CHANGING BLOGS

I will keep this blog, but because of the "bug". I have built a new site that will contain my new content... Please click blah blah blog mommy.

I have learned a little about designing sites but I can
t change this one! Also check out Latham Graphic Design.

I have a BUG in my BLOG

Okay so I am trying to learn HTML... bad thing cause now I can't undo something that I don't know I did. I have a bug in my blog! Help!

Anxiety

I am sitting here at home with my two boys asleep and finally my house is quiet. I think about all sorts of things but my mind gravitates towards my little anxieties. Usually, I am anxious about stuff that I need to do, like fold laundry or wash dishes. I worry about other stuff like my husband's job security, my weight, and how long my dog, Darla, will live. (I can't really rest when I obsess like this...)

THEN, my mind jumps over into other areas such as politics, the environment, or how bad I hate the way that "economic progress" has inflated the bank accounts of corporate America while it has nearly killed our small towns. I feel guilty for shopping at Walmart but can't afford to go "granola" right now... I agonize over the price of gas. I worry about whether we should start stock-piling food, water, and cash just in case the whole country falls through the floor. I think about the natural disasters that seem to happen everyday and all those are suffering from them. I think about people who have lost a child. I think about Israel, Iran, Sudan and the war in Iraq. I think about people that I know with cancer. I think about those who are in pain and those who are alone in nursing homes, hospitals, and on the street. I think about all the kids having sex and doing horrible things just to feel wanted or valued. I stew over gay marriage and the abortion issue--BOTH ARE ABOMINATIONS but what does fretting change?
Then, I fret about the status of the public school system and the lack of decency in our culture. I look at our celebrity obsessed, entertainment hungry, and materialistic population and ask where are the independent thinkers?
I look at the American church and watch as it's back-bone turns to silly putty and it's behavior becomes more like the world. I hear my Christian friends talking about pastors that are teaching "Oprah" style positive thinking, pseudo-new age stuff...
I just go on and on and here and there I stress over what I am going to cook for supper and beat myself up for not getting more done on my "to do" list...

Are you tired? I am.

Then, I see my boys and ask,"What kind of world have I brought you into?"

What kind of mess will it be in when they are grown? If worse comes to worse, will they suffer? Will they be persecuted? Will they turn away from God? Will they have the strength to go against the cultural flow? How long can I protect their innocence?

It is enough to drive me to drink! (... I mean drink a lot.)

But, God let Moses get backed up against the Red Sea before He rescued His children. So, I guess all this ANXIETY has a purpose, maybe. After all, Rack, Shack, and Benny had to actually go into the furnace, didn't they? ...Daniel actually spent the whole night inside the Lion's den, didn't he?...And Jesus had to go through MAJOR stress (remember he sweat blood) and worse before he was done, right?

I can only go forward with courage because I know how it all turns out... I can face these questions and worries because everything is temporary. All this YUCK is going to disappear...

Today is My Hubby's Birthday

Wes is 33 today and I just want to say that he is the best husband and father. He works so hard and sacrifices so much for us. He works all day and then comes home and works until bedtime helping with our kids. We are really different from one another but together we make a great pair.

Don't send a lame eCard.
Try JibJab Sendables!

A Faith for Tragedy and Suffering

It is hard to be forthcoming about certain beliefs because they are rather controversial...
However, I have a problem with the thinking that charges all bad things to the devil and credits God with the good. With all the bad that happens, you would think that God and Satan are having a boxing match and that sometimes God wins and sometimes Satan wins with God promising to knock him out in the final round...

This is not the God I read about in the bible. God sent Jesus to die, not Satan. It was horrible but ultimately His plan from the foundations of the Earth. It was not a plan of Satan that God cleaned up with a reworking of his plans. God is not running behind the devil trying to figure out how to make a good thing out of a bad thing. God is GOD. Nothing that happens is beyond his control or permission.
And there is the question of 'free will" and the part of man in the plans of God. Just look at the details that were in the old testament that detailed things in Jesus' life... The details about His birth, life and death were too critical to leave to human chance and choice. Yeah, those people had a free mind to do as they pleased, but God already knew what they would do before they decided. You can't, I can't and the devil can't surprise God. No one has ever told God what to do or made him panic or worry.

