Hair dos.......

As promised, here's a photo that Madison took of me this week showing off my highlights and layers.

No real drastic change except the 4 miles of brown roots are now camoflauged

along with a ton of new growth grey!

YIKES!!

And one more thing....

no one ever told me that wrinkles can show up in bunches

and overnight!

I'm convinced that most of the new wrinkles that I've found this month

are being exagerated by the mineral make up I am using.

I thought I'd give Sheer Cover a try,

and at first I couldn't decide if I liked it or not.

It seemed to cover fine and was certainly light to wear and stayed in place...

but it also seemed to magnify every fine line I have!

I gave it a good 6 weeks, but I gotta tell ya, I'm not loving it.

I'm now on the search for a new foundation that will help me hide the fact that I am 38 without making me look like I'm trying to hide the fact that I'm 38!

Any suggestions?

Too bad we can't all just live in permanent black and white mode, huh?

It's great on the wrinkles.

And here's another new hair do this week.

Bren slept in damp braids a few nights ago and was so excited to see her crinkly hair that the first thing out of her mouth the next morning was,

"Can you undo my hair now so I can see the crinkles?"

So here are her "crinkles".

Just keeping it real, folks.

I guess I took one too many shots for her!

And because it's never good to end on a sour note....

I love this one in black and white.

A Sweet Award!

What a fun thing to wake up to!

Katie if my toot toot boutique nominated me for this award.
This award recognizes a blog’s creativity and overall contribution to the blogger community.
Thanks Katie!!!

Now my job is to nominate five others....
Here are my selections:

1. Kelly at Love Well... http://lovewell.blogspot.com/

2.Big Mama..... http://thebigmamablog.com/

3. Boo Mama.... http://boomama.net/

4. Bring The Rain.... http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/

5. Beki.... http://pamperingbeki.blogspot.com/

Once you’ve been selected, please follow these guidelines and pay it forward:

1) Choose 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award based on creativity, design, interesting material, and overall contribution to the blogger community, regardless of the language.

2) Post the name of the author and a link to his or her blog by so everyone can view it.

3) Each award-winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award.

4) The award-winner and the presenter should post the link of the “Arte y pico“blog , so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5) Please post these rules

Have fun viewing the blogs I selected....LOTS of great reading there!!

*

My life as a dog....

A friend is like a flower,

a rose to be exact,

Or maybe like a brand new gate

that never comes unlatched.

A friend is like an owl,

both beautiful and wise.

Or perhaps a friend is like a ghost,

whose spirit never dies.

A friend is like a heart that goes

strong until the end.

Where would we be in this world

if we didn't have a friend.

- By Emma Guest

While I was editing these photos that I took at the park today, I was thinking about how to include them on my blog.

I thought about some cute little stories I could tell of friendships I had as a little girl.

I thought about telling you about Bren and Miss K and how they have a love/hate friendship at this point.

"I'm the prettiest Princess!" one of them would say.

"No, I am the prettiest. You can be the step sister!"

The conflict usually resolves itself with one of them suggesting that they could be twin princesses and all is right in the kingdom once more.

When I found the above poem I thought it applied pretty well to friendship in general, while allowing me to include that cool photo of Bren in black and white with the buttercup in color.

But as I thought deeper about the subject of friendship, I realize how very vital it is.

It's a painful thought for me right now as I am beginning to feel pretty isolated.

I do have lots of great people that care about me. I have friends all over the country.

I've even got a few in Washington state that I appreciate so much.

But, if you've ever moved to a place where you didn't know a soul and every face is a stranger, you might know a bit about what I'm starting to feel.

This is the first time David has been deployed this soon after we have moved to a foreign place.

When we moved to Georgia in 2004, he deployed a few weeks after we got there, but it wasn't the same.

We were moving back to Georgia. I already had a support base built in there.

I wasn't alone.

Everything was familiar.

Right now my heart is longing for familiar.

There is nothing quite like being able to pick up the phone and call a girlfriend to run out for coffee, go see a chick flick or go for a pedicure.

(I've never actually called a friend to go for a pedicure, but it sounds so fun, doesn't it!)

