The Daily Prayer

The preschool that Avery attends, St. Paul's, has a wonderful tradition that I try to enjoy every morning. Right around 8:15 every morning, one of the teachers will "ring the bell" for the kids to all line up. This is just about the time Avery and I are arriving every morning, after dropping Zoey off at the "big school". All of the kids, teachers, and any parents that are there and wish to, form a big circle holding hands.

One of the teachers will open up with the "Open/Shut Them" song:

Open...shut them, Open...shut them,
Give a great big CLAP CLAP CLAP.
Open...shut them, Open...shut them,
Put them in your LAP LAP LAP.

This is the cue for all of the kids to fold their hands in prayer in front of them. Then, each room takes a turn during the week to choose a child to say the prayer.

The prayer is spoken by the chosen child and then repeated by the whole circle. These are the most honest, and heart warming prayers, coming from the mouths of 3-5 year old children.

Today's was (spoken by a boy from the Gold room):

Dear Jesus,
Thank you for all of the food.
Amen

Now while this prayer might not seem so heartwarming (but it did put a smile on my face, as they usually do) this whole tradition is something that changes my mornings. If I'm having a rough morning, trying to get the girls out the door on time, fighting traffic, etc., this simple act of saying a simple prayer, out of the mouth of a child makes me stop and count my blessings, remember what is really important.

Yeah God...Thank You for all of the food! And all of the other blessings you bestow on us!

My husband...he's a Stud!

Okay, so I can't help myself. What girl could? I'm walking behind my husband and my girls, headed towards a Duck's game. And he's wearing a jersey. And it makes him look so strong and studly.

Which I already know he is.

Believe me, I know how studly he looks without the jersey on. Mmmm...yummy. But what makes him look like a REAL MAN??? The fact that he is holding hands and carrying our young monkeys. He's an awesome Dad.

So we go to the game, and the DUCKS WIN!!! Yeah!!!

But I'm still destracted by my studly husband. Is that wrong?

What are they probing...anyway???

Well, as you have probably realized by now, my blog is not a "save the planet" type blog...or "what I've done to enrich my children's live's" type blog.

No...far from it.

Since I'm quite certain that I'm the only one "enjoying" this blog, I'll write exactly what I damn please...thank you very much.

And that leads us to this.

Well, the death of my Mother made me thing about a lot of things. Not the least was the state of my own health and the realization that what I do to take care of myself could save me, in the end...or at least buy me a few more years. Of down here on earth time.

That's what I'm looking for. I guess.

ANYWAY...so I decided it was time to take care of business, and have all of those medical and dental and mental tests you possibly can, and should, every year.

So this last Wednesday I visited the as I like to call her the "hoo-ha" Dr. Well, actually she wasn't a Dr. exactly, but a "Certified Nurse Midwife". But the "hoo-ha Certified Nurse Practitioner" doesn't have the same ring, now does it.

As I'm sitting in the room in my lovely gown...taking in the surroundings, I notice this...the above picture. First I think it's a jar of condoms, ready to hand out to those girls uncertain of the birth control meathod they might prefer. But then, as I look closer at the lable I realize they are "probe covers". Hmmm...and I wonder.

What type of "probe" are they covering? Are they going to use that "probe" on me? Sheeshhhhh...

SEE...that's why I waited 5 years to have my next "exam".

You never know what they have up their sleeves next.

Damn Medical Profession (sorry Greg...)

The Dude

Here is our crazy dude. He loves to sleep UNDER THE BED on Rob's side of the bed. Now, if you have seen our dog Cisco, you can easily recognize this is no small feat. He is about 95 pounds, and has to drop down on his belly and "army dog" under the bed. Usually he goes all of the way under, and all you can see is a little toe or the tip of his tail sticking out. But when he gets hot, or is just too lazy to go all of the way under you will sometimes see this. The girls call this the "stingray" because you can see the backend and the tail sticking out.

Cisco is defintely not a morning "person". If you try to get him up in the morning to go out, he will scoot further and further under the bed to the point you cannot reach him.

DUDE...you're a knucklehead!

Trying to get back to normal

Well, it's been almost 3 weeks since Mom passed away, and while my "down-in-the-dumps" feeling seems to stick with me most of the day, the demands of day to day life have kept me busy enough that I don't have too much time to sit and dwell. Several times a day something will make me think of her, and I get teary. I guess it's all part of the normal process. I don't miss her any less, however. The more time goes by, the more I miss her. Ugh.

We've had a busy week, with Monday Brownies, Wed. night at the gym, Thursday night driving to Corona to have dinner with the Warren's, Saturday lunch and movies with the Conley's, driving to go see Dad, then to Lazy Dog for dinner with the Quast's, Atkinson's, Phil and Hoover. It was the first time I had seen Ross since he has been out of the hospital, and it was SO good to see him. Today just not feeling well, upset tummy and headache, so we are taking it easy and getting some much needed rest. Gearing up for a long week next week, with Avery being "SuperStar" in her class, and Valentine's Day, actually the next few weeks will be busy, with lots of upcoming dr. appts, birthdays, Brownie events, and just the general crazy life we lead.

