Circa '97...Analog to digital...Just some random art thats been collecting dust in my blackbook...Original organic stylings from Vital.

I would personally like to thank

Lavrai (for telling me about myself long before I had to do this and I didn't listen, sorry Vrai please forgive me and thanks again love you)

My Cousin CJ (who walks with a spirit of discernment and prophetic anointing and humility that is just beautiful....love you C!)

My mom and dad (who taught me to always be woman enough to admit when your wrong and be willing to go back and get it straight....I love you guys!)

My Daughter (the victim in all of this, who weathered the storm and came out the victor through the shed blood of Jesus and the prayers of her mommy and family (I love you stinky poo)

Everybody else...yall know who you are....Love you guys!

I send my Agape love and hugs to all, remember you can never ever say I love you enough!!!!

~Anointed

However, today belongs to our oldest: Trey!  It is so hard to believe that he is NINE today!  Where, oh where, has the time gone?  As he likes to remind me, he is the son that I always wanted.  That isn't just because I thought I would have all boys (or maybe hoped is the more accurate term here- I still have no clue what to do with all of these girls!), but because we had to pray for Trey for a couple of years.  Pregnancy did not come as easily as we would have thought or hoped.  There were many months of sadness and disappointment, many months of watching (what seemed like) everyone around me getting pregnant (sometimes more than once), many months of doctor's appointments and a few hormone crazed months thrown in there from the fertility drugs just for good measure.

It was a couple of years into all of this that I realized that I trusted that I would get pregnant, I was just pissed that it wasn't on my timeline.  It wasn't until I watched some sweet and dear friends to me go through horrible life changes that were beyond their control that I realized how selfish I was being.  It didn't take away the desire to have a child, but it took away the anger and bitterness about it not being my way.  And then I got pregnant!  It's "funny" how it always seems to be that way...

So today, nine years after my life changed completely, we celebrate Trey!  He is the calm of our family.  He has a sensitive and giving heart beyond his years.  He is, much to his dismay, an incredible older brother to his three sisters.  And, of course, he's still all boy...

This year, though, I haven't been quite ready for it.  It's not that I don't want it to come... I just don't want it to come so soon.  I have been having such a fun summer with my kids.  I'm not ready for them all to go about their days away from me.  I'm certainly not ready for the early mornings.  But here's the thing I'm really not ready for:

The pressure.

As school approaches, the moms around me have already started talking about what their kids are getting involved in with sports, academics, clubs, etc.  It's crazy how much my kids' peers are involved in and how much their parents push them all the while saying, "It's 'so and so's' choice.  They really want to do it."  Yeah, I suppose so if it's between that and oh, I don't know, Chinese water torture.

I immediately go into defensive mode internally.  I start to think about whether or not my kids are "good enough" and "smart enough" and whether or not "doggone it, people like them."

Ughh!!!!

But, the thing we have going for us (and I'm pretty sure most wouldn't see this as a positive), is that we just can't afford to keep up with the Jones.  I'd like to think that if I did have the money I still wouldn't put my kids in all kinds of things and that I wouldn't succumb to the pressure, but I don't know.  The good news is that I really don't have to worry about it.  I can feel whatever I choose to let myself feel inwardly, but I can't change much of what is happening outwardly... and for that, I'm grateful.  My kids will hopefully get to just be kids a little while longer.

No idea what we're doing today, other than going to dinner and doing the rest of the school shopping - *groan*.

The thing about my birthday is that it's always signifying like two weeks until school starts.  Summer is pretty much over by the time my birthday gets here, which sorta kinda sucks.

We have this, well I have, anyway, there's this puzzle that we're working on that I got for christmas like two years ago from my grandma, and it's like all pink and girly and flowery and tea-party-ish.  It's butt-ugly to tell the truth, I mean gag me now.
Well, we're trying to do it.  I mean,I'm trying to do it - I found that I like puzzles.  At least the past few days I have.  We finished the other one, which was huge, but it's cool.  We're gonna glue it together, once we get the glue, so that way it will be together forever and I'll never have to wonder where that damn piece goes.

This morning was dull.  I don't know why.  I was working on that ugly puzzle.  I didn't get a whole lot done,  but I guess it's more than you may think.  I don't know, all I know is that it was a weird feeling at the table working on it.  Sort of like pissed-off, yet not pissed-off, annoyed at any minor thing that happened, apart from the task at hand.  What I don't understand, is how I was so easily ticked off.  I knew I sort of was angry then, but not really knowing why.  It was weird.  We started it last night, and I was pissed off then too.  Like, there were six hands at the table, cuz we were all working on it.  And then I had all the pieces where I wanted them, sort of, and then hands were just going this way and that way randomly, taking this, taking that, doing this or that, and it was getting too me, like I just wanted all the hands to go away, for the were distracting me, making me angry that they would just come out of nowhere and move this piece over there, do that over here.
I don't really know, all I know is that it was weird.

Well, I don't know what else I have to say, other than we'll see what happens today, actually and mentally.  Of course, I don't know, but today doesn't seem like I'll be "baseline" if you can call it that.  Hopefully it'll pick up at least a little bit (not too much though, oh please not too much).

This weeks Wedding Wednesday really gets me excited. There's so much potential...but I'll get to that later. We'll start with pictures first:

I went down to Wal Mart and bought this vase for $3, the glue gun for $3, glue sticks for $3 and the hemp twine for $2.

