness, goodness.  We shall see!  

But for now, I gotta go take care of my chickens.  

Have a fabulous Wednesday, folks!

It's Good Being Me {this week}!

Well, how ya doing, guys?  I am SO FINE!  The last two days I have literally been TOTALLY ALONE.  As in, no kids!!  No kids at all.  Big boys are at work all day, Eli is at camp, the other three are at my parents' lake house.  Leaving me, ALL ALONE!!!

Here's what I've been doing:


Shopping (ALONE)!!

Lying on a beach towel in my yard (ALONE) (while my toes take over the universe!)!!

I've also been doing a few miscellaneous chores, but only because it's the right thing to do...because, after all, I've been complaining all summer long that I can't get anything done around here because of all these blasted kids. 


My plans for this afternoon are:  Go to the little local farm store to buy chicken feed and chat it up with the gals that work there.  Then maybe take a nap.  Then probably watch a few things on my DVR.  Then, maybe I'll throw something together for dinner.  Then lie down on the couch after all those exhausting activities!


It's a good week to be me, friends! 

Gotcho Day, Gardening, and Extreme Wax Buildup

 Here's what's been happening in my little corner of paradise!


First off, we just celebrated Lucy's 6th Gotcha Day on Sunday (or as Isaiah calls it, Gotcho Day).  It's soooo hard to believe how fast time flies.  She's ours through and through, that's for sure!

  

Also...

My garden is well underway and is growing like crazy!  As are the weeds.  I put in a hearty half-hour hoeing and whatnot the other day and decided right then and there that I never would have survived the covered wagon days.  With every drip of sweat I kept telling myself that there are farmers' markets all around...who needs this!  And, this work was simply unnecessary!  And that vegetables are overrated!  Then I decided that hard work was good for me and I should shut up take my frustrations out on the weeds! 

So after that sweat-fest, I had to go to my paying job.  And as I was setting up for dinner at my very unique eating establishment where I work, my left ear started ringing and was plugged up something awful.  I had felt a bit of this the day before, but now it was really bad.  I texted K-Man and asked him to pray because there was simply no way I could work like that...and there was no way I could bail.  The minute he sent back a text saying he was praying, my ear popped and cleared and felt WONDERFUL again.  I was SO thankful for that!

Fast forward to the next day (Sunday), my ear was bad again and never got better.  I finally decided this morning (Tuesday) that I couldn't handle the discomfort anymore...and I was certain that my family was tired of me saying, "WHAT?  What did you say?  Did you say something?? Speak up, Sonny, I can't HEAR you!"  I got an appointment really quick, thankfully.  The doctor right away declared that I had some pretty massive earwax built up in my cranium.  (I was elated!  If there's two things I love, it's puss and wax!)  So the nurse got to work unplugging me.  And she oooohed and awwwwed at what she pulled out.  The biggest wad of wax she'd ever seen!  I've always been a bit of an overachiever, not to brag.  I felt INSTANT relief and I told her that she was my new bestest friend forever!  She laughed and told me I was so cute.  Then she flushed my ear with warm water and we're forever bonded from that special moment.  It was better than a spa treatment, it was.

I skipped away, paid my co-pay, which was THE BEST twenty bucks I have ever spent, and went merrily home.  And I'm here to tell you that I feel like a brand new woman. 

The End.


Wasn't that the most inspiring story you've ever heard??   I should say so.


I hope you have a fabulous Tuesday, folks!  And may your ears be forever cleared from extreme wax buildup. 

My New Life

Oh, friends.  I learned a very valuable lesson last week.  Here it is:  Leave my laptop on the kitchen table with the cord across the floor and dog gets tangled up in it and pulls computer crashing to the floor, shame on him!  Leave my laptop in the exact same place the very next day and the dog gets tangled up in the cord and computer comes crashing to the floor, SHAME ON ME!!

Actually, shame on me both times.

After the first time, it continued to work fine.  After the second time, it is now toast.  I am praying that I can retrieve the vast amount of photos, documents, and other valuable information from the hard drive, but I don't know yet.   I am so stupid!!

