On Top of the World!

This past weekend was a special one for Whine 2. She is our most independent and unpredictable child so we are never quite sure what each event with her might bring. Friday night was the Spring Concert at her school. She waited all week to get to put on her fancy dress and big brother wanted to look his best too.

The evening began with a pasta dinner at the school. Since Christian was wearing a red tie, I wasn't too worried, but both girls were well covered for the meal.

After dinner it was time for the concert. Jayna might not be the most cooperative during rehearsals, but when it comes to the show, she gives it all she's got!

I do not believe that it was an accident that she was standing next to her teacher, Mrs. Arin, throughout the performance.

The final number was a song she had been practicing for weeks and Daddy and I have had a lot of fun with it too. They sang "Believe it or Not." Jayna was definitely "walking on air".

No coincidence that we have since started watching episodes of The Greatest American Hero.

That night Jayna was definitely my hero. 

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Put the baby in the stroller and join me for a workout.

It's Raining, It's Pouring, Soon I will be Snoring!

Are you familiar with the phrase, "When it rains, it pours?" Usually this is referring to what seems to be a deluge of challenges coming at us all at once. I am grateful that God sends us challenges in groups. I tend to be a person who dwells on a single negativity even when it is in an ocean of wonderful events. Just one bad thing drowns the positives and gives me the grumbles. Well, when I have days when it pours, there are too many negatives to focus on any one of them. I find it much easier to block a group of events rather than a single event that plays over and over again in my mind. That leaves me open to focus on the sunshine that is there - and they are there no matter how much rain the day had.


While running errands today, Hope brought a smile to so many faces as she waved, played peek-a-boo and blew kisses to those around us. I will easily fall into a peaceful slumber imagining those precious blue eyes.

Tomorrow will be full of its own challenges. We'll start the day off with a great workout with Baby Boot Camp. And then return home to finalize our items for the Pasadena Community Church Children's Consignment Sale that opens to the public on Friday.


Hopefully I'll be able to sneak onto the computer to blog about the great weekend we had.

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I Miss it... I Miss it not

Going from a two salary household to a one salary household has required some creative cuts to our spending. Some things we have changed have gone completely unnoticed while others I will admit to missing (but not enough!).

I Miss it...

* Cleaning Help: For one year we had a wonderful woman come and clean our home every other week. It was a huge blessing that is dearly missed. I thoroughly enjoy being able to serve my family by keeping up with the housework, but I haven't quite figured out how to get it all done.

* My daily IM chats with my FLVS girls. They kept me grounded and laughing and I miss them dearly. I no longer have enough computer time to chat, write blogs and keep up with Kindness Closet. 

* Going out to eat. This was our biggest cut back. We are not fast food people but would frequently find ourselves at our favorite restaurants. We especially miss frequent trips to The Westy where everybody there really does know our name (and not just because we are often fussing at the kids to keep it down and be still).

I Miss it not...

* Cable TV: I had expected to happily miss this but as it turns out, there is nothing to miss. With an antennae that brings in about 50 channels and $8 a month for Hulu Plus, we have everything we did with cable including a great substitute for the DVR. (We've never figured out how to get the kids to bed in time to catch our favorite shows.)

* Haircuts for the guys: While they may miss this - especially as Barber Andy has been cutting three generations of Morrison Men on a regular basis - we have found that an inherited set of clippers gets the job done just fine. I'm still fine tuning my skills; especially the Rayhawk, but overall my men are looking good!

* Paper plates: We had an un-healthy habit of using paper plates pretty much all of the time. I have rediscovered the dishes I received as wedding gifts and love using them again. 

* 20 pounds: I definitely do not miss the 20 pounds I have lost since  resigning my online teaching position. While much credit is due to the MOLO Challenge (Mother Love Fitness Challenge), I'm sure that not sitting in front of the computer all day helps also.

This is just the beginning of the miss it / miss it not list that I've been compiling the last 2 1/2 months. I'm sure there are many things yet to discover.

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Join me for a great workout with the baby.

Ball Game With My Buddy

Yesterday I was blessed to have a special outing with my buddy-boy. We went to the Rays game and had a blast watching them win against the Twins. We had to push it to get to game after church  in time for the kids' hat giveaway, but we made it. Love the new green Earth Day Rays hat!!

Christian has been in love with baseball for as long as I can remember. We were told that the general rule of thumb is that kids would make it through the number of innings that matched their age. So at 2 years old we expected Christian to sit through 2 innings. He surprised us by making it through the entire game then and now he wants to stay as long as possible after the game. He loves every second of it and I love the special time with him.

Since it was Sunday Family Fun Day at Tropicana Field, Christian was able to run the bases after the game. The picture was a little off, but you can kind of see him just after he crossed home plate.

Thanks again to Nana and Papa for the tickets, the ride and the yummy ice cream!!

