American Idol top 5

So this week the theme is songs from the "Rat Pack". Not sure these will be my favorite songs but here it goes:

Kris Allen- Boy did Jamie Fox build this song up. I thought it was great but I am not sure it was my favorite in terms of entertainment value. He has a wonderful voice and really showecased his range. He is my favorite no matter what, he could sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and I would say it was fabulous. Simon made no sense to me tonight.

Allison Iraheta- I was glad to see her tone it down a little bit from her rock star singing. She is a very cute girl and this was to me one of her better performances. She didn't win me over but she did step it up this week.

Matt Giraud- I found him to be very "soulful" tonight to use AI terminology. I think he is a good singer but seems to get alot of tough criticism from the judges each week. Simon just surprised me with his positive feedback. I am happy for Matt tonight but not sure I would put him in the final 3.

Danny Gokey- I really enjoyed this performance. When he first started I thought this might be a little boring but the ending was great. He should definitely be in the finals. He brought alot of energy to the stage.

Adam Lambert- First of all I love this song, and he is definitely a unique singer. I think I prefer Michael Buble's version over the screaming but I know that Adam appeals to a certain demographic out there. Impressed yes, do I think he is the best thing since sliced bread, no.

So overall I was impressed, I was especially impressed with Jamie Foxx and his ability to help each contestant. I will be calling tonight for Kris Allen and hoping he gets the chance to do a killer arrangement next week.

Lucky Duck!!

Well on Friday, the whole family got to visit Abby at her Kindergarten class and celebrate the end of her special week. Each child gets to be the Lucky Duck for one week. They get to bring something in each day to share, be line leader, run special errands and then have the family come in for a visit. So on Friday, my parents and Mike's parents came along with Mike, Will and I to share the cupcakes I made(see previous post) and to teach them our favorite game of colored eggs.

Here we are teaching the kids the game, Abby was the big bad wolf. Then we had the kids split up into two groups and let them play it for a few minutes. It was alot of fun and it was great to have all the grandparents together. Afterwards we all headed to Bob Evans for a great lunch. What a fun time we had celebrating Abby's special week. I am looking forward to many special visits to Bailey elementary for not only Abby but for her little brother Will who will join her in two years. Thankyou Lord for placing us at such a wonderful school and for such a great kindergarten experience for Abby

Cupcakes!!

Well today I spent most of the afternoon baking ice cream cone cupcakes for Abby to take to school tommorrow. In Abby's kindergarten class each child gets a week to be the "Lucky Duck". Each day Abby brought a toy to share and talk about with her class and then tommorrow she will bring cupcakes and her family(including all four grandparents) will come as well. I was trying to think of something fun and a little different to bring and I thought of the cupcakes my mom used to bake for our elementary bake sales. I remember being so excited for the bake sale and I would always buy the ice cream cone cupcakes my mom made. Actually making the cupcakes was not too hard, I was a little paranoid about them overflowing but that didn't happen, actually some of them were not full enough. The biggest problem I had was figuring out how to transport them. Luckily I found my plastic marinade container which has a super tall lid and was able to sqeeze 20 cupcakes in it with only minor damage to one cupcake. I have heard there is a special carrier out there so I will research this option because after sampling my efforts this afternoon, these things are awesome. I will post info about how tommorrow goes as Abby and the family are also going to teach the class our favorite game called "Colored Eggs".
On a side note, Abby found out today that she has moved up to level 3 reading. She came screaming, running , jumping off the bus "I made it to level 3!!!". She was not certain she would make it to the next level by the end of the school year but I knew she could. So Monday I will get to see what a level 3 book looks like, according to Abby they are taller and they have a yellow stripe vs the orange level 2 and the red level 1. We are very proud of Abby and her progress in kindergarten, she is truly growing up in so many ways yet still remains my sweet little girl.

Infomercials

Well I am bored and in pain so what else to do at 4 am but watch the infomercials. So as I sit here and flip through 70 channels and still find nothing suitable to watch I thought I would enlighten those who actually sleep through the informercials on what you are missing. My most tempting purchase so far is the Instyler, a flat iron that is round and spins. It leaves your hair silky and straight in just minutes no matter how curly your hair. This infomercial is currently on three different channels so I am sure not to miss all the fab details it has to offer.

Another fun infomercial is P90X. Who wouldn't want to spend 90 minutes a day for 90 days working their butt off and not eating anything fun in order to get abs of steel. The whole concept behind it is muscle confusion, but imagine the confusion when after the 90 days you go back to reality and the lbs come back. I love the personal stories but this is way too big a commitment for me right now.

