The Perfect Shade of Yellow

My sister calls it The Sweet Spot, my cousin, The Comfort Zone... today I have come to think of it as The Perfect Shade of Yellow. Ever tried to paint a room Yellow? I've decided it's the hardest shade to paint. Usually you see it in someone's house and think, "Love that color! Where did you get it?" Only to "reproduce it" in your own Charming Living Room and it looks horrible? It's so dependent on the lighting, the time of day, the accessories, your mood, even! Isn't Life like that sometimes?

We are trying to paint our living room... long story short, our couch is old, it finally broke ENOUGH for Ryan to be annoyed by it (Keep in mind that I've been annoyed and have refused to sit on it for about a year now), and we purchased a new one last weekend. It's being delivered Saturday. And seeing how all the furniture will be out of the way this week, perfect time to paint ~ since we haven't for over 9 years. Except it is a crazy busy week and I STILL hadn't settled on a color, although I've been insisting on "Gold-ish". I've been casually looking since we painted the dining room. Six years ago. In my Spare Time this week, I've been running back and forth to Lowe's, purchasing tiny cans of sample paint and coming up wrong every time. Too dark, too mustardy, too lemony, too beige, too What-Is-THAT-Color?!?!?!

Today was my Second-To-Last-Trip-To-Lowe's-For-Yellow-Paint. (I do need to return to purchase a FULL sized gallon, as the Half Pint I own will not cover the WHOLE living room). Did I find The Perfect Shade of Yellow? Probably not. But I had this really great MOMENT while I was painting the patch of the ONE shade (yes, you are reading about my MOMENT here). If you know me at all, you know I am swayed and transformed by MOMENTS. And when I make a decision based on THAT, it ain't going anywhere... hey, it's how I got rid of my bangs. Umm, this MOMENT is somewhat more Spiritual, I must say. ANYWAYS, I'm painting and thinking the color is GREAT. Right now. At 3:23pm. With one lamp on. Sun shining. Day Light Savings Time. Half Asleep (worked last night!), and Minimal Coffee... Blue Icee, however (mmmmmm). I put the paint brush down and think to myself, I'll see how it is in the morning.

(enter MOMENT)

I don't care how it is in the morning. Sometimes I'm going to be OK with the color, other times I'm going to wonder what I was thinking, and why I didn't ask for 5 more squirts of white (You know, MY control of the situation!). Most days I won't even notice it, or remember when I painted it that color. But sometimes I'm going to think it's Perfect. But through all that, it is still the same color. It doesn't change... we do. Our perspectives are constantly shifting. Altered by moods, circumstances, sleep, and sunlight:)

Then I went for a run. Ha. And pondered on this MOMENT. I "randomly" kept thinking about Caroline being born: Labor going great. God is good. She's ready to be delivered after a mere 3 hours of epidural protected labor:) God is good. One push. God is good. Her heart completely stopped beating. God is good. Emergency C-section. God is good. Within a minutes time, Caroline enters the world, with a beating heart. God is good. What if she hadn't? He. Is. Still. God.... GOOD. He's the same. Always.

Now you see why I need to paint my walls THAT color. I HAVE to have a visual reminder DAILY of this. There are going to be so many times in our lives that I NEED to remember that God is still God. Merciful and Loving. Good. The Perfect Shade of Yellow. And yes, I'm willing to paint my living room to make sure I get the visual. Daily. And if I'm not sure about the color in the morning (you know, it doesn't feel right to me) I can remind myself, "Just wait until 3:23pm!! Because Antelope-Hide-with-10-squirts-of-white-to-a-half-pint ROCKS at 3:23pm!"

Winter Haven Swim Meet

First Official Swim Meet of the 2009-2010 Swim Season! We drove over to Winter Haven (about 50 minutes away) this afternoon and had a great time!

To start with, some of the kids got to swim across the pool with flags during the National Anthem. It was pretty cool, and kind of moving in a strange way. They swam on their backs really slowly and it was really quiet around the pool. Carly LOVED participating, of course!

