Beautiful Sunrise...ode to my daughter.

TODAY... is not my daughter's Birthday!

YESTERDAY... was.

YES, NYOKA...I am holding true to form.  I am always a day late and a dollar short.

I wanted a day to dedicate to you and since I hadn't blogged in 2 weeks, I spent yesterday explaining it all.

NOW...this is for you Kiddo.

As most of you know I have a daughter named Nyoka.  She was 13 years old when I became her mother.  I would love to say it was an easy adjustment, but I was the intruder to her world.  I was taking over her "Mommy" role and it upset her.  I understand that.  BUT...we worked through it and forged our mommy/daughter role as we find it today.

ALONG the way, I have learned a lot of things about this beautiful woman.

She is:

1.   Thoughtful in the most kind way

2.   Funny in a blond sort of way

3.   Spiritual in an Ammon sort of way

4.   Temperate in a semi Job sort of way

5.   Patient in an enviable way

6.   Entertaining in the best way

7.   Loving in a motherly way

8.   Friendly in a sisterly way

9.   Beautiful in an angelic way

10. Wonderful in every way

I love you Kiddo and I am so blessed to have you as my daughter.  Thank you for being who you are and giving me so many reasons to proud. 

BLAHg! BLAHg! BLAHg!

The mere thought of sitting down to blog has sent shudders up and down my spine.  

Where did my love for blogging go?

Is it the lack of something to say?

Or the lack of energy?

Physical.

Emotional.

Spiritual.

I have been told that I have a lot to say about everything, dare I use the word...."Know It All".  No Way!  I don't know everything, but if I know something about it, you can rest assured I will share what I know.

I have just felt drained.  The cup has been half empty, but that doesn't mean that half hasn't been chock full of blessings.

I have been running.  With the kids in Summer Program (don't you dare call it school) I have 3 hours to my little ole self.  And with that time I have scheduled all these wonderful things to be done without the selfless desire of my offspring to...ahem....HELP.

I have been able to paint the family room finally.  Only took 10 hours.  I did have to allow the artist (Miss Boo) to paint flowers on the wall before I gave it a final coat, but we got it finished.  I am amazed at how a different color can bring warmth to a room I actually try to avoid.  I find myself wandering downstairs just to gaze upon its warm caresses of gold.  Actually the color is camelback, but you can see why I can call it gold.  The moldings of white give it the respect it deserves and compliments it hues.

I am pleased and proud of that room.  Any big project is something that I will glean strength from for some time.  

My office is finally put together and the computer armoire painted to my standards.  That makes it sound like they are high.  After so much painting I decided I could live with it no matter how the last coat turned out.  It was worth the wait.  But...Mr. Finn says after the arduous task of taking it up two flights of stairs that it will never leave this room in one piece.  I concur.

My little boy is running  a fever today and wants his Mommy to come hold him, so I am going to close this blahg with a promise to write more often.  I know how much I enjoy updates on all my blog mates, so I will do my part and do my share.  For everybody...everywhere.

Photog 101

More like "Photography for those that don't know what a digital camera is".  Mr. Finn tells me I am a camera snob.  Perhaps!

We spent most of the time listening to stories of the instructor's camera incompetent husband.  When she was done with that it was mostly geared towards those that use the point and click digital cameras.  I realized I was bored about  45 minutes into the class.  Hence these photos.

I have no idea what the instructor was talking about here.
My favorite picture of the night.  Bet you can't guess who this is!

AND....can you believe the Instructor called me a distraction?  I prefer to think that it was a complement.

Early Morning Smile

The Dude crawled into our bed sometime during the wee hours of the morning.  I left him sleeping at 7 a.m. as I got up to get ready for the day.

Around 7:30 I hear "Where did everyone go?".  

Made me smile.

YW Potluck Fundraiser Auction Craziness!

It is inconceivable how much money was made on this fundraiser last night for the Young Women.  Crazy generous ward members.

$50....yes,  Fifty dollars for a cake.  Don't get me wrong, they were awesome cakes made by the girls, but Wow!  

I am truly in awe of a ward that will come out, bring the food and support their girls to go to camp.  We did so well that we have enough to donate to the Young Mens program.

The bids on the Silent Auction were nothing less than spectacular as well.

I silently bow to all of you.

Our Stars of Fame

Last night the Young Women made the flag for camp. Wow! It is bright. Which really reflects their personalities if you think about it. These young women are so bright and fun and amazing. I had such a great time with them. 

I don't know if I mentioned that I am the 1st Counselor in the YW Presidency.

I felt very apprehensive about it when they called me. This is an age that I don't really relate to. I am barely relating to my two young children and I am learning how to do that as I go along. I figure that I must need to get this under my belt now as Miss Boo is going to keep us hopping in every way. I don't feel that apprehension anymore. They are very warm and loving girls mixed with humor and a touch of mischief.

I am grateful to be in the position now. I know this program is here to help these beautiful girls strengthen their testimonies so they can become who their Heavenly Father knows they are. I pray we as their leaders will be able to guide them in that direction and know that we love them.

