Not Me! Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama.

Last week we did not have Vacation Bible School at our church. There were not over 200 children participating, and there were not about 170 workers. We are not blessed to attend a church that puts a high priority on reaching out to our community.

I was not so tired each day that I had to come home and take a rest before King J got home.

Our pastor did not become Pastor Yogi. Pastor Yogi did not, at times, have trouble keeping his head on straight. The children did not love Pastor Yogi (and neither did the adults!).

Princess E did not have tremendous fun making crafts!

She did not get wet outside either. She didn't drink so much kool-aid that her mustache is permanent.

At the end of VBS, Princess E did not volunteer to help with the clean-up.

I did not take more than 700 photos during VBS! I did not spend several hours each night processing the photos in Photoshop. Since I am not a Photoshop newbie, I did not learn anything in the process.

My step-daughter, Princess B, did not arrive for her two-week visit.

I am not hosting my first giveaway on my blog. If you don’t want to check it out, don’t click here.

What haven’t you been up to this week?

My Very First Giveaway!

UPDATE: Contest is closed. The Winner is #2, A Joyful Chaos! Congratulations!

The folks over at Mom Select and Precious Moments are sponsoring my first giveaway! I’m so excited that they chose me to promote this product. I am happy to have these in my home for our daughter. What is this product you ask?

It is The Precious Girls Club. It is a special club, just for girls. The club offers a series of books about everyday little girls who practice the virtues of precious girls. In fact, it is a rule for each member of the club. So, just what are those virtues? They are loving, caring, kindness, responsibility and helpfulness. Excellent virtues for any person, and they definitely represent the behaviors I want to see my daughter exhibit.

In addition to the book series, there are stuffed animals, figurines, music CD’s, bracelets and charms for girls to collect. Each one of these items comes with a code that provides access to the online world of the Precious Girls Club as a Rainbow member. My daughter loves to play in the online world, and this gives her a safe environment where we can monitor her activity.


In the online environment, girls can collect points for their activities. One of the features I really like is that parents have the option to reward girls with online points when they feel the child has earned the reward. I also like that the online site encourages developing a personal relationship with God and promotes prayer. I encourage you to visit their website to learn more about them. It’s free! Basic membership is free to anyone.


For me, it is a win-win situation. I don’t have to worry about who is approaching her in the online world. I also don’t have to worry about whether the material she is reading fits with my own Christian beliefs and values. I have explored the online world and am satisfied it is something I welcome into my home.

So, let me tell you about the giveaway! Mom Select and Precious Moments provided me with a set of products to give away to one of my blog readers. The package includes the second book in the series, Operation Kindness and a mini plush paws dog. Each of these items includes a code for two months of Rainbow Membership!

Want to know how to register for the giveaway? Yep, I figured you would! Okay, here is how you can enter. First, visit the Precious Girls Club website. Explore the online world. Then, come back to this post and leave me a comment telling me about your favorite part of the site. I will accept comments posted through Monday, July 6, 2009 at 11:59 pm EDT. The giveaway is open to residents of the United Sates (including APO/FPO) and Canada. The winner will be selected randomly and will be posted on this blog on Tuesday, July 7, 2009. Also, I will contact the winner via the contact method noted in the entry. Please make sure you include contact information or a link.

Enjoy!

Not Me! Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama.

I did not spend a full week home with my daughter, having fun, for the first time since she started Junior Kindergarten, four summers ago.

It did not rain much of the week, so we did not spend the time looking for indoor activities.

I did not take her to the movies twice in the same week. We did not see “Igor” and we did not see “Tale of Desperaux”. I didn’t enjoy the movies that I didn’t take her to.

We did not drive a couple of hours to see family friends whose youngest son, Anthony, just graduated from high school. Princess E didn’t get confused and think Anthony was the oldest son, Jonathan, and then ask “Where’s Anthony?”. We didn’t enjoy spending the afternoon with them. We don’t miss them and wish they still lived nearby.

We didn’t take a ferry ride Saturday evening. Once we got to the other side, we did not make a U-Turn and get right back on the same ferry and return from whence we came. That would be silly.

We are not having VBS at church this week, so I will not be a little extra busy. I have not agreed to take pictures.

I don’t have my very first giveaway coming up this week, so be sure you don’t stop back by in the next couple of days. I am not a tease.

What haven’t you been up to this week?