Things I would like to do this week:
1. Work out at least 3 times
2. Get a chance to play with my camera
3. Get my new sewing machine that has been in the back of my car for over a month out and play...get started on some of those projects I have been wanting to do
4. Make some Valentine stuff
5. Read

We'll see how many of those things actually happen ;-)

Here's to things looking up this year...I hope...

Karen Maureen Misenhimer Monson...9/16/36-1/21/08

Well, here she is. My Mom. My Mother. The beautiful woman that brought me into this world. And wiped my nose (and butt) and fed and clothed me and taught me pretty much everything I know that matters. Actually, everything that REALLY matters. Thank you Mom.

My Mom was a teacher. From the word go. She taught so many children, to read, to do math, to write. Just to be good citizens. All of the things you learn in the primary grades. Your basic tool kit for the world in so many ways. And she taught those skills to hundreds, actually over a 40+ year career probably closer to 1000+s of children. Citizens of our planet, and leaders of our future world. But I never sat in her classroom as a student. I was one of the three lucky ones to have her be my teacher of ALL aspects of my world. Not just the acedemic ones.

She taught me about love. Love for each other, love for animals, love for LIFE, and most importantly, love for Christ. She was a faithful and loving wife of almost 52 years, and was a caregiver for her disabled husband for over a decade, under such difficult conditions. No, she was not a saint, never complaining, but she was REAL, and expressed her frustration, and exhaustion, as she cared for a husband that became ill too early in their married life. How many times I thought how horrible it was that they were never able to enjoy their retirement together and travel the world as they should have done after a lifetime of hard work. That was not to be.

She loved animals. She was so patient with me as I worked at animal hospitals for over 16 years, and so often brought home little cardboard boxes with some precious life inside of it. She would groan "what now..." and rush over to see what tiny creature I had brought home that needed our help. She NEVER said no. What lessons that taught me about life, and how even the smallest creatures deserved my care and attention.

She taught me to love the Lord. She was always active in every church we ever attended, and sometimes dragged my teenage butt out of bed to attend. She made sure I knew the scriptures, even when we lived in Saudi Arabia and attending church was illegal. She would make sure we went...EVERY FRIDAY (in the Middle East Friday is the day of rest) and augmented my "Sunday School" learning with teachings of her own. We went to a service in a gym...where we had to shred the bullitens upon exit lest they be discovered, and yet she made sure we went every week, no matter what. I learned that living your religion was a privledge, not a right, and it was something to be treasured and cultivated. Not just a given. THANK YOU, Mom.

But the most important thing she ever taught me was about being a Mom. Of course I learned from her example, a lifetime of how she raised her kids. But I had NO idea, until I became a Mother, of the lessons I had yet to learn. I feel SO LUCKY and blessed, and grateful that my Mom could be with us in the delivery room at the birth of both of my daughters. She was there to hold my hand and Will me through the pain. She brought her knitting at the birth of Zoey, my first, as she knew it would be a long night. And she was right. Twenty-one hours later she watched her being born, and told me later that her heart had stopped at the sight of my slightly blue baby. That took a deep breath a minute later and turned pink. But those minutes of stillness were some of the most terrifying of her life she told me later. And it went on from there. When my girls were sick I called Mom. She would tell me what to do. When they had an issue at school, I called Mom. And she would reassure me. And she was always there to spend time with them. To take a slow walk with them and look at the leaves and the flowers. To read book upon book with them and never tire of their questions. To firmly remind them of the way to behave, and not to behave. Everything I know about being a Mom I learned from her. I hope to live up to her example.

So, here she is, and was. I miss her more than I can say. I have cried a river of tears, and am sure an ocean is yet to follow. These few words I put here don't even begin to speak of a wonderful life well lived. She was fragile, and had her faults, but she was ultimately an extremely kind, loving, smart, beautiful Child of God, and I Love her completely. And miss her terribly.

God Bless You Mom

Exactly! (And no, it's not very PC)

So I saw this plate at a Target store, back about a week before my Mom had her stroke. It cracked me up, and I decided to creep up (very 009) and snap a pic of this plate. I felt like an idiot, and was hoping the driver was in Target for a while, pondering over the $1 spot.

But I want this plate. No, I'd rather not be "climbing a mountain" or "riding a bike" or "lifting weights" or blah blah blah...whatever else people would rather be doing! NO!

I'd rather be half way down that bottle of cold chardonney...with another one chilling right behind that.

And I'm okay with that. Very okay.

Just for you, Jamie

Okay, so I haven't kept up on my blog as I should. As a matter of fact, I would like to "blog" every day but just don't have the time or the stamina. I have gotten complaints a few times now...about "you did this or that with us and we were not on your blog". Whoops...

So this one is for you, JC.

And, by the way I took over 200 pictures that weekend and I have the ones i LIKE posted on flickr. Here... http://flickr.com/photos/ciscokid3435/sets/72157600845078320/