Having local friends to call on and to share everyday life with is such an important thing in the life of a woman.

Nothing can replace the security of knowing that if you run out of gas somewhere, there is someone you can call who would run out to rescue you.

Something as basic as having a friend's name to put on the "emergency contact" section of your kids school registration form is really and truely a gift from above.

I am really struggling with why God has not brought the friends into my life here in Marysville that I began praying for last year.

We've been here for almost two months....

Where are they, God?

Each time we move, my approach toward meeting people is a little different.

When we moved from my very full, friend filled life in Georgia to California in 2001, I would describe my approach as being like a labrador retriever on the beach.

Picture that wet dog, tongue hanging out, running full speed toward a group of ladies walking along the surf.

If you know labs, you know that they don't just saunter up calmly, gently, with their dignity in tact.

Nope, they come full throttle,

putting it all out there and then they usually pounce on their target with unrepresable joy.

This was me.

I threw myself into friend making situations like my life depended on it.

When we moved back to Georgia, I would describe my approach as relaxed, kinda like an old comfortable family dog.

I felt like these people were my people.

I knew exactly where I fit in immediately.

No pouncing and bounding needed to be done.

I was home and was accepted right back into the hearts of the friends that I had missed so much.

When we moved to Rhode Island, I knew it would only be for a year and David would be home the whole time, so my approach was kinda like a basset hound...

totally approachable, slow and steady.

Not a hint of desparation involved.

I met other moms at activities that I would take Bren to.

I would smile and be friendly and having this little exhuberant person at my side who chatted up anyone she met really made breaking the ice easy.

Here in Washington,

I am just a mixed breed mutt

standing behind the chain link fence at the pound,

wagging my tail excitedly at anyone who passes by,

but then curling back up into a ball when they walk away.

I think the biggest factor in all of this is that in those other towns, I still had my husband home, and when I didn't have him there I already had a support group to fill the void and come along side me.

I didn't have to sit alone in a big church where I don't know a soul.

I didn't have to long for adult communication.

I didn't have to find my way around a strange town full of strangers.

Don't get me wrong, my life is full.

I have four busy kids who keep me on my toes.

Running the house alone is certainly time comsuming and I'm happy and thankful for what I have in my life.

But, what I would not give for one girls night out!

For a night of laughter and familiarity.

To be able to relate and bounce things off of other moms who "get it".

The thought does come to mind that God is up to something here.

He knows that I am a people person.

He knows that I thrive when I am active in the lives of my friends and them in mine.

He made me that way, so I can only guess that He's got me isolated for a reason.

That is both scary and exciting at the same time.

Letting go of my wants and desires and relying soley on him for the friendship I am longing for is unfamiliar territory for me.

I've always had other women in my life for face to face encouragement and companionship.

God was always a part of it, but he was never the sole source of my daily filling of life giving face to face friendship.

I've never been this isolated before, and I know that he is just waiting for me to throw up my hands and let him fill me up.

But it's the letting go of the longing for earthly things that is hard for me.

I feel like I need human face to face friendship on the local daily living level

NOW,

but if there is one thing I know well it's that God has his own time table

and I can trust him in all things.

I know he has already hand picked local friends for me,

but I've also considered the fact that he wants me to know him as my only daily living source of friendship for as long as it takes for me to fully let go and not need that earthly friendship so desparately.

And that's a scary, scary place for me because I don't enjoy being lonely.

None of us do.

But I know that on the other side of this isolation lies not only hand picked earthly frienships,

but also a true understanding of what it means to rely soley on my creator

to meet every single need that I have....

and that, my friends, is worth the fear

and worth the throwing up of my hands in surrender

and worth risking loneliness.

If you know my God, would you pray for me?

Just pray that I let him be the friend He wants to be to me

and that I have courage in the journey.

And being the impatient sanguine that I am,

could you also pray that He hurries up! LOL!!

Just as a disclaimer,

I am specifically talking about local friends here.

Think about all the things that you do with the friends who live within 20 minutes of you.

Spontaneous mall runs,

impromptu meetings for lunch,

park days with the kids,

attending Bible study together....