Show Us Where You Live Friday - Laundry Room Edition

Okay. Here's my laundry room. Make that closet. Better yet, let's just call it a laundry nook, shall we? It's so large that I had to stand outside the room and take a photo of the reflection of the laundry area. That's why you see pink flowers in the bottom left corner. Those are on the mirror. On the bottom right, notice my camera strap.

My laundry room may be small; but it is almost fun to do laundry. You know, except for the sorting, folding, hanging and putting away part. We bought this set last October. The first night we had it, the hubby and I stood and watched the laundry spin. I kid you not! We live such exciting lives that even watching laundry is a thrill.

On top of the washer, I keep a little tub with detergent and stain stuff. There's also that beach bag that has a few odd laundry things in it. On the dryer, I keep my dryer sheets and the bleach. Since the washer spins like a jet engine, keeping the bleach on top would probably be a bad idea. It's been known to fling stuff.

I also keep a little coffee can that Princess E made in GA's (Girls in Action). Any money found in pockets or one of the machines goes in there. In the fall, we use the money for Operation Christmas Child.

One of my favorite things is that my machines are up at a comfortable level. We decided to go ahead and buy the pedestal drawers to go underneath. That puts the doors at just the right height for me, and makes it so Princess E can help, too. The drawers are nice for storing extra laundry supplies when I get them on a super-duper sale.

So, there's my laundry room. Head on over to Kelly's Korner and see what everyone else has to show.

Be sure to stop back by next week. I'll be hosting my very first giveaway! I'm so excited!!

Fire Department

During our trip to visit my mother-in-law a couple weeks back, we took Princess E to visit Uncle Fireman, my brother-in-law, at the fire station. He's a firefighter in their city, and happened to be on duty that day. We've taken her to visit him several times before and she always has a great time.

Of course, she climbed in/on/around the apparatus. Here she is in the cab. She thought it would be funny to take a picture of me while I was taking a picture of her.

Here's the front of that particular ladder truck. I'm fascinated with fire trucks. and have been since I was little. She's a girl after my own heart.

While we were there, one of the other crews was called out. They had the lights on before they pulled out of the bay. The same crew, on their return, drove really slowly so Princess E could take pictures and squeal. There was a time when she was afraid of fire trucks.

Uncle Fireman took her up to the basket at the back of the ladder. She's finally tall enough to see out of the basket. I discovered a photo on her camera that she took of me walking around below her. Here she is climbing down. Daddy is at the bottom, ready to catch her and Uncle Fireman is behind her. You can just barely make out his leg in the top right corner. Yep, he was wearing shorts!

I took this photo "just cuz". I was under the basket at the time.

When you see these lights flashing, what do you think?

OH NO, SOMEBODY IS IN TROUBLE

or

OH GOOD, HELP IS ON THE WAY!

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary...

…How Does Your Garden Grow?

Several weeks ago, we put in our raised garden beds. They are coming along beautifully! We have several zucchini and yellow squash that are almost ready to pick. I am excited to think of when the tomatoes will start coming in. Mmmm.... Nothing like a fresh, homegrown tomato.

Look at that gigantic zucchini plant! It has a zucchini on it that is about a foot long already. I tried to pick it, but it's not ready yet. Have I mentioned that I LUV zucchini?

I think I messed up on the lettuce. I planted 3 rows, four feet each, with lettuce mix. I should have planted one row every two weeks or so. I ended up with more lettuce than I can eat, or give away. Now, it's just overgrown. I should probably chop it all down and put it in the compost pile. Not sure. But, once they got big, the taste was bitter. Next year, we're going to try growing head lettuce.

I'm enjoying my garden and learning as I go. I don't think we're doing too badly for our first go with the raised beds.

Monday Remember-y

moar funny pictures

What a Week!

What a week! I’ve been rather quiet, which isn’t exactly my norm. No-one has ever referred to me as quiet. Ha!

Friday was Princess E’s last day of school. It was a tough day for her. The last day always is; but this year it was moreso since she won’t be returning to the same school next year. We’ve made plans to keep in touch with some of her friends over the summer, and she will see many of them later this month during Vacation Bible School.

The school held an award ceremony, and the Princess took home three awards this year. She learned a powerful life lesson. She dropped off the honor roll for the very first time, primarily because she chose not to turn in a good number of assignments. I was sad to see she didn’t pull her grade up; but I am so thankful she is learning this now and not later in life.

