Very sweet.

What Love means to a 4-8 year old. Slow down for three minutes to read this. It is so worth it. Touching words from the mouth of babes. A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, 'What does love mean?'

The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:
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'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore..So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.'
Rebecca- age 8
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'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'
Billy - age 4
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'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.'
Karl - age 5
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'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.'
Chrissy - age 6
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'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.'
Terri - age 4
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'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.'
Danny - age 7
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'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more...My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss'
Emily - age 8
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'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.'
Bobby - age 7
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'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,'
Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)
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'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.'
Noelle - age 7
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'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.'
Tommy - age 6
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'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling.
He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.'
Cindy - age 8
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'My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.'
Clare - age 6
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'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.'
Elaine-age 5
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'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Brad Pitt.'
Chris - age 7
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'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.'
Mary Ann - age 4
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'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.'
Lauren - age 4
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'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.'
Karen - age 7
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'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.'
Mark - age 6
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'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.'
Jessica - age 8
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And the final one
The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.
Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.
When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said,
'Nothing, I just helped him cry'

Beach

I don't typically call the Oregon Coast the beach. If simply for the fact that I think of the beach as really warm and sunny and when your feet touch the sand...well the sand is hot.

But...yesterday we went to the beach and it was sunny, reasonably warm and the sand was hot on your feet. It was beautiful and we didn't even need jackets. The kids wore jackets, however, because I made them.

Andrea and James tagged along, they even agreed to ride with Austin and Alex...and I'm told they talked constantly. We lucked out on the ride home because everyone was so exhausted and didn't have much energy to move around or talk or anything else.

We ended up getting like $35.00 worth of candy, which at this one shop meant that we got 5 pieces of taffy. Just kidding...about only getting 5 pieces. We got fudge, taffy, chocolate and just a ton of candy. Then...if that wasn't bad enough, we got ice cream afterwords. However, I'm happy to report that since we paid an arm and leg to get the candy first, we were able to save .25cents/cone we bought. Black Licorice ice cream is the absolute best.

It was busy, long day and we walked miles, but we shared time together, had fun and made memories. More importantly we got to share love with each other by holding hands, playing sand castles and being us.

We need more days like that. :)

The pinkie sneaky.

I went for a run tonight, did 2 1/2 miles. It felt really, really good. While I was running I was thinking about my day and specifically my children because, well, they sort of hang around a lot and it's hard not to notice them. Not to mention that they need to be fed and watered, like, all the time. So, chances are, during the day I'm spending time with them...constantly. LOL

Anyway, what I'm about to tell you us fail proof. Well, mostly. I don't think I've shared this with you before, and while running I thought of that and felt it just completely selfish of me not to. Thus, I will explain to you the pinkie trick. It's a little sneaky, but it works. Seriously.

As a parent, I want to believe I've raised honest to goodness kids. They don't lie to me...often. When they do, I can tell they are lying by using their pinkie...and that same pinkie tells me with 99.9% accuracy whether or not they are telling the truth, or lying. It's very simple really. I should also note that I did not come up with this on my own, but my sweet Vondie Blondie passed it on to me years ago. It's darn near fail safe. In fact, when you use pinkie and said pinkie produces and tells you your child has lied...95% of the time you get a confession and, "I'm sorry". So...it's highly effective.

Here's what you do. It's very simple. Takes little time. The first time you use this trick, you may need to explain it a little to the party involved in suspicious activity or whatever. For example:

Me: "I'm going to ask you a question and I will know if you are lying or not. Austin, did you poke your brother in the eye on purpose?" <---Something simple, to the point, they can answer yes or no.

Austin: "No"

Me: "Let me see your pinkie." <---simple simple simple. (Note, it doesn't matter if it's left or right pinkie...they both tell the truth.)

Austin: Shows me his pinkie while sort of hiding it and glancing at it.

Me: "You've just lied to me. Your pinkie told me the truth. You did poke your brother in the eye on purpose."

Austin: "Well he was bugging me!" <---confession and angrily shoves pinkie into pocket. Will probably teach that pinkie thing or two later.


SO...now we have an example out of the way let me explain. When you ask your child to show you their pinkie, if they are lying they will become uncomfortable, will look at their pinkie, maybe try to hide it from your complete view, wiggle it around a little bit like they think it'll sport a mouth and start talking to you...maybe even all of these things simultaneously. When they do this, you know they are lying. They are looking at their pinkie to see what on earth you can see that tells you they're lying.

When you ask your child to show you their pinkie and they show you their pinkie straight away, hold it up bold, do not look at it and look at you instead, they are telling the truth. Everytime. (Unless they figure out the trick, in which case...good luck with that now.) They don't have any fear or hesitation because they know they are telling the truth. They don't need to see what their pinkie looks like because there's no way it would betray them. Then you can praise them for being truthful. (They might, after you're done, reflect on their pinkie to determine how in the heck you know this...I think I clocked Austin sitting his bed one night pinching it, moving it all around and just overall baffled on how it could possibly tell me the truth everytime for like 15 minutes.)

