Friday, August 31, 2007

Pusgetti...yum!


From my 4 year old, when I asked her what she ate for lunch at preschool.....


"We had pusgetti and it starts with Nnnn...Nnnn...pusgetti."


Well, maybe the N was thrown in there because that was the letter they learned today?


Go figure!



editors note...pusgetti=spagetti

Thursday, August 23, 2007

I'm Invisible...please read!

***I received this e-mail and I just had to share it! This is for all you moms. It is a little long but so very worth it!***

I'm invisible.
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store.

Inside I'm thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the phone?"Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.
I'm invisible.
Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?" I'm a satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?" I'm a car to order, "Right around 5:30 , please."
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude -but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again.
She's going ... she's going ... she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it.
I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this." It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: "To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees."
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:
* No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.
* These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. * They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
* The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book tol d of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it."
And the workman replied, "Because God sees."
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become."
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.
The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree. When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want himto want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add,"You're gonna love it there."
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Middle Name Meme

THE RULES:1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.

2. You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.

3. When you are tagged, you need to write your own blog post containing the middle name game facts.

4. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged!

So here it is....

R....Rarely do I get the chance to post a blog or have the brain power to figure out what to post about. Unless someone is interested in reading about my errands. Going to work, to the store, drop off and pick up my 4 kids from school/Pre-k/daycare, going to bank..etc.. Somehow, I think it is not that exciting.

O...Often I stay up way to late. During the summer this could be as late as 1:30 or 2:am. But is more of an average of 12:30ish. This is because that is when the house is quiet. I feel like I have a whole other 1/2 day ahead of me when kids go to bed! But as school starts up (and I go back to work for school district) all this will change...dramatically!!

B...Before we moved to Texas about a year and a half ago, we were missionaries in Mexico (to the deaf). Oh what a difference a year and a half makes! Michelle and I were 'neighbors'. I do miss y'all and my family in CA.

I...I decided after having 4 kids (3 of them C-sections) to go ahead and 'tie the tubes. This was my Dr's advice. But it is true that every once in a while I wish I could have more.

N...New to me is the fact that my husband and I will both be working full time and our 2 older kids will be going to public school for the first time and the 2 younger ones will be in Pre-K/Daycare.

So there it is!

Yeah, I don't think I'll have much luck finding someone to tag, since, like I said I have not been posting enough...

But...

R..read it and weep if your name starts with R.O.B.I. or N.
O..Oh, well if it's not I'll
B..be satisfied
I..in the end it's just a game so....
N..never mind!

Dear Michelle

I am so glad I have a faithful follower.....of 1!! Ok I may actually have 3 who read my blog and I am so greatful!

Thanks Michelle for coming back day after day, week after week, year after....oh, year and a half.

You could probablly consider this blog your own private window to my life.

So with that said...I'll get on to my next post.

Which is..surprise, surprise...another meme from you.

Keep on taggin'!

Friday, August 10, 2007

What it means to be 33

What being 33 means to me.... Or ...On what great wall will my picture hang?

I have lived in 3 different states but traveled through more than a dozen.

I have lived in 2 different countries and traveled through at least 3.

I have 10 brothers and 0 sisters but only 1 is %100 full blood 'mine'.

I have been married once (whew!) and have 4 kids by that wonderful husband.

I am fluent in 3 languages and a 4th I am knowledgeable and a 5th I once aced but have long since forgotten.


There are no "Great Accomplishments" but simply a starting point...this is just a mile marker for me....for I am barely 1/3 of the way there!

The 'Great Wall' on which my picture will hang?

Well, I guess that would be my living room wall...along with my husband and kids!