Fun with Frosting!

March 17, 2006

(Maggie was 2 ½ years old)

Today I bought cupcakes to take to Bonnie’s class to celebrate her birthday! Being the wise old mom that I am, I bought extra for my own kids!  Maggie and Bubba were sitting at the counter eating their hot pink cupcakes (mental note – never buy hot pink cupcakes again!!)  Maggie decided to use her frosting as lipstick and blush plus she painted it on her new Easter shoes that I was letting her wear against my better judgement!  This all happened  while I had my back turned washing THEIR frosting off MY hands at the sink!  Just for your own personal information,  HOT PINK FROSTING NEVER COMES OFF!  So when you see her Easter morning, you will understand about the big pink stain on her new shoes! :)

Addicted to Prayer

Johnny and Keith

Three years ago this Fall, I was in a low time, not knowing what I was suppose to be doing in my life, having no direction personally.  Yes, of course, I had five kids to take care of but I am one of those crazy people that think everyone has a real God-given purpose beyond diapers, dishes and laundry.  I got a flyer from church in the mail and it was lying on my counter.  I walked by and saw “Intercessory Prayer, Wednesdays 6 PM.”  I didn’t hear an audible voice but something resonated in me and I knew I must join.  I was hopeful that I could at least show up and stand in agreement with whoever was there and maybe somehow I wouldn’t offend anyone or screw this up.  

Joanne and Keith

I have to admit, I was nervous the first time I slipped in the door because in my opinion, the people sitting around the table were spiritual giants that I looked up to.  It was weeks before I prayed out loud but I LOVED it. I truly believe they are the heroes of the faith.   I felt honored to be welcomed in the group!

I am an over-active, over-thinking person who has trouble sitting still.  To sit for an hour, and seek God is so against my general busy personality. To be honest, some days, it’s the first time I sit all day.  It has turned into one of my highest weekly priorities.  I plan for it and try to be there every week.  I’ve gotten babysitters and go late even if I am only there for the end.  Life happens and sometimes I have to miss and I have to fight off depression if I do.  Dan has been so supportive leaving work early and usually zooms in the driveway, leaves the car running and I jump in and take off to church.  It’s a sacrifice that he makes for me because he knows how encouraged and built up I am when I get home!   Prayer unites people like nothing I have ever experienced.  When I was a youth pastor in my twenties I prayed weekly with local youth pastors and it created a bond that still exists.  It’s an amazing deep spiritual thing that I can’t explain!  We saw God do great things that were beyond us.

Alexandra and Michel

Once again, I have fallen in love with the most unlikely gathering of diverse people.  We have a small, dedicated group from young single ladies to grandfathers and all in between.  For me personally, it has built me up and seen me through the scariest times in my life.  I had surgery last year and the doctor thought I could have cancer.  They fought for me spiritually in the heavenlies and helped carry me through my fears of dying and leaving 5 babies behind.  I got a good report and a few days after surgery, made it to prayer to tell everyone the good news!

I feel truly blessed and thankful for the power of prayer.  We have seen miracles happen and prayers answered over and over again.  I honestly feel it’s the most productive thing I have ever done in my life. (and you know how "productive" literally, I have been! LOL) I leave full of hope leaving my worries and anxieties behind.  The dedicated prayer warriors have changed my life and I know their reward in heaven is great! #addictedtoprayer

Space Junkies

March 14, 2006

(Bubba was 5 years old)

This story goes out to all you Space Junkies!  (Especially for those of you, who like me, think there may be life on other planets! Don’t tell Dan! :)  

We always marvel at what an intense, deep thinker Bubba is.  Today Dan took Bubs to school and Bubba asked (as only Bubba can!) “Daddy, I want to ask you some-tin.  Why did God make all dose other planets if people don’t wiv on dem!”  Dan told him that he didn’t know and Bubba could ask God when he sees Him.  Bubba said, “OK, I’ll ask Ms. Pfaler (his K4 teacher)  Good Luck, Ms. Pfaler!!  We’ll let you know what she says!!

Sisterly Mischief

March 13, 2006

(It’s amazing what you find when you clean out a cabinet!  I found three funny stories about my kids from 2006 that I will post the next couple of days.  Maggie is 2 ½ and Annie is 11 months in this story! I should have started a blog when I had Bonnie 12 years ago!  Oh, the stories I have missed!)

I was cleaning up the kitchen and was so proud of Mags and Annie.  They were in the playroom, playing together so nice.  I kept peeking at them to make sure they were OK.  I would see Annie chewing on Bubba’s Star Wars toys (shhhh, don’t tell Bubba!)  Maggie was talking so sweet to Annie.  I heard Annie laughing at Maggie.  I was thinking how peaceful the day was. Scary huh?  I saw Maggie climb under the table and Annie follow her.  I came out to see what they were doing.  That’s when I noticed Annie had something pink all over her bald head.  I knew it was bad when Maggie started whining, “Don’t pop me!”  Maggie had found a rose stamp of Bonnie's and proceeded to stamp it all over Annie’s head.  I hated to punish her because it was hilarious!  I know you are shocked but I failed to take a picture before I scrubbed Annie’s head clean but there is always the next episode! 

