Rest in Peace May 1954 - October 2009

Last night was a long night.

My sister in law died.

We weren't expecting it, we were not prepared for it.

II Corinthians 1:3-7: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

Doris you were a mother, a grandmother, an aunt, a sister, a friend:







Doris, we love you, we will miss you, we will find comfort in the fact that you are healed, you are no longer in pain.



Margaret

Loving My Husband Friday

I'm not usually a meme sort of person but I like this one. I tend to complain when my hubby does things to tick me off but I rarely tell about the times he has been wonderful. So here goes "Boo."

I love my husband because when our little M had a rough time this week (growing pains physically and mentally) he spent a whole evening watching the cake shows with her. She was in Daddy heaven! And I love him because he always has time to talk to B about teenage boy stuff! Love you honey!

"Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad." ~Author Unknown

Forgot to mention the meme is from The Peer Review, you can participate here.

Margaret

They Love Me, They Really Really Love Me!

I got this award twice! Yaay! Thank you to Jenn from This Moment in Time and Jessica over at Riding with Jessica. Thanks so much ladies! It's late so I will be back tomorrow with my 15!!

Blessings to you all!
Margaret

Conversations in the Car #2: The Rollercoaster

M: Wow! Look how far that road goes up!
J (M's friend): Woohoo! We're on a rollercoaster put your hands up!
(Hands go in the air and are waving around!)
M&J: Whew! This rollercoaster is FUN!!! Uh Oh there's another hill!!
(Upon arrival at B's School)
J: Awww it's over! Please do not stand up until the vehicle comes to a complete stop... keep your hands and arms inside the vehicle at all times. Beep!

This was the most hilarious rollercoaster I have ever been on!

Margaret

P.S. I don't drive THAT fast!
P.P.S. Well maybe a little fast!!
P.P.P.S OK well at least it's not ROLLERCOASTER fast!!

If My People

For some reason this verse stuck with me today:

II Chronicles 7 "¹⁴ if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

The Lord spoke this to Solomon after he finished building the temple of the LORD. The Lord let him know, that He heard his prayers and has Himself consecrated this temple for His worship. Then he went on to tell him (paraphrasing), whatever may befall you, whatever plagues may be brought upon you, humble yourselves, pray, turn from sin and I (the Lord) will hear you and I will forgive you! What a blessing that is! I'm so thankful I serve a loving and forgiving God!

Margaret

Conversations in the Car #1: Did you know?

M: Mom, I counted to 850 Friday at school.

Me: Really? How long did it take you?

M: (with the are you crazy tone) 850 seconds!!

Me: Really, and why did you decide to do that?

M: The teacher told me that there are no A's in any number until you get to a thousand, I had to prove it to myself.

Me: (quickly counting in my head) Oh, you are right, I didn't know that! B (my high schooler), did you know that?

B: Nope! (on the phone) H, did you know there are no A's in the numbers until you get to a thousand? .... Eight is spelled EI, not A!!!

And this is how knowledge spreads!

Margaret

I WON!!!

Yippeee!

Friday as I'm driving to pick up my daughter from her after school program, I heard my favorite station, Star 99.1, say that they were giving away the new Snow White and the & Dwarfs DVD!

(picture belongs to Disney)

I really really really wanted the DVD. I heard from a friend that it has the first 6 minutes of Disney's the Princess and the Frog movie that's coming out for the holidays.

So I called and I WON!! I so hope I didnt' sound like a total freak on the radio! LOL! I hardly ever win anything so I was pretty excited!! My daughter did NOT believe me when I told her! Next Friday night is movie night!! Oh wait, pretty much every Friday night is movie night! LOL!

Margaret

Super Nanny I am NOT!

So Monday was Columbus day and I worked from home because my kids were off. My 9 yo daughter decided to spend the day watching the Super Nanny marathon. It was culture shock for her! LOL! One child called the mom a B-word. She looked at me wide eyed and said Mommy, I'm shocked, did you hear what he said! I'd be dead! All his mom did was wash his mouth out with soap!

Now I am not a spanker by any stretch of the imagination, but using the B-word is just not tolerated in this house. I got upset when I learned what Sugar Honey Iced Tea stood for in Madagascar!!! (Yeah the kid's movie). Although I was tickled at my daughter's reaction to the show, I wonder sometimes, why aren't my children like that?

I believe there are a few reasons:

1. Our family foundation lies in Christ. He is the Head of our family and that is what we teach our children. We are never away from His presence.
2. My children have a strong male influence in their life, my husband, my dad, their uncle. I think this as important for my daughter as well as my son. I'm NOT that women cannot or do not raise wonderful children alone. I'm saying that in OUR family it has been a blessing.
3. My children have boundaries appropriate for their age. They've had them since they were old enough to understand. Because of this, they knew when they crossed the line and knew that they would be disciplined.
   
4. My children are raised by a "village." Their parents, grandparents, church family, friends, aunts, uncles, cousins are all active in their lives. They know that they are loved and supported. They know that they are prayed for.
   

What are you thoughts on this? What do you think makes GOOD children? Are all children inherently good and need to be taught to bring that goodness out? That's what I like about Super Nanny, she brings out the goodness in children! By the way, my daughter says I'm much nicer than Super Nanny! LOL!

What Makes A Good Book Review

Hi readers!

I'm starting to read a lot more since the weather is getting cooler. I don't like the cold and I know I won't be outside much! LOL!

