What's Alicia been up to?

• I've been stuck at home for a month since Brian's car suddenly had engine failure (at ten o'clock at night while I was driving it, no less). We thought to replace it, but it seems used car prices have doubled in the past couple of years, so it's been in the shop since Wednesday with no word yet on its prognosis. But it's bad...very bad. Edited to add: for just a little over the amount we originally paid for the car, we will now have a repaired car. Uggh.
• Ethan has had a mild, but lingering stomach bug for nearly two weeks. Brian had it for about five days.
• My family was supposed to arrive on Sunday, but my Grandma's cardiologists are continually trying to kill her by putting her on new drugs to control high blood pressure brought on by ...new drugs and their accompanying side effects. She passed out again and is in the hospital. As soon as she fires the cardiologists and drops the new drugs (which, btw, is not just my opinion, but the internists' at the hospital as well), she should be fine. Hopefully she'll be released this morning. I really hate doctors!
• Oh, and my parents van had the newly replaced compressor go bad the day before they were supposed to leave, so that's been rereplaced too now. When it rains...
• Despite all of this, I'm not the least bit depressed.
• Partly because I'm in the middle of a very long, very torrid love affair - with my husband. Keeps life fun and interesting.
• I also read the Twilight series about the same time the car engine died. Stayed up three nights in a row to read the three books, getting my sister hooked on them too, in the process, then was totally obsessed with them for at least two weeks, reading all 1625 pages of them about five more times. This is the real reason I quit blogging - I was busy reading! Don't think I'd recommend them to the young adults they're marketed for, but if you're older a love a good romance that get an emotional grip on you, is well-written, and has great lines, this might be an unexpected pleasure for you too. I'm ranking it right up there with Romeo and Juliet and The Notebook. The last book in the series is due out August 2, and the first movie is coming in December.
• This Twilight hang-up resulted in my listening to Stephanie Meyer's playlists that go with her books, and becoming readdicted to music as well. I've found lots of new music to love as a result, and these days find me exploring new artist on youtube and organizing my favorites into playlists. I'm enjoying Secondhand Serenade, in particular, these days.
• I also ended up in a scramble to find some fiction half as good, so that I could quit reading the same books over and over. I reread some Francine Rivers and Lori Wick and a bunch of new books. Some were pretty good. After skimming through mostly non-fiction for the past few years and reading mostly just blogs for the past year or so, I've really enjoyed reading fiction and have read more books in the past month than I have in years (if you count the massive number of rereading I've been doing).
• Oh, and another Twilight side effect is the huge quantity of Twilight flair on facebook got me readdicted to facebook as well. Good grief. :^)
• We also celebrated Rosie's third birthday and our eleventh wedding anniversary this month. I'll get her birthday letter up soon. I've got to get her official pics too. And I know that I'm miserably behind on pics for the blog, so watch out - if I start I might not stop!
• We've had some other stuff going on as well that I'm not quite ready to share here yet. It was stressful for a time, but right now, at least, I feel peaceful about this unknown in my life.
• And, who knows if this will begin continuous blogging again or not. My fam is (probably) coming in tonight or tomorrow for the next couple of weeks, and then it's going to be a mad scramble to get my school year going (no, I'm not ready, I've been reading!)

What's Ron Paul been up to?

From my inbox today:

Over the past 17 months you and I delivered a message of freedom, the likes of which American politics has not seen in decades. With the primary season now over, the presidential campaign has come to an end. But the Revolution has only begun.

Today I am happy to announce the official launch of the Ron Paul Campaign for Liberty. Please visit our new website and join us: http://www.campaignforliberty.com/

Over the next few months I will be developing a program, assembling a team, and announcing new and exciting projects. We will have a permanent presence on the American political landscape. That I promise you.

Right now, I need your patience and support. I want the Campaign for Liberty to be a grassroots campaign; so your energy, your creativity, your feedback, and your participation are essential.

Together, we will educate our fellow Americans in freedom, sound money, non-interventionism, and free markets. We will write commentaries and broadcast videos on the news of the day. And I'll work with friends whom I respect to design materials for homeschoolers.

Politically, we will expand the great work of our precinct leader program. We will make our presence felt at every level of government. We will keep an eye on Congress, and lobby against legislation that threatens us. And we will identify and support candidates who champion our great ideas.

"In the final analysis," I wrote in my new book The Revolution: A Manifesto, "the last line of defense in support of freedom and the Constitution consists of the people themselves. If the people want to be free, if they want to lift themselves out from underneath a state apparatus that threatens their liberties, squanders their resources on needless wars, destroys the value of their dollar, and spews forth endless propaganda about how indispensable it is and how lost we would all be without it, there is no force that can stop them."

