To Conference or Not to Conference...

:::You Live and Learn:::

I learned a lot of things when I went to my last blog conference this year. Not all of them were good things, but most of them were. Life is sometimes like a reality show - hey... wait, it is reality. That means going in to situations with expectations isn't always a good thing.

Random Things I learned from "Relevant 2012" (one for every photo):

1) If you expect to buy a new iPhone to take with you to a blog conference, you probably won't get it on time. However, upon returning home - it will most likely be on your doorstep. [Just so you know, the camera was totally worth the upgrade - as you can tell from the LOUSY quality of the photos taken indoors without good lighting.]
2) Blog conferences are much easier to navigate without infants along. [Not that it isn't nice to have a snuggle buddy. But don't plan to retain much info if you are there with kids.]
3) I still love flying. [I wish I could do it more often.]
4) Learning to say no is important. Learning what your limits are is important. Both are more important than blogging.
5) The weather up north is amazing, but I still love Texas more.
6) Hershey World is REAL expensive.
7) Southwest Airlines doesn't fly in to Harrisburg.
8) Not everyone you meet online is creepy. Some of them become real life friends - for keeps. [Which makes blog conferences so wonderful: think slumber party gone viral!]
9) White stuff that falls from the sky is called snow. [Ha! Had to throw that one in even though I already knew it. It does snow every now and then down here. Realy.]
10) No one will make fun of you if you wear a hat.
11) You can survive tween hormonal meltdown and come out on the other side of it victorious. Even on a long trip. Even if things don't go as planned. The key? Count your blessings - and PRAY hard. Then trust that He will work things out.
12) It's good to be home. [That's something I learn on every trip I take. Trips are cool like that.]


Four blog conferences, one Robotics competition and six or seven homeschool conventions - since 2007.


I'm an event junkie, it seems.

Attending conferences gives me encouragement to be better at what I do. That's the most important lesson to take away. If your soul is refreshed... your purpose is renewed... your "battery" is recharged... then you have come away with something worthwhile.


I won't be going to Blissdom this year because: baby is still nursing, I have a Clarkson Mom-Heart Conference to attend the weekend before it in Dallas (imagine my 2 year old without mama for 2 weekends and a few week days), there is no money for travel/food/hotel - for 2 adult tickets (because of the "helper" I would need to babysit)... and honestly, I can't imagine doing another conference with kids tagging along. A teen that was responsible and participating in the gig, yes - but not a baby. Mama is tired and mama is broke.



Believe me, it's a hard decision when your Peeps are calling for you to come... and I might be a little moody at the end of February (and possibly will avoid the internet all-together for a few days - especially Twitter). However, I'm doing the right thing. Little dude isn't ready to quit mama's milk cold turkey... and he'll be 1 in February - no need to rush him - especially not for a conference. Nor do I think it is possible to be a good photographer while juggling a 25 lb chunk of ENERGY that eats every small item within reach.

Maybe there will be other conferences this year that will fall in to place? We'll see!



I'm content with waiting to see what sort of traveling plans God has in store for 2012.


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Holiday Happenings 2011

:::Family and Good Food:::

The holidays are a blur from November through January.  You can hardly tell where Thanksgiving begins and the tree comes down after New Year. One thing is for certain this year, though... my cards might not be making it out before March. Hey... I hear Jesus' birthday was probably closer to spring anyway.

"That's my story and I'm stickin' to it."

Here's the quick photo breakdown, from right to left, top to bottom...

1) Jessie and Morgan (cousins) trying to see who was the tallest. Morgan is growing like a weed and is now just barely an inch shorter than her mama.
2) My Thanksgiving Turkey - sharpie on Solo - mixed media.
3) Grandma Betty's Pilgrim and Indian salt and pepper shakers (cute-tastic).
4) The tiny man in Nana's upstairs game room baby corner - peeking out of the play house.
5) Three of my sweeties in the sunlight - sitting on aunt Paige's couch
6) My signature dish at Thanksgiving: Sweet Potato Bliss.
7) Someone I always miss at the holidays: my grandma - with Aunt Paige back in the 70's
8) Aunt Sara's turkey cookies. God love her, the girl can bake like a ninja.
9) Aunt Angie, Paige and me. Everything looks better in black and white.
10) Chipotle Tacos. Because they are tasty. (off topic, I know)
11) A big catty yawn. Because the holidays make you TIRED.
12) Marsha's picture of people picking coffee beans. Because you drink lots of coffee when you travel as much as we do for the holidays. #roadtrip


What are you up to this Christmas?



