~*~*~*Happy Halloween~*~*~*~

Here are the little angels sharing their Skittles. Yumm-O. They had so much fun!

You might be a redneck if. . .

Here's a neato shot of our neighbor's back yard. No, there was not a terrible storm or vandals. That, ladies and gentlemen, is normal. They started to assemble a new picnic table, got bored, and left it there. For 9 days. This was a stroke of genius on their part. They didn't need to pick up any of the paper or cardboard from their new purchase~I did. Out of my shrubs, trees, and window wells.

Now moving to Exhibit B. Look closely at this shot. See the windchimes as big as your leg?! Observe the stunning Bug Zapper powered by a sunny yellow extension cord. Pretty, eh? So that brings me to the Q 'o the Day. How do you ask someone you've spoken to twice to remove the windchimes that wake the dead? Before you answer, you need to know that Mrs Redneck was seen screaming obscenities at the ATT guy last week in the backyard. In a muu muu. With curlers.

Seriously, I love bein' a Hoosier and all, but I am trapped in a Jeff Foxworthy special. Help.

Long Live TULIP

Here is an article to read. Discuss among yourselves. Follow up post to come when I actually have more then 10 minutes to string a thought together. . .

Books and More Books

I love to read. I could sit in my comfy chair~not to be confused with the comfy couch~and read til I have to get up and pee. I read fiction, non-fiction, "Christian" (I hate the term Christian fiction but heck, we'll use it here.), "secular" (again, bad term), the phone book, old yearbooks, and magazines of all shapes and sizes. Oh, and the church directory. Ya never know if it changed since the last time I looked up a number. So becuse I am deluded enough to think you care, here's a small list of some of my favorite reads from the last few years or so. Feel free to add your opinions and your own titles. Just no laughing at some of them. I run the gamute from cheesy to philosophical. Some I will list by series because it is easier. And it's my blog. I can do what I want. So here is my list of books I have read a zillion times and will read again soon.

The Red River of the North Series by Lauraine Snelling
This would fall into the "Christian fiction" catagory but I do love historical fiction. This is set on the Dakota prairies of 1880s. The main character does way more in her day than I do in a month. I always want to get up and plow a field or milk a cow after reading these. Great family saga that isn't too nicey-nice.

The Love Comes Softly Series by Janette Oke (some one PUH-LEEZE tell me is it "oak" or "oakie"!)
Also falls into the "Christian fiction" and lands squarely in incredibly nicey-nice. But I still love it. Such a sweet story.

Redemption Series by Karen Kingsbury
Great story. A bit over-written but I did get attached to characters and wanted to see how it worked out. Kingsbury is a gifted story-teller but not so much a great writer.

Dancing in the Dark by Big Bill Romonowski and Friends
Changed my life. Or at least my major. Love him. Love his book.

Redeeming TV by Quintein Schultze
Can I get an AMEN from all my siblings here? Will change the way you view TV completely. I am also TOTALLY showing my age as this was his NEW books when I was there.

The Girlfriends Guides by Vicki Iovine
Wet-your-pants-funny. Must read for any beginner mom.

Eve's Daughters by Lynn Austin
All of Lynn's books are great but this one is still my fave. You can tell just by reading this book that Lynn is a Calvinist! :-) I get really tired of characters in "Christian fiction" that are very one-dimensional. "Good girl goes to church, doesn't touch alcohol, never has any sin, ever. Bad boy is very, very bad. Dances to rock music, reads Harry Potter books, swears, and even has GASP non-Christian friends!" Lynn's characters are not perfect. They are real flawed people with a grasp of total depravity but no clue about grace until it whacks them upside the head. This was the first book I ever actually read in one day.

Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Wiener
Great fun read about a bored SAHM who tries to figure out who murdered her neighbor.

Can You Keep A Secret? by Sophie Kinsella
Also a fun read about a women who has too much to drink and ends up telling her life story to a handsome stranger seated next to her on a trans Atlantic flight. Turns out he's her new boss. Goes on from there. . .

Sophie's Heart by Lori Wick
Pure Velveeta. But hey, why not a little cheese with that glass of wine. . .