Our time has come to act on these words.

May future generations look back on our work and say that these were men and women who, in a moment of great crisis, stood up to their politicians, the opinion-makers, and the establishment, and saved their country.

For liberty,

Father's Day Ideas

Okay, Brian, my love, you can go away now.

Now we can talk.

So, in case your the last minute type too, here's some inspiration:

1. Start coloring now and you'll have plenty of signs to decorate with by Sunday.
2. Make a T-Shirt for Dad, or better yet, go to church wearing matching t-shirts declaring your love.
3. Have your little ones make this mini book, let the slightly older try this one, and the self-motivated can go all out.
4. Create a decorative license plate.
5. Print some coupons.
6. This tie takes the cake.
7. But my kids' Reese's loving dad is getting these.
8. Hijack his desktop and give him some new wallpaper.
9. Get some minor league baseball or monster truck tickets for dad, grandpa, and the kids.
10. Build a picture frame - nifty!
11. Or a business card holder from his best golfin' buddy.
12. And, if your crazy like us, why not sing him a song? I wrote this chart-topping song many years ago and enlisted one of my siblings help in distributing the copies to the kids still living at home, and we sang it to my dad together. We may have to do a reunion tour - what'd'ya say, Hannah?

"DEAR OLD DAD" - (sung to the tune of the Mickey Mouse Club - my dad and I have a long history with this song) - and yes, we are weird, and so is our sense of humor

Who's the leader of the home that's made for you and me

D-E-A-R O-L-D D-A-D-D-Y

Hey! there, Hi! there, Ho! there We're as happy as can be

D-E-A-R O-L-D D-A-D-D-Y

Dear old Dad (He's so swell!) Dear old Dad (We know it well!)

Forever loving him until we die (Die! Die! Die!)

Come along, and sing a song and join the family

D-E-A-R O-L-D D-A-D-D-Y

Popping in

We had a great trip to PA to visit my fam and then on the way home (sort of)we spent a couple of idyllic days on Chincoteague and Assoteague Islands, VA. We even got to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on the way home (yeah, a 19 mile bridge and tunnel system - and I'm not too crazy about either, but it wasn't too bad and actually kind of fun, but I didn't say that).

Trip highlights (off the top of my head)

1. Visiting my sister and her beautiful new home in VA (and my brother-in-law Joseph who is the king of the grill). My sisters and I enjoyed and long and enthusiastic Broadway piano and singing time, my daughters and their aunts made a fairy house, and my son was captivated by Joseph's huge Transformers collection. Oh, and my dad did a great lip sync to "You've lost that lovin' feeling".
2. Getting together with my childhood friend Lisa. We talked for hours. I wish we'd had days.
3. Watching the birds that built a nest on my mother's deck. I named the parents Mary Jane and Clark. Their eggs hatched while we were there and we enjoyed listening to and watching Juju, Tootsie, Dot, Nerd, and Baby Ruth.
4. Getting to know my cousin Angie's new husband Shaun, and playing a great game of Mafia with them, Uncle Joe, and the rest of my family
5. Anna's first real roller coaster rides - in threes, on the Comet and in the front row of the Super Duper Looper. Rosie had to settle for the tame coaster, but she is rarin' to go.
6. Meeting my parent's neighbor Jade. She was four when I met her, but told me that on May 28 she was going to be 55 (a conspiracy of my dad's based on her wearing her grandma's high heels). She was a gem and my girls loved playing with her at their found and cleaned up (and perfect and beautiful) kitchen play set.
7. My daddy and Ethan trying on a Jack Sparrow hat and wig at the Disney Store outlet - oh, and I got wicked good deals there too.
8. All of our trip to Chincoteague. It was wonderful there. Captain Barry's boat ride, a family size ice cream sundae (five scoops we all picked one - cream cheese snickers, oh my word!), Anna Kate's perfect birthday pics at the beach, the kids playing in the surf, Rosie digging, a super high kite, a fantastic fresh seafood dinner on the bay, my kids falling in love with Misty's descendants...

Now I've unpacked the clothes, but still have clutter to clear, and I'm focusing on parenting other household stuff.

I read a great book on my trip (and Brian did too - it's great to be on the same page) - To Train Up a Child. It really connected all of the dots for me, in wanting to be consistent and Biblical, but not overbearing. And we are already seeing the results. (Updated 5/1/15 - Parenting is a journey that sometimes takes you 180 degrees from where you were.  I would no longer in any way recommend this book or any book that recommends spanking/corporal punishment.  We were never good at it thankfully because it never felt right, but it was what we were taught that good parents did.  We're now on a much happier journey in positive parenting.)