I've done a lot of things this year that we haven't done in ages.  Like cooking our own Christmas meal at home. A friend of mine gave me a free turkey and it just sort of 'happened' that we had Christmas dinner with mom before we went to go celebrate with Kevin's side of the family. It was a really nice treat. Kev said it was the best turkey he had ever eaten. {I love it when people compliment my cooking.} We had sweet corn cake, baked sweet potatoes, and baked rosemary potatoes to go with our mouth watering turkey and gravy.



Morgan said at the table Tuesday night, "So this is what it is like to have a cozy family Christmas at home? I like it." It was the first that she can remember. We had one like it when we were living in Arkansas away from family, but it was much better having my mother to share it with us last week. The presents that Chickie got the kids are on layaway still, so maybe we'll do that in January.



We bought gifts this year, too. It has been a long time since we have bought more than just one or two gifts. We don't even buy gifts for each other most years. We put gas in the car and take the kids to open gifts at their grandparents as our "present" for the holidays, and rarely we sign up for the gift exchange name draw. This year, a little birdie told us that the cousins were buying gifts for our kids, though. It just so happened that there was enough money left from the transmission loan that Kev took out to fix our SUV to buy some gifts this year.

It felt great to spend an evening wrapping gifts with my 12 year old. I taught her how to tape and tuck and create her own tags from wrapping paper snips. She helped me shop, too. It was a rare treat to be part of the "crazy" last minute shopper mayhem with her. She told me she loved giving presents more than getting them. I couldn't agree more. I can't wait to see their cousin's faces when they open the presents on Christmas day.



I'm looking forward to Christmas eve feast at Grandma Betty's house tomorrow night. I'm taking baked Cauliflower and Spanish Rice. I think they will be having ham and tamales... sweet potatoes, twice baked potatoes, cheese and crackers, sweet tea, WORM PIE, apple crumb cake, red velvet cake roll, creamed spinach, rolls, sugar cookies, egg nog, cake balls, green beans, corn pudding, cabbage... and more. Nobody does cookin' like a big Tex-Czech family does cookin'.

If our tire pops on the way home, Kevin can just put me on the bottom of the car and keep driving. I'll be a big fat roll of jelly by the 26th. Just in time for the 17 Day Diet to start back up on New Years Day. I'm dreading preparing myself to eat like a rabbit again...

And then there is my birthday week coming up... which is a whole 'nother topic all together. If I told you how old I was turning, I'd have to kill ya. But at least I'm getting what I want for my birthday this year. It's something I've wanted since I was five years old. You'll have to wait and see what it is... because there's a big, long story attached to it.



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My Bad Christmas Cat

:::Who, me???:::

He only LOOKS innocent.  Trust me.

Meet Quaker. He's a good kitty that I got a few years ago the week before Thanksgiving. His cage had a warning sign at the shelter. It said, "THIS CAT BITES."

Most of the time, he's a sweetheart. He snuggles, nudges, rubs, purrs, and tries to lay on your head pillow to get attention.

Last week, he SCRATCHED the baby's cheek, though. And that's a NO-NO around here. I chased him down the stairs with a belt and caught the end of him with a pop as he quickly squished his huge self out of the cat door to the garage in horrified retreat from the raving lunatic mama and her bleeding little man-cub.

I doubt he'll ever do that again.

Dogs might not be smart enough, but old kitties CAN learn new tricks.



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Expensive Surprises

:::Please wait while ASUS installs another couple hundred dollars of credit card debt on your account:::

Bahumbug.  What a week for your laptop to die. Well, at least there were sales on the computers this time of year.

Let this serve as a notice to you:: BACK UP YOUR DATA. RIGHT NOW.

I now have a much lighter, much smaller laptop, courtesy of my Best Buy Credit Card. Don't ask my why they wanted to know my father-in-law's ex-wife's age (as if people really know these obscure relatives on a regular basis?) to activate my dormant account again. And I have a little silver external hard drive with my old, hateful Toshiba laptop hard-drive in it.

The old data box says that 1/4 of the memory on it is used... but there are NO FILES. :::whaaa??::: Come on. Really?


Is there a PC doctor out there who can help me figure this out?

I was right in the middle of emailing the vendors and winners of the Homeschool Blog Awards about the prize drawing I had completed. There were spreadsheets and email templates and documents involved. All of which took lots of time to create. I've also got PICTURES and many other important things on that hard drive.

