miracle photo!

You just have to take a look at my photo of the week! This is a photo of my daughter last year!. She and my other daughter were playing out in the snow, they decided to do snow angel's. And my daughter Shay-bug decided to do one face down. She came and wanted me to go see it, but I was busy and sent the camera out for her to take a photo and show me. I was blown away when I seen this photo and headed right out side. When I looked at the snow angel face, it was just a dent in the snow, you could not see any details, but when you put the camera over the area, the face popped up, sorta like 3-d and you could see all this detail! I took lots and lots of photos and in the photos you can see the face turn to a new position, it was amazing, a miracle to me. It kind of freaked my husband out. Now this snow angel was done across the street from our house at the mortuary, I know, makes it even stranger. And just so you know, Nope we don't mind living across from there, they are our best neighbors, very quiet, He, he! So any way we and other family members have tried to do this again, but no one has been able to. So why don't you try it with your family, if you get this amazing snow angel face, let me know, I'd love to see a photo of it!! Now think about this, how it all happened, I was busy and didn't go out to see the snow angel, if I had, I would of just seen a dent in the snow and said, very cute! But I sent the camera out, why? it was the only way we were able to see the image pop up, a miracle to me, I just wish I knew the why behind it? Blessings always!

sleds, rocks, bumps and bums

I just had to put this on here, makes me laugh every time I watch it, my poor husband and his sled injury, you just have to watch the video for yourself, and I don't even think my husband will mind if you laugh!! and watch the 2nd one of our little girl going down to save dad! Remember to TURN OFF my MUSIC at the bottom to hear the video!

our merry christmas

We have had such a wonderful Christmas time. My girls got an early present from my mom, a piano! Mom had bought it in the spring and been working on it to refinish it, its so pretty. We've been sledding, building snowmen, baking cookies, doing crafts, playing games, at family get
together's. The little ones even slept in the living room Christmas eve to await the Christmas day! But the very best part was that ALL my family was together Christmas, all 7 of the children was here and our lil grandson, it was a Merry Christmas indeed!
Thank you Jesus, for your birth and death, and my family whom I love and cherish!

and the fun continues!

from our critters!

naughty or nice

Ok, now isn't it sad that sometimes a person just has to be naughty to get things done. Ugh, makes me mad. Well, if you read my post "Broken down chair" about my daughters wheel chair being broke down, you'll understand more. So Monday I call back up the business that is to fix the broken chair part. I ask for the gal that I have been working on this with for over 2 weeks. I ask her how things are going and that I never heard back from her Friday as she said she would call me back that day. She tells me she still knows nothing. So at this point I have had it, my daughter is so depressed as she is spending all her days in bed. Out of frustration, not so sure where the thought came from?? I say to her, ""name" are you in a wheel chair?" she tells me "no", I then say " then how about I come and duct tape your two legs together, put you in a wheelchair, and oh by the way, it is a broken down chair and now guess what, you can not get anywhere, you are now disabled". She tells me, "if that is what you want, sure, I'll do that", I then say, "fine, I WILL call the news stations, as I am sure they would love to come out and do a story on you being duct tape and sitting in a broke down chair.", she then tells me hold on and transfers my call. A lady gets on the call, and I ask her if she happens to be "name's" supervisor, she tells me yes and I tell her how the news stations are going to be out to do a story on them. Will to put the rest short, Today, my daughter got the part to make her chair go!!!! She was so excited and got out of bed into her chair and had a whole new outlook on life. Funny, how sometimes one has to be naughty.

honkin big burger

Mine and Cody's anniversary day out together was great! We left the kids with my mom and we went to the big city. We really did have so much fun, can't even remember the last time we did something just the two of us. We were at the mall, shopping around and passed this furniture store, I see this big chair, it's like a love seat only round and I just had to go see it. We both plopped down on it, and ah it was so comfy. We just sat there and visited for a long time, I about feel asleep. We decided to sit and visit and if we seen a store person come our way, we would just get up and hurry off. I would love to have one of these chairs. We went to eat later and you just have to see what my dear husband ate, ugh, I just couldn't watch him eat the big ol thing. We eat little meat so when we go out that is what he gets. I can not remember the name of this thing but Big Mouth was part of it, no, really. I just laughed and had to take a picture of it. Ah, another year gone, and a brand new one right in front of us, to make all kinds of wonderful new memories, I love you even more Cody! Your Life