Also fun to watch is the makeup commericial for Sheer cover with Leeza Gibbons. She has some good celebrity advertisement and I am suprised that I haven't seen it on tonight because it is usually on multiple channels as well. Oh well, Luminess Air is on and it is fun to watch women air brush their face. I wonder how it covers so well on your face but somehow doesn't get in your eyes or on your clothes. I am waiting to see how many people get elbow tendonitis from applying it though, all that repetive circular motion can't be good.

Last is the cricut machine. I am not crafty but watching this commercial about the die cut machine makes me think this machine can change that. Who wouldn't want to etch their own glass vase, make their own quilt, vinyl letters or gift boxes. My problem is that the fun for me would lie in watching the machine cut things out and then would end when I would have to do something to complete the project.

So there you go, just a snippet of what you are missing. I have been tempted many times to purchase some of these products because when you are tired, in pain and have seen something a million times it does look good. The only thing I recall actually purchasing was the Murad skin care line. I tried it for 30 days and it was okay but very expensive so I ended up cancelling it.

Now while I am frustrated with being up again and having stomach pain again I find comfort in knowing that is does go away. I feel tonight for all those struggling with daily pain, sadness or discomfort. I know there are so many who struggle with chronic illness and even life threatening diseases. I feel tonight for a college student at our church who works with my kids and who lies in the hospital with unexplainable pain and liver issues. Lord please comfort her and bring her healing. Give the doctors wisdom to cure her and give her family the support and answers they so desire. Thank you for loving me and my family and may we honor you this week in all that we say and do.

Rainy day

Well today it did nothing but rain and as usual whenever I needed to drop off or pickup today it rained harder. My husband also had the only non pink umbrella so I attended Bible Study this morning with a pink Hello Kitty umbrella, luckily I like pink. Well we got a teeny break in the weather this afternoon so we all headed to the store. Well wouldn't you know that by the time we were ready to leave it was pouring down rain, I mean really hard. Of course I had no umbrella for any of us and a cart full of groceries. So we ran for it and it was so fun. The kids and I were screaming and laughing all at the same time. I got them into the car and then of course preceded to get the wet groceries in the trunk. When I got in the car Abby said "Boy Mommy, you got the wettest!!". What I love about kids is they can change your perspective. Pre-kids I would not have seen our misfortune as fun or an adventure. Yet with my kids it seemed like a fun little memory and bonding experience. So while I would not choose to have it rain today we made the best of the day, downpour and all. Thankyou Lord for the ability of my children to make me laugh and keep things light hearted. They truly are a gift and a wonderful blessing.

Our Easter 2009

Well this is Abby and Will on Easter morning as they came down the stairs. They were definitely excited about all that Easter brings at our house. First and foremost it is the Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ, second it is a time to spend with family and last it is a visit from the Easter bunny. The kids had fun digging through their baskets and then we hid a few eggs for them inside to find. We went to our church's 930 am service and it was such a blessing. Abby and her other school age friends sang and signed the song "My Redeemer Lives" and she was so diligent in watching the instructor for the correct movements, we were of course very proud. Then we headed home to get ready for my family and dear friends to come over to our house. I was glad to host it but was even more grateful for all the help my mom provided. She brought food, tableware and some decorations, yeah for my mom.



As a special treat my big brother(Uncle Bri Bri) flew in from San Francisco to surprise the family. My dad and I knew he was coming but everyone else didn't. It made for a special day to have everyone together. After lunch together the men hid Easter eggs outside and the 5 kids went and searched for their eggs, they had a blast and ate way too much sugar. Then after my family left the kids went across the street to visit my husband's family and they got to play four square with the big girls and go looking for more eggs but with a blindfold on. It was a full and wonderful day for all.

I am so grateful for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I am even more grateful that my kids get it. I have no problem letting my kids search for Easter eggs and believe in the Easter bunny as long as they understand the true meaning behind Easter. Abby is starting to ask lots of questions though about the Easter bunny, how does he get in, does he come down the Chimney, etc. I wasn't sure how to answer but my mom had the idea that since he is a bunny and small he comes through the dryer vent, I thought that answer may buy me a few more years of make believe.

Hope yours was as blessed and I am really hoping to be more diligent in allowing the meaning of Easter to penetrate my life on a daily basis. Thankyou that He Is Risen!!

HE"S ALIVE!!!!

***Remember to scroll down and pause my playlist and then crank up the sound!!***
This is my favorite Easter song. My dad used to sing this at our church on Easter and I always enjoyed it. What a powerful song. My heart is full today, HE IS ALIVE!! HE'S ALIVE!! and I'm forgiven, Heaven's gates are open wide!!!

Saved the Day

Not much else to say but what this song speaks of. Jesus died a horrid death on the cross and my sin put him there. He wanted to do it for me and for all of mankind. I am thankful that my Lord put my sin to death for once and for all and he nailed it to a tree. Thankyou Lord for being my Savior, not just this weekend but every single day. May you be honored and glorified this weekend as we take time to remember your sacrifice, the price paid as a ransom for our sin. Let us also celebrate that you are RISEN, ALIVE, INTERCEDING, PRAYING, HOLDING, ENCOURAGING us each and everyday. I love you Lord!!!