And the transmission is going out on my truck. Which won't be cheap.

This day was full of surprises. Some of them were good ones, though. My 2 year old actually let a DENTIST look at his teeth - and the hygienist clean them! I won't ruin it by mentioning that he ate the orange flavored paste and refused to spit it out. Hope there wasn't a lethal dose of fluoride in it.

Before anything else unexpected happens, I think I'll go get in bed.

Oh, and I lost all my email in Outlook... so if you have been waiting on a response from me, just email me again as a reminder... I won't mind! Nice to have an excuse for not replying to all my zillions of emails for a change: "The computer died and I lost my data." How long you think I can milk it?



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Un-Perfect Holiday Traditions

My husband and I have always been ones that DRIVE at Christmas. We're both only children from divorced families, so our kids have four sets of grandparents. I've been doing the holidays at my in-law's house for nearly 20 years. Our personal family tradition, without us really deciding on it, has become an annual gypsy holiday traveling adventure - packing up suitcases and listening to Christmas music while the Texas miles stretch out behind us.

When I got married and had kids, I imagined the type of traditions I wanted for my kids. I figured creating new traditions would fix the dysfunction of my past - and that I could create something for my kids that I didn't have.

What I had in mind for the holidays was much like a Norman Rockwell painting: everyone in the family bowing for a prayer, reading from scripture about Jesus' birth and what it meant for humanity... you know - the "reason for the season" stuff. In my ideal, all of us went to some sort of church service, we baked birthday cakes for Jesus instead of cookies for Santa, we gave presents or money to the poor, and we sometimes met in the mountains somewhere at a cabin that everyone rented so there would be memories of snow.



In my dreams of how Christmas was to be there were always exterior lights on the house. The checkbook always had enough money in it for at least one nice gift for every family member. Oh, and the lights on the tree (that promptly went up the day after Thanksgiving) never went out on the bottom half because the cat chewed through the wiring.

My perfect Christmas included caroling and driving through Christmas light displays with everyone singing and merry (and no one got a ticket on the way there because they were speeding). The glass ornaments never broke, and the carpet never got huge hot chocolate stains, either. In my bubble of utopian holiday bliss there were plenty of kisses under mistletoe and Daddy always stayed up until midnight on purpose - just so he could ring in the new year with yours-truly.

Cue the loud snap as I wake up from that candy-land dream... fast forward to real life...

Each year I packed up the suitcases for our week or two with the relatives and the reality of how the holidays weren't measuring up to my ideals became more and more clear. Things weren't matching up to my "White Christmas" dreams. Not anywhere close. [Forget the fact that we live in Texas and snow is an anomaly.]

There are some traditions that just aren't possible any more. People don't live forever.
[My grandpa wasn't carving the turkey any more in my grandmother's pink dining room that stayed meticulously clean. My cousin who grew up playing with me in the cow pastures chasing barn cats was gone. There won't be any more root-beer floats watching Johnny Carson with Pawpaw and hatching plans to get up and peek on the grownups as they play Santa and wrap gifts.]

Sometimes there are conflicts of schedule or family situations you just can't fix.
[My dad didn't call me at Christmas last year and my kids haven't seen him for ages. My mom might not come with us at Christmas and probably will be spending the holidays with her sister. My in-laws don't go to church. The extended family on my mom's side hardly ever get together in one place any more, and when they do, it seems that there's never time to sit down and really spend time together like we did when Mawmaw was around and everyone was "spending the night" to open gifts in the morning.]

Isn't it funny how your past and present merge in a sugar-plum fairy ink-blot test of your emotional state each Christmas? No wonder people get the "holiday blues". Even with a strong faith, the holidays can be a time of broken dreams and second guessing yourself. I can't imagine how mixed up the Santa camp can get when removing the baby from the manger.

Even though I had aspirations for new traditions, I never was able to get that perfect Christmas to materialize... and shucks, my big kids aren't toddlers any more. One of them is turning 15 this winter. Time is running out.



Am I going to be bitter about it and keep trying to measure the holidays up against a pipe dream? Or can I find a way to make the best of real life and make the most of the time we have with our treasured family members - even if they do holidays differently than our Norman Rockwell vision of how holidays should look?

Do you have a perfect vision of how Christmas should look? How does it really look in your family? Have you found ways to create new traditions in your family?

How about sharing some of the traditions YOUR family does that you LOVE for the holidays... counting your holiday blessings and being thankful for the small things that make the season special for you?