13 years in love

Today 13 years ago in a little Yogi Bear building, surrounded by our closest family and friends, I held my best friends hand, Well he said I had him in a wrist lock. There we stood hand in hand, we looked in each others eyes and listened to what the Pastor read from the Bible, we made our promises to each other, through good and bad, rich and poor, good health, poor health, to remain faithful through it all. It was magical, when we said our "I do's" it started to snow out side, it was so beautiful. I love the snow. (And to think about it now, it snowed when JC was born, when SBug was born and there was lots of snow on the ground when RC was born.) So there we celebrated our brand new marriage with the snow falling as though to set a brand new, clean slate for us to begin our lives together. We have had all the above, good and bad, but have remained faithful through it all, which today is quite the accomplishment. There is no other man in the world that I would want to spend my days with, grow old with and share all the not so fun things in life with. We started our lives together as a family of 5, gave birth to 3 more and adopted 1 from far away. And through all that time, here 13 years later, Cody and I are still best friends. I love you Cody, I love you always, I love your blue eyes, your smile, your silly laugh, your kind, loving heart, the daddy in you and the husband you are.
forever and then some, your life

why i fell in love with him

listen to my husband do a little old rock, You'll have to turn my music off at the bottom of my page to be able to hear him sing, i love it when he gets out the guitar, and watch my RC smash his nose at the end. LOL

look who's opening the presents

Open the presents Mrs. Kitty, hurry, open them up!!! Every Christmas for the past 13 years our cat Mrs. Kitty has loved to play under the tree and try to unwrap all the gifts. She takes the bows off, plays with them all over the house, pulls the strings and my favorite, tears the paper, he, he. My daughter JC got these shots of her tonight, so darn cute!

santa vs. Jesus

I have been thinking a lot this Dec. about how strange this Santa stuff is. I was taught Santa when I grew up and so taught my older children the same. What a strange concept that is, we lie to our children about this magical man named Santa, who lives at the North Pole, can come into our home on Christmas eve, eat our cookies, drink our milk, leave us toys then flies off in the sky in a sled pulled by reindeer. How strange is that of us parents? I know, some say, it's good for children to have an imagination. Trust me, we do not need to teach our children how to have an imagination. Just watch your child play, they come up with all kinds of imaginative things all on their own, even the monsters under the bed, sure hope you parents aren't teaching them that one too. And just think about it. An advertisement on T.V for the Angel Tree, goes on to say................."Johnny wants a new pair of shoes, his are to little", great, BUT why can't someone buy Johnny a pair of shoes when he needs them, not when this Santa comes around once a year. And what about all the little children who have been taught this Santa thing, who wake up Christmas morning to nothing, yes nothing, What? You think that doesn't happen? You think that the Angel tree, Sub for Santa, Toys for tots, all those "wonderful" organizations have purchased toys for every needy child? Well, you are wrong, many children wake up Christmas morning to nothing, and may not even get 3 good meals that day. I wonder what they tell their friends at school after Christmas break, " No, Santa didn't come to my house this year, I was naughty". Perhaps they make up some story of what Santa left for them, just so they don't feel ashamed, oh and the lies go on. Then there are the families that fall right in the middle. They make too much money to qualify for Sub for Santa or what not, but mom and dad still doesn't have the money for gifts, they go without too. No wait, they are the ones that go rack up the credit cards, don't pay their regular bills cause they have to buy Santa stuff, then they suffer for months after, ah, stress, and you call this Santa a Saint? And you want this for your child? See the gifts that Santa will leave under the tree, you, your self have to purchase, they will most likely fall apart at some point, get old, get boring, stop working, or just sit in back of a closet or in a toy box for who knows how long. But, Jesus, the gift that he brings is free, you do not have to purchase it, Jesus purchased it himself with his own blood, free. It will never brake, grow old, get boring, or be left somewhere, Jesus brings the only gift you will take with you after your time on earth is finished. Santa bring lies, Jesus brings the truth. Santa brings stress and worry, Jesus brings comfort and rest. Santa comes but once a year, leaving us to go without the rest of the time. Jesus is with us every moment and never leaves us. So what do you choose? Santa or Jesus? As for me and my house we choose Jesus! I challenge you, go get your Bible, sit down with your children and teach them the real meaning of Christmas, teach them the true Saint, his name is Jesus!

mascara held hostage

Well today big brother came to the house, seen JC was wearing her new mascara, he went in her room ans swiped it. The only way he would give it back to her is by making her sign a contract. The contract states when she can date, when she can wear other make up, that she can not have a steady boyfriend before this date, Oh my, she was having a fit and did not want to sign it, but did to get the mascara back. When big brother left, dad told JC that at her age of 12, she legally would not be held to any contract she signed, BUT (like Pastor J always tells us love the word "but") she was held to daddy's contracts. Oh boy, my poor girls.

the hands that hold my heart

For several years I have had the idea of doing this project, I just never made the time to do it as I wanted to sand down the trunk and all. Well last night I went and pulled the lid off my trunk and decided right now I am doing this. I was given a trunk years ago that my grandpa had made a long time ago. I had each of my children and grandbaby put their hand prints on it, and I wrote on it, "These are the hands that hold my heart". I decided with both my boys moving away soon, I best get it done, no telling when we will all be together again, Now I'm going to go, before I get all emotional.