I started by dabbing a dot of hot glue onto side of the vase at the very bottom. I didn't cut the string into any length, but left it on the roll. I did unwrap a couple feet of it to give me some working room. At first I started glueing every single layer of string to the vase, but realized this wasn't necessary. Instead I would put a spot of glue on the vase (about the size of half a dime) and quickly wrapped the string around the vase several times using the same dot of glue. I found with the one dot of glue, I could tack down aproximately four wraps of string.

Once I had covered the vase with the right height of twine (it just depends on the look you're wanting) I glued the last string on and cut it an inch and a half (aprox) longer. I tucked the end of the string into a couple layers so it would look more finished.

Voila! Here's the final product! I'll just be using this vase for around the house, but it would be perfect for centre pieces at your wedding, surrounded by either t-lights or mini versions of the vase (votive holders would look great!). You could scatter pebbles around the table, or fall colored leaves too.

Like I said before, there is so many options with this centre piece! You could spray paint soup tins with your selected color and then glue the hemp string to it. Line several of these tins in a line, fill them with pussy willows or twigs like I have and surround them with t-lights. You could use votive holders in this same fashion, like I mentioned before.

Why not switch it up a bit? Instead of putting the willow twigs IN the vase, hot glue them to the side, and set a candle inside.

This vase cost me $4 to make ($3 for the vase and half of the hemp string...although it wasn't quite that much). Now that's affordable!

"My friend made his money the hard way, ya know? There weren't all of these convinces like today."  The boys and the father nodding along, followed by one of the boys asking, "so?"  "Well, my friend had a son. His son went to Harvard.  His son wants a car now since he is home and not in school anymore, told his dad that he should get him {named the specific car}." The boys were like, "really? Why isn't he working?" And then father asked, "Oh is he waiting for the 'perfect job'?"  The man just looked at them - "nope.  He actually told his father that he was just waiting for him to pass on."  <Insert horrible look on faces.> The boys followed that up with lots of questions -- oh a ton of them.  The man continued after a few questions and said, "with that kind of education, you would think he would want to go and experience what it is like to work and earrrn that living.  He just wants to sit there. So, I think it is great you guys are helping your dad out." 

You know, it takes a lot of balls to disrespect what has been earned and worked for by another person.  Can you place yourself in that mans shoes?  His own son - flesh and blood <--that acutally use to mean something --> - told his father he is waiting for him to die. 

In so many walks of life, people envy what they don't have and take for granted what they do have.  The next time you look at someone with envy, think about their issues too.  What challenges do they face? Are they able to pay their bills?  Did they eat anything the day before?  Simple questions.  What challenges lay before them everyday, to make someone else look better?  Did that person want something different in their life but gave up?  Simple questions - fleeting almost.  Realize you don't have it so bad.

Below are pieces that belonged to 'The Green Valley Collection', sold at Green Valley Spa and Resort.

I love birthday cakes.  My mom always made great cakes growing up.  Somehow, even in Brazil, she managed to create some really neat shaped cake.  From Trey's first birthday I have wanted to carry on this tradition... and I should have used that year as an omen.  But I didn't learn, so my kids have had a variation of "cool" to "butt ugly" cakes.

So for awhile I've wanted to do a Barbie cake for one of my girls.  You know, the kind where the cake is the skirt for the Barbie, and you put an actual Barbie in the top so it looks like she's wearing a dress.  This was the year.  Karis has never been into Barbies and has always been very specific about her cakes, so I've never attempted one for her.  Avery, however, loves Barbies.  And even though she was specific about her cake this year (for it to be exactly like it was last year) I thought it would be cool to make her one and surprise her.

Yeah, except that when I just stuck the Barbie in the cake, I split it in half... and then the avalanche.  I so suck at this!  I need to go to the store now... and get the stuff to make her a cake exactly like last years.

Start off like this: "After a long day of VERB, s/he discovered that her/his BODY PART was growing INANIMATE OBJECT..."

After a long day of reading, she discovered that her arm was growing a leaf. She wondered how long this one would take before it would turn brown and she could crunch it off.

The first one grew on her right thigh and was expecting it after her mother gave her the "talk". She told her to not even try to cut it off or yank it off but, of course never listening to her, she tugged at it anyway. Softly first and it wasn't so bad, so she pulled harder and when she did she cried out an ear-piercing yelp running to her mother who had her first aid kit ready at hand. She patched it up and a few days later a scar was becoming visible with a small dark bump.

When the 2nd one grew (that time on her left shoulder). She covered it with the biggest band-aid she could find and made sure she wouldn't wear a sleeve-less top. Now she did the same covering it with a smaller band-aid this time.

Looking at herself in the mirror she turns slightly and lifts up her shoulder. There was no scar, no sign or trace that there had been anything there. She wished the first one had grown somewhere not visible, like her butt, or soles of her feet. Now self-conscious she makes sure she wears long shorts that won't ride up on her thigh when she sits down.

RED | THE MOST INTERESTING BAND I KNOW

With hard rocking singles like "Let Go" and "Breathe Into Me", Christian rock band Red could be expected to have singles with heavy guitar-riffs and head banging drum patterns. But with the single "Pieces", the band explores a new direction, going instead with piano and strings tracks that are moving as much as the song is. It is without a doubt my favorite song on Red's debut release End of Silence.

Also check out: "Let Go", "Already Over", "Already Over, Pt. 2"

From the song:

Then I'll see your face. I know I'm finally yours. I find everything I thought I lost before. You call my name. I come to you in pieces. So you can make me whole.

Sometimes I feel like I don't belong here, but I love it, I love reading and writing short pieces. It's awesome. I know I learn a lot about myself like that.
Do you guys ever feel like your stories are horrible? Not good enough?