So there you have it. Vonda said that this trick worked for her son until he was almost 15. So, that's really saying something. LOL

LOL

Seriously. I spoke too soon. Alex and Sam have the flu, again. I knew it was too good to be true. I hope it's only a 24 hour thing this time.

Last night and tonight I got so many deals at the store using the Living Well deal at Safeway. It's ridiculous. :)

Here's what I got with $47.12:

6 80 count Hefty Large Kitchen bags
12 12pack cans coke products (caffiene free, of course)
3 24pack bottled water
8 packs gum
32 boxes of capri suns
2 packages 1lb ground turkey
2 packages Tyson chicken nuggets (large bag)
4 packages American singles cheese
6 pkgs of 4 count Smart Balance butter
6 tubs Smart Balance butter
1 6 pack Dove bar soap
1 large Lawry's seasoning salt
2 12 count pop tarts
1 bag Fritos
1 bag Tostitos chips
2 gallons milk
4 12rolls of Cottenelle toilet paper
10 pkgs Electrosol gel tabs
1 bottle Life Water
1 tin foil
1 Lysol disinfectant


That's it. I should have spent without coupons: $405.79...not a bad haul. Average savings of about 88%....or so. I'll take it.

Betcha ya thought I'd dropped off the face of the earth!!

So, I've not been good at all at updating lately. My bad. I've not kept up on anyone else's blogs either, so I've got a bit of catching up to do.

Special shout out to Kristina for checking on me to see if I was still kicking. I saw your comment yesterday and feel blessed to have such a sweet and exceptionally funny blogging friend. Thanks. :)

I've been bummed because I did injury myself the last time I wrote and it's still not 100% healed. And, just like this last summer when I'm certain I broke my foot, I've not gone to the doctor. I'm really stubborn.

But tonight I did run 2 1/2 miles, record time. My leg hurts, but it's not unbearable. Which means, to prevent further injury, I'll work out on the elliptical tomorrow instead of run again. I look forward to it.

Everyone's healthy. Jon finally got over whatever the heck he had, it took antibiotics, but he's finally a lot better. I still get woken up in the middle of the night by his cough, but it's much better. The kids, expect for Austin, are well. He's still got that same crap. Jon and Austin are going on what...8-9 weeks of being sick straight? Crazy.

Work is going good. I'm working extra this week because a co-worker is on vacation, and I teach preschool...it'll be a busy week.

I've got about 50% of my coupons sorted, which is saying a whole heck of a lot. Andrea and Vickie, bless their little hearts and fingers, helped me clip coupons yesterday. I don't know that they really realize how much they've helped me out, but they did. I'm grateful to them. A lot.

I had a little bit of a break through today and didn't even realize it until my run tonight - that's why I love running...I get to think about things and sort through things and pound it out. Anyway, I don't really know how to say it other than I saw him today and I didn't get upset. Or, frightened or worried or frantic or anything. I actually thought he looked like he was having fun...and what's more is that I hoped he was! There was no other emotion other than that. Hope. It's awesome.

Sam cut her hair again today. I didn't freak out as badly as last time. It's just hair right? At least it wasn't a finger...

I'll update again later this week. I just had to sit down and rest for a bit and let everyone know something.

Gah.

I've been running since, the last few weeks in March? I don't remember when exactly. I remember starting out and there was a lot of pain, dates on the other hand....not so much. I made a goal, way back when, to run 10 miles in 1 week. I've yet to hit that goal. It's not that I can't, it's that I just haven't. I've had a few days where I ran 2 miles in the morning and then 2 at night, but then go the next day without running at all. So, it's been a little sporadic.

Yesterday I ran 2 miles and it felt easy. So, since that started my week off...I was feeling really good and thought tonight I'd run 3 miles. This would have been my first attempt at 3 miles and...I'll have to make that attempt another day. For some reason, unbeknownst to me, I was barely able to run 1.25miles. I pushed and pushed, but finally had to just stop. I don't know what happened, but it feels like I broke a bone or something, either that or my muscle cramped up so hard that I couldn't bear it any longer. I've pushed through pain before, but this pain was something new. It didn't feel right. I barely made it out of the gym without hobbling like a ninnie, which meant I just had to walk very, very slowly.

So, we'll see what tomorrow brings. I think I'll take the day off. LOL

Oh, and what is up with Oregon spring weather? Holy buckets! The kids got to play outside in the sprinkler today...and they weren't even cold! I know! Bizarre! I just don't know what to make of it. I'm lovin' it though...I played in the water, too. :)

I've not posted much as of late because, well I've not had anything of worth to say. I can't explain the emotions I've gone through in the last several months and feel it a waste of time to even try. I would stop here if weren't for the fact that I need to try to sort through some things.

I just am. I just am.

Where to even start? I know that the "impossible situation" thing is where it started for me. I felt I was working through things and coming to grips with how things were working or weren't and that I was ok with it. I really thought I was able to rise above and see things for what they were. I'm such a fool.

Friday, the one day I work out of the home, I had an incident which makes me feel particularly low, down trodden and brought up emotions I thought I'd dealt with. But, I'm weak, and even as my knees buckled and my throat tightened up and I panicked...I just was. I had all of these feelings that came to the surface, but even as all the color left my face I felt nothing. I just was.

