A Thorn Among Roses

i love knowing where my family came from and the history behind things. ryan and i spent one trip out to the farm scannig pics form grandma e's album and asking the story behind them. it was a blast. grandma is a great story teller and has the memory of an elephant...well, and she's stinking hilarious, so just listening to her wisdom is awesome. grandma and grandpa e worked hard to instill a few things in their families lives... ...faith in the Lord ...patience ...kindness ...gentleness ...strength ...perseverance as i type those things i notice that many are fruits of the spirit . i learned true happiness in watching grandma e live out her life...even still today, that woman will make lemonade when she gets lemons. it reminds me that as a parent, i can never stop doing the hard things...the things that will mold my children. the praying with and for them. showing my children right from wrong, and me choosing to do the right from doing the wrong. it reminds me that my act...

sofie has a number of sensory issues and one of them is texture, especially in her mouth. she will only eat foods that are mildly warmed, nothing cold, even juice. she can't stand slimy or gushy and hates wet foods as well. yes, her highness is quite demanding on the food front...which serves me right for having 3 other kids who would eat cardboard and a salt cube if i gave it to them on a plate. jada is having a banana {come on you know you are singing, "it's bananas. b-a-n-a-n-a-s. bananas. b-a-n-a-n-a-s" right??} in the toy room at the picnik table...HUGE treat as we eat at the dinner table. i walk away to do the dishes from lunch. as i reenter the room, i see sofie having a blast with what appears to be the remains of said banana. in jada fashion, she saw a book that she wanted to read, so she forgot to eat the banana...and sofie found it quite interesting. {seriously, i'm embarrassed by her clothing, but we had already lost the sweater with food stains and...

one of my fav things that i love to do every morning is to grab coffee and blog. in an effort to remain faithful to my personal time with the Lord, is to sincerely spend time every day praying for people i don't really know, but have met in blog land. there are so many prayer needs...and so many blessings...and i can't keep up. i just have to admit it. so here's what i do. i have my index prayer cards...i pray over the names. the lord knows their need...i thank god for his abundance of blessings in my life. i pray for strength and peace and perseverance for those struggling...for wisdom of those making decisions...for a moving of god's people and for the love and sacrifice of jesus to be prevelent in the midst of pain and questions and decisions. another thing i started to do this week, is send cards to the families i am praying for...i decided that a little uplifting note can go a long way in a time where you sometimes can feel very alone. when my sofie was in...

now, i have only birthed two of my children from my body...but i'm telling you i have a serious 'roid problem. never had this problem in pregnancy...or delivery {hello c-sections}. but there's a serious 'roid that is not going away. any suggestions?? it started out with a little sadness...and lack of attention. i tried creams and gels but it just made ms. 'roid more angry... i ignored the 'roid and refuse to notice the 'roid when it was acting up in hopes of it changing it's 'roid ways... but, alas, the 'roid is getting bigger and more needy and angrier...i need some 'roid care. she's a preemie, so she's so small and her head hits my 4'10" butt exactly. it can't be a nice place. why oh why is it necessary to be in my butt like a 'roid?? {ok, so she's normally up my butt, so no snide comments...but seriously, how can i shoot that?} she is the cutest 'roid i've ever seen though. i'll keep her. {for ...

if you have a chocolate latte, brown baby girl, you need to own this book {click the pic...it's a linky to amazon.com}. i'm shouting it from the roof tops because it is so stinking cute i can't stand it. we've had it for a few years, but now that jk is almost 4, she's really into the styles of her hair. last night, she asked me if i could please use coconut oil grease on her hair and make pretty rows like the corn...proving that if you read your kids books, something sticks in their little heads...it's like word for word. crazy! so anyway, i did a bit of front braiding and left the back "free" in a puff. jada calls her afro 'classy fluffy'...and ihave no idea where she got that one, but it's pretty right on! i have to say, hair is super fun for girlies...it takes some time, but it's a lot of fun!

my tribute today is to my oldest daughter...paige. she makes the teen years way easier than they should be! i got a letter in the mail from the school recently telling me that paige has been selected as student of the month for the second time. second time?? i didn't know about the first time. here's the convo: me: "paige, what is student of the month" p: "nothing important. something the teachers vote on. no big deal." me: "did you know you know you were selected?" p: "yep." me: "that's it. yep?" p: "i was picked as student of the week 5 times or something and this is my second time as student of the month. oh, i got this free frosty thing coupon and a free chick-fil-a nugget free coupon thingy. here, you should go and do that on your time out of the house." seriously? a teenager who isn't self indulged and self-seeking? i'm sorry...what did we do right? what has the lord blessed us with? i am than...

so you asked...and it's time for me to tell. explain the blog name... ok, so this is where you realize i'm a fly by the seat of my pants girl sometimes. ryan is the only guy in the household...poor thing {even the dog is female}. so instead of being a rose among thorns, i thought we were a thorn {ryan} among roses {us girlies}. where is the picture on your blog taken at? St. George Island, Florida in July 2009 by my ultra fab SIL, meg . whenever we are together, we exchange fam shots...and burn lots of memory on our cards and computers. what camera do you use and what is your favorite lens? i have a cannon 50D SLR . i love my cannon! i also have an original cannon digital rebel SLR . the 50D is one of my newest loves...sad, but true. i love all that thing can do and do quickly. and i use a battery grip on mine so i rarely run out of battery on a shoot. {this is one of the worst shots ever, but you can see the camer with the flash} i also use an external smart flash (can...