So whatcha all got?

An actual quote. . .

"I better clean up my house in case DCFS shows up."

Uttered after a well-meaning-but-not-very-understanding lady returned a child from the street to the house.

Weigh In

It's Tuesday. . . .

More Holes in Her Head

Yep, Amelia got her ears pierced. She loves them so much~it's all she talks about. It was kinda a spur of the moment thing. I was at the mall with the girls on Saturday and we went to Claires to get some new earrings for Caroline. The poor thing has been wearing the same pair since July because somehow we lost her earring box in the move. Anyway, Caroline says "Amelia, do you want to get your ears pierced?" Well, duh?!? She's all over that idea. I tell her it's going to hurt and she says "It not hurt. I not cry." So we did it. As we were sitting there getting set up I said to Caroline, "Daddy's gonna kill me" Amelia then got upset and said "No Mommy! Daddy not dead you!" Oops. Guess she knows what kill means! I called Tim on the way home.

"Hi hon. How's your camping trip?"

"Good. What's up?"

"Well, would you be upset if I got Amelia's ears piereced?"

"As long as I don't have to clean them, I don't care."

"Good. Cuz I already did it."

"That's what I figured."

Ah, he knows me so well. I have always been very conflicted about the whole earrings on little girls thing. It started with my dad who said only biker chics had earrings. Huh? I wasn't allowed til I was 12. I swore no daughter of mine would either. The funny thing is I always thought they were cute on little girls~esp them bald baby girls~like Greta! But somehow I didn't think that applied to my kids. They would look trashy. Hey, I never claimed to make sense. When Caroline was 4 we got her hair cut pretty short. I looked super cute but to soften it a bit, we got her ears pierced. After the alloted time we took out the started set and she would not let me put new ones in. Said it hurt. Okie dokie. No more earrings. Then when we were in Hilton Head with Dr and Mrs Beautiful and family, Christine and I decided to get Emily and Caroline's ears pierced. And Doug and Tim's too, but that's a story for a different day. After the intial hoopla, I never even noticed. So I guess that's why I broke down and did Amelia's. I realized it was not nearly the big deal I made it in my head. As most of my life is.

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it. :-P

OOOOO, Pretty!

Notice anything different about Miss Amelia?

Grab their jerseys, grab their jerseys. . .

I adore high school football. Seriously, it breaks my heart that my girls will miss out on it. The cool fall air, smashing helmets, cheering cheerleaders, the pep band playing "Peter Gunn", hot chocolate, smoking under the bleachers, and on and on. Oh the joy. And THIS makes me miss it even more. Can ya freaking believe it?!? Us who lived and cheered for the Knights of the 80's. When we did not win ONE game. I remember cheering for a game where we lost 88-0. Yep, 88-0. That was the game that my dad invented the "Grab their jerseys" cheer. He thought "hit 'em hard" cheers were useless. He was right.

I think we will move. Homecoming is next weekend. . .anyone game?!?!?!?!

A little help here, please. . .

My bow business is really starting to take off! It helps to use your girls as advertising! I'm going to be taking some to a new boutique that opened up here in town and hopefully she'll buy some to stock there.

SO, I need a name. I want something cute and memorable~and a bit snobby is OK too. I'm hawking these babies to moms who can and will pay $14 for a set of hand-made bows. My main market is mostly moms but think moms are girly-girls and have all girls and love the girly stuff. Moms who have had a few boys before girl arrives so they are itchin' to go nuts with ribbons and lace. My best ones are Grandma's who have had all sons and now have granddaughters!

Kim's suggestions were "Bows by Jen~They Even Make an Ugly Baby Cute" or "Bows by Jen~They Draw the Eye Upwards" PLEASE give me something more useful than Kim did!

Also, a few of you have inquired about bows for your little gals. I would love to set you up at a discount as long as you tell everyone who askes where you got them from! :-) Let me know soon as I'll be starting Christmas stuff this week! Here's a pic of a set I made to match something for someone~the fringy stuff matches a horse sweater with yarn "hay" on it.

MMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Weigh in time. Icky poo.

You Can Put It On the Board. . .YES! Er, Um, NO

It official. My beloved White Sox will not be winning their division this year. Boo hoo. We still have like a 4% chance at the Wild Card but probably not. So it is over. It was a great ride but now it's back to being just a basic ball club. At least it will be easier to get tickets next year. This was the first year in as long as I can remember that I didn't go to one game. Too many band-wagon-jumpers buying all the tickets.

Now it's time for some football!!! GO BEARS

Yet Another Skank Post. . .

Just wanted to add one more thought. . .

I was just watching Tim and mine's (that is SO grammatically wrong, but I dont' know what's right) favorite guilty show, Two-A-Days. It's all about high school football~which by the way we just figured out that our girls will never get to have high school football games. Boo hoo. Anyhoo, some of the girls on there were dressed in very short skirts, low-cut tops, ect. Another reason I fight it now, is that soon they will be in high school. I want to have a foundation set for that. I want them to know what's not appropriate and have in ingrained in them. Secondly, if I start "just a bit" now where will it be when they are teenagers? We work with lots of teenagers and have had to tell girls they can't play pool cuz the guys are lining up behind them to watch them bend over the pool table. We have had to give them sweatshirts to put over their tops because they are too skimpy.

OK, I'm done.

What is a Skank?

First off, I just borrowed the title from a book I saw at B&N last week and I noted that on the post. I called no one a skank. The title made me chuckle so I used it. I talked about what was in the stores. I was making a point about how choices are somewhat limited when girls get out of the 2T-4T range. I said nothing about limiting choices to Little House dresses. I listed Hanna, Lands End, Gymboree, and even LTD2. Only of which Hanna could be accused of carrying Little House dresses. I am talking about exactly what I said, "gauzy tops and pencil skirts"

I am also talking about little girls not teenagers. I have no problem with a jr high girl wearing a trendier outfit~sheer top with cami, tighter fitting jeans. I am talking about little girls. When I wore big belts and tight jeans, I was 13 not 8. There is nothing wrong with fashion and trends. I love to go shoppping with my oldest (and hallalujah she loves it too!) I just get frustrated by the lack of choice. Things seem to be too babyish or too teenager-ish.

About the shirts with sayings, look again at the ones I linked. I was referring to ones with "snarky" sayings. I saw one out today that said, "If you catch me, I'll just lie" While I am not a fan of the "Princess" shirts, I said nothing about parents being unfit or uncaring if they let their daughter wear one. I thought my point on that was very clear. I think it emphasizes what they are instead of who they are and that's what bothers me.

This is a Bratz doll. And here is a Bratz Baby. Starting with the name, um, Bratz? I have a hard enough time with my girls acting bratty, why make it cool? And that much make-up and skimpy clothing is not something I want them to model after. And for the record, we also own no Barbies.

And note to Carol, I make a profit every season on my girls' clothing. So I spend less than zero. And about 80% of their closets are from resales or Ebay. Caroline gets a "budget" when we shop and she knows that she can spend it on one sweater or 4 outfits. It's her choice. I think that teaches her a lot about wise spending and materialism. It's not about looking "just so" Fashion and putting together an outfit is something she likes to do~it's a hobby~and she knows that. We talk about it everytime we shop. My other girls might not enjoy it like Caroline does. We'll have to see. . .

Stop Dressing Your 6yr Old Like a Skank*

Those of you who read my blog regularly~and there seems to be less and less of you these days~might have noticed a new button on my sidebar. It says "Moms for Modesty" and it is one of those online petition things. Now before you point and laugh at me, I do realize that online petitions do not save the world. But I also thought it was a good opportunity as the mom of girls to add my "Amen and preach it sister!"