I have a few projects in the works right now. I was finally able to get The Dude's room finished. He wasn't too happy with sayings on the wall, but I think he has accepted his fate

I found a corner computer armoire for my office. We got rid of the spare bedroom and made my own personal space. I absolutely love having my own place to do what I want and I like not having to be in the bedroom. I was way too familiar with that room.  It will be black when finished to go with the antique and wrought iron in the room.  I spray painted it and that turned out badly, so just had to put an oil based paint on it.  Rustoleum is giving my money back on the plus side.  (took 11 cans)

My next big project when the kids go to the summer program at the Lutheran school is to paint the family room.  I am looking to warm it up a little down there and with a color called camelback, I don't think I can go wrong. I helped my friend Laurie paint her living room this color and I really like it. Actually, I think I talked her into this color because I liked it so much. She did accent walls in this really cool red color. I wish I could, but it won't work with our color scheme.

Dia De Madres

My mothers day began yesterday morning when we slept in until 9 a.m., followed by a leisurely shower and breakfast at Mimi's Cafe.  They serve this amazing French Toast Berry Bain Perdue.  Oh my heavens!  There is something about cream cheese and orange marmalade stuffed between french toast.  It was a great way to start the day.

For a change we didn't have anything planned, just did what we wanted and spent the time as a family.  The children were able to climb all over fire trucks that were in the strip mall parking lot.  Who knows why they were there.  I imagine they were put there for the sole purpose of bringing joy to our children's eyes. Don't you think?  lol

We then went to a "new" park and the key word was "new" for Miss Boo.  She wasn't having any of the old parks this day.  They played and played!  Then we fed the geese, or should I say the fish.  The fish and I mean a lot of fish came popping out of the water as if they hadn't eaten in days.  It was crazy!  Fun for the kids, but something else to see.   The geese had babies and that was fun.  Miss Boo wasn't sure what to make of their hissing, but we told her they were talking to her.  That was enough.

I was able to finish my computer corner armoire for my office/sanctuary/space.  Can't wait until we can get it moved in.  I don't like being able to see my stuff.  I know!  A little weird and OCD.

I have enjoyed this Mothers Day.  So proud of my children.  The Dude actually used the bathroom by himself in Nursery today.  Didn't turn out well, but I couldn't be prouder of this "huge" step towards self reliance.  Miss Boo went to Primary without the usual fanfare, so it was pleasant.  I was able to enjoy being in Young Womens without being called out more than once.

Oh, and Mr. Finn took me to a movie on Friday night to start out this holiday weekend by seeing the new Star Trek movie.  Way cool!  Nice evening for us.  Grateful that he still wants to spend time alone with me after all these years. 

I actually feel relaxed.

Happy Mothers Day to all those Mothers out there that I admire so much.

Thursday

I really don't have any idea where this week went.

I have spent most of it exhausted due to our little guy not sleeping well.  It is wreaking havoc on Mr. Finn and me.  I didn't drag myself out of bed until 10 a.m.  Not that I was asleep until 10, but I was too tired.  The screams of children made it a necessity to leave the comforts of my bed.  Mr. Finn did not have this luxury and drug himself to work in pursuit of the means to support our family.  

As I was sitting here in a stupor the Emergency Alarm started screaming and almost gave me a heart attack.  Apparently the Emergency Broadcast System is issuing its 258th Tornado Warning of the season.  Yeah!  I couldn't be more excited.  Can you tell?

It is a beautiful place to live but I really dislike tornado season.  You never really know when to be scared or just be on the watch.

Now I just have to get the kids to bed.  Hard to believe it took me all day to do this post and it is now 7:30 p.m.  I still have to get them fed so they will stay asleep all night.

Here's to dreaming....all night long.

Those Three Words

I knew this day had to come.  I have dreaded and avoided it by any means necessary.

And then...I got busy and didn't pay attention to my surroundings.

I left the TV on PBS.

YES, it's true!  I turn it on and leave my children to fend for themselves. (sometimes!)

When I returned an undisclosed amount of time later I heard these words.

I don't know if I can write them.

They are too painful.

I will try....

"I........Love.....

....You.......

BARNEY!

Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhh

Say it isn't so!

The Dude was whispering so sweetly.

I love you too Barney.  I love you.  I love you.  I love you.

Where did I go wrong besides the obvious wrong turns as admitted above?

Random Craziness Catchup

When I was making the jello bones for Miss Boo's birthday party, I spilled it all over my fridge creating something out of a horror flick.  Took 45 minutes to clean this mess up.

Miss Boo is big into decorating.  It usually involves a BIG piece of furniture and always includes stuffed animals.

Last Friday...I spent 6 hours here...with my oldest child...Mr. Finn...while he had a biopsy on his liver.  Do you know how long that needle is?  Me neither, but it had to pretty long to reach it's mark.

Because I was in the middle of a mental breakdown and in spite of his pain, he took the kids to Penguin Park.

Because I was having a much better day on Sunday, we went for a walk before bed.
All these things were a part of my crazy life the past little while and although some things weren't pleasant, the others brought moments of joy.