All about me when it's not all about me

All about me, when life is really not all about me.

1. What is your favorite thing to snack on while you are blogging?
I don't snack while I'm blogging.

2. What is one thing you wouldn't want to live without?
There are many, many things I wouldn't WANT to live without, but there's only a few that I COULD NOT live without: my God, food, water, and temperature regulated shelter (yup, I'm from the cold North).

3. Beach, Mountains, or Farm? Where would you live if you had a choice?
A rural farm a day's drive from the mountains.

4. What's your least favorite chore/household duty?
Probably the laundry.

5. Who do people say you remind them of?
My sister, my dad, my mom, the other Joy.

6. Prefer parties and socializing or staying home with the fam?
I like staying home better, but I also like getting out.

7. What's your all time favorite movie?
Boz the Green Bear, because my kids watch that so I can get a shower every day. :)

8. Do you sleep in your make-up or remove it like a good little girl every night?
I remove my makeup.

9. Do you have a hidden talent or a deep desire to learn something that you've never had a chance to learn? What is it?
I have a desire to learn another language (probably Spanish) and learn some kind of martial arts/self defence.

10. What's one strange thing you're really good at?
Um, I really don't know.

11. What first attracted you to your spouse?
His good looks, brilliant mind, silly sense of humor, and great smile.

12. What is something you love to smell?
Supper cooking. Yum!

13. Tell something about you that you know irritates people.
I'm too harsh and blunt too often.

14. When you have extra money, what's the first thing you think to do with it?
Maybe someday when we don't have any loans I'll have extra money just lying around, and I'd hope I'd give it away.

15. Are you a silent laugher or a loud laugher? What makes you laugh the hardest?
I laugh loud. My good friends make me laugh, and the many silly things my kids say and do every day make me laugh, too.

16. Where is your favorite place to shop?
Target.

17. What's one thing you'd do more often if you had more time?
I'd read, quilt, travel, sew, learn a lanugage, learn karate...

18. Are you a big spender or frugal?
In the middle - I think about my purchases so I'm not an impulse buyer, but I'm not super-duper tight, either. Money is made to use, but to use wisely.

19. Who is your favorite character of all time?
Maybe Don Knotts. He's funny.

20. Would you want to be famous?
No, I don't think so.

Colors

Red Apples on the Trees

White Snow on the Ground

Green Leaves on the Trees

Brown Stain on the Deck

Blue Snowflakes on the Window

I enjoy the many colors of whatever season it is; the season with green grass, snow, and red apples.

My Local Supermarket

I went shopping at my local supermarket. The groceries are all familiar and the store clerks (locally called the "payers") are quite friendly. The receipts are hand written and the service is great.

Random Thoughts on Memory & Music

I have been trying to memorize Psalm 121 for several weeks. It's a fairly brief Psalm, but it's tough for me to memorize. One of my friends suggested I put it to music, and I think I might have to do that. Psalms are songs, so that would be fitting.

My Bible study teacher talked about songs - about how much easier it is to memorize a song than a passage. I know many people (and me!) that can sing song after song by memory, but struggle with memorize simple passages.

I've noticed how powerful songs are lately with my kids. I invested in a CD a few months ago to help my son memorize his Awana Bible verses. The CD sets all of the verses in his Awana book to music, which, I'm discovering, is a great memorization tool. We keep the CD in the car, and the kids want to listen to it almost every time we drive anywhere. My son and daughters all enjoy the songs and are able to memorize them so quickly. I was amazed to even hear my 1-year-old daughter singing parts John 3:16.

I'm liking this song thing.

Names

The kids are in the kitchen coloring and drawing. They were just arguing about my name. My eldest says my name is "Joy," my second says it's "Mom," and my baby says it is "Mom-ME." They came to the conclusion that I have lots of names.

I have lots of names. In the course of a day, I can be called Mrs, Hon, Mom, Mommy, and Joy. I am a wife, mother, daughter, friend, aunt, sister, sister-in-law...

I feel blessed to have so many names.

Exhibit A

Exhibit A: A note from the Pupil's Kindergarten Teacher. Note has come after deliberation between Teacher and Pupil's Parents, redirection of Pupil, and much discussion between the Pupil's Parents.

This is a just cause for celebration.

Supper

Me working hard to make supper

Quiet Time

When it's way to quiet

and you notice you haven't seen the kids for a few minutes

you start to wonder

and then you go look

to see what they are doing.

Sometimes they are just playing quietly together

but other times...

Tails

Her very first pair of ponytails.

Bare

Every day, I find lost socks on my floors....

...and I see cute little bare toes.

Sista

This is my sister. She's so cool.

Combine

Here he is in one of his favorite spots.

Today I....

vacuumed.
put in an Awana order.
washed my bedding.
sent out an e-mail for scrapbooking night.
made a few phone calls.
attended a MOPS planning meeting.
picked up after my kids after the MOPS planning meeting.
did my Bible study lessons.
put my baby down for a nap.
paid a bill.

and I still need to...

clean out my car.
clean up the kids' coloring paper and markers that are all over the kitchen.
make supper.
bathe three kids.
mail out letters for Awana Sparks.
sort an Uppercase Living package.
finish making my bed.
put the kids to bed (snack, jammies, stories, prayers, tucking in, rocking).

Fancy Nancy Farm Girl

My three-year-old daughter is such a fun combination of girly-girl and farm-girl.

She likes shoes, dresses, and jewelry, and also finds great enjoyment is mud, dirt, and tractors.

I remember the first time I took her shoe shopping. She was one year old, sitting in the stroller, and was about hyperventilating as she tried on every shoe she could reach. She wears at least two pairs of shoes a day and often goes through several dresses a day, too. She likes to have her hair braided after bathtime so the next day her hair is all curly.

She also likes playing in the mud and getting filthy-dirty. She's a great helper in the garden and spends hours in the sandbox during the summer. She enjoys wresting with her dad and jumping off furniture. She loves going farmin' with her dad and spending [a short amount of] time in the tractor or truck. She's such a fun girl with a personality all her own.

For her birthday, she told her Nana that she would like, "necklaces, shoes, and a quad trac tractor."