I was wondering, what in a book review helps you decide if you are going to read the book or not? I belong to a site called Goodreads, my current reading list in on the sidebar. Once I finish reading a book, I like to post a good review. Do you like general reviews or more specific reviews (like character, plot, setting)? Also do you care if there are spoilers in the review? On Goodreads, I can mark if it has spoilers, not sure if that will carry over to the blog? If you are a book reviewer, what are somethings you've found helpful to prepare you for writing a review?

Thanks for all of your input!

Chicken Soup for the African American Soul

Chicken Soup for the African American Soul: Celebrating and Sharing Our Culture, One Story at a Time by Jack Canfield


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a book that will always remain on my shelf to be read again and again. It's a delightful collection of stories from mostly everyday people. It's inspirational, it's educational, it's uplifting. There wasn't one story, quote or cartoon that I did not like. I appreciate the authors taking the time to put together this list of stories.

View all my reviews >>

The Big Apple Circus is Coming to Lincoln Center

From Time to Time I will post an that I think may interest my audience. I'm a big circus fan so when I was asked to share this I agreed. If you go I would love to hear how you liked it!

From the Big Apple Circus Media release:

Bello is Back! under the Big Apple Big Top performing breathtaking feats of humor in the theatrical focus of one ring with no seat more than 50 feet away!

It seems like only yesterday that this daredevil clown made his hair-raising New York debut with the Big Apple Circus. He’s been a big star all over the world ever since and was recently named "America's Best Clown" by Time Magazine.

Bello is joined by a world of stellar circus stars:
*From Spain, Picaso Jr. returns with his sizzling style and extraordinary juggling act — puffing into the air up to five ping-pong balls simultaneously, and catching them — with his mouth!

*From Russia, the Aniskin Troupe amaze with their bravura, athletic trampoline act — then soar into the Big Top stratosphere with their spectacular flying trapeze act!

*The Big Apple Circus' own lovely and graceful Regina Dobrovitskaya performs a shimmering spectacle on aerial silk ribbons!

*Equestrians Christine Zerbini and Sultan Kumisbayev present an electrifying riding act — standing atop galloping chargers, Roman–style!

*Luciano Anastasini’s Pound Puppies (all rescued from animal shelters) return for a joyously jumping mélange of human and canine acrobatics!

Of course there’s more and for an extra measure of love and laughter, there’s the Big Apple Circus' very own clown -- Grandma. "

To purchase your discounted tickets to the Big Apple Circus:

Online: http://bigapplecircus.org/pop.aspx

and submit the code POP10 in the Promotional Codes box

By Phone: CALL 888-541-3750 and mention code POP10

In Person: Big Top Box Office 10AM–6PM daily. No service fee. Bring a copy of this blog post

*Offer good on select seat locations and performances. Must present this blog post to receive discount at the box office. Performance schedule subject to change. Offer is subject to availability; not valid on prior purchases; cannot be combined with other discounts or promotions. This offer can be revoked at any time. Discount amount varies. Limit 8 tickets per order. No refunds or exchanges. Telephone and Internet orders are subject to standard service fees.

Tickets for performances at upcoming venues are currently on sale to Big Apple Circus members only. In addition to knowing your membership helps kids in need, benefits include discounted tickets, VIP seats, invitations to exclusive member-only events, and more! For full details, check out:

http://bigapplecircus.org/support/membership.aspx

Don't forget to check out the Big Apple Circus on Twitter and Facebook as well!
Twitter: @BigApple_Circus on Twitter

Facebook:

Big Apple Circus Facebook fan page

Note: I received no compensation for posting this ad.

Have a great evening!

Margaret

Just finished another book on my iPod Touch!

The 5th Horseman by James Patterson


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
It was good, nice story line. It's a little nervewracking to see how many twists this author can come up with! On to six!

View all my reviews >>

I Love Technology!!

I really love technology! I love my computers (yes plural), I love my iPOD Touch, I love my digital camera, and OH how I love my cell phone!!

If you are a parent, you know it's hard to sit down with your significant other and have a decent conversation. Whenever you are on the phone some emergency is bound to come up, like a paper that needs to be signed or hair that needs to go into a ponytail, yeah, you know what I mean.

But, in the solitude of my car after I've dropped my daughter off to school, but before I've arrived at work, OH the blessedness!!! I had a whole thirty minute, uninterrupted conversation with my hubby (well except for the toll collector, and when I lost connection going through the "dead zone." ) It was so nice, and we didn't talk about the kids either!! I like to think it made a long drive a bit more pleasant for him too! I love my cellphone (and my bluetooth too!!)

Embrace your favorite technology today!!

A Teaching Moment

Each morning before getting ready for work/school my daughter and I have our snuggle time. Hubby and my high schooler are gone for the day, so it's just the two of us in the house. Sometimes we just snuggle under the warm comforters and sometimes we talk. There are a lot of things on the mind of a 4th grader, you just don't know!! So this morning was a talk morning. My daughter informed me that her friend C had stolen a cookie from the lunch counter. Apparently someone told on C and she lied about it. But finally she broke down and told the truth. Another student began to talk about stealing, which upset C even more and she was crying.

This discussion opened the door for a deeper discussion on how God gives us a conscience so that when we do something wrong we feel bad. We talked about why C felt bad and would probably have felt bad even if she didn't get caught. We talked about how our conscience lets us know if we are doing something good or bad and we talked about how God gave us this tool to use so that we can make the right choices. I saw the light bulb go on! She was able to make the connection! Yaay! These are things we discuss all the time but sometimes you need to take a real-life situation and apply what we learned in church.

I learned too. I can't assume that a child just knows these things. It's important to take the time to listen and work through different situations. It's important to let your child know they are being heard.

What have you taught your child about lately, more importantly, what have they taught you? Was it a light bulb moment for you or them? What made it a light bulb moment?