GOAL!!!

This past Saturday bright and early at 9am Abby had her first Spring soccer game. She played this past fall for the first time and has really enjoyed it. It was a very cold morning as you can see Abby with her stripped hat and gloves. The first two quarter were uneventful but in the third quarter she FINALLY SCORED A GOAL!!! I can not tell you how excited I was for her, she was beaming with joy and pride and it was just one of those blessed moments you get as a parent. Abby is a great little girl and listens well to her coaches but the confidence in her ability to run and score a goal has not been there. We didn't talk about scoring goals too much with her, but knowing Abby and her personality she knew she was one of only a few who didn't score one yet in a game. This winter while on break from soccer I signed her up for a class a lockersoccer and it really helped her gain some confidence. While we teach her that not everyone on a soccer team scores goals and you need to have those girls who just play defense, at this age all they really want to do is score a goal. So we have reached a happy milestone this past weekend. We called all the grandparents and family and everyone made her feel really special. Thankyou Lord for allowing these special moments that bring joy to all and some much needed confidence to our little Abby. Looking forward to many more exciting celebrations with our family.

Family Movie Night

Well we had our first official family movie night tonight. My husband Mike suggested we do it and it was alot of fun. We often have alot of weekend nights where we hang out together as a family but we thought it would be nice to make the night a little special. So we rented the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks, ordered pizza and put a blanket down in the family room and had a picnic. It was alot of fun and I think it is a good idea once in a while to make something so ordinary as watching a movie a little more special. We had seen the movie together in the theater but the kids wanted to see it again. They were so funny watching it and there is some upbeat music so the kids got alot of exercise grooving to the chipmunks. It really is a cute movie that the whole family was able to enjoy.

I hope to establish the tradition of a special family night more often. Right now we are fortunate that the evenings are pretty free for our kids so really every night is some sort of family night. Yet I know this will change as the kids get older and so establishing the importance of a family special night is a good thing. I know it is nothing new and a lot of other families do it but this was our first official one and I am very grateful for the memories created. I am also cherishing the fact that our kids actually want to hang out with us because I know that is not always guarenteed as the age. Yet I am hopeful that by teaching them the value of "family time" early will leave a lasting impact on them.(Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6)

Cute Backgrounds

I have had the same background on my computer forever, the typical blue windows screen. Well the past two months I have been using the free backgrounds from whitneycarolinedesigns.com and have loved them. They have a calendar on them and have some cute options. I think it is fun to change things up and it is nice to have something reminding me of spring instead of the winter weather we have hanging around. They also have tons of cute items for sale and alot of it can be monogrammed. So have fun browsing and get yourself your own free background for your computer.

Sanibel 2009 Part 2

Well here is the whole group that went to Sanibel this year. This picture includes my inlaws, my sister in law and husband and two kids, my husbands aunt and uncle and his two cousins and their kids. It made for a fun week and gave my kids lots of people to talk to. Notice anything unique about my little son in this picture, he is the only one looking away. We took this picture on Friday evening before we left for home the next day. Needless to say Will was not in the mood for any more pictures. He actually took off running around the pond and I had to sprint in a skirt to cut him off. I firmly said "William David McGraw stop!!" because what kind of mom would I be if I didn't throw the middle name in for effect. Well he finally stopped and then started crying, he says to me "You hurt my feelings", oh really I hurt his feelings! I guess raising my voice and using the full name scared him. He tends to use this phrase when he gets in trouble, at first it was cute but not on this particular night.

So I finally get him calmed down and then we have to get ready for the picture. Will is looking back and I can't get him to look forward. He then proceeds to tell his little cousin Libby " Hey Libby, just look back". Well those of us who heard just bust out laughing because it was pretty funny but then Will got embarrassed by our laughing and started crying again. We may have gotten one shot where he looked forward because someone said they saw a shark, nothing like lying to a child to get the perfect shot. Oh well, the good news is that I was not defeated because I have learned that these moments can be teachable moments. So I told Will he needed to pick two people to say he was sorry to. He chose his Daddy and then he chose my brother in law's father who was helping take the picture. It was difficult for him to do but he did do it and I was proud. I know he didn't want to take the picture but I was able to talk to him about sometimes doing things to please others even when we really don't want to.

Isn't it that way with us, when we disobey God there is always a teachable moment. God forgives our sins but he also wants us to learn from our sin. I am grateful for the teachable moment and hope that I always make the effort with my kids and in my own life to seek out the teachable moment. Thank you Lord for a blessed week of relaxation, family time, beauty and of course great food!! I was so grateful to delight in the beauty of your creation every day.