Ben's event was first for us. 100 IM, in which they do all 4 strokes. He was going so fast! He actually finished first in his heat (and got a fun ribbon!). He finished in 1:35:97. If it had counted, this would have been a "B Time". Sadly, he was disqualified for his Butterfly stroke, because his hands didn't come down together. Yes, he was pretty upset! He kept saying to his coach, "But I did it right! I won!" We felt pretty bad for him, but this IS something the coach has been telling him he's been doing for a while now.

That's him taking off! He was so much faster than the others in his heat! We were pretty worried that it might mess the remainder of the meet up for him because he was just so very upset. DQ's are pretty common at these things, but there's no telling a 10 year old that! Especially one like Ben!

Now before you get too sad and upset (Mom), his day turned out fantastic, so he worked it out. Now really. If you know Ben and the road we've travelled with him, isn't THAT just simply AMAZING and better than clocking great times?

Then Carly did a 50 Free, with the 10 and under group. For her actual age groups, they were only doing 25 yards, and that doesn't "Count" for your Motivational Times.

A word about the Motivational Times we are working towards here: They are put out by USA Swimming, which the kids are members of (along with, you know, Michael Phelps). There are "cut off times" for each event, each age grouping, and boy/girl. The first cut you can get is a B time, then you do better and can get a BB time... then go a little faster and get an A time... then AA, then AAA, then AAAA. So, these are the times they are working towards. That is the nice thing about swimming, very individual! You are essentially competing against yourself, and your last clocked time. What this translates into for OUR KIDS, would be TROPHIES they earn at the end of the year swim banquet! Yes, they saw BIGGER trophies than they got last month, and their eyes lit up!!!!

Anyways, this is why Carly didn't want to do any 25 swims. She wants a trophy! She really held her own today with girls that were mostly 10. She was the only 7 (or 8, for that matter) year old who competed with 50's.

For her FreeStyle, she did it in 59:33 seconds (that's one lap, flip turn, one lap back... how fast can YOU do that??!!?!), and she also did the breast stroke, and the fly... unfortunately, disqualified in each of these. One for scissoring her legs, and one for (we think) smiling too much, she was enjoying herself so very much and everyone was chuckling about it! While WE were screaming, "It's a race! Focus, Girl!". After each race and she found out she DQ'd (she didn't for freestyle, mind you), she was still so very happy... she made me think of that Publix commercial where the dad is all worried over his son's first soccer game (which he tanked on) and when he went up to him, the kids goes, "I was AWESOME!!!!!". That's the difference between Carly and Ben. Love it!

Here's Ben and his fantastic 50 Free Style race. 25 minutes after his IM upset. He was so far ahead of the 6 other boys in his heat!! He finished in 34:56 seconds (again, this is one lap, flip turn, one lap back!) and got a "Heat Winner" ribbon. Even more fantastic, he skipped right over B time, and earned a BB TIME!!! We are so happy for him, he was thrilled! Immediately said, "how many seconds faster to an A time?". With that kind of determination, it won't be long. His coach was very impressed, which pleased Ben, too.

That's the official time sheet. There were about 8 heats for this event, and you can see, Ben falls 12th out of about 38, which is GREAT!

Next, he did a 50 Fly. Now keep in mind, this is the stroke he got DQ'd for in his first race. His coach talked to him about it for a long time prior to it, and I planned on making a video so he could SEE his hands NOT coming down together (he insisted it was together!)... of course, he did it right this time! And got a really good time, to boot! Finished in 49:24, which is 2 seconds shy of the coveted B time!

Here's the video of his Fly... This was fun because they announce their names and everything, so make sure the sound is on, at least through THAT part. You might not want to hear US screaming:)

Thanks for sharing our fun!

This is why...

... I check the kids before I go to bed.... because it's just so entertaining! And I have this same picture of her when she was about 3. But I couldn't find it. And I'm tired and going to bed!

GOOD NIGHT!!!