I don't pretend to know the mind of God but it says in Micha:

"I will have MY WAY in the whirl-wind and the storm..."

The devil is a threat and we are to wage war against him for sure. But, trusting the divine God who knows every detail of everyday before we are born, is the essence of LIFE. Read this if you want to know how I feel about that....

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2001/1181_Why_I_Do_Not_Say_God_Did_Not_Cause_the_Calamity_but_HeCan_Use_It_for_Good/

Kyson's 2nd Birthday Party

Kyson turned 2 the 30th of April but because of many events this is the first chance we had to throw a party...

check out the slide show
or visit my album

mensa list FUNNY

The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.

Here are this year's winners. Read them carefully. Each is an artificial word with only one letter altered to form a real word. Some are terrifically innovative:

1. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

2. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.


3. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.


4. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.


5. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.


6. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.


7. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.


8. Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.


9. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)


10. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's, like, a serious bummer.


11. Decafalon (n.): The gruelling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.


12. Glibido: All talk and no action.


13. Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.


14. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.


15. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.


16. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.


And The #1 Pick:


17. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

sorry about the naughty word

us

Hey, Landon Luke Latham is finally here

Here is the story...

We were dead set against inducing this time but after talking to the doctor, we decided to do it. He felt really strongly about how fast my last labor had progressed and the driving distance. We also prayed about it... Wes and I felt a trust towards the doctor. So, we went home and then prayed for God to start my labor that night... at 12:30 my contractions began and stayed about 7 minutes apart till we got to the hospital at 5 am. We started monitoring my contractions and they couldn't put me on pitocin because it made the baby's heart rate drop. I had awesome strong contractions but no efacing. They finally decided that I needed an emergency C-section. They wanted to go so fast that they put me under general anesthesia and neither Wes nor I were "there". I woke up about 45 min later. I had to stay on Morphine for a long time...

Luke is fine but a full term baby at only 5 lbs 15 ounces. After talking to the nurses and doctor, we found out that Luke's head was tilted wrong. He also had umbilical cord issues. His cord was twisted like a telephone cord and was rather small in diameter. We don't think Luke would have ever come out naturally. If we had not induced, we might not have a happy story. After putting together a few clues, I believe that Luke was trying to be born about a month ago. I think my body and my baby were in a scary situation and that waiting for the due date might have been a big mistake.

It is April and there is still no baby...

I am still a week away from my "due date". However, I am disappointed because last time I only had to be pregnant for 8 months. This time, I guess I will be going all the way and the maybe then some!

I am not so happy...

First of all, my Doctor decided to go to Europe this week... Leaving with a substitute who snickered when I said that my real doctor had promised to order the epidural right away instead of making me wait till 5 cm. He looked at me like I was making it up!

And secondly, Friday I went to the hospital with a false alarm. I was having painful contractions from 3:30 am to 7:30 am before we called the hospital. They told us to come in. We did and by lunch they had determined that they were not close enough or strong enough.... I guess they were right.... But, I did lose some steam. My perfectly packed and organized bags have been plundered. My baby-ready clean nest has become un-nested and lazy again. And, I am now giving up on a second child. I just guess I will be permanently pregnant!

Thirdly, I am so fat! I am a human sponge that keeps expanding and collecting more water. I look in the mirror and I see Jabba the Hut in Drag! I am thirsty and hungry all the time and my stretchiest maternity clothes are at their elastical limits!

Lastly, because I have spent so much time on the net questioning every pain and symptom, I have become well acquainted with the umpteen-jillion pregnancy websites out there. I have read all sorts of message boards, listened religiously to the Pea in th Podcast, and been a faithful member of Whattoexpect.com for more than two years... But there is new documentary coming out soon called, "The Business of Being Born" that tops the list. I wish that I had enough brain cells tonight to just rant about it, but instead, check out the site and watch the trailer. I wish I had the guts to do a home birth!

The Porch Monkey

Great Article on for stay-at-homers

http://www.christianitytoday.com/tcw/2001/novdec/9.74.html?start=2

Great Site for Stay-at-home moms
http://www.homebodies.org/

Home Keeping, Back to the point...

