Just in Time for the 4th: What Kind of Pie Are You