Shameless Advertising

Part of why HomeSchooling would be so appealing to me: No Fundraisers. (Unless you consider allowing your children to be hired out to rake leaves or wash windows to raise money for "school" activities "Homeschool Fundraising"... this is ALSO quite appealing to me as a side-income in case the whole Nurse Thing doesn't hold out). All this to say: Hi, my kids school is having a fundraiser and if you would like to purchase the above book (well, your own copy, of course) you can email me. No pressure.

I only bring it up because It's A Good Deal. And also only for the Greater Tampa Bay Area, so Laurie and Tracy, you are off the hook, as it were.

Here's the deal...

It's $20... you get a free oil change (for your car, of course) from FireStone...

plus there are 4 $5 off Albertson's coupons (that you can use at Publix). (your $20 returned right there... math genius, right Rochel?)

And NEW this time around are the Panera Bread coupons... BOGO "You Pick Two" (2 of those) and 4 other Panera coupons (those were the ones that Spoke Loudest to me, since we always order that there).

Sonic Papa Johns Firehouse Grill Checkers, blah blah blah.

Don't think if you order Ben and Carly will be getting anything. I'm really only telling you about this because it's a Deal. Actually, the school does make $10 from each book, so it is a good fundraiser, as fundraisers go. (PTA Treasurer for 2 years, I'm unfortunately familiar with the figures!)

So, if you are interested and this sale would apply to you (ie, you live in Tampa), feel free to email me by SATURDAY, September 19th.

In case you are feeling All Left Out and Really Wanting to Help Lee Elementary School with their fundraising efforts anyways... BOXTOPS!!!! Yes, still collecting them. You know, you find them on cereal boxes, etc... and they are TRASH, so go crazy there! And again, you will be sent hand crafted Note Cards by a Notable Artist (ok, just me) for 25. I had to put a number on that because GRAMMY sends one home in the bottom of the overnight bag and is all "Where are my 500 notecards?" Ha! Kidding... kids really want those Free Homework Passes. Even Ben now, which THRILLS us because that is NORMAL, right?!?!?!

And in case you are NOW feeling Left Out of the Free Card Frenzy... if you order a book, I will throw in a card or 2 of your requesting (you know, Make me a Birthday Card with a Dog... um, don't ask for that one because I can't think I have a dog stamp).

Random Links

So, I have rolling around in my Pretty Little Head (my blog, I can compliment myself) various comments regarding an email conversation I had with the woman who gave birth to my Man. While I wait for them to STOP rolling around and settle, I have a few very random items of fun to share with you, my friends. Ok, family. I'm certain only relatives are reading ~ so family. But family are friends, too... perhaps the best ones! (I would now like to kindly ask my cousins to STOP rolling their eyes).

I have made a concerted effort to post once again, on my card blog. Consider yourself Inspired. Try to contain yourself. Also, you might have noticed I have made a few additions to the sidebar on the left... picture buttons you can click on. For a few new sites-o-fun. I will also be stealing an idea from Auntie Sioux-Sioux' blog... "Jessicaism's" is just too perfect not to duplicate. Of course, We don't have Jessica at OUR house, but there are some funny one-liners that we don't want to forget, so that will be coming soon. Thanks for the fantastic idea, Sue. Now, onto more fun...


Ryan's brother Rick has a blog. I go there frequently for dinner ideas, as he ALWAYS posts what they have for dinner. Highly entertaining. I'm hoping he learns how to post pictures soon so we can see more of the cute children.


While I'm on the subject of Rick. He also has a website for the youth outreach ministry he has created with his wife, Kristi. Chamber Ministries. Also a worthy stop as you hop around the net.


Next, on my list of Places You Can Go: Ryan's youngest sister Randee and her husband, Johnny, have a photography website. I thoroughly plan on pushing Ben and Carly off on them at Christmas time to be their little Guinea Pigs (read: willing subjects). I'm sure Ben will be thrilled. Actually, since it's Aunt Randee, he probably won't mind. He does quite well with her haircuts, you know, BECAUSE it's Aunt Randee.