Saturday was the last Upward Soccer game of the season. Here’s King J recognizing each player for their performance after the game. He’s a great coach and such a positive influence on these children. I hope he will coach again next season.

At the end of season celebration, they had a former Harlem Globetrotter, Seth Franco. He entertained the children (and adults!) with his basketball antics, all the while sharing with them about our Lord. Here, he posed for a picture with Princess E.

Right after the game, we left town. My mother-in-law has been hospitalized several times over the last week or so. She went back in Saturday morning and we decided we needed to go. She lives about 5 hours away, in another state, so it was rather late when we arrived. We visited with her in the hospital Sunday morning. We stated around until Monday evening and headed back home. She was discharged again that morning, and we helped get her settled into King J’s brother’s house before we left. She was readmitted yesterday. Her new medications left her very weak. She fainted yesterday morning and managed to strike her head and break her tailbone. We’re not sure when we will need to head back. Please remember her in your prayers.

I’m off to see what a new day will bring. Is it really Thursday already?

Wordless Wednesday

An open letter to Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart and other retailers who want my business:

Dear Retailers,

Why? I just want to know why.

My daughter is 7 years old. She wears a girls’ size 7. Why do you try to gain my business by offering clothing for her that is immodest? Do you really think little girls need to be “sexy”? Can’t they be little girls? Sure, I know they want to dress that way. After all, their friends do. Then again, what choice do they, or their friends, really have? It’s hard to find modest, fashionable clothing for little girls, especially at affordable prices. She’s getting to the age where she notices when her clothes come from the boys’ department.

Look at this:


First of all, there isn’t enough material between the waist and the crotch. She can’t keep these up unless they are so tight she can’t move in them. Notice the length. She can’t bend over without showing her butt cheeks…not to mention they are so low-cut that her butt crack would show, too. You can keep these!

How about some plain, no-frills shorts? Like these:


I’m not sure what size is shown above, but the inseam on the size 7 is a mere 1 ½ inches. Excuse me? That is ridiculous! I'd have to buy makeup so she could powder her cheeks.

Then, there are the tops. I wanted to buy a couple of tank tops. Remember them? I bought four, against my better judgment. This is the perfect top for a slim, athletic woman. My child, on the other hand, does not need tank tops with arm pit openings that are cut down nearly to her navel! I guess I’m supposed to be thankful that the top is almost long enough to meet the top of the low-cut shorts. All four of them, different brands and styles, went back today. Even the cashier was appalled.



Then, there are bathing suits. Yes, it is still possible to find a modest bathing suit. That is, if you shop really early and hope the child doesn’t outgrow it before the pool even opens. Do you really think my 7 year old needs an “itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, yellow polka-dot bikini”?



The next one is better. I was hoping to purchase this one; but, of course, these flew off the shelves like bread and milk when there is snow in the forecast. Just for the record, though, high-cut legs really aren’t necessary for little girls. She doesn’t need to show off her curves. She hasn’t hit puberty and doesn’t have curves yet.



This next item is appalling in so many ways. Does my 7 year old really NEED a push-up bra? What, exactly, did you have in mind for her to push-up? The matching bikini is a nice touch. I assume they are meant to go with the low-rise pants.



These are not the kind of shoes I want for her. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find dressy sandals in a size 2 that weren’t heels. The flats sold out very quickly. At least these are wedge heels. Of course, she loves wearing “high heels”. Ugh!



Thankfully, a few weeks later, my husband was able to find her a more appropriate pair of sandals. Doesn’t this look more like what a little girl should wear?



At least we won’t have to worry about finding her sandals next year. We’ve stocked up on sizes to grow into.

Are you retailers wondering why your businesses are losing customers? Maybe it’s not just the economy. Maybe it’s just more parents like us who are tired of you trying to dress our little girls provocatively. If you want my business, you’ll bring back modest clothing.

Sincerely,

One Modest Mom

Smart Car?

Ever seen a convertible Smart Car? I think they make the convertibles to make up for the lack of air conditioning. This thing had the top down...well, sort of. The top part couldn't have been more than 6-8 inches! The car isn't big enough for any more. We traveled along the same route for about three miles, with me snapping poor quality photos and hollering "meep, meep". No, I wasn't driving.

Does anyone else expect Mr. Bean to hop out of this thing?

Meep, Meep!!

