I just read Miss Connie's blog, and realized I need a dose of the very self same lectures I give to my kids all the time.

" QUIT YER WHINING"

I mean, she said more beautifully then I could have, and it really touches the heart.  But the reality is, I need to quit my whining.  So thank you Miss Connie.

Now I won't complain that its bitter raw cold outside, I will just stay in and enjoy my son.  Maybe its a good day for hot chocolate, pop corn & a movie!!  After schooling of course. 

Yup.  Its a good day for that  :)

So I hope you find the delights in life today.

And remember to thank your Creator who has blessed you with ever so much......

Welcome to NJ

New Jersey.  Oh.... how the rest of the nation loves to mock us.  It seems everywhere we go, there are Jersey jokes.  I have heard them all.  We are considered the armpit of America. The corruption,  politics, finances, factories, & taxes are "more then famous, they are IN-famous". (Do you know what movie thats from ??)

Well, after hearing our governor give his budget speech yesterday, I realized, its all true.  

 Yes, we have beautiful beaches and land.  We have lovely mountain views, fields, farms, country sides.  We have stunning rivers and lakes.  We have more malls then you can shake a stick at.  We are close to the city (both NYC & Philly) for fun, the mountains for hikes & skiing, the shore for, well, the shore. We have awesome historical sights from the Native Americans, the Revolutionary war, and oh so much history.  Edison did ALL his work here.  The Seeing Eye Dog school is here, We have Princeton & Rutgers, and other great colleges, actors & actresses have been raised here like Merril Streep, Danny Devito, Bruce Willis, Brittany Murphy, Ed Harris, Ethan Hawke, Tom Cruise, Ray Liotta, Kirsten Dunst, wow that list can go on for a while.  Oh and lets not forget Bruce.  (Springsteen) .  We have the Statue of Liberty, yes its on the Jersey side no matter what NY says, we have theaters. The Giants & the Jets play here at the Meadowlands, even though they are the NY teams. We have museums, and a cool aquarium.  And diversity up the wazoo.

NJ has alot to offer.  And we enjoy it all.

As well as the highest car insurance in the country.   We pay $6,890. for the family.  The highest property taxes, we pay $ 7,900 for a SMALL 3 bedroom house on an 80 x 150 plot of land.  And of course our highways cost us money.  Tolls are a beautiful thing around here. 

And our governor told us yesterday, its all going to go up.  Again.  Plus he is closing some hospitals, cutting property tax relief, and cutting school funding, which means our state colleges will go up.  Again.  OH!  And did I mention he has NO plans to cut spending for our state politicians? Well....... He has no plans to cut that at all.  Nope.  

So, I may be a little bitter.  I am really starting to understand the jokes.  I love New Jersey, but it seems NJ does not love its people.   BUT, unless we move, I will continue to be loyal to this state, no matter how crazy it seems.

See............. it is all I know.

A day in a life..

Chloe left for Houston yesterday for the weekend.  One of her dear friends is getting married today.  As I was driving her to the airport in the falling snow, she was thrilled to get out of the cold.  Even if for just 2  1/2 days.  

She called when she got there, basking in the 76 degrees weather.  I can't even imagine.

Here at home, it was another typical day of school.   Yes, there is a cat in his shirt while he is doing his math.  And yes, its quite typical.  He tried the dogs, but they were not too co-operative.  Marv, on the other hand, is happy to be warmed by any body offered.  

And when his daddy and older brother got home, they  played in the snow.  I stay inside as much as I can.  I am no fool.   He had begged me to go out with him, but my arthritis was louder in saying NO.   Maybe today.  :)

Even Reilly got a good work out in the snow.  He was chasing the snowballs that Hoops would throw, and then lose them. In the snow. lol.  He needs the workouts though, he needs to lose some weight.

Life is good. 

Birth certificate

SO.....

John and I need 2, yes 2, certified copies of our birth certificate.  One for the files here in America, and one for China.

Getting John's is a piece of cake.  I just drive out to Livingston, which is about 1/2 hour away, pay my $20, and come home.

Mine on the other hand......

Did I mention that I was born in El Salvador????

No?  Well, I was.

40 years ago.

I asked my mom how on earth can I get this piece of paper that is so important in order to bring our daughter home.  She has the original, and only one.  After the civil war, in which most government buildings were burnt down, and then the earthquake, which did a good job on the rest....... well, I am praying for a clue.

Did I mention computers are a fairly new concept down there?  I am also praying they have files going back 40 years somewhere.  Anywhere.

We call my aunt down there, and she is looking for a solution.  

Please pray for an EASY one.  Or at least a possible-in-our-time-frame one.

an afternoon at the museum

John and I woke up, looked at each other, and said at the same time, "Let's go to the museum today!"

So after church, we got in the car, and started out to NYC.  We are members of theAmerican Museum of Natural History.  It just got cheaper to become members then to pay everytime we went.

As much as I enjoy this movie, we don't have it!!  (PS Samuel got a haircut!!)

Chloe weighs a slimming 1.809 trillion pounds on a neutron star. 

The African elephants.  I love these guys!

How gross is a mosquito? At 750 times it's size, its pretty darn NAS-TY.