Moving right along across the branches of the Family Tree... everyone remembers my charming neice, Kristin, right? (OF COURSE YOU REMEMBER, we're all family, right?!?!?!) You guessed it. Blog. Also makes me smile. Where else am I going to learn about what she's up to? I'm sure somewhere here I've established I'm a horrible FaceBook friend, so certainly not there. And if I waited for her to email me, I'd probably have grandchildren. (Rats, she emailed me today. Ok, I take that one back...)

Further up the trunk, as it were, my parents have created a special blog just for Carly and her classroom of 2nd graders. I must applaud them for embracing the 21st Century and finding a way to be a part of their granddaughters school experience from half a world away. Ever read the Flat Stanley book? It's a 2nd grade tradition at Lee Elementary, and perhaps other schools around the country... then they send out Stanley's to learn about places all around the world... When Ben was in 2nd grade, Stanley accompanied my parents to Africa and various other jaunts. He apparently hopped in their suitcase to Israel, and will be reporting back regarding his experiences there... Not sure if he's been informed yet that this year of travel also includes various ports in the Mediterranean and various cities in Italy. Lucky Stanley.

And since I'm sure it has crossed your minds that since we are all family, WHY would I need a whole post about websites we all already know about?

Ah. Elphie's Blog. The ever-famous name-spelling-and-gender-changing-McGregor-Cat. You heard me. And you know I had nothing to do with this... I'm not the only one in my house with too much free time.

Fear not... another new blog header!

It was time. For a new blog header. And there's always a reason for the Header's I create:) This one is no different. While were were on the Oregon Coast last month, I knew one of these pictures would end up here. Unfortunately, when we got home, NOTHING was coming to me as far as what I wanted to write on it. I'm much too much a Creature of Habit to NOT incorporate something meaningful-to-me. Several songs ALMOST did it, but well, nothing brought complete satisfaction... that's what I was looking for.

Until last night.

In a VERY round-about-way (you know, RANDOM! Ha!) I ended up on KATE's Dad's blog to read about bracelets someone had made for their girl. On the outside they say "Pray for Kate", on the inside is the reference for Isaiah 43:1-2. So, you know, I read it... it was conveniently written out for me, which I will do for you, too!

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have summoned you by name;

you are mine.

When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers,

they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire,

you will not be burned;

the flames will not set you ablaze."

... read that again. And if you felt like me, SPEACHLESS after reading that, you would have grabbed your Bible and read on... at least through verse 3:

For I am the Lord, Your God,

the Holy One of Israel,

Your Savior

THEN I thought about it for a really long time. God has redeemed me. God, summons ME by name... does that not give you a picture of how very personal He feels about us? He knows us, He wants us?! You. Are. Mine. Seriously, could not stop thinking about how incredible that is.

... and how many times have I passed through "the waters"? Worse, "the rivers"... and worse yet, "the fire"? He protects me. He doesn't always take it away, but He is always there protecting. Your Savior.

Here's why I write this all down... not to be all preachy and spiritual, you know I'm just not. When these things are "revealed" to me, I don't want to forget it... you know, tomorrow, when I'm once again the Raving Lunatic losing my temper with say, Ben. Oh wait. That was today.

I need all these reminders that My Savior, (the same One who created that vast, vast Pacific Ocean, the rocks in the midst of it, the waves that crash all around, and knows exactly how many grains of sand are on that beach... Him) thinks I'm worthy to REDEEM. He thinks it's worth it enough to KNOW MY NAME, takes the time to call me to Himself. He calls me His. I love that. And I'm going to need to see it spelled out over the next couple of months...

Finally the recipe!

Remember when my sister-in-law, Rochel, made us Chicken Pot Pie before we went on vacation? Mmmmmm. Well, she FINALLY posted the RECIPE, complete with photos! I'm pretty certain we will still be calling it Baked Alaska at our home. Brings back some GREAT memories! Apparently, she is going to be making it for us once in a while in a trade off for watching Eli. I'm thinking we made out pretty good in the deal. Click that recipe, and check out that cutie!