Thankfully, Nick has an old laptop that he doesn't use anymore so I am using that now.  I have my Kindle, but goodness, it's not easy to blog from!  And I can't upload pictures.  (Or at least I don't know how.)

So, my life has been reset.  I am starting fresh.  I might even change my name and get a new family, who knows.



Here are my first two fascinating pictures to put on my new-ish laptop!

This is Isaiah after putting cucumbers on his eyes because he heard it was soothing.  

Putting ranch dressing on them first, however, was completely his idea.

Here is Brenden's entire dorm room kitchen inventory.

He brought this and his sheets home for their bi-annual washing.

Aaaaah!

Well, as you can see, my new life is off to a rather slow start.

Have the best Tuesday ever, folks!!

Brench-Pressing People {and physics journals}

So, here's something fun that happened when Brenden was home last weekend.

He's really into working out, so he decided to bench press Lucy.

She thought it was the funniest thing ever!

And then, way less adorable, but much more impressive...

it was MY turn.

Brace yourselves.

Wow, that's probably the most flattering photo I have of me to date.

And here's something else very interesting.

Brenden left his physics journal on the kitchen table, and I couldn't help but take a peek.

And I was like, WOW! it's almost identical to MY physics journal entries!

It's my pleasure to have passed on my brains, looks, and talents to all of my children!

Have a great day, folks!

And don't forget to write in your physics journals.

You don't want to get rusty with your formulas and whatnot!

Lori Shops Online {fail}

In case you were wondering, this is what happens when Lori shops online for a swimsuit:

This means one of two things:

1.  Either I'm really bad at ordering a tankini off the internet (hence the absence of the the "tank" part.)

2.  Or perhaps K-Man is taking me on a trip to a topless beach??

Let's definitely go with #1, for goodness sake.


Now please excuse me while I go order a top...or two.

My Spring Break (South of France, Food Network, Freak Flag)

Hello.  Hello?  (Tap, tap, tap)  Is this thing on?

Once again, I beg your pardon for my extreme absence.  I really should have been chronicling my life in the last week, because, wow, has it been exciting!

I'll let you try to guess what I've been up to.  Was I:

A.  Enjoying a glamorous vacation in the south of France.
B.  Busy developing a new Food Network show called, "Lori's Kitchen: How to Train Your Family to Never Complain About Your Cooking, Lest They Die".
C.  Hanging on by a mere thread in full spring-break-survival-mode (dysfunction freak flag flying high).

Ding, ding, ding!  I wish you didn't know me so well.  Yes, it's A.  I kid, I kid.  Truth is, I've been steeping in option C.  But since I don't want to show you too much of the Debbie Downer side of me, I'll stop right there.

The good news is, school is back in full swing in two more days!  And with a steady stream of coffee, medication, and a semi-normalcy, I'll be back to my old self in no time.

As for this weekend, I am putting together my weekly baked goodies order, planning/fixing weekend meals, doing laundry, taking care of chickens and children...and working at my waitressing job (the paid and unpaid one). :)

By the way, I know it's so not politically correct to use the word waitress anymore.  But, dang it, I like it.  I prefer to see myself as a 70s-type gal, ya know?

And that's exactly how I wear my hair to work, too.  (Oh, I wish!)



Anyway, that's about all that's happening here, ya'll.  I gotta get busy now or none of the above is going to happen.  Productive Procrastinator is my middle name!




Enjoy your weekend immensely, alirghty?

Love ya!

Eleven Random Things on This Fine March Day

Hello, Peeps!  How the heck are ya?  

I'm in the mood for some randomness, which is typical of me.  So, here's my latest:

1.  Today was quite possibly the most beautiful day ever.  After a wretched winter, God was most definitely wanting to show off His creative and tropical-like skills today!  Yay, God!!

2.  And so I stopped for a fancy cold coffee drink.  But I'll tell you this.  I am so over fancy coffee drinks. Way too expensive and way not me anymore.  So unAmerican!  I'm a purist and am happy as a clam to drink drip, straight from home, on the cheap.  But I do love our little local coffee shop!  It's the best ever gathering place.  

3.  Isaiah has re-re-discovered the costume box.  And the wigs.  

(This one scares me a little quite a bit.)