This issue of appropriate clothing for little girls has driven me crazy since Caroline moved into the 4-6 size range. Before that we were happy at Target or Kohls or Babies R Us. While the quality sucks at all those places, we did find cute things. And for me it is not so much about "showing skin" I have no problem with the girls wearing tank tops or shorter skirts (ONLY if there are built-in shorts underneath) It is about making them look like little adults. I don't need Amelia to have a black pencil skirt with a silver chain hanging off it or Caroline to wear a gauzy see-thru top with a cami under it. I also detest those T-shirts with snarky sayings on them. Like this or this . We already fight against the attitude why enforce it? I also hate the Tshirts that say "Princess" While I am all about developing self-esteem in my girls, hello, let's talk about modesty! How 'bout a T shirt that says "Really good at soccer" or "Bakes a mean brownie" Let's focus on all the great talents they have instead of how cute or spoiled they are.

This quest is what brought me to Gymboree in the first place. I have been a Gymboree fan for years but their newest line has yoga pants that say "CUTE" on the buttinski~for baby! Why on earth do we need to DRAW ATTENTION to a toddler's biscuits?! I complained to the store manager. We are big fans of Lands End , Hanna Andersson, and I am even branching out to a very FEW pieces from Limited Too.

And while we are fixing this world problem, can we PUH-LEEZE get rid of Bratz dolls?!?!?! I am sick of Caroline coming home in tears because the neighborhood girls are playing with them and she's not allowed to. She understands (we point them out at the store and talk about how they are inappropriate) but it's still hard to be left out.

**Stole this title from this book which I'm dying to read!

Some Random Bible Fun

Here's a fun quiz. I am a Jerry Falwell Christian. Not so glad to hear that~not so much a fan of 'Ole Jer. Oh well. I think I fit more with George Bush Sr. but I do love me some sweet tea. So what kind of Christian are you?!?


You view the Bible as historically accurate and divinely inspired. You go to church every Sunday, with the Good Book in a Bible cover, and Wednesday night for Bible study. You've read at least one of the books in the apocalyptic "Left Behind" series, prefer your iced tea very sweet, and suspect Bill Clinton has murdered somebody somewhere in Arkansas. You're furious that people actually believe "The Da Vinci Code" and have bought a book debunking the novel. You wept uncontrollably all three times you went to see "The Passion of the Christ" and have ordered the DVD in bulk to give copies to friends. You may watch Eternal Word Television Network, and you adore Dr. Laura, Chuck Colson, James Dobson, and Rush Limbaugh. You enjoy some episodes of "Joan of Arcadia" but think it's not reverent enough--"Touched by an Angel" was better. If you're Catholic, you go to Latin Mass and weekly confession, though you don't have much to confess. You think homosexuals are sinful but try periodically to love them. You think the surrounding culture is so polluted that you shop at Christian bookstores, listen only to Christian radio and send your kids to Christian or parochial schools--or homeschool them. You give generously to your church and Christian charities. The Bible provides you not only a direct connection to God but a roadmap for how to lead your life.

Weigh In

Here we go again.

Let's All Go To Confession

I am not Catholic but there are certain practices of the Catholic church that I have always thought highly of. One of those things is confession. While I do believe that coming before God and confessing our short comings is better done without the priest interceding for us, I do like the theraputic component of confessing to another living person without the burden of them "knowing" you. It gives a certain freedom. Even though my BFF totally knows me, I care what she thinks of me. Anyhoo, here's my confessions for the day. Feel free to add your own.

1. I told a white lie to get out of something I didn't want to do.

2. I didn't stick to my budget this week.

3. I really like Nick Lachey's new song.

4. I said not-so-nice things about someone (only to my husband, not the whole world) because they hurt my feelings.

Ick

I have the stomach flu. It sucks. The last thing I ate was Mexican with 2 good friends 24 hours ago. I am feeling well enough to blog quickly and send Tim to the store for chicken soup. He took the day off work so I could go shopping all day yesterday with Dawn, Shawnie, Anne and Kathleen. Shawnie and Anne had the flu so it ended up jsut Dawn, Leenie, and me. (We had a wonderful time.) AND THEN he stayed home today so I could alternate between puking and sleeping. He's been outside cleaning out the garage with the girls since 2:00. That ladies is true love for me. You can keep your kissy-smoochy and flowers and gifts. I'll take this anyday.

Weigh In

It's weigh in time girls! Post it here. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Remember, the first week is the easiest.