I created this blog and renamed it a few times and now I would like to get back to the main thing:

HOME KEEPING

I have read lots of articles and books about being a disciplined keeper of the home. I have, unfortunately, found no great Christian specific sites that really get to the point. So, I am going to get to the point.

I STUCK TO THIS "GREAT PLAN" FOR A TOTAL OF ONE AND A HALF WEEKS...IT'S FUNNY HOW I THINK I AM AN "EXPERT" ONCE I GET A 'GREAT' IDEA! BLAH, BLAH. BLAH...
How do you turn a day that is a blob of depression and chaos into a productive day?

• MY THREE FIVES

I am no expert but this is working for me. I have a daily schedule that is structured into three sections: morning, afternoon, and night(-duh.) I allot myself a set of 5 chores that I do everyday at the same time. I have the morning 5, the mid-day five, and my evening 5. My morning 5 are always: make bed, start load of laundry, get dressed and ready for the day, straighten our bedroom and bath, fold and put away one load of laundry. My mid-day five are always to de-clutter and pick-up all four major family areas and start either the dishwasher or another load of laundry. My evening five include moping the kitchen, making preparations for the next day, de-cluttering living room, check email, start next load of laundry. This helps me to stay on top of the daily 'grungees' as I like to call them.

• CHORE CARDS

There are lots of chores that need to do be done weekly and then there are others that need to be done even less often. These tasks include cleaning out the fridge, reorganizing the kids closets, vacuuming under the couches, etc. I simple make 3X5 cards with a chore written on each one. I have a system that indicates whether it is a once-a-month or a once-a-week chore. I even have chores that are twice a month. I try to do at least 3 chore cards a day and I write the date on the back so that I can keep track. As I complete a task, I move it from the "do" pile to the "done" pile. My simply move them all back to the "do" pile at the end of each month, week or two week cycle. This also helps me maintain control of the larger picture.

• MY BRAIN BOOK

I make a notebook filled with form "to do" lists. Each day is one day. I have the date at the top and a list of check boxes with daily tasks which include a box for the number of chore cards, and exercise "yes/no" box, a vitamin "yes/no"box, and other things like prayer time, learning time with Ky, and a connect box that helps me to remember to reach out to my family and friends via email or a phone call. My page central box to write my tasks for that day. On the right, there is a side bar with a place to write my prayer focus, my meal plans, my exercise plans, and a place to jot down items to add to my shopping list.
My brain also contains my daily routine and my three fives incase I forget. I like to mark of each thing that I accomplish. If I don't do everything on my list, I simply transfer it to the next day. Everyday is a fresh start. I love it because I get it all out of my head and I don't have to use my brain as a storage container, I can, instead use it to think, pray or whatever throughout the day.

• MY MORNING LAUNCH

Right after my morning five and while Kyson is distracted with his toys, I squeezed in my "launch". Some people call it a quiet time but to me it is a chance to put the day into perspective. I usually have several books that I
am reading but this is just for bible study, prayer, reflection, and planning with my brain. I even assign a specific prayer focus to each day, for example, Monday I devoted to my kids and husband and our circumstances. Tuesday I pray for my family and friends, Wednesday is for my neighbors and people that I don't know who are in a tough situation. Each day has a specific purpose though I try to pray everyday for anything that the Lord puts on my mind.

• OTHER

This leaves a lot of time each day for more interesting adventures. After my "launch" I have time to spend teaching or playing with my son. I can run errands, visit my grandmother, or tackle a project. I also try to work in a daily play/learn time, a reading/education time for myself, and a creative time.

The KEY is flexibility. This system is just my "floor" . I can leap off schedule anytime knowing that when I land I will stick to the plan...

THATS IT!

Billisms

My Dad's birthday is this Saturday. We are having a family get together in his honor.

My dad is a very intelligent man who is 100% dedicated to his family. He has always been very involved in our community and is a faithful servant and member of his church. He is always doing something for someone else. He is an awesome worker who in his spare time can build, make, or fix anything.

However, Bill is famous for his "Billisms".

Here are a few of Kandis' favorites....