 4.  Both of the Littles took advantage of me having my scale out the other day while I was baking, and did an impromptu math/science lesson, of sorts.  I will mark them down for extra credit!  Little overachievers.

5.  So, while Brenden was home we had a conversation about adverbs.  As most mothers do with their college-age sons, you know.  He proposed that adverbs are completely unnecessary.  And after a long discussion, and his searching my blog posts, showing me my ridiculously absurd over-use of them, I concurred.

He also told me to quit using passive verbs.

And now I run every sentence I speak/write through a hyper-filter in my brain that has my head spinning. Along with being paranoid beyond measure, please know that.  I trust you'll be patient with me during this transition.

Let's just forget this conversation ever took place, okay?



6.  I love bananas that are on sale every Thursday for 19 cents a pound!  And Lucy and Isaiah begged me to peel the ripe ones and put them in freezer bags.  I let them do it, reluctantly.  (Was that an adverb? Possibly.)

7.  I am so intrigued and mystified by the whole missing Malaysian flight thing.  Oh my word, it's so crazy, isn't it?  I feel awful for the families who have no answers about their loved ones.  AWFUL!  But the whole thing fascinates me.

(Don't get me wrong, I'm horrified!  But the mystery of it is so...science-fiction.  I wish it WAS fiction.)


8.  K-Man and I are thinking about getting an automated chicken-plucker so we can process our own meat birds like machines, man!  It's going to be life-changing, really.


9.  I'm sooooo proud of the Wichita Shockers!

10.  I remember when my wonderful mom used to read to me, The Little Red Hen.  And Isaiah just read it last week.  And I think that the whole entire America needs to read it, too.  Yes and amen?

NOT I???  Yes, YOU.   Work dang HARD to pull your own dang weight, dang it.
  


11. (BONUS!)  Lucy went outside to take pictures of the amazing sunset.  (Sorry for my kitchen window screen filter!)

All right, I think that sums up my riveting thoughts for this fine March day.

Work hard at all you do and be a blessing to those around you, okay?!!!

My Sickly Day

If I was any kind of fun friend to you all, I'd show you a picture of my hair right now.

But because I don't like you nearly that much, or maybe because I like you too much,

I will withhold any photos from my day today.

You see, I woke up at my usual 5:23 AM and felt like I'd been hit by a snow plow.

Though usually when I feel that way, my big ol' mug of coffee sets me

free from such bondage.

But, when that coffee was a-brewin', I nearly hurled.  And when the bacon was frying,

I truly begged Jesus for mercy.

And that's when I knew things were not going as usual.

I had a stomach bug.

And I'll tell you what.  I thought for sure that if I just crawled back in bed for a few

minutes, I'd muster up the energy to begin my very, VERY busy day.

But, no.

I just laid there lethargically watching TV.

And I'll tell you something else.  If Rachel Ray made one more mention about shrimp,

I was going to hunt her down and put an end to her perky self.

I opted to settle in on a nice news channel instead (lucky for Rachel).

Real life somehow seemed easier to stomach.

Well, long story short, here's how things went down:

1.  I found the gumption to brush my teeth and shower.

And believe you me, it took every single ounce of viable life in me to do so.

2.  I found my way to the couch with my pillow and blanket.

3.  I found myself back to the bathroom to unleash the evil that resided inside of me.

4.  Back on the couch, Lucy came to me, 

telling me with much excitement that Isaiah flooded the bathroom.

In my brain I told her,  "You better suck those words right back into your mouth, young lady,

and let them never see the light of day ever again, especially when I'm plastered on the couch

with God-knows-what going on inside of me."

But what I really told her was, "Get a towel and clean it up."

Here's the back story:

Isaiah took a cardboard box into the bathroom and tried to fill it with water and soap,

because he was determined to wash the dishes for me.

In a cardboard box.  In the bathroom.

And apparently he tried really, REALLY hard to make that work before he finally figured

out that his well-intended plan was simply not going to work.

The bathroom was SOAKED.

5.  Shortly after that, he came in and said he wanted to pray for me.

(He has no idea how he saved the day with that.)

6.  K-Man came home, scooped up the children and took them far, far away.

7.  I'm feeling much better now.

And that's how I spent my day.