I mean, come on! I only work one day a week...what are the chances that I'd have to face the one person who has this overwhelming power over me to make me cringe and shake and flustered? The one person who I haven't seen in months? There he was, staring me in the face, just as startled as me I imagine. And this is one of the few places where I feel completely safe and at ease, and he just took that away from me. He broke a barrier, unknowingly, and was there staring at me. And I've done nothing wrong and I felt uncomfortable. And, it wasn't fair that I was the one who had to leave. I work there. I have a right to be there. But I couldn't be there. And while I know that my doctors know what is going on and my office manager, too, it didn't make it any easier that they understood. I just hate that my will is broken.

I have no will.

I just am.

So, I move along. I'm functioning, but I'm so lost. Like I said, I can't explain it. The only thing I feel I can relate it to is that I have no light left, and that's not even true. My light is just very dim. It seems like every solution I've come up with falls short of what I need. And while I know that Heavenly Father wants me to work this out with Him, I feel like every solution I come up with on my own isn't good enough to take to Him because it's wrong. I really try to be open and listen and wait for His hand to guide me, but I'm impatient and selfish because I just want it to be done. I'm just done.

I'm still doing things that I should, still following the routine, still praying and studying the scriptures. I just don't know what I'm searching for. I don't know what will make this right. I've never been so conflicted.

It's not like I'm feeling like "oh, poor me", because I'm not. Not really. I've come to realize that I was just born, in part, to have this capacity to just endure all things. Well, I don't know how true that is, but it's how I feel. I can endure this, and maybe even appreciate it someday.

I just want to be able to understand it and endure it better now. I don't think that's too much to ask, or maybe I'm just asking the wrong things. Of course, it's impossible for me to know which one it is now.

I'm tired.

It was my turn to do scripture and prayer tonight. And, because I'm lazy, or just extremely smart, I just flipped open the scriptures to read from where ever the pages fell open. Wouldn't you know where that was? John 14 and 15...no particular verses needed. That should say it all. What a place to turn to when I'm feeling like this. Whatever it is that I'm feeling, the feeling that has no name. What a place to turn! I can't say which verses are my favorite because basically all of John is one of my favorites.

Chapter 14 verse 18-19: "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also."

Chapter 14 verse 27: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

Chapter 15 verse 12-27 (clipped): "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.""Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you...""These things I command you, that ye love one another.""And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning."

So, I know that by doing my part peace will come. I just wish I felt it completely right now instead of just bits of it. I want to be overwhelmed with peace.

Computer funny.

BILL GATES vs GMFor all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection for the waycomputers have enhanced our lives, read on.At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared thecomputer industry with the auto industry and stated:'If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, wewould all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon.'

In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating:'If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all bedriving cars with the following characteristics (and I just love thispart):

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash........Twice a day.

2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have tobuy a new car.

3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. Youwould have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows,shut off the car, restart it and reopen the windows before you couldcontinue. For some reason you would simply accept this.

4. Occasionally, executing a manoeuvre such as a left turn would causeyour car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you wouldhave to reinstall the engine.

5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, wasreliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but wouldrun on only five percent of the roads.

6. The oil, water temperature and alternator warning lights would allbe replaced by a single 'This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation'warning light.

7. The airbag system would ask 'Are you sure?' before deploying.

8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you outand refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the doorhandle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learnhow to drive all over again because none of the controls would operatein the same manner as the old car.

10. You'd have to press the 'Start' button to turn the engine off.Please share this with your friends who love - but sometimes hate -their computer!


Ok...so I especially love #8...so funny.

Feeling better.

You couldn't tell by looking at me, hearing me talk (that's for sure), but I feel better, finally. I'm really super excited. So, I'm going to do what I always do when I get an inch...I'm going to take a mile...actually two. I'm going to go for a run tonight for the first time, in like, forever. I didn't end up running Friday after work after all because I only made it at work for 1 hour before I got even more sick. I wouldn't have gone to work at all had I known that puking would rear its ugly head. Ya, this really was the worst flu ever.

Anyway, the kids are doing good, which is a HUGE plus. Now, Jon and I just need to get our act together. I should mention that he's been sick with this crap, too, just not as bad as me...or if he was as bad he certainly handled it much better than I did. And that, is entirely possible.

I've got so much stuff to get done now that I feel better. The house is a mess and I've just got so much stuff to do...laundry, cleaning, organizing, couponing...and that's a big one. I've not straightened out my coupon crap for weeks...

So, better get on that. Ya.

Short Update

So I got myself all worked up and excited about running 10 miles this week, which I completely planned on doing, but so far I've only been able to run 6 miles. I got the flu, which, of course, meant that I couldn't move to do anything pretty much. I'm hoping that tomorrow after work I'll have enough energy to go to the gym and run 2 miles. This would put my total running miles for the week to 8 miles, which is two less than my goal, but I did also do 2 miles on my eliptical on Monday in addition to my run...so I don't feel so bad about it, especially since I didn't plan on getting the flu.

We'll see if I make it tomorrow after a long day at work. I'm thinking I can do it.