Welcome

Welcome to bedroom of a 14-year old being raised by conservative hippie parents.
As you can see we're not real picky about how our kids maintain their rooms.
Now I do make him clean it and perhaps I am not a stickler enough for some of you but it is how our family works.
Hmm.... although parenting a 16-year old who is married and having a child makes a parent wonder if they weren't strict enough?
My conclusion on the whole thing is this: it is what it is.
I can only press on through this sanctification process.
I have a great relationship with my children,
they are my family,
my BFF's.
I have the honor of peacefully doing life with them in the name of Jesus.
With that said: welcome 14-year-old's creative bedroom:Snoopy and Nirvana:

Microphone:

Amp: I'm pretty sure my friend's 6-year-old drew this:

And to think I always wanted my kids bedroom to look like it was right out of a catalog or magazine, then reality and personality hit!

Detroit posts to come.

More Stupid Creatures

Some Childhood Fashion Memories

So yahoo had a thing on their news reel about past fashion fads.

It made me think of the fads I loved growing up, see how many of these you remember and how many of these fads you were part of.

Scrunched down socks.

Perhaps one of my most worn fashion statements in the late 80's early 90's; I especially liked this style with pegged jeans.

Speaking of pegged jeans, they were so versatile we could wear them with any type of shoe.

Banana clips. I always remember my cousin Shanna had the greatest hair in the banana clip, somehow my hair always looked stringy.

Coca Cola clothing. I had jeans, a polo shirt and watch. Somehow I just loved the fact that a soda label was on more than just a t-shirt. I turned those jeans into a disc golf bag years ago, I loved them that much.

Friendship bracelets, we pinned these to our clothing and taped them to our desks all in an attempt to weave together some sort of friendship magnet.

Jelly shoes. These have made a comeback but those original styles will never be replaced.

Scrunchies. Again who didn't own one in every color, these went nicely with the scrunched down socks, and a side pony.

Zinka- perhaps the coolest thing to wear on your face since blue eye shadow. I had Zinka in bright pink, cause all red heads need bright pink of their face.

Swatch watches. And I mean watches cause we wore 2 to 3 on our wrist at a time. You never can be too sure of what time it is, I still have mine in a box somewhere, along with my Coke watch; nowadays I don't even own a watch.

I didn't even mention some other favs, like a flipped up collar on my jean jacket or Rebook double tongue sneakers.

So how about you what was your favorite childhood fad?

Mission Time

Date Night Day

Lately I have been slacking.

And I mean really slacking. It's like since I got my new job I have majorly let my old job (the housekeeping one) slide- BIG TIME! The good thing is I have a new daughter in the house who picks up some of the slack and a 14-year-old who does his part now and then, but there's something about a women in her own house that no one else can match.

It's like my mindset is that of "I have to work today" and although I may not have to work until 2 or 6 in the afternoon it's as if I can do nothing else until that time. Well I can do other things, but nothing of "work" value at home. See I'm great at connecting with friends or playing some Lego Indiana Jones on the Xbox; not so great at tending to my home, cooking or yardwork.

Did I mention I only work 25 hours a week? I wonder what I'd look like working 40 hours outside my home??

Not sure what your thoughts are on housewives but I can tell you for 17 years of full time experience it is a lot of work; that's why my neglect of it has made my home an interesting mess.

Steve and I have not really neglected our date nights but I was itching for a "real" date night. See we do Jeep rides like pros. Visits to Yiayia and Papou's- we love them! But when it comes to Hottie and I away from this town, well it was 3 months ago that we had our last date at the Olive Garden 20 minutes away and 6 months ago we went to Savannah for the day.

So... Friday night we had a date night day.

Date night cause it was at night

and day cause we were together, alone, away from our world for 8 hours!!

So now to hold me over for the next 3 months here are the pictures of our date night day.

It started with dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse, commercials late at night will drive people to restaurants the next day.

Our only together picture.