Oh, and I baked eight loaves of bread.

(You know me.)

Tomorrow will surely be MUCH better, right?

It's gotta be!

It's my every hope that my germs don't permeate through my computer to yours!

FREE BUTTER! {Sweeeeet!}

Hello, my fellow cyber friends!

Do you happen to know what the below photo is??

I'll give you one million guesses.

WRONG.

(Or maybe you guessed right, who knows.)

It's BUTTER.

Super real, unadulterated BUTTER.  My friend Mary gave me THIRTEEN POUNDS of it today.

How absolutely fabulous is THAT?

THIRTEEN POUNDS.

Completely and TOTALLY wonderful, that's what that is.  

I love how God provides in the most sneaky and unsuspecting ways!

He's super cool like that.

My heart is so really happy!

Completely unrelated to all of that,

Isaiah insisted on helping me dry the dishes tonight.

And that's awesome by any mom's standards, I'd say!!

Some might say he's a brown-noser....but to me, he's just plain HELPFUL.

And then look!

Lucy made me the sweetest little card, just out of the clear-blue:

I am the best mom she EVER had!!

That makes me feel real good, ya know?

Especially since, well, others might not see me that way.

Ahem.

(Insert very tired and overwhelmed feelings here.)

But, hey!!!  Brenden is coming home and there's nothing like a college man

to pour out praises of thanksgiving on his hard-working Mama!

(Nick appreciates me, too.)

Anyhoo, that concludes this Wednesday, my friendly friends.

I hope all your wishes come true and all your dishes get dried and put away by

a cute little Chinese boy!

Chickens, Birthdays & What-Nots

Hello there, my amigos!  

Let's see, the temps climbed to around 60 over the weekend, now they are plummeting, with

talks of several episodes of snow in the forecast.

Yep, we're in Kansas.

I've got my bathing suit, scarf, gloves, and beach towel all on the ready.

My poor chickens and kitty cats just don't ever know what's coming next.

Although I do have a radio on in my hen house, so assuming my chickens pay attention, perhaps they

listen in on the weather updates.  But I don't know that for sure.

For now, they are all enjoying snow-free outdoor activities.

I was going to talk to you today about how a stay-at-home mom can help contribute

to the family income.

But I have a full day of contributing to my family income!

So I need to get a move-on and that subject is going to have to wait for another day, 

unless I can sneak in some time here later on.

We'll see!

But before I go, I have some cute pictures from Nick's little birthday celebration to share.

 He's so darn sweet and cute!

 Two of my best guys!

 Nicky and his Nana.

K-Man and his older brother (he's single, girls!!).

Yes, the other children and I were all there too.  But apparently the camera got put down

and never found its way to snapping any more photos.

In other news:  BRENDEN is coming home on Friday for spring break!!!!

YAYYYYYY!

And we'll celebrate his 21st (GASP!) birthday while he's here.

Well ya'll, I've got children to feed & educate, muffins and what-nots to be baked,

hair appointments to do, and errands to be run.

All before I start dinner.

(Or maybe we'll just have the muffins and what-nots for dinner!)

Stay warm and enjoy your day!!

Here's What's Happening in Lori Land

Friends!  How the heck are ya?  My gosh, this week has completely gotten away from me, blog-wise.  I hate that I haven't been in touch with you but my time is being prioritized and sadly, my bloggy world has had to be lowered to the mid-section of my list.  Wahhhh!

But here I am!  I wrote on today's to-do list that I needed to update my blog and by golly, I'm doing it!

Anyhoo.

Here's a few things going on in Lori Land lately:

1.  Tonight is pizza night! (It is my absolute favorite go-to dinner when I am otherwise clueless.)

Here's my dough that's been doing its thing since this morning!

2.  I am also making Ezekiel bread today, which is a huge relief to me because I haven't made nary a loaf in weeks!  I also made three loaves of banana bread.  And the children logged 7 1/2 hours on the Wii.

3.  I've done a lot of hair this week, which is a fun because it's on the complete opposite side of my house, on the lower level.  Sometimes my kitchen and I just need a break from each other, ya know?

Here's my shop!  (I don't think I've ever shown you before...??)  Maybe I have, I don't know.