22

My son is 22 today, I hardly believe that he is so grown, married and a daddy. It seems just yesterday that I was holding his hand in the stores, reading books to him and tucking him in at night. He is becoming such a fine man, he is a great husband to a wonderful gal and I am just at ah to see him care for his baby boy, who is for sure a daddy's boy. JR is one of my heroes as he seems to have had to go through a lot of tuff stuff in life, and through it he always gets back up, brushes himself off and grows to be more wiser. I am so very proud of him as is the whole family. JR amazes me with his art talent, he has a sweet caring personality and likes to tease all his family. We love you JR, Go forth in this life and make wonderful memories, grow, learn, laugh, but most of all know that always no matter what you are loved, you JR are a part of my heart that makes it beat each and every day. I love you my son forever and always, Mom

broken down chair

I'm sure most of us know what it's like to walk around in old worn out shoes, or even what it feels like when your car is broke down, I've got that one covered right now. But imagine being sentenced for life to a chair, yes for someone like my sash born unable to walk, it is all she knows. But she has had the blessing of a wheelchair since age 3, ah mobility. To one with no ability to walk a chair becomes their legs, their ability to "walk". Well Sash's chair has been broke down now for over 3 weeks, her life prisoned to the house, unable to go to school or the job she so loves. I so wish I could take those in charge of helping her get her chair fixed and sentence them to a wheelchair, just one day, ah, it would be a broken down chair too. Let them see how they like it, then I bet they wouldn't take their time getting things going. Never take your ability to walk for granite, enjoy it, Praise God for it. Praying Sash is "abled" very soon, see these people who have "disabilities" are really not too disabled until you take their equipment, like a wheelchair away. Enjoy your walk this day.

mascara

The clock just struck midnight and my birthday girl is sound to sleep all snug in her bed. She had a wonderful day. We went up town for breakfast, it was delicious and fun to just spend time will my JC. After, her and I went to a few local stores to look around before heading home. I wish I would of had all day for her and I to just hang out. I made her a bow tie pasta salad, one of her favorites, with a fresh fruit salad. Her request for desert, banana splits. I did get a cake for her and JR to share for their birthday wishes. Atop the cake were 34 candles, 12 for JC, 22 for JR. You should of seen my JC's face when she opened this one lil gift, just from mom. Her daddy had it and looked at me, "it better not be what I think it is" he said, I reassured him it was okay. Oh boy I thought hope her 2 big brothers don't pay attention to her opening this one. Well if they didn't they sure would of once she unwrapped the special gift from mom, in her hand, my "little" girl held a tube of mascara, yes mascara, she had been asking so nicely all year, "Please mom, just mascara" she would say to me. Then right there in her hand she held it, flashes of her childhood swooped by as I looked at her and could see the young lady within her wanting to emerge. As I looked at her daddy standing there watching her, I could see tears wheal up in his eyes, yes his little girl is growing up. Then like a loud roar it broke out, two big, very protective brothers letting their sister know how they felt about the mascara, the mascara lead to "no boys, no dating" tell your 2o something, yes this went on and on. But they couldn't steal my birthday girls moment, her bright eyes lit up as she looked at me and said, "thanks mom". I knew the thanks was for more then just the mascara, it was for letting her grow. We continued through the night, laughing, eating and as anyone who knows me, knows, it gets a bit crazy at my house, and I love every bit of it. Yes the water fight, the chasing, loud rowdy kids. At one point I just sat there looking around, wow I thought, I am so blessed, right here, this very moment, I am so blessed. Al l 7 of my children, healthy, happy, running around my house, making messes, noises and best of all memories that will last forever. For that moment I forgot all the cares of tomorrow, my son's and grandbaby leaving, for that moment,I had them all, right there wrapped all around me. I will remember today for always. Thank you my babies, my husband, my Lord. I am blessed because of YOU!