a few things me and the fam def DID NOT do this last week... my mother DID NOT say that this kid at p's ball game looked like the statue of liberty. jada DID NOT do the "i got money, money" dance when she opened up her valentine card from grandma and grandpa on saturday morning...and give me the "for rizzle shizzle" look on her own, unprovoked. hubs DID NOT run around frantically looking for the remote yelling, "i need to know if lincoln's body was stolen from his tomb....someone find the remote!". dang history channel. dang dork hubs. i DID NOT take b, jk and sofie to starbucks for a little morning coffee date before preschool. we DID NT polish 3 donuts in 3 minutes...and sofie was NOT eating the crumbs off the floor with great delight. paige's bball team DID NOT win the tourney they were in this weekend. brooke DID NOT say "seriously, dad. you know what i'm talking about and that a kids meal from burger king is JUST the same as mc ...

i recently installed iLife 09 and i love this "faces" feature that it has. i am re-looking at so many older shots now and i just ran across this one of brooke as a baby...how did she get to be so big now!!!???? so, this is my fav BW pic i took of b in her sitting up stage...and my entry in this weeks i heart faces for kids. brooke always was making the craziest faces...and still does! you have to love a girl who is nothing more than herself!! head over to i heart faces and see all the fab faces that are entered...it's super duper cute!!!!

those of you with girlie pies have got to go and see these pettiskirts that are more than fab over at grosgrain...and, the kicker, she's havinga fab giveaway!!!! go here and enter and read!

ok...i have a new found love. hubs and i were just looking into getting new headphones for the girlies for the car DVD player. my friend CC at i i only had super powers alerted me to these super fab hearing safe headphones for the chitlins. and she's giving a set away! so go and check her out...and get in on the giveaway here !!!

we are in smoothie love season here... so here's how we do it, and i promise if you are a fruit fan, you will love love love our certified crazy fam smoothie: {warning...i'm not so much into the measuring thing, so it's more of a dump, mix and try it thing} 1 cup fat free vanilla yogurt 1 cup milk 1 banana {i slice and freeze banana's when they are turning} 1 1 /2 cups mixed fruit {in this case, a cereal bowl of frozen berries is what i had on hand} dump everything in the blender, using all your handy helpers, of course, and liquefy. this makes 3 cups of smoothies...and if you want your smoothie not as thick, add a little more milk. the girls love it...a full serving of fruit and dairy in every cup! and, it's teaching the girlie pies good eating habits and they are kitchen helpers too....and let's just say, it's purple and that is a whole bonus in and of itself!!! as a side note, i like them a little thicker for the kiddos... keeps their little mouths busy ...

go and check out the super awesome write up about sweet Cora Paige McClenahan on etsy... etsy's handmade blog on Cora

ok, sometimes you can learn the best lessons from the "not so smartest" people... The Ontario Court of Appeal overturned the conviction of Antonio Batista in November, declaring that his "death threat" against a Missassauga city council member, in the form of a sonnet on long-neglected potholes, was more likely literary expression. [Globe & Mail, 11-5-08, National Post, 11-29-08]...as noted from here . lesson: if you decide to be totally ignorant and write a death threat, make sure you do it artistically.

i just wonder...what do my keys say about me? i have some small tidbit of style...i do have a super fab cheetah house key! i'm prepared...always have a hair band. i love saving money...hello cvs and kroger card. i'm def organized...store key tags are on a separate clip. i am reminded of grace...i carry a nail to remind me that god's grace is sufficient in all things. i drive a hoopty...old school cadillac escalade. i have great coffee taste...oh, the keys are on a starbucks table. :) did i miss anything? Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

jada and i went for coffee the other day after mom's day at preschool. my girlies love to spend time at starbucks drinking coffee...who doesn't? it's fun! we walk up to the counter and she says, "i want hot chocolate. lots of whip cream. actually, extra whip cream. and no lid." the barista, bless her heart, did not laugh out loud, but wrote it all on the cup and held her smile to a minimum. "me, i'll have a venti bold with hazel nut. and room." well, you have to love a girl who knows what she wants...and knows how to order it too!

...no, a compression vest. but ryan insists on calling it sofie's straight jacket. so, 45 minutes at a time.... ...a number of times a day brings some stability and smiles to a sweet face. OT (occupational therapy) is a good thing...a very good thing. sensory integration dysfunction...you get it, you can get a straight jacket too! ********since you asked...the compression vest is used for a few things. one is pressure throughout sofie's trunk which she desires and strives for. another thing is stability. when she has pressure, she feels more stable. so we do joint compressions and a brushing protocol as needed, but that lasts only a short time. the compression vest is like getting a long bear hug that gives you that happy place. wanna know more? let me know... sensory integration dysfunction or sensory processing dysfuntion is pretty interesting stuff...straight jackets and all!******* wordful wednesday is awesome...and you won't have to wear a straight jacket. go...