a birthday joke

Zach walked into the house on my birthday saying, "I got you a birthday present."
Me, "really? where?"
Zach, "its in the driveway."
Me, "no, you didn't"
Zach, " yes, I did. come look."

I honestly didn't believe he bought me anything. I followed him outside. I MUST admit in those 5 seconds I had two thoughts. First, there is a car in the driveway that is totally crashed and he is going (try) to convince me to buy it and he will fix it. Second, he drove a car home and is going (try) to convince me to buy it "at only $200 a month".  For these 5 seconds I was almost excited. I walked outside and saw this.


A 2006 Porsche 911 Turbo S Convertible. (worth $80,000)

I walked out the garage door and immediately turned about. That was not nice.
To make it even WORSE, he posted on Facebook that he bought me this car for my birthday..as a joke. Even more not nice. That evening I had texts asking "did you get a Porsche?" "Did you really get a Porsche?" A week later, people were STILL asking about this car. **sigh**

Nope.

See that big white bus? That's what I still drive.

How many Becci's does it take to change a light?

I'm working on this hallway project that I began almost 2 months ago. (begin here). Today I forwent (is that a real word?) my Tuesday Pilate's class to install the new light fixtures that I bought.

The old lights are original to the house built in 1961 painted over several times SO it was almost impossible to unscrew the bolts holding the fixture up. I twisted it, I turned it, I used a wrench, I debated about sawing those little buggers OFF until I realized that's NOT even HOW they come off. Hehe. (good thing Zach didn't see me). I dropped the screws and screw driver repeatedly cursing each time I got down from the ladder and back up. Now this isn't the first time I replaced a fixture (though it may seem like it) so I didn't read the directions. There were 2 screws in the bag, a big one and a little one, Zach corrected me and said "long" and "short". Whateva. I knew what I was talking about. I screwed the "big" one into the mounting bracket only to realize that the "little" screw didn't fit into the light fixture. Oops! I got them backwards. Take it all down again. UNscrew. REscrew.

After 1 1/2 hours I had itchy fiberglass all over my arms, dust in my eyes, drywall in my hair, and 2 new lights installed in my hallway.

"You didn't get electrocuted, did you?" Zach asks.
(I rolled my eyes)

old light

 new light

7 days until

Sam turns 8. This year I started a tradition in giving the kids 7 days of presents leading up to their BIRTHDAY. Tomorrow is day #1. Some items I bought so far is a giant 18" pencil with sharpener, a pack of Sharpie markers (Sam LOveS Sharpies), a GIANT eraser, a pack of colored pencils, a spy thingy, he will receive his very own set of scriptures on day #6. We always buy the children their own scriptures on their baptism year. This year is also the year when Sam gets a "friend" party as I have to rotate years or I would be broke from birthday parties. They get a birthday party in Kindergarten, when they turn 8 and 12. Sam can't decide where he wants his party. He has requested a Nintendo DSI which I agreed to but not combined with a party. Decisions. Decisions.

I am throwing him a family birthday lunch a few days after his birthday inviting grandparents, great-grandparents, Aunts and more Aunts (there are a lot of Aunts). When I asked him what food he wanted he started with "macaroni and cheese" then "chicken nuggets" then "hot dogs" finally settling on "pizza". Thank goodness! If it takes him a week to decide what food he wants he might be 9 before he decides on a party place.

Currently, I am scanning 1000s (ok, maybe NOT that many) of printed photos to the computer and throwing them over to a web photo program. This is all in effort to eventually make pictures books for the kids (me). These are photos taken mostly of the older two kids before we received a digital camera (that came with child #3).

I must say I think know I have the cutest kids EVER!!!

 One of MY FAVORITE of all time.

 Another...

yet another...



The kids and I have enjoyed looking through the boxes of pictures. SO many great memories.
.

what is best

There has been times in my life when what I want to do and what is best doesn't seem to agree. Actually, this has happened several times in my life usually before conception of a baby. (I don't want to go through all that again but I know there's another...)

As a prayerful mother I always keep in mind the needs of my children. I listen for that voice that lets me know how I can help them through their individual trials. Isaac has been on my mind lately...a lot. How can I bond better with him? I need help as I begin these tween years (he thinks he's 18 already). I pray for patience- a whole lot! I pray for understanding-even if I don't agree.!

I home schooled Isaac until he entered 4th grade. I enjoyed having him home as he was the perfect home schooling child. He is intelligent enough that I don't need to explain every little detail over and over again until I eventually screamed. (It's happened with another children) Isaac knew what needed to be accomplished and he did it. The "real" reason I kept him home was because it was easier. With 5 children under "just turned 2 weeks earlier" 7, I didn't have to structure my day around the school schedule especially with 3 children who still napped.

With the repeated school problems, the D on the report card, and the negative influence of his peers, I keep feeling I need to home school again. Zach and I both agree Isaac doesn't have the will power to get him self out of a bad situation. He tries to be one of the cool kids with his skinny jeans and Bieber hair cut.

I spent today researching HOW to school a 7th grader. I don't remember Algebra...or sentence structures...dissecting a frog. BUT I must admit this is the first time in the last few months I have felt at peace with what is best.

a day to remember

Today at pre-school was Dr. Seuss birthday celebration. Here is a run down of what Olivia did at school today.

"WOW! What a wonderful Dr. Seuss day we had!!

We made our hats, played feelings Bingo, read My Many Colored Days (about feelings) and then on to our other festivities!

We loved our parade, the movie, and hearing the Cat in the Hat read to us! We even had Thing 1 and Thing 2 drop by from Hanby.

We had an ICEE for a treat for Dr. Seuss’s birthday.

We all looked great in our red shirts and striped hats!"

I received a call from the middle school "time out room" (seriously?) informing me that Isaac has detention. Yes, DETENTION for throwing paper airplanes in class.

When I picked up the children from school today (only 10 minutes after the phone call) the vice-principal walked to my window to tell me Michael was slapping a boy during lunch. "Michael will loose his recess on MONDAY"

I am so embarrassed.

Good bye Wii. Farewell friends. See you later ice-skating on Friday nights.

6 weeks later

I finally finished painting the moldings in the hallway. Moldings are my least favorite so I procrastinate. While debating on what house project I wanted to begin next, I decided to take a tour around Lowes for inspiration. On my search, I found ceiling lights for $17.77 FOR TWO! (Woohoo!) I snatched them. Since I got a fantastic deal on lights I went ahead and bought black paint for the hallway doors, which I began today. Guess, I know what my next projects are.

1 door down-6 more to go