The Birth of Miss GBA!

September 13, 2001

July 2003

I have always loved America and have been grateful to live in the USA!  It might have been from going to Israel when I was 13 or Europe after college and most definitely a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. I had a new appreciation for ice, ketchup packets, FREE public restrooms, WATER and all the stuff that we freely give away here in the States!

July 4th 2008

I hit a new level of patriotism on September 11, 2001 along with the whole nation!  I was traumatized and afraid that week.  Dan had just left for a business trip the day before, flying through New York.  His two-day business trip turned into a week, with him having to rent a car and driving home from Vermont.  That week, I started to fly a flag on the house and dress myself, Bonnie and Bubba in flag attire. Well, I have never recovered and still live for patriotic holidays so I can dress all the Wogs up in Red, White and Blue!  I compulsively bought so many Old Navy flag shirts that one day Dan told me to never buy him another flag shirt.  It would truly offend me when he would mow the grass in one of the prized Flag shirts.  What was he thinking?   Here I am painstakingly spot-cleaning the kid’s flag clothes so that I can preserve them for all time!

July 2010

I jokingly called myself Miss GBA (God Bless America) and friends and family started to help me with my new hobby of collecting everything patriotic!  It was much like my zebra skin obsession that started when I was in college when I bought that zebra ski jacket that I still love.  Dan almost forbids me going to the Dollar store during this time of the year.  I have to exercise GREAT self-control when I go there!  It’s true “Patriotic Heaven!”

July 2010

So far, my kids don’t balk with our matching patriotic clothes and I am praying that they always have an appreciation for our country.  During the summer, I always try to quiz my kids on American trivia and make sure they know our country's history. I think it should honestly be a priority for every American family!  We truly have a Godly heritage with our Founding Fathers acknowledging their desperation and dependence on God!  It truly was a miracle that we defeated England and gained our independence!  Prayer was the foundation of our Nation.  It grieves me so that the true facts of our Nation’s history are being lost.  It’s up to us to keep the truth alive by educating our children so that they will appreciate how blessed they are to live in America, land of the free and home of the brave!  #happy4thofjuly  #godblessamerica

July 2011

The Beach Blog

Wow, did I make everyone’s day or what?  I was coming home from church, with Ed and was sitting at the 5-way intersection on Penman.  I saw this mass amount of people on bikes crossing the road and when I looked closer, it was Dan and the four older kids!  It was quite a sight.  Ed saw them and started crying, “I want to go with Daddy! I want to get on my Buzz LIghtyear scooter and catch up.  I don’t want to go to bed….!”  I agreed to let him go with Daddy after I ate lunch.  

If you know my redhead self, you know I don’t EVER go to the beach.  It’s not because I don’t like it.  It’s because of the multiple skin cancer surgeries I have endured.  One surgery, 10 years ago, was some of the worse pain of my life.  I grew up on the ocean front and the beach was my yard for over 13 years.  I love the ocean and love to body surf and all!  I used to torture myself trying to get a tan or at least some color.  I have experienced the worst pain with bubbled blisters on my nose and shoulders multiple times and remember lying with aloe all over me.  It was in the days before waterproof 50 SPF.  I had an idiot in college tell me I would be really “hot” if I would get a tan and I responded, “Yeah, you would be “hot” too if you weren’t going bald!” (Oh yes I did!)  Anyway…I graduated college and spent the summer working at a Young Life camp, Windy Gap in NC. I got sovereignly delivered by God of trying to be tan. I can still see this girl from Ohio in a black bikini with the whitest skin I had ever seen. Even whiter than the vampire Cullen’s!!  She could care less she was blinding everyone, swam and was so self-confident.  Something clicked inside me and that was the end of me EVER laying in the sun again.  I show my kids my scars from surgery and try to scare them into using sunscreen.  Poor Bonnie, when she was a baby was so hot with a hat on and my mom told her to take it off and she said, “NO! I don’t want stitches and skin cancer!”  My mom was appalled with my scare tactics!  I still do it and hope it works!

OK, so back to Eddie.  I got his suit on and sun screened us both up and grabbed my new zebra sun hat my sister gave me and jumped in the car. I took a quick side trip and treated myself to this camp chair I have always wanted.  It has a little roof on it and was on sale at Ace for $20, which is a great deal!  Ed and I parked on 1^st Street and he whined the whole block saying over and over again, “I don’t want to be scared!  I don’t want to be scared!”  I guess he was traumatized last year at the beach or something.  