I'm not planning to post as frequently for a while at least. Computer time is really consuming more than its fair share and I want to be fully present here where I am. So we'll see. I do love you all and want to visit with you as well. :^)

Blogging Break

It's been really busy around here, and I'm going to be offline for a while enjoying my family. Just wanted to let you know. I'll see you next month. :^)

Encouragement from a protein

HT to my husband at Growing Vertical for this one. I had tears running down my face as I watched.



This is crazy. The audio is playing in background while I'm working and it's making me cry all over again.

Want to see the inside of a cell? Go see Brian.

I WON...

I WON...
a new blog header! (Or should I say my first blog header?) I'm so excited!!! Because I have my own URL, I can't use all of bloggers template features, I'm just stuck with a basic template since I can't figure out html. But Sashwhy is starting up a new design business and had a header giveaway as a promotion - and I won! (Did I mention that already?) Go check her out, maybe you can get a new header too, then you'll be as excited as I am. Hehe.

oops!

That doesn't fit very well, does it? Since I don't know how to fix that, I guess I'll just have to blog more until it moves down to where there is more space. :^)

Evangelistic Movie

I've heard that this movie was inspired by Way of the Master's "Hell's Best Kept Secret".

Mother's Day sermon

Today I enjoyed Voddie Baucham's message on Biblical Womanhood.

Happy Mother's Day

Ethan woke me this morning with this special I heart MOM necklace,

and Anna Kate made me the bracelet.

My mother and I last year on Mother's Day.

I'm tired of throwing out buns

Notice to all bread companies: I know that I am not the only person in this country that would appreciate a combo bag of buns. Just a bag that's half hot dog buns and half hanburger buns. Because with half of my family not eating wheat, we just don't use up that whole bag. I've tried freezing them, but they shrink and are never the same. There have got to be a lot of senior citizens, singles, and small families that would be just as happy with such a product.

Romancing your husband - Dates

Some people say that to have a healthy marriage you should have date nights. I wouldn't go that far. Many couples throughout history did just fine without "date nights." But they probably still carved time for each other. To take a walk, to talk, to plan, to dream.

How does this romance your husband? Well I can't speak for everyone, but my husband looks forward to our date nights even more than I do. When I'm away from the kids, I am more relaxed and carefree, and I can focus just on him. he can really relax and unwind too. We feel young again. We can do the things that we enjoy without interruption. And I don't have to tell you how date nights with your husband will usually end, especially if the kids aren't home.

Our date nights are easy. We're very blessed to live near Brian's parents, and they enjoy having our kids sleep over one night a week. Obviously this doesn't always happen due to illness and other factors, and sometimes we have work that must be done or a meeting to attend, but usually we have a date.

Now I am very cheap. Having a free babysitter has already eliminated a huge expense, but we still do cheap stuff. A typical date night will find us at Hardees with a buy one get one free thickburger coupon and a shared soda. Then we head home to a DVD rented from the $.99 vending machine in the grocery store or a missed season of a favorite TV show. That was about all that we could do most of the winter because of Brian's health. As his health continues to be in a much-improved state most of the time, we look forward to revisiting some of our older date ideas.

1. Free outdoor summer concerts, from downtown jazz, to university bands, to bluegrass at someone's home
2. Heading downtown for ice cream cones and a walk through the park
3. Many cities, including ours, have free Shakespeare plays in the park
4. Meeting up with friends for an iced coffee (you can get them for free on May 15 at Dunkin' Donuts)
5. Going to the lake for a picnic to watch the sun set
6. Completing a fun project at home
7. Shopping for a special item, such as patio furniture, or a new outfit.
8. Art museum concerts or lectures
9. Tandem biking
10. Roller blading (I really just put this on here for you, because Brian really doesn't care for it, but he used to do it with me. )
11. Reading a book or poetry to each other
12. World music or open mic night at the coffeehouse, another shows documentaries and indie movies

How do I find all of these things?

1. Many cities have free publications that list local events, newspapers do as well. Post any concert schedules you find inside a cupboard door for easy reference.
2. Go to your own visitors center and pick up materials - you'll find plenty of things in your area for dates, family nights, and day trips.
3. Order your own state's visitor guide
4. Bookmark all of your city's websites, as well as all local towns and other nearby cities, and write any events in your date book. We have a town that has weekly jazz concerts, a state park that has bluegrass concerts, a science center that has folk concerts, a city that has weekly concerts on three different nights within 30 minutes of us - and that's just the short list! Don't forget to bookmark recreation district websites, state park sites, and historical sites.
5. Keep tabs on your favorite stores. Whole Foods, for example, often has musicians, cooking demonstrations, and wine tastings. Ten Thousand Villages has cultural events.
   