After a great afternoon, we were about the last to leave. 

Samuel catching a ride from his sister on the way to the car.   My mom bought him those shoes that you can roll on.  I can't stand them.  He loves them. The little boy in the picture thats next to him, was fascinated that Samuel was rolling!! 

Times Square.  This building is one of my favorites, not because its so beautiful or its unusual architecture.  But because the whole outside it a lighted billboard.  Neat. 

There is this water exhibit there right now, we didn't have the time to go yesterday, but maybe next time!!

Life

This past week would have been my father in law's 80th birthday.  He passed away a year and a half ago.  And he is dearly missed.

He was the kind of man, that was honest, hard working, frugal (except when it came to his grandkids),family oriented, and enjoy all that life had to offer.   I loved him to pieces.   He had WW2 stories that would curl your hair.  

John was his only child.

Our oldest son heard most of them at the edge of his seat.  His grandpa was his hero growing up.  Our daughter cherished being cherished by him.  She would talk and talk and talk to him, and he would listen with the sweetest smile on his face as though there was nothing more important in the world then her new doll's outfit.  Samuel was just getting to really know him.  He was devasted when he passed away.  He has heard all the stories from his siblings, and may the stories be passed on from generation to generation.  And playing Trivial Pursuit with him when he was not on your side was a nightmare.  We all tried to get first dibs on him.

We sure did love him.

And boy do miss him.

And another note:

A BEAGLE WON THE WESTMINSTER KENNEL CLUB THINGY!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze)FgrDFr4E

Here are our beagles.  Who will never win any kind of a prize, except maybe for dumbest dogs alive, but we love 'em anyway.

Daisy, who is a 15" 20 pounds.

And Reilly who is a moose weighing in at 47 pounds.

And let me say something about the weather around here.  ITS COLD.

This weekend, it was 9 degrees outside, but the winds were whipping making it feel like -4.  Samuel & John had the bright idea of starting a fire outside in the back yard.  After about 20 minutes they finally managed to get one going after the flame kept being blown out by the ridiculous winds. 

After I took this picture and saw it on the camera, I realized that Samuel was out there with only a turtleneck & fleece!!!!!  I dragged his scrawny little neck inside and bundled him so that he couldn't even move.  He got such a lecture while getting those layers on. " You are going to get Pneumonia and die" kind of lectures.   I forgot to take a picture of him after he was bundled up. It was a bit comical. 

And so, as I look out the window today and watch the freezing rain coming down on the snow, I am ever so glad that I don't have to go out.

He gives and takes away

So, there are times in our lives, that we just don't understand what our good Lord is trying to teach us.  These times are difficult & yet through the heart ache, encouraging.  

I remember one time, many years ago, when I was a Christian for about 3 years, I was in a women's Bible study, and one of the ladies said  "Sometimes I don't want to pray, because it seems when I pray, my life gets ridiculously difficult."  I thought that was awful and my goodness,how can someone say something like that???

I am not about to stop praying, by any stretch of the imagination But now I can understand her struggle.  

And yes, she was encouraged to drop that mentality that day. 

And so yesterday, when an unexpected turn of events occurred, and its seemed, yet again, unfair, we remembered," You give and take away, but my heart will CHOOSE to say, Lord blessed be Your Name........"

LENT!!!

I was raised Catholic, but have been a protestant for 22 years.  One of the things that I never gave up, though, is Lent.

I think Lent is a fabulous act of sacrifice, discipline and worship.  I know, I've been told that it should be a daily thing, for forever.  And people are right.  But the things we give up are not wrong.  They are just a sacrifice.  For a period os time.  And it makes you dwell on His Holiness.  His sacrifice.  Our surrender.

And so Lent starts today.  I will be giving up country music (groan), sweets, every drink but water & seltzer water, and my daily ONE glass of OJ.   And last but not least, chips.  I LOVE chips.  Specially Doritos Ranch.

I will be spending this time praying for a young lady who I have not seen since she was 10.  She is about 16 now.  God really laid it on my heart she is my heart's prayer this Lenten season.  I don't know why, but HE does.  And thats all that matters.

My kids don't know life without Lent.  They take it quite serious, and prayerfully consider what to give up.  Last year, Samuel gave up Adventures in Odyssey.  It about killed him.  lol.

And so 40 days until Easter.  (not including Sundays, the day of mercy)  40 days of sacrifice.  40 days to spend intimate time with our Lord. ( I know, we should do this everyday, but I will confess my sin.  I don't.)  40 days to think about just what is really important.

And so.....Lent start today.

Congratulations NY

Well, after all is said and done, the Giants said and did it all.

And I knew he could do it.  I like Eli Manning.  I was sorry that he wasn't a Steeler.  He made me like the Giants, just because he was one.  I was always frustrated with Giants fans who put him down and tore him to pieces.  I believed in him anyway.  NY is a tough place to be a professional player.  He did it with grace, commitment, responsibility, and most importantly deaf ears.   

Any other player that didn't lived up to NY fans, would have fallen apart long ago.  Look at ARod.

Congrats Eli!!!

Congrats Giants.

It was an awesome game.