My Family's Merrily Un-perfect Christmas Tradition Goodness:

...bubble lights and forest animal ornaments with real fur at my dad's house... his passion for Christmas was contagious and I loved the way he always took us to the Christmas Store in Dallas to buy a special ornament when I was a kid.

...I love how we've always taught the kids about the real St. Nick and his true story, about Jesus, and how my daughter told me "I'm so glad you taught us the truth" when she was about 6 after seeing Polar Express...

...my husband and my first Christmas together, getting lost on the way to my grandma's house and shopping together to buy everyone in the family a present - something we haven't been able to do for a very long time as a one-income family.

...to-die-for Christmas dinner with trimmings (and 'chocolate worm-pie') at Kev's mom's and the Lutheran candle-light service we all attended for so many years with them.... and opening presents on Christmas eve after we get home (where everyone got a "Santa Banana" gift as well, which was a gag-gift that told about that person's personality or past)...

...presents and sugary sweets with Pop and Nana and their much needed Christmas money they so generously share with their kids, spending lazy mornings in bed and having Pop fix you eggs "Sunny-Side-Up" whenever you want them (how he always makes me crispy bacon and has oatmeal cream pies and Special Dark chocolate bars stashed for me), games that all the siblings and their spouses play until the wee hours and all the joking and laughing that goes on....


...the kids cuddling with Chickie (my mom), eating out with her and going to see a movie or browse an antique shop (how she can never say no - and always buys them something special) - going to see the drive-thru lights with her and having her help put up the tree (we love how she always wants a copy of every photo we take - it shows how much she loves us and the kids)...


...going to see the Nutcracker with my dear friend Paula and her children, and watching my niece sing and dance to it in her recital...

...the anticipation we all have to rush home and see all these people who are so dear to us... the thought of spending time on the road with my family, drinking coffee and hot chocolate and listening to and singing Christmas songs... the warmth in my heart to know that not only did God give me the gift of salvation through his tiny newborn son... but He also blessed me with THIS FAMILY - the wonderful gift of love... the people that we can touch, hold, hug, laugh and cry with. Life is so precious when you share it. Christmas is the same.

I want to start a tradition of being thankful - and positive - and truly counting my blessings as presents from the Lord this year. I can't wait to add new things to the Christmas Goodness list this year.

Link up with me if you have some holiday wonder to share!




LINK UP HERE:

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iPhone-o-Graphy: The Two Under Two Edition

1. Bath time with mama #incourage, 2. Vampire Baby : cutting teef, 3. Can't deny the DNA on that one. #daddylookalike, 4. Handsomerest, 5. Nap time is golden. #incourage, 6. The Eye of the 2yo Hurricane ;), 7. Unscripted Sweetness - brothers holding hands #mademyday #incourage #love, 8. Chipotle Two, 9. Might as well put a bottle top on the jug. Kid loves milk.

Life is made up of moments... and seasons... and it is a rare treat to get to revisit a season that you thought was lost forever. Sometimes God saves miracles in His back pocket... like movie tickets for a date you weren't expecting.

That's my little boy life right now. It seems it all circles around these two under two.


But I'm painfully aware - it is crystal clear with my fourteen year old's adam's apple and lanky legs to remind me - that seasons are short. A first Christmas becomes a fifteenth before you know it.


Forgive me if I can't break away from these rubber band wrists and pudgy baby thighs to keep up in here. I'm a woman in love... and a woman that is twice blessed and knows it.

Two sets of beautiful kids. Both sets 23 months apart... with a ten year gap in between them. [No, I didn't plan that - God did.]

Some people say I started a new family, but it's all the same family, really... it's just one that kept growing and becoming more wonderful. Don't know what I would do without my sweet little guys now that they are here. [Besides get a whole lot more homeschool done - and possibly have a much cleaner house!]

Hey - the bottom of the laundry basket isn't my destination of choice, anyway... And who needs a clean house when there are trains to play with???



Disclaimer: Having little ones is not without it's difficult moments. Regardless of the stress, PLEASE take time to snuggle and smile together - and count your blessings, because truly, childhood is fleeting.

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Get in I'm Driving : Ginny Owens

Waaaay back. Me and Ginny go way back. Back to the days when I was recently caught, recently cleaned... brand new in Christ. It was 1997 when my oldest son was born, and he wasn't a year old when my husband and I began our bible study together.