my jc turns 12

Today is our JC's 12th birthday, I can hardly believe our little girl is so grown up. JC is child #4. She is my lil mother hen. She has a lot of her daddy's traits, she likes to be organized, have a schedule, she is an awesome speller, I am always asking her how to spell. But she has her mom's compassion. She is our lil prayer warrior, always thinking of others and praying for them. She talks about Jesus a lot because she wants to make sure everyone knows Him. She is becoming an awesome pianist and cook and is beginning to learn to sew. She brightens our every day with her warm sweet personality. We will start her birthday out with a breakfast outing, this year it is my turn. I will wake her early and her and I will go eat, talk and be silly I am sure. She will come home to a big birthday sign the rest of the family will have put up. Her grandparents, brothers and sisters will all be here tonight for a dinner and desert. We will be celebrating hers and her biggest brothers birthday together. I will tell you more about him on his day, this Friday. She loves that they celebrate their birthdays together. She is so excited, she will wake to a new day, her day, the day the world became brighter, sweeter and more blessed, we love you our JC, forever and then some.

and I thought Monday was bad

Today I found out my broken down van, the one I really like, well the transmission is out, to rebuild it will cost us $2,300. To replace it with a junk yard one around $1,600. So I am thinking it will be sitting in our yard making a nice yard ornament.

Then I am told that my oldest son most likely will be moving his family and yes that includes my grandbaby, back out of state, might as well, okay wont go there. But I kind of like well, yes LOVE my son and his family and I am kind of in love with my grandbaby, who by the way is in love with us. He loves it at Mema's house and cries every time he has to go.

Anyhow look at the photos of my grandson T.J, his funny faces will brighten your day, as they so did mine today.

how does monday fit with my alarm clock, my van and my toothbrush?

Just wanted to tell you about my crazy day Monday. There I lay in my cozy warm bed that I had gone back to after being up for awhile, the baby was still sleeping so I thought I could get in another dream. At some point I look at my clock, "Oh no" I thought and jumped out of bed hurrying to DJ's room, "get up DJ you have 10 minutes, don't shower, wash your face and throw on some clothes you can't be late (for school)". I am surprised as he was ready to go in about 7 minutes, normally everyone is waiting on him, bet the Marines will fix that. So there we are, me driving him to school, a block up he looks at the clock, then at me and said "that the right time" with much concern in his voice, I look at the clock and start laughing, "turn AROUND" he says with a firm voice, trying not to laugh himself. Well it was 5 till 8 and he doesn't need to be to school till 10 till 9. "No wonder I'm so tired he tells me", I'm still laughing and say at least you won't be late this day. An hour later, me driving him to school, hum Dayjavou, I say.

Then my son JR calls me and asks me if I would mind bringing him some medicine, he is at work. He works graveyard shift. I tell him sure in about an hour, we were just on our way out the door to drive around to see Christmas lights. My daughter Sas had this idea after our big India feast, she never wants to do things with the family, so I wasn't going to take that moment from her.
So after the lights drive my son DJ and I head to the next town to deliver JR's meds. At about the cow farm I seem to be slowing down, against my will that is. I wonder if it is because the roads are slick. It snowed today! So I decide yes I best slow down. But I am going slower and slower, push on the gas and my engine roars, but doesn't move forward. Oh great DJ ''something is wrong with my van, and I really like my van''. Well DJ starts telling me what to do, ''put your flashers on mom'', Oh ya I thought, ''don't pull over till its a safe spot'', Ah found one and pull over. Put it in every gear, engine just roars, van stays still. I begin to laugh, ''great'' I say and ''I really like my van''. I sit there for a few with my son, ''I really don't want to call dad" I say, he sure wont laugh, but I call him. Yep he arrives with a scale on his forehead, a given sign, he ain't happy. Now the fact that his chain was in DJ's truck and DJ washed his truck that day and the chain was frozen to DJ's truck and all to itself, well that didn't help. I still laugh and DJ sits next to me in my broke down van, "bet dad ain't happy about that" DJ says, I laugh as I sit and watch my husband bang the chain and try to unwrap it from the frozen mess it is in. On our way at last, DJ wanted to drive, dad said no, mom can, Oh I was going to trade DJ places, but there we were moving, my husband takes us right into the middle of the road and a car is coming, I yell, my heart goes many more beats then God intended it to beat. DJ is a bit concerned too. Then my husband races off to hurry on his way, "Oh I am never doing this again" I tell DJ, "You should of drove". I am no longer laughing. My son calls dad and they stay on the phone the drive, dad is now gotten over his not so happy mood and saying "what an adventure", ya like he tried to kill us all. I bet he's in a good mood now, so I wont get mad at him for the flash of death he put upon us, yep, bet that is it. We deliver my van to our local shop, and I tell DJ "guess that's what I get for Christmas". We arrive home, DJ and I get in the truck head to the next town, Dayjaou, I say.