No babysitter? Try working out a babysitting swap with another couple that you know well. Same night every week, one week you keep their kids, the next they keep yours. Or try working out a deal with a college student - free food and use of the washer and dryer might lower your overall cost. Or maybe a free art or music lesson.

Need some ideas? I love these books:

1. The little black book of Dating ideas
2. The Dating Handbook: 2002 Things To Do On a Date

One of our favorite weekend "getaways" ever was a conglomerate of ideas from lots of books. We were newlyweds and pretty broke (but gas was really cheap!). Friday night we covered all of the electronics in the house and turned all of the clocks around and put the watches away. We slept in with a plan to go to Denny's whenever we wanted to eat since they serve breakfast all day, then we went to see a movie because there were several good ones playing, so we knew that we could choose one regardless of the time of our arrival.

Later we played "spy" following a random car at a distance, and when we lost track of it, we just made random turns to see where we would end up. We ended up not far from another city, so we headed to their mall for a ride on the carousel. It was a crazy, very relaxing weekend.

Romancing Your Husband

I was out with my girlfriends tonight and we covered every topic imaginable. Romance was a brief topic, but it got me thinking because I used to be the world's greatest romantic, and now I'm not too sure that I am. The feelings are there, but the distractions are great.

Don't get me wrong. My husband is beyond compare. I have not heard of anyone that can hold a candle to him. He is my lover, my confidante, and my best friend. We talk about everything and love to debate stuff. We finish each other's sentences. And we love our date nights.

But I used to leave lipstick messages on his truck windows, fill his pockets with love notes, buy him special gifts. Now I try to have freshly made iced tea at dinner, make phone calls for him, pick up his favorite chips, and leave a candy bar in his pocket. It's good, but just doesn't sound quite as romantic. I think that I could do better. It certainly couldn't hurt to try. I've never heard anyone complain that their spouse is "just too romantic." Besides, my collection of dogeared romantic idea books are a bit dusty.

So girls, buy a new nightgown and a copy of 1001 Ways to Be Romantic , my old favorite. (This is not a Christian book, and I don't recommend it for the marriage advice. But it is a large list of romantic ideas, so you can afford to skip any objectionable ones and still have lots to choose from.) These lists from that book should get your wheels turning:


223a Daily Romantic Checklist:

1. Compliment your partner.
2. Spend twenty minutes of uninterrupted time together.
3. Check in with each other during the day.
4. Perform one small and unexpected gesture.
5. Say "I love you" at least three times.
6. Thank your partner for something.
7. Look for romantic concepts in the newspaper.
8. Take an extra minute when kissing good-bye.
   

223b A Weekly Romantic Checklist:

1. Bring home one small, unexpected gift or present.
2. Share some form of physical intimacy.
3. Share an entire afternoon or evening together.
4. Share two insights you gained this week.
5. Write at least one little love note.
6. Mail something to your partner.
7. Make love!
8. Plan something special for the upcoming weekend.

223c A Monthly Romantic Checklist

1. Plan one romantic surprise for this month.
2. Re-stock your stash of greeting cards.
3. Go out to dinner once or twice.
4. Rent at least two romantic movies.
5. Make love several times!
6. Make plans for a three-day romantic weekend sometime in the next three months.
7. Plan one romantic event with a seasonal theme.

223d A Yearly Romantic Checklist

1. Make a New Year's resolution to be a more creative romantic.
2. Make plans for your next anniversary.
3. Think of an unusual way to celebrate your partner's birthday.
4. Review your plans for your next vacation.
5. Create a special "Romance" category in your household budget.
6. Make plans for Valentine's Day well in advance!

Okay, I admit it

I'm scared of the dentist. I knew I had a cavity. I've seen its mark for over two years now, and I finally made it to the dentist for the first time in eight years. They always manage to hit a nerve when they brush my teeth. And they scraped tartar off of my very sensitive teeth for a very long time. Not fun. That was last week.

And today, ladies and gentlemen, I am going to have my first real filling. Not a little filler thing to prevent a cavity. But the real thing, with,... a drill. And shots in my mouth. Now I can happily donate blood, and used to get four allergy shots a week. But in my mouth?!

And did I mention the drill?

Pray for me.

The power of music

Sometimes I forget. I forget in the midst of mediocre music. I forget because the continual noises of three children more often have me craving silence than any kind of sound.

Today I was reminded. I finally got an ear bud that plus into my cell phone, which has a mini SD card. This is the first time I've used headphones for music since...umm...my personal cassette player in high school?

So far the only thing on it is the Valley of Vision CD.