I turned my first Christian radio station on in the car and heard Ginny's sweet southern voice. After falling in love with her music, I learned the story of how she was blind - which amazed me. I love to hear about people overcoming whatever obstacles life throws at them. She proved to me that Christian music wasn't boring - and that it had something to offer to a secular music listener like I was. She had me at "Free".

{Completely unrelated, but interesting: During my early homeschool years, I even met a girl that claimed to be Ginny's cousin. She was an online friend that used KONOS curriculum and she lived in Arkansas.}

All these years between me and my conversion... between me and those early homeschooling days in Houston... and I got an email from Ginny's PR team. Would I like to review her new album? They had no idea that she's always been a favorite singer of mine. It was providence. Of course, I said yes.

I mean, we're talking about GINNY, right???



I popped in the CD a few months ago when it came. And my kids are SICK OF IT. It has never left my car. I even brought it in and ripped it on to my PC. It is my newest crush. I adore it. She's so talented! You just have to hear it yourself.



The title of the album is "Get in, I'm Driving." It is hard to pick a favorite song, but I really like "Get in, I'm Driving". She talks about why she chose that name and creating the song on her blog and in a video on her blog (she is a blogger - #swoon). So many of these songs really spoke to me. She's got a talent for coming up with words that move you.

And her voice is like buttah.

Hop over to her site and listen to what she has playing! If she's new to you, you'll be in for an extra special treat. If she's not, then what are you waiting on? Hurry in and grab your copy of her newest album. It is already a favorite in my house.

Ginny and me, Me and Ginny... we go way back. She might not know it, but we do.


Disclaimer: I got a free CD (thank you, Ginny!) out of this review, but Ginny hasn't paid me a cent. And I really do love her - and wouldn't turn down free tickets (OR BACK STAGE PASSES) to any concert she does in the general Texas area. *hint*

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A Quick December Devotional

1. Heavy cloud. No rain. ~ Sting #austin #pray4rain #Texas, 2. Painting in Orthodontist office - love the colors., 3. It feels like it has not rained in cat-years. #texas #austin #rain, 4. Just out of reach. #austin #sunset, 5. Oldest/Youngest #incourage, 6. Marshie n Me #incourage #love, 7. Procrastinator Planner for my niece and me. #incourage, 8. Three generations of cotton tops. #incourage, 9. Book buying feet., 10. on the Laptop #incourage, 11. Carrot Cake with home made orange cream cheese icing for grandma (who is NOT 30) #incourage, 12. The Lunch Room Gang #incourage #love, 13. What Fire Leaves Behind #TXfire #Texas #hwy29 #hillcountry, 14. Jason's Deli Club Salad #love #incourage, 15. Rain!!! #incourage #love #texas

What??? It's December Already? I stopped by at the Post and the December desktop wallpaper just went up!

Seems like every time I blink, another month has gone by.

We have been absorbed by homeschool, conferences, orthodontist and oral surgery visits, illness, projects, and just plain LIFE. While we were busy, somehow the Christmas holidays seemed to sneak up on my calendar and are now precariously close.

How about a quick trip down memory lane with some iPhone pictures? I can't seem to find the time to get the big camera out.

Note how big the baby is getting... the sweet photo of Marshie and me at her house when she stopped in to visit the states... and notice the drought and rain depicted in the pictures. It has been the worst drought in Texas history this past year, and every drop of precious rain gives call for a celebration. It has not been uncommon to see signs on fences with a plea for Texans to pray for rain. The farmers and ranchers here have had to sell livestock, struggle for feed and hay, and are suffering great losses.

I know how it feels to go through a dry spell. I've been in one - a general one that spans all sorts of different aspects of my life. It hasn't been pretty. It hasn't been fun. The physical, Texas drought has been like a reminder that I need to be praying for rain. For physical rain, yes - but for spiritual rain, too. Not only praying for rain, but trusting that He will bring times of refreshing.

I've heard it said that a Christian should pray for rain and then carry an umbrella. Expect results. PUSH: pray until something happens.

I believe it. I don't mind that my prayer journal sounds much like a broken record. I'm counting on God to either change my circumstance or change me. Or give me the stamina to keep trusting, keep doing good - NOT GROW WEARY.

And every now and then, there's a little 'gulley washer' - one of those ten minute storms; a glimmer of what it feels like to have prayers answered. Beads of sweet, glittering water on the windshield - streaming like arms lifted to the sky. I'm so thankful for the reminder of what the rain feels like.

Texas and I are drinking it in. Waiting on Him for more.

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