Those are the things I'm missing so badly.

Like I said, I do have alot of friends who I love and adore all over the country

and whose phone calls and e-mails help to sustain me.

I don't want any of you to feel like I'm discounting you.

I appreciate all of you so much!

I'm blessed in that I've experienced close local friendships with some of you because now without it,

I know the precious bond I am missing!

*

Penelope is trying to have me killed!

I'm convinced of it.

I don't know if she is just tired of rescuing me from my navigational disfunction or if she's just completely flipped a wire,

but the gig is up.

On three separate occassions, she has provided questionable directions which could have ultimately led to my demise.

Last week, the girls and I were driving in Lake Stevens and we were seriously low on gas.

Seriously low.

So, we asked Penelope to find the nearest gas station for us.

We followed her instructions and she led us straight into a dead end street full of old houses with rusting cars in the yards.

A few scruffy men with bandanas around their heads were standing around an open hood of a once cool hot rod. Beer cans in hand and cigarettes hanging from their mouths, they all looked up as I, fully expecting to see a Shell station, pulled into their street .

A few dirt covered shirtless little elementary school boys chased an equally muddy dog around the front yard with a stick.

Basically, it looked like a "you might be a redneck if" joke.

Fearing that these were not the "nice" kind of rednecks, I threw the car in reverse and drove back to the nearest main road.

What did Penelope expect me to do, syphon gas?

Crazy GPS.

*

The second incident occured when we were in downtown Seattle.

Penelope loses her ever-loving mind in downtown Seattle.

I don't know if it is because of the way the roads are laid out there or if she figures that this would be the best place for her to kill me off without drawing too much attention,

but let me tell you

if I listened to her

I would be doing right turn squares for the rest of my life in downtown Seattle!

I'd either die of starvation

(which would take years because if there's one thing I am sure of, it's that I have done a sufficient job of protecting myself from any impending famin!

It's just the responsible thing to do.)

or I'd die from running out of gas on the wrong corner of the wrong street at the wrong time of day.

Strike two, Penelope!

*

Having survived those two attempts on my life, Penelope decided to go the sneaky route and tried to have me expire of natural causes.

The girls and I were going to pick up the boys at church late on Friday night.

We were coming from a different direction than we usually do, so we needed Penelope to help us find the quickest route.

One of the disadvantages of being new to an area is that it takes a while to learn the short cuts and we usually stick to the main roads that we know even if they take an extra 15 or 20 minutes of travel.

So, I was excited to see if Penelope would show me a new way to get from point a to point b.

Boy, did she ever!

David had pre-programmed some locations for Penelope to lead us to and "church" was one of them.

I clicked "church" and obediently followed her through unfamiliar roads and small towns, trusting her all the way.

Her screen indicated that we'd arrive about 3 minutes before the boys needed to be picked up.

Perfect!

It seemed strange to me though that as we got within a few miles of where Penelope said our destination was,

I recognized nothing.

Still holding out hope that the church would magically appear around the next corner,

we made the final turn and she directed us to pull into a residential driveway.

UG!!!!!

We had driven 30 minutes in the WRONG direction.

At this point I was very close to having a heart attack because we'd now be close to an hour late picking up the boys!

We are still way too new at the church to know anyone and I was afraid they'd be sitting out there on the curb all alone.

Luckily the function the boys had attended ran over and we pulled up while lots of kids were still milling around inside and outside of the building.

Nice try Penelope.

I've got my eye on you girl!

If I happen to go missing.....

It was Penelope, on the dashboard of the Sienna, with a carefully planned faulty direction.

*

Up, Up and Away!!!!

Ok, so I just put this beautiful boy on an airplane all by himself!

It's OK.

I've been doing deep breathing for the past week to prepare for it and I'm doing a good job fighting back the nausea that has threatened to take control of me ever since I watched him board the plane.

He's 14.

He'll be fine, right.

He's on his way to Las Vegas right now where he'll enjoy a lengthy layover ( which he will spend on the phone with me!!!) and then he'll board the plane toward the place where he'll spend the Summer of his life!