It was lovely. I cleaned up the kitchen and danced a little, and clapped, and actually enjoyed cleaning up the kitchen. I folded laundry and hung up clothes, and was happy to do it. And I sang along.

And when the children came in from the yard with problems and requests, I wasn't irritated at all. Because I think that it would have really felt like the sin it is, if praise to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit came in one ear and anything but kindness and gratitude came out of my mouth.

I look forward to being reminded again tomorrow.

It Was Love
Words and music by Mark Altrogge
As recorded on Valley of Vision

It was love that brought You from above
To walk upon the earth
And love that caused Your weariness
Your hunger and Your thirst
It was love that caused You to be tried
And tempted by the foe
And love that brought the nails and cross
And love that bought my soul

How wonderful Your love, the mystery of mysteries
Filling up my heart, more glorious than I know
How wonderful Your love
There's nothing else so sweet to me
I'll never be apart from the Lover of my soul
From the Lover of my soul

Your love is filled with holiness
O Spirit, fan this flame
Your love will never cease or cool
Your love will never change
O let me see Your love for me
Around me everywhere
The shining sun, a gentle rain
Remind me of Your care

© 2005 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI).

Cinco de Mayo

Don't laugh, but it just occurred to me today that cinco means five, so Cinco de Mayo means Fifth of May.

I really have never thought much about the holiday. Brian likes it because it gives him an excuse to go out and eat Mexican at lunch, and he loves Mexican food. He also works for a very cool company that loves to celebrate about as much as I do. His top boss is taking, I think, the entire office out for a Mexican lunch (and I don't even know if anyone in the office is of Mexican descent.)

Anyway. Here's some stuff for a last minute celebration of Cinco de Mayo:

1. First read the Wikipedia explanation of this holiday so that we can all be smart together and actually know why this is a holiday. Or have your kids do this informative reading and comprehension activity.
2. Choose a meal plan from Kraft foods, make these taco nachos or Mexican pizza, get some take-out, make tacos, or buy some seven layer dip at Walmart.
3. If you don't have everything you need, why not visit a local Mexican grocery?
4. Read Meet Josefina or some other book about Americans with a Mexican heritage. Or just read a book or two about Mexico. I like this one. And Learning Pages has one for free this month. (Not a member? It's free and their stuff is really cool.)
5. Make this Mexican flag pinata
6. Do the Mexican Hat Dance; we have it on a Music for Little Mozart's CD
7. How 'bout some printables? Learning pages has this fun picture with questions to answer. Apples 4 the Teacher has lots of coloring pages. Family Fun has cute streamers .
8. And finally, crafts. DTLK has a printable Hot Pepper craft. Kinderart tells you how to make a paper bag poncho.

graphic by Celeste’s Holiday Graphic Collection

He wants to be just like his dad

New Websites

It's always fun to find new kids websites. Angelina Ballerina has a new website! My girls, especially Rose, are big fans. That site led me to:

PBS Kids Sprout - they have the cutest website. Rosie just came down with a fever of nearly 102, and fell asleep watching Noddy video clips.

There are lots of healthy kids recipes, with names and designs based on favorite characters:

• Freeze Dance Pops
• Barney's Purple Hummus Dip
• Brussel's Mini-Quiches
• Jay Jay's Chicken Salad Plane
• Banjo's Banana Splits

And after you've tried them out, you can upload a picture of your kids making or eating them. My kids are gonna love that! You can also upload photos for various parts of the Gallery. And there are pages of video clips of sign language words from The Good-Night Show.

There are also pages of simple (and I mean really simple) crafts. No, you might not think they're beautiful, and they might not make good Mother's Day gifts, but they'll keep your kids occupied with simple household materials and lots of creativity. Some favorites:

• Bottle Cap Ladybugs
• Sponge Sailboat
• String Telephone
• Picture Puzzle

• Name Art

And finally back at those creative, veggie loaded, kid-friendly recipes, I clicked a link to:

KidsHealth where there are even more great recipes with sections of recipes for kids with cystic fibrosis, diabetes, celiac disease, and that are vegetarian. as well as educational games and experiments, information on childhood illnesses and accidents from kids' or parents' perspectives, a whole sections of "How the Body Works" videos that Ethan might totally love (though the one I watched seemed a bit slow-moving) The teens section of the site has some good stuff, but also lots of information you would expect from a public school type setting in regard to private matters. There's also a "Growing Up" section that you may want your kids to avoid before turning them loose on the site, on the other hand, it could be helpful if you are needing to discuss puberty and related issues.

Have fun exploring these new sites or just enjoying the links that I found. See you later!

Ethan's first book review

is posted at his blog. Check it out!