"Hooo-ey! Them must be some elastical pants!"
-(Bill in response to the movie "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants")

"LAWD-A-MIGHTY! Them marshmallows big as apples!"
-(Bill watching marshmallows in the microwave.)

MOM: "Bill the phone's ringing!"
BILL: "What?? Three nuns are singing??"

MOM: "The keys! I need the keys!"
DAD: "The Cheese? I didn't know it was bad! I'm sorry."\

"Man those are so good they make your lips chap yer??? "mom help I can't remember!

new story by me

A LESSON ABOUT BOUNDARIES...

Once upon a time there was an ant named Lou.

One day Lou walked out her front door and noticed that a large toadstool had sprouted up right next to her door. Suddenly, Lou had a great idea. She would turn that toadstool into a nice big table! Lou was an artsy ant and this would be the perfect place for her to sit and paint. So she polished it up and made it nice and clean. She, then, found several big rocks to use as seats. She even found a small acorn shell and filled it with tiny flowers to make a pleasant center-piece. The next day, she planned on spending all morning seated at her new art table with her new watercolor set.

However, Lou's fancy new table was soon noticed by everyone else.

Once the the other bugs noticed the big table, they became interested in using it for themselves.

Being a nice bug, Lou decided that it would be selfish to not offer the table to her friends and neighbors. Especially because some of the reasons they wanted it seemed much more important than Lou's little hobby. After all, her afternoon tinkering with watercolors was no match for the Ant Colony Community Beautification Banquet or the National Bug and Worm Alliance Counsel meeting. Then there was the Adult Caterpillar Literacy class, the Locust AA meetings, the Doodle Bug Club, and so forth. Suddenly hundreds of bugs were coming out of the woodwork to use Lou's table.

So Lou, just took her paints and put them away and made a place for the little old gnats who needed a place to play gin rummy.

Afterall, it would be selfish to tell them to leave...right?

Then one day on the way to BugMart, she noticed something that she never noticed before.

There were toadstools EVERYWHERE! There were big ones, little ones, wide ones-- just the right size for bug tables! There were enough toadstools for almost every bug for miles around!

So Lou, realized that she wasn't selfish to want to use her own table. The other bugs took advantage of her because she never stood up for herself. She would go home right then and take back what was hers!

So Lou marched back home. Her antennae fidgeted wildly as her thoughts raced. Once she got home, she saw that her front yard was filled with all sorts of bugs waiting to use her table. One roach barked, "Hey, the bathroom is out of toilet paper and we could use some snacks, Lou!"

Lou spoke quietly at first, "Excuse me, I would like to use my table now."

The crowd buzzed noisily ignoring her polite plea.

"Excuse me, I would like to use my table now!"

No response.

"Excuse me, I would like to use my table now! PLEASE!"

Standing on a nearby rock, Lou shouted, "HELLO, HELLO! This is my table and I want you all to go. There are lot's of other tables. You can get your own!"

They still ignored her.

Then in an eruption of pent-up frustration and anger she freaked out. Running towards the table, mid-stride she opened her mandibles and snapped the leg off of a spider had been using the table as a place to sit and drool. She then pounced like panther to the top of the table clearing the the table with one terrible swish of the bloody arachnid appendage.

Their maxilla hit the floor and they gawked at Lou standing in the middle of the table.

Seething with fury, she spat the leg out and glowered like a demonic wasp "LISTEN YOU IDIOTIC, SELF-ABSORBED, LAZY, FREELOADING JERKS! GET YOUR FILTHY THORAXES OFF MY TABLE OR I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU ALL! (Perhaps, she was bit dramatic but it never the less, she got them to shut up!)

After a long pause, the mob let out a unanimous "Humph!". Then, they grudgingly packed up their things and left.

One fat green beetle remarked as she left, "You are selfish and your paintings look like poo!"

The spider didn't move because it was dead. Besides, bugs kill each other all the time and no one cares.

So, Lou cleaned up the mess and fixed the rocks and filled her little acorn with fresh flowers.

The sun was shining, and the air was fresh...

... it was quiet... peaceful...

...she stared at the clean white paper spread out over her wonderful table...

and for the life of her, she couldn't think of a single thing to paint...

AGHHHH!