Michael and Josh met when we were stationed in Kings Bay, GA 3 years ago.

They became inseparable friends and some say, clones of each other.

It's hard to imagine another Michael in this world, but Josh comes super close!

They are so fun to watch together full of life, laughter and boy-ness.

You get lots of friends in this life, but only a precious few who are knit to your soul.

I'm so happy for Michael that he gets to spend five weeks with his best friend in this world.

Look at this crazy boy!

How on earth can he go anywhere and not leave a huge void in the place that he left?

I know that there are lots of loving arms in Georgia waiting to hug him.

Michael brings a new level of joy to everyone he meets.

He's hilarious, quirky, spontaneous and endearing.

His middle name is Isaac which means, "one who laughs".

Very appropriate.

We will miss him soooo much!

Here are Josh and Michael in Georgia....

I can't believe how young they both look here.

They will be surpised to see each other three years taller and three years more grown up.

I wish I could be there to watch the reunion.

After five weeks with Josh, Michael will fly to New Orleans where my brother will pick he and Zach (who is flying to New Orleans from Seattle) up and the boys will spend a few weeks in Florida.

They will learn how to be first mates on a fishing boat and take a possible quick trip to the Bahamas with my brothers to fish on a big yaht. My brother Jeremy is a fishing boat captain and my brother Jason is an expert on the water.

The boys are so excited to learn the ropes and see if this is something they might want to do after they finish school.

They will also have fun on the beach, at the waterparks and skateparks and spending time with all of our family down there.

Here the boys are with Jason (above) and Jeremy (below) in Pensacola a few Summer's ago.

My brother's rock for taking time out of their Summer to mentor the boys.

I won't quite know what to do with myself without Michael for two months and Zachary for one month, but I'm sure the girls and I will find lots of things to fill up our days.....

Can you say SHOPPING and GIRLS NIGHTS full of chick flicks, nail polish and facial masks????

*

Missing Dad on Father's Day!

It was such a gorgeous day today!

Bright blue skies, puffy white clouds, cool breeze...the works!

It was the kind of day that just begs you to be outdoors doing something in the sun.

The kids and I began our day at church where they had a special Father's Day car and bike show going on. After the service, which was awesome, they had a big BBQ with a band and tons of awesome cars and bikes out for show.

We walked around a little bit and I looked at the engines of the open hooded cars.

I tried to smile, nod and look impressed and look like I knew what I was looking at, but frankly it just looked like a bunch of metal and some wires.

cool.

After that we dropped Zach off at the house because what I wanted to do for the afternoon drew nothing but complaints from him. Unfortunately, we've reached that point in our lives where what is fun for the family, is usually not the funnest thing for the grumpy, opinionated (can you tell it has not been the best week?) teenager.

So, in order to not endure the constant complaining in my ear all day long, I dropped off the offender who was more than happy about it and off the rest of us went.

We stopped by subway, grabbed a few subs and went to the park to eat them at a picnic table in the sun. We watched Bren play at the playground for about an hour and spent another hour exploring the trails all around that area.

It was bliss for me!

I love that kind of thing.

The place was packed with dad's and kids spending time together. Some of them were fishing at the pond, some were pushing giggling kids on swings and others were tossing a baseball back and forth.

We missed David and wished he was with us.

To all the Dad's out there including my own who is spending the afternoon grilling out with my brothers in Florida, Happy Father's Day!!!!

Our lives are better for the investment of your strength, your love and your guidance.

Here comes the sun......

And we celebrated by getting out and finishing up a photoshoot of some hair accessories we were sent to model by Lisa of Sweet Pea and Company.

Check them out if you are in the market for some fun Summer hair accessories!

Aren't these sweet pink hair flowers just perfect for keeping her hair out of her face with style?

I love the sassiness of this big red flower!

It worked perfectly for a side ponytail

Sometimes when we do a shoot, I get a shot that I want to edit for my own personal portfolio.

Something about this shot grabbed me, so I did a crazy color action on it and pumped it up a bit.

I also love it in black and white.

This might end up on my wall someday when we get a home with more wall space.