When Dan and the rest of the family saw Ed and I, a cheer erupted!  I got settled in my new chair, with my new zebra hat, under an umbrella and dared the sun to burn me!! Ed had a big time getting sandcastle lessons from Laura and Zach!  Ed was a little suspect that Zach was going to throw him in the ocean but eventually was frolicking in the surf!!  The highlight for me was when Laura showed me how to create a Wog Blog app on my phone!! Bubba had just asked me if we could do that!  My older kids kept staring at me like they were in shock!  At one point, I thought a boy was trying to drown Bubba and I thought I was going to have to grab this paddle and beat the kid off my son!  It is a little stressful with Wogs all over the place.  Annie even got a head wound with blood.  All and all it was a beautiful day with a nice breeze and I don’t think I got an ounce of sun either!  #beachbum #thewogblogapp #nomoresundaynaps

A U2 Fan

My license tag on my car

Anyone who has known me for any length of time knows I am a U2 Fan.  Here’s how it all began.  I was born in the age when most Christian kids weren’t aloud to listen to secular music and many of my friends made it their focus to obtain non-allowable music. 

Being the youngest has it perks.  My brother had a huge drawer in his room full of cassette tapes.  When I was 13 I would “borrow” some of his music without permission.  He was always on the cutting edge, which worked out great for me.  I vividly remember seeing War (with that pretty boy on the cover) and October in his music drawer.  I was hooked!  There’s nothing like a little Gloria and Sunday Bloody Sunday!  What passion and the good news for me was that U2 had scripture weaved all through their music and still do.  That made them acceptable to my parents! 

Tour Book from
Unforgettable Fire

I remember counting down the days until the Unforgettable Fire came out and remember going, on the release date, to Kmart to buy the album (for those of you young folks, that is a round thing that spins and is played with a needle…yeah I know, weird.)  Somehow I convinced my mom to let me go to a U2 Concert when I was 15 in the Coliseum.  No one puts on a show like U2. Bono is wild as a front man and always pours his heart into every show.

I went to my 2^nd concert in Tampa during the Joshua Tree Tour.  My sweet Daddy stood in line with me at Turtles Music Store to get a lottery number to buy tickets.  Dad got the better number and when I got up to pay with my credit card, I found out they only took cash….Dad quickly pulled a $100 bill out of his money clip and saved the day!

Marie, me and Jenny in Lakeland

Backstage Pass

The most memorable concert was in Lakeland in 1992.  U2 hadn’t toured in years.  I had joined a fan magazine called Propaganda and they gave U2 fans special tickets for shows.  I ordered all my tickets through them and had phenomenal seats, (front row in Miami, the show the night after Lakeland.)  My BFF, Jenny McCue and I took off for the concert meeting up with other good friends, Michell, Mary Kay, Andrew and arrived at the arena after lunch. Being good groupies, we stood in the back and waited for U2 to arrive for a sound check.  When Larry roared up on his motorcycle sheer panic erupted.  There was one girl especially having a complete hysteria attack (well, besides me!) named Marie.  We grabbed each other, jumping up and down, hugging and hypervenilating.  I have never had such an instant friendship with anyone.  We happened to be staying in the same hotel and even went back to the venue, in the wee hours after the concert, made friends with all the roadies and saw all the cool cars up close, that had decorated the stage!  We saw several shows together and became lifelong best friends.  As fate would have it, she lost her mom at a young age and shortly after I lost my Dad and our friendship quickly moved past our U2 connection and we grieved together.

Red Rocks, Denver, Colorado

My compulsive obsessive personality has led me to Red Rocks in Denver, Colorado to the outside ampitheater which was the site of the outside U2 concert, Under a Blood Red Sky and all the way to Dublin to sign my and Marie’s name on U2’s studio wall on Windmill Lane, to having a license tag on my car, A U2 Fan. I have been backstage at a show and I can’t confirm whether I bootlegged shows with a small tape recorder….

U2's Studio on Windmill Lane, Dublin, Ireland

October 2010 was one of the highlights of my life!  My sweet husband Dan had NEVER been to a concert.  I still can’t believe it!  But oh, what a great first one he picked to see!!  Marie flew into town and we drove to Tampa and met up with my other sweet BFF Jenny McCue.  Her boyfriend Tony hooked us up with free rooms in a she-she resort!  We all rode together to the concert and had the time of our life.  Even though I am pretty sure Marie and I traumatized Dan and possibly those surrounding us as we jumped, sang at the top of our lungs and sweated to a whole new level!  I felt like I was young, free and 17 again! I even wept during Amazing Grace because they had a light on a waving American Flag! Dan was sincerely impressed and couldn’t believe how good Bono could really sing!

Tampa, October 2010

My sweet friend Marie, bought me a ticket to the show in Nashville that is TODAY!  I had to cancel due to life circumstances and I sit here reminiscing, knowing Marie will be singing with Bono tonight and I will miss them both!  Until next tour my friend…..  #depressed #blessedbyU2