I have this huge slab of guilt lying on my shoulders. Because I HATE to disappoint people. But I have no choice! Sometimes I wish I had never moved back here!

When I resigned from my position on the Chamber of Commerce, I left a huge event unfinished--THE COTTON PICKIN' QUILT SHOW.
The last two directors were quilters and that is how it became a chamber event. It has been handled largely by a group of quilt lovers and then it landed on my shoulders when I became director. From the beginning I tried to convince them that it should be "outsourced". With businesses closing left and right and a troubled local economy, I wanted the Chamber to do what it was designed to do---help local businesses. The quilt show is a baby asprin compaired to the heart transplant that our city needs. I just don't think it should be the Chambers job. It never should have been. It might have brought some people to town and it might have given us a little bit of pride. I am sure people have really enjoyed them. But if it is about tourism, our high school track meets bring in much more traffic.

Now that I have resigned, we have offered many people good money to see it through but not one is dumb enough to say yes. It is an enormous head-ache according to everyone who has ever done it. And you can delegate to committees all year long and that doesn't mean you can count on anything being done. The idea of being in charge of this event makes having slivers of bamboo shoved under my fingernails sound quite pleasant...

If nobody else will touch it with a twenty-foot pole, then why was I stupid enough to even think that I should handle it? The thing is, everyone is having a stroke. "What are we gonna do? Who is going to do the Quilt Show? Oh NO!!!!" But no one wants to do it... everyone is running from it like Ebola.

Hey, I have been yappin' since June that the sky is falling. And now as pieces of the atmosphere begin drifting downward, the rest of the world finally pays attention.

Sometimes people have no clue what they are asking for...

I am no longer an employee of the Chamber yet this issue is giving me a ulcer...

The last Quilt show meeting, these were actual comments that I heard in response to my statements:

Me:
"I have never even been to a quilt show..."

Lady
"Well, you should have."

Me:
"I will be 9 months pregnant during the quilt show. Last time I went into labor a month early. I don't want to be dealing with the quilt show then"

Lady:
"Sounds like poor timing."

ARGHHHHHHHHH!

I feel better.

Oh Yeah! Only 12ish weeks to go!

New favorite t-shirt quote
"BIRTH CONTROL IS FOR SISSIES"

My new son will be here soon. We are excited to meet Luke sometime around the end of March. We are calling him Luke but are unsure if his first name will be Luke or Landry. Personally I like Landry Luke Latham. If he grows up to be a rapper or a pro-wrestler he can call him self Triple "L" or "L" to the Third or whatever...

Also, here is a great album to get:

Coolest album by a mom for her kids. Think Imogene Heap plus Enya doing ethereal God-centered songs for her babies....

Blink by Plumb

Great book for fellow mommies


In short, it is about dying to self and living a life of joy in God's designed role.
Not for the weak or those looking to deny the created order of a family...

The Story of Stuff

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

follow the link above. Whether we are democrats or republicans, we can see that we need to be responsible for our environmental behaviors. And to those of us who have too much "stuff", maybe this will help us kick the consumer mentality. It's not just about being "green". It's about not laying up for ourselves treasures where moth and rust destroy--or treasures that we end up packing away in a land fill!

Part the Waters...

So, I resigned my position at the chamber for many reasons... Mostly so that I could be with my children at home. I am convinced that it is God's will that I make my home the first priority. I am one of those all or nothing people... I realize that this choice makes me the possible target of scrutiny in my home town, but I can't listen to anyone except my husband,the peace of God, and the advice of true friends who know what I am dealing with...

So, this is a great thing. I have been wanting to be a homekeeper for many years and this is my first opportunity to do so since we have been married... I mean the first time that I did not contribute financially. I have strong urges to make up for the lack of income but I know that God is telling me to trust him first.

As for my town, we have been hard hit lately. Our motel, our vet, two resturants, are closing. We have had 4 deaths in the last two weeks-one a young father. There is a sense of hopelessness and depression here and I don't think another strain of short-lived human ideas will change anything... OUR ONLY HOPE IS GOD.

Lord I repent for trying to do things my way instead of seeking you first. Lord pleas raise up an army of prayer from this small town that we might see your power!

"The Lord is my strength..."