I am more than thrilled that the sun has finally poked it's face through the gloomy clouds. It's still chilly by this Southern girls standards, but it will certainly do for now.

Something happened at lunch today.....

So Michael, Brendell and I went to lunch at a mongolian BBQ place today.

We filled our bowls and went to the cashier to pay.

The man behind the counter told us that I only had to pay for Bren's bowl because the rest of our lunch had already been paid for.

He pointed toward a couple in the corner and said that they had paid for our lunch!

I thanked them and they told me that another table had paid for their lunch so they were just paying it forward.

As we sat down I thought about all the reasons why I deserved that free lunch.

We had just come from Michael's orthodontist appointment where I had to pay

(GASP) $982.00 as a down payment for the next 18 months of Michael's care.

The boys are about to go on Summer trips for which they will need spending money.

Our bank account is definitely tight and just getting tighter by the week.

We should not even be out at lunch, but we had a few other errands to run which would keep us

out most of the afternoon and we didn't have time to run home and make a sandwhich.

The longer I sat there, the more I thought about how much bigger of a blessing it would be to

bless someone else.

So, before the next customers came in, I went up the counter and paid for two more lunch

plates.

The cashier looked shocked and asked why I would not just take a free lunch.

I told him that I just could not let it end with me and that this was all such a great lesson for my

kids.

He smiled and took my money.

The kids and I waited excitedly for the next customers to arrive.

We watched as the two unsuspecting ladies filled their bowls and tried to pay.

They were so surprised that their meals had already been paid for!

Another table of three older women that had been there longer than we had told us that the first

customers to start the meal paying was a table of two young mothers with little kids in booster

seats.

Those young mother's had paid for the older women, the older women had paid for the couple in

the corner and the couple in the corner had paid for us.

We all talked about how fun it had been to participate in the giving game.

It put smiles on everyone's faces as we anticipated the next customers reaction to having a free

lunch!

I wanted to stay there all day just to see what would happen!

I don't know if the people we paid for paid it forward because we left before they did, but even if

they didn't, my kids and I learned once again that there is far more joy in giving than in

receiving!!

Today's lunch was such a welcome change from the past few days I have been having!

Sunday was a tough, tough day.

When the time is right I might blog about it, but I'm not sure I'm ready to be that emotionally raw yet.

On a more practical note, here's a visual of how the past few days have been around here:

Yup....it's broken!!!

He broke it on Saturday while jumping his bike around a dirt bike track a few miles from our

house.

We have the crash on video and if I can figure out how to upload it, I'll share it here.

So, Monday we spent the whole day running around to doctor's appointments.

The first one was for Bren to get immunized for Kindergarten.

That was traumatic!

She had to have four shots and started crying from the minute we entered the immunization

room.

We had to hold her down to get the shots done!

Zach was next and got one polio shot.

Then we went on to a different clinic to get his hand looked at.

X-rays confirmed a fracture and he was fitted with a splint and sling.

Once the swelling goes down, he'll get a cast on it.

The Seattle Thing....

On Saturday the girls and I met my friend Jessica and her daughter Mattie in Seattle for a day of fun.

Jessica lives in Bremerton, Wa which is about two hours from me.

We went to the Seattle Aquarium and saw all sorts of sea life.

Bren loved the touch pools full of star fish and all sorts of squishy, spiney things.

She made a rockin' whale hat at the craft center.

The sea otters were the most entertaining exhibit of the day.

One self indulgent otter figured out how to scratch her own belly on a rock.

Doing so required her to be upside down underwater with her legs positioned so that she would have enough leverage to move her belly up and down against the rock.

She'd be down for a few minutes and then come up for a big gulp of air which is what you see her doing here in center of this photo.

It was hysterical to watch!

Seattle is such a clean city.

I'm not overwhelmed when I'm driving there and I'm not afraid to walk on the streets.

It has the same sort of feel as Boston did for me, only it's smaller and less intimidating.

It is the polar opposite of New York which overwhelmed me so much that I don't even remember seeing anything but whizzing colors and flurries of neon activity while I tried to keep Bren from darting out into the streets or from being swallowed up by the enormous crowds!

LA has a completely different feel.