Well to end the night, I go in to brush my teeth before I'm off to bed. As I am standing at the sink, brush in mouth, I begin to have a horrible taste, ugh, I pick up my toothpaste, all while still brushing, and make sure that is what I put on my brush, yep, got the right stuff in my mouth. By then I stop brushing, I have the taste of the smell of my husbands cologne in my mouth, it really does taste just like the smell, how strange, I look to see if any cologne is spilled where my brush was, nope, open the cupboard take out my husbands cologne, smell it, yep, that's the taste for sure. Hum wonder how his cologne got on MY brush. I couldn't rinse my mouth enough to get the tasty smell out, "You trying to tell me something Lord?" I say. Hum, I just need to sleep this day away, what a wonderful God we have that takes away our yesterdays and gives a new Today!

our India feast!

So here is our India feast we enjoyed to celebrate our JJ's gotcha day! It was so good and you should of smelled my house, yummy!
Getting started with the recipe
In a large fry pan add about 1/4 cup of olive oil, then add
2 medium onions diced
a Large chunk of ginger grated
4 large garlic cloves
saute this for about 10 minutes then add
2 sliced carrots
3 medium potato's diced
1 medium jalapeno chopped very fine, (more or less to your taste)
saute till almost tender then add
3 cans of coconut milk
8 oz. frozen peas, rinse first
3 lg. tsp. curry
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. turmeric
saute this till very tender, it will thicken up also, then add
large bunch chopped cilantro
Juice from one lime
simmer for another 5 minutes, then serve over Rice!

Serve with India Flat Bread, a wonderful recipe is at
http://vegindianrecipes.com/index.php/2006/0/indian_roti_chapati_recipe_unleavened_in

We also made fresh Pineapple, Mango Juice and drank from our Fancy goblets!

and the feast continues

I also made cheesy shrimp wraps, not so sure how India this is, but I had been wanting to make it and I did serve it with some yummy green India sauce. Here is the recipe

about 2 1/2 pounds of Imitation crab

8 oz. cream cheese

blend them together and put in Azumaya square wraps, follow the directions on how to wrap

then fry in olive oil in a pan or deep fryer till golden brown

serve with this India sauce given to me by a friend from India

4 Anaheim peppers

about 8 tomatillos

2 bunches of cilantro

juice of 1 whole lime

salt to taste

blend very well in food processor

And you have to have some plain yogurt to eat with your meal. They do so with just about every meal, it adds the good bacteria to your intestines and protects you from any bad bacteria you may ingest.

And as you can see from the photo of JJ eating, the meal was a grand success!

Now give it a try, and let me know how yours turned out!!!

gotcha day

Today is "gotcha day" for our son JJ. Today 6 years ago our JJ came home. He was just 2 1/2 then. My mom, son DJ and I traveled all the way to the other side of the world, to India to get my son. It had always been in my heart so I was so excited for this day. JJ was only 3 months in the first photo we seen of him, but it was that photo that I knew, he was ours. I so naively called the adoption agency and said, "we want JJ". I could see he had darker skin, but it was a shock to me when she told me he was in India, and he was now over 7 months old. I said "that's okay, we want him". That began a 20 month long process to bring him home. JJ was born with only one full limb. His arms both end around the elbow area and he has no hands, just lil nubs that he uses to pick up little things. His right leg ends just below the knee cap and he wears a prosthetic for that. Today JJ can do just about anything any other 8 year old can do, yes he is a bit slower but he does it. I refused from the very beginning to do for him, we decided that if JJ was ever going to do for him self, it meant tough love, do it yourself son. Through many tears he did learn, he was just 3 when he could put his socks on and off, that was only 6 months after being home. You should of seen him learning to walk at 3 years old. My husband put two pulls on some chairs and we put JJ in between and had him walk back and forth, he wasn't to excited about it at first, but you should of seen his face, and ours when he finally got it. Our 3 year old was walking. Today he takes complete care of his personal hygiene with a few modifications in the bathroom. Praise the Lord for badays! He puts his prosthetic on and off, dresses him self, just everything. And grandpa Dick taught him how to play checkers and today he is pretty hard to beat. He is also very good with electronics. He can beat the teens on PS2. He is an awesome speller, and good at math. He is a sweet, caring little boy that is growing so fast, and he is ours! We are going to make India food for dinner, yum, it is so good. I only wish I could cook like they can. I will post our dinner and the recipe for you to try. I am not sure what it will be right yet, I am kind of a wait tell the last minute person. But you will definitely want to try it. India holds a special place in my heart. I loved it there, the people were so sweet, and yes most of them Christian. JJ is from Bangalore, so it is in the southern area of India. Besides, India and the parents that loved him so much, gave me and my husband a son to pick up loving where they left off.