Family Summer Camp

This past Saturday, we spent the afternoon at Bass Pro Shops. They are holding Family Summer Camp on weekends until July 5th. Well, I think they are doing some stuff during the week, too; but the weekends are full of fun activities. It's free, too!

Our first stop was the casting pond. Princess E LOVES to fish. Grandpa takes her fishing periodically and she thoroughly enjoys herself. They used real fishing rods, weighted, for the children to practice casting off. This was serious business for the little princess. I wouldn't say she's talented or anything, but one of her casts overshot the "pond" and cleared a desk about 10 feet beyond that. HA! The supervising staff member gasped, then chuckled, when she did that.

Our next stop was the craft station. Every weekend, there is a different craft. This weekend, they were painting bobbers. She took her work seriously. See how focused she is? The bobber turned out quite nicely. Should we hang it on the Christmas tree, or from a fishing rod?

Bass Pro Shops is offering eight different workshops during their Family Summer Camp. This weekend, Princess E completed four of them. After they listen to the speaker, complete a short worksheet and scavenger hunt, they earn a pin. Princess E earned pins for Animal Identification, Camping, Hiking, and Shooting. Yes, the Princess was excited to learn about shooting a BB gun. She has been begging for a while to go to the shooting range and learn to shoot a gun. I was VERY pleased with their focus on FIREARM SAFETY. After successfully completing the class, the children were allowed to come to the indoor range and practice the skills they learned. Here is another instructor guiding her through the process of firing the BB gun. She didn't actually hit the target, which isn't surprising since she had to remove her prescription glasses and wear the safety glasses; but she did get an opportunity to hold the gun, aim it and fire.

We at lunch at the in-house restaurant, Islamadora Fish Company. The food was good and reasonably priced. As much as I wanted to, I just could not bring myself to try the alligator. That's just too far out of my comfort zone. They have a HUGE marine aquarium inside the restaurant. Beautiful fish.

At the end of a fun day of camp, we were invited to gather 'round the campfire and roast marshmallows for s'mores.

She ended up with lots of chocolate on her face. Probably just as much as she had in her tummy.

The stores are also offering *FREE* photos of the child on the cover of Field & Stream magazine. Oh, and just having a photo taken earns the child a gift certificate for a free lunch at the in-house restaurant.

She has four more workshops to attend so she can earn the rest of the pins. If you have a Bass Pro Shops near you, I encourage you to check out their Family Summer Camp.

Not Me! Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not make homemade pasta for the very first time this week. It did not turn into a yucky mess of chewy, leather-like chunks and strips. I did not decide that boxed pasta was a much better deal and tremendously less messy.

I am not still finding pockets of flour in my kitchen from the process of making the pasta.

I did not attend my daughter’s school spelling bee this past Friday. She was not disqualified in the first round for misspelling the word “language”. There is no “u” in that word. She was not bitterly disappointed.

At the spelling bee, there were not two other parents sitting directly behind me offering an ongoing commentary of the bee. I did not get highly irritated with them. I did not give them a few nasty looks over my shoulder. My mother, who was not sitting in the row with me, did not turn around and glare at them in such a way as to cause them to be quiet for just a few blessed moments so the rest of us could hear the children. These same two parents did not tell their son that their words were harder than the fourth graders’ words. Their third grade son did not pass this information onto the other third graders, mine included, and get them all riled up. My daughter, and others, did not end up crying because they believed these poor-sport parents. I did not remind my daughter that each grade was given a list of words to study, and that she was given a word off her list.

Saturday, we did not go to our daughter's soccer game. While I wasn’t there, I didn’t go sit in the shady spot, even though it wasn’t the best spot on the field. I didn’t stay comfy while so many others baked in the sun.

After the soccer game, we did not drive to a neighboring city and visit Bass Pro Shops for most of the afternoon and evening. They are not offering Family Summer Camps, and those camps they aren’t offering are not any fun for a certain princess. We did not finish our evening by making s’mores out by their campfire.

Sunday, after church, we did not go to a Greek Festival. It was not rather hot. There were not approximately 50,000 people stuffed into one city block that also housed a rather large church (sponsor) and a house. The lines for food were not so long that it didn’t seem worth it. We did not choose to buy dessert only instead of a meal, just because the lines was short. We did not enjoy watching the children dance in traditional garb. We didn’t have fun.

My squash plants to not have a bunch of beautiful yellow blooms on them. Nope, they don’t.

What haven’t you been up to this week?