Some parts were fine for exploring and others had such a seedy feel that you'd wish you were armed for your own safety.

On the day we went to Seattle, the streets were full of families with young children all out enjoying the sights.

I felt completely at ease and happy to be there.

I can't wait to explore it more when David comes home.

I think he'd really enjoy it.

Of course we had to visit the fish throwers at Pikes Place Market!

The fish all looked so good, I really wanted to buy some salmon or halibut to bring home and cook.

Too bad there was not a blue crab in sight or I surely would have gone home with a few dozen!

Yikes! That salmon must be GOOD!

The flowers at the market were gorgeous!

I could not believe the prices!!

I bought a $15 bouquet of assorted wildflowers and had enough to split between two vases when I got home!

We also tasted some peaches and some cherries at a produce stand.

Both were so delicious!

I'm definitely going back for some of those!

Jessica and I have been friends for years.

We actually met in Georgia in 1993 when Jessica was only 11 or 12.

She immediately fit right in with our family and became a sort of "mother's helper" to me at a time when I really needed one.

I was a young mother with two little boys and a husband who deployed alot.

Jessica stepped right in to lend a hand and be a friend and sort of big sister to my kids.

As the years passed and she turned into a teenager, we developed a close friendship.

Jessica was such a huge part of my kids growing up and they were so lucky to have her be in their lives.

When Madison was a baby/toddler Jessica was one of her favorite people in the whole world.

It has been such a blessing to watch Jessica grow into a beautiful woman and wonderful mother.

Her daughter Mattie is such a joy!

She is a people magnet and was all smiles the whole day long.

Jessica and her husband Paul are expecting baby number two this Fall!

I'm so happy that I will be able to meet her new little newborn without either of us having to buy a plane ticket!

Here are some shots of her very special and precious little girl

Mattie Marie.....

Out of this world bubbles!

About a week and a half ago (when the sun used to shine here in Washington), we turned this bubble maker on for the first time and were amazed at the size of them!

check 'em out!

The coolest part was that the machine would blow a bunch of smaller bubbles inside the larger ones. It kinds looks other worldly to me.

Isn't there just something magical about bubbles?

Here is Michael trying to keep his bubble alive.

Here's a bit of a random recap of our week so far:

We had company for the beginning of this week.

My friend Linda, her husband Scott and their daughter Emily drove over from Spokane for a few days.

It was so fun having guests in the house!

*

I signed Bren up for fall soccer!

She's so excited about it and I can't wait to watch her play. She's very athletic and I'm sure she is going to love playing.

*

It's been raining since Monday.

sigh.

*

The laundry is all caught up!!

*

I heard from David and got some more cool photos of a helicopter delivering huge boxes of food and supplies to the ship.

I love the communication that being attached to a carrier affords us.

When he would deploy on the submarine, I would only get one or maybe two e-mails a week and definitely no phone calls.

Being able to touch base everyday makes the separation so much easier.

*

I made dinner last night before 8pm!!!

*

I love my high lights and hair cut!!

I'll get Madison to take some photos when I get a chance.

*

Bren only left the house inappropriately dressed once or twice this week!

*

Madison is finally done with a huge school project that involved an elaborate scrapbook all about her including essays, poems, word searches, photos, short stories and art work! Whew!!

It's a good things she's creative and a hard worker!

*

I only had to ask the boys 6 times to mow the lawn this past weekend!

*

We remembered trash day!

We remembered it at 5 am the morning of, but that counts right?

*

The kids have about one week of school left until Summer vacation!

yippppeeee!!!!

*

Ok, that's about it. You are now caught up on our exciting lives!

Aren't you glad you logged on today?

I'll try to make my post more interesting/witty/meaningful when I feel more interesting/witty/meaningful!

LOL!

For now, I'm still concentrating hard on setting up a routine sans David and trying to get things running as efficiently and smoothly as possible.

Unfortunately it takes all of my brain cells to do this and then the cloudy weather saps whats left of my energy.

Never fear though!

I'll have this house running like a well oiled machine soon and I'm sure blue skies are on their way, so I promise that future posts will be worth logging on for!