4.  I think I'm going to spray-tan myself soon.  I am looking really drab lately.

OH, and that reminds me of a story.  About ten years ago I used to workout with a group of fun gals and we often went for a 4-mile run around our town.  Anyway, one week I had been experimenting with self-tanners and well, in retrospect I'm pretty sure I must have gone overboard with it because I showed up one morning for our run, seriously waiting for my friends to rave about how glowingly golden I was...but they said nothing.  In fact, they didn't even really make eye contact with me.  I was very perplexed because man, I looked gooood.  And then the subject of going to the pool came up and I took that opportunity to tell them about my new Dorito-colored tan-in-a-tube that I had been using (heavily), because apparently they hadn't noticed...but no one said ANYTHING, nothing. Crickets were chirping.    

It's these things in life that teach us hard-core lessons.

Never mind what I said about spray-tanning myself soon.  


5.  Did any of you take short-hand in high school?  I did.  And I've been thinking a lot about that lately.  It seemed like such a promising way of quick communication and a skill that any up and coming secretary would certainly need!  I'm disappointed that never panned out.

That was possibly the most random thought I've ever had.


6.  I've started this new approach to cleaning, which is to storm through my house for about 30 minutes and get things done real quick!  And I tell the kids to storm along with me for ten minutes.  And it's so fun and fabulous and works great!

That was my tip o' the day for you.  (As if you've never thought to clean really fast.)

Which reminds me, I got a free ebook on speed cleaning and one of the tips was, if something isn't dirty, don't clean it.  Wow, now that's something I never thought of!  Geeeee.  It takes an act of Congress to get me to clean the dirty stuff, I'm certainly not going to clean something that's, ummm...clean.  Hellllo?


Goodness.

I could go on and on here but I think this has been long enough.  And I certainly don't want to pour out all my wisdom on you in one single post.  I bet you'll savor this one for a good long time and you won't even notice if I'm gone for another few days!  (Feel free to refer back as necessary.)


Have the greatest Thursday evening ever!!

Love ya!

A Very Random Musing by Your's Truly

Wow, what a crazy-busy Valentine's weekend I had, filled with romance and gourmet dinners!

Oh, not for my valentine and me, but at my weekend restaurant job.

(At a high-end, very unique eating establishment.) 

It was so super busy!

And I'll tell you what, waitressing is for the young...but I hold my own.

(Well that's what I keep telling myself.)

But here's what kept me smiling the whole time, seeing sweetly in-love couples holding

hands across across the table throughout their five-course dinner.

It was all I could do not to pull up a chair next to the younger folks and tell them

how to keep the sparks flying for decades to come!

But they didn't ask my opinion.

Hmmmm, if only they knew what vast experience and knowledge I hold!

Well anyway, fast forward to NOW (Monday night) and

there is zero romance in the air on the homestead, as K-Man is working late,

and I'm pulling together dinner for the childrens with about as much enthusiasm as

vegan in a meat locker.

And shame on me but here's my dinnertime snack that gave me the jolt of strength I needed

to get spaghetti and meat sauce on the table for all the people.

Speaking of dinners, here's my menu for this week:

Monday:  Spaghetti and meat sauce (check)

Tuesday:  Baked Potato Soup

Wednesday:  Chicken Pot Pie

Thursday:  I have no idea

Friday:  I have no clue

Saturday:  Good heavens, can't these people cook for themselves?

Sunday:  See Thursday, Friday, and Saturday's selections

And now that I've inspired you to greatness, go out there and have yourself a fabulous evening!

Bye for now!

My Four Thoughts for Today

1.  I got our taxes done today.  

And let me just say this:  If I ever speak of wanting to become a CPA, stop me at all costs, please.

It baffles me that anyone can sit at a desk all.day.long. crunching numbers, and not go absolutely crazy.

And did I ever tell you about the time, about ten years ago, that I sat straight

across the desk for about an hour with our tax guy (same guy as today), wearing two

completely different earrings?  Dangly earrings, even.  Completely different.

That's what I did. 

Anyway, we're getting a refund.  Hooray!

(And my earrings matched this time)

2.  Today was Lucy and Isaiah's Valentine's Day party at school.

But Isaiah kept calling it the Thanksgiving party.