Then we headed to Downtown Disney. How blessed we are to live next to the vacation capital of the world! We stopped by the Magic Shop, the funky Disney shop, the artsy shops and tons more. Of course no visit to Downtown Disney is complete without a Lego Store visit.

Anyone who knows about Star Wars will appreciate this next picture: it's the droid factory, pretty sweet.

Disney always aims to please and they rarely let you down. These musicians were playing a violin, cello and clarinet- electric style, and in full costume to boot!

Then of course we shopped. We had received a rebate for purchasing an energy efficient washing machine and vowed to spend that money on our date night; which meant we got to shop! I'm not much of a shopper but when I get to Disney it's like the money in my pocket screams to be spent! Not only did we buy stuff but we had fun in the shops.

The Ghirardelli Chocolate store.... where I got the most delicious chocolate shake and more sample than one person is allowed.

Now for the reason we went to Downtown Disney: to ride the Characters in Flight hot air balloon. Which was closed due to lightning and later in the night closed due to high winds at balloon height. I think the pilot just wanted to hang out and try to convince us to get him a beer, but what do I know*? ;-)

Here's the balloon, blurry but you can see how neat it is.

And then, way too late, we made the trek to the car and then home. Oh how I love my Hottie and any time I spend with him- but I am especially fond of date days or in this case, date night days!

So worth all we've been through to have this man by my side through it all.

Things That Make Ya Go Hmmm?

Dad comes home from work, he's greeted and at least some of the housework is done.
Mom comes home, no one is here and the housework she asked to be done is not done.
Hmmm, cell phone are getting taken away and internet privileges for one young man is being removed.
Fun times!

Time Keeps on Tickin'

I am not sure how time really works.
Like how can my children go from this:
and this:

To this:

and this:

I love my kids and I enjoy their company.

We laugh and get silly.

We enjoy time with each other and we are the best at deciding where to order take out from.

Movie marathons: we rock it!

My boys are so much alike yet they are worlds apart.

Raising them I really desire boys with integrity, character and a heart for God.

Some days I see and feel like those things have been instilled in them (and are being instilled), other days I think not.

That's the hardest things about parenting, the kids.

The fact that they have their own personalities,

that they make their own choices

and that they are responsible for their own spiritual health, growth and well-being.

I am often my own worse critic, taking on the weigh of their lives.

I find my ultimate rest and peace in knowing that it is not I but Christ who, alive in them, will mold them into the men He sees them as.

Sometimes life doesn't go as we would like in order for things to turn out just as they are suppose to be.

But today I just can't help but wonder: where did the time go and who on earth allowed my babies to grow up?

Dream a Little Dream

I dream of a non-profit raising money for Cass Corridor/Detroit.
I dream of revival, healing, repentance and a city on it's knees.
That dream I lift up to my Father in heaven.

4th of July 2010

Like most holidays we spent the day at Yiayia and Papou's house.
After the cookout we headed down to the events on Riverside Drive and watched the town fireworks.
Before we headed out I realized I didn't have any red, white and blue on my body and little to no clothes in those colors so I decided to paint my face.
Then my nephew wanted "boy stuff" on his face.

And Aunt Rachel and Mary wanted in too.

After the show we headed back to our house for the after party and the annual "blow something up" event.

The guys started off with smaller stuff like this:

And then moved into the real deal, our own private 45 minute firework show!

The next day I got a better look at all the fun!

Although this one tipped over it still was a pretty sight!

Things got blown up, like......

coke bottles,

Subway cups,

more bottles,

The debris goes in here:

Two years ago you may remember the car explosion.

This year the guys blew up a bathroom cabinet. Inside the cabinet was a cinder block with the explosive on it and a bowling ball. Then screwed to the outside of the cabinet were two pieces of plywood.

Here is the aftermath:

Stuff stuck in a nearby tree.

Split the bowling ball.

Of course the cats were curious what happened.

So another 4th has come and gone.

We all survived, the neighbors were entertained and the yard is still a mess!

Hope you all had a great Independence Day!!