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Join me and Whine 3 for a great workout!

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"Born With A Broken Wanter"

First, thank you Pastor Colin of Faith Fellowship St. Petersburg and Dennis Taylor for the above quote and title of today's post:


"Born With A Broken Wanter"


As humans we want. As Americans we want a lot. As Americans we also get much of what we want but are never satisfied. If your household is like mine, there is a daily battle of the "wants".  The kids (okay, parents too) are too susceptible to the media and peers to determine what our wants are. Unfortunately,  these are all wants of a broken wanter. How and when can our wanter be repaired?


At the end of our earthly lives, what do we want the most? I often hear of the elderly saying the only thing they want is to be surrounded by their loved ones. Is it because they have been their whole lives and loved it? Or is it because they missed those opportunities throughout life and want to make up for it before it is too late? Either way, there seems to be a trend toward the wanter getting repaired as you prepare to enter Heaven. But why does it take so long? Wouldn't life be more fulfilling if we lived it without a broken wanter?


Psalm 37:4  Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. (NIV 1984)


The sooner you put your trust in God and delight in Him, the sooner you will no longer have a broken wanter. Let's be accountable to one another to trust in God and live with a well working wanter.

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Class Information

Born to Read - Yes! Born to Run - Great book!

As I've mentioned before (see Stickwithititos), I'm not one who sticks with things well. One of the few things I have stuck with consistently for many years is reading. When I left my job two months ago, one of the things that just fell into the place was the revival of a book club I used to meet with. Last month the club read was Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall.

As a wannabe runner, I LOVED this book. As someone addicted to my fancy running shoes and orthotics, I was a little frustrated with this book. 

This book is a biography. I read very few biographies of people currently living and might not have read this one if it had not been selected for our book club. However, like any really good book, I got completely sucked into it. While corresponding with a classmate from high school, she mentioned she knew some of the people in the book. Thought that was totally cool!

The anthropological segment of the story proved to be some of the most fascinating to me.  The argument that humans were evolved to be a running animal instead of a walking animal was beautiful. The simple living of the running Tarahumara was inspirational. The discussions of running form were educational.

When I was a classroom teacher, I was saw a native Hawaiian student training for a cross country meet and was intrigued by his running form. Instead of his feet coming up and forward with each stride, they seemed to come almost straight down and kick back. This intrigued me and I tried copying it for awhile before I reverted back to me original form that really doesn't resemble anything traditional. Born to Run talked about this kick-back running style as a way to conserve energy and prevent injuries while running. I'm committed now to working on adopting that as my style.

After finishing this reading adventure, I was hungry for more. The story had talked about a photographer who had been so I went to Google to search for the images. I started off with a search on one of the main characters in the book, Caballo Blanco. Unfortunately, images of the Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon were not my first results. What came up instead was the awful news that Caballo Blanco was missing after setting off for a morning run. I followed the stories and the next day it was reported that his body was found. Not the ending I was hoping for, but then again, that's what happens in biographies that doesn't often happen in fiction. 

Live long, read often and run.

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My Sunday Lesson

After a few weeks of serving in the nursery, recovering from birthday parties and dealing with sick children, I was finally able to sit and enjoy another wonder lesson at church today. Pastor Colin is continuing to teach through Philippians. The two points that struck me the most didn't really come from the meat of the lesson, but rather from points that were made to reinforce the meat (maybe that would be the garlic and pepper... yum...).


The first item to really catch my attention was nothing new, but has an entire new meaning to me.


"Our joy is complete when we completely share the desires of Christ."


I have no notions of experiencing complete joy until I reach Heaven. Until then I will continue to be pulled away by my human desires. However, the recent decision to quit my job and focus on my family was something Christ has been calling me to do for years and I didn't do out of fear. I couldn't image being joyful with so much less money and spending my time as a housewife and mommy. I love being a wife and mommy, but I couldn't imagine being fulfilled in that roll. After (almost) 2 months of obedience, I see that I am much more joyful now that I have time to focus on the priorities God has set for me life. 


The second item ties into the first.


As a Christian I must humble myself as a servant to Christ and as a wife and mother I must humble myself as a servant to the family with which He blessed me.


During the years of disobedience regarding my work life, I argued that I was best serving my family with a paycheck. Boy was I wrong!! God will always provide for our needs and His provisions are perfect. My family needs me and I had failed to see that He was providing for them through me. Not monetarily but me. Serving them is a special privilege He has set aside for only me. I am the wife He chose for Chris and the mommy He chose for Christian, Jayna and Hope. My goal now is to ensure that I find joy in every task that comes with fulfilling God's plan for my life. That joy is there since I'm caring out the desires of Christ and it is up to me to humbly live and share that joy as His servant.

Micah 6:8

New International Version (NIV)

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. 

   And what does the LORD require of you? 

To act justly and to love mercy 

   and to walk humbly with your God.

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