And I'm thinking, he's not going to be giving thanks for this holiday once he's a grown man.

That's what I'm thinking.

But he had a blast.  And by that I mean that he was all kinds of crazy, all day long.

I should have known things were going to be off-kilter for that one when he 

woke up this morning and told me,

"Mom, today I have one million energies!"

And his teacher did in fact confirm that with me later today . 

  

3.  K-Man and I went on a date the other day!

We actually had quality time together and quality conversations.

Such as, a discussion on whether we would be able to go on a little getaway vacation,

just the two of us, this summer (like last year).

We toyed with the idea of a cruise, a week on a tropical island, beach resorts, etc.

Then K-Man said,

"Maybe we could just get a waterbed."

And trust me, he was/is completely serious.  

Vacation plans are now on hold (not that we can afford to go anywhere anyway!) and waterbed

plans are totally underway.

And let it be known that it is completely against my will.

But far be it from me to stand in the way of my man with a plan.

That, I will keep you updated on, for sure.

4.  I personally think that the homeschool year should be officially over by month's end.

We seem to be going nowhere fast, ever since Christmas break.

What I'm saying is, get me to a deserted island immediately!

Or a waterbed, whichever.

And that concludes my thoughts for today.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some Olympics to watch!

USA - USA - USA!!!

Olympic Hope and Cow Eyeballs

Good Tuesday, my friends!  How the heck are ya?  The ridiculously frigid, single-digit temps continue in my neck of the woods and I'll tell you what, I'm done with it.  DONE.  I can handle cold, but this is stupid.  The only smidgen of good I can possibly think of that will come out of this is that all the ticks and mosquitoes being wiped out, come summer.  But that's a theory that doesn't even seem to pan out, as logical as it sounds.   

Anyway, have you been watching the Olympics?  People, let me tell you this.  I LOVE THE OLYMPICS. Any sport, I will watch it!  And love it.  I'm all like, "USA - USA - USA... Goooooo USA!"  But, my heart just swells with pride for whoever wins, honestly.  They've all worked harder than any of us can imagine and I think that's just so neat.  They are the epitome of discipline and focus!  And my very, VERY favorite part is hearing the back stories of the athletes, the adversities they've endured, the obstacles, their families, all of it, I love it!  

OH, and I absolutely LOVE seeing the parents on the sidelines.  Goodness, I just weep.  How fabulous for them to watch their babies climb to such a place in life!

Do you love all that too?  I hope you do.  Oh, and the commercials.  Goodness!  The "Thank You, Mom" commercials??  Stop it.  It's almost more than my heart can take, my gracious.

And I'll tell you one more thing.  I can easily convince myself that I can do just about any of those sports, as I sit there on my couch in my bathrobe.  They make it look so effortless and easy.  Man, they're good.

But around here, here's what's been happening:

Lucy and Isaiah rediscovered their doctor kits and gave me a full exam (but apparently they didn't have a pregnancy test in there, to save myself $4.  Don't worry, I didn't mention it to them, this time.)   

Lucy was the doctor.

 And she appointed Isaiah to be her nurse.

(I love that!)

Lucy insists, however, that she is going to be a dentist and a farmer.  Goodness, that will come in handy! Because I'm pretty sure that dentists can get their hands on some good Botox.  You know, for those who need that sort of thing.

This most recent round of medical interest was I'm sure prompted by what's going on in Lucy's homeschool science class:

Yesterday they dissected a cow eyeball!  And even though Lucy was quite proud of the fact that SHE didn't throw up like one of the boys in her class did, I think we can easily conclude by this picture that she wasn't all-in on this, being that she's not the one wearing the gloves.  But she was still fascinated.  Almost as much as she was last week when they dissected a snake and found a bird in its belly!

Blah!  And that's reason #458 that I'm so thankful for the wonderful homeschool classes they go to!  I can't handle dissecting anything that was once breathing.

So anyway, my apologies if you were eating breakfast while reading this.  But lucky for you, that's the only picture I have. And so that concludes this riveting post.


I hope your day is filled with Olympic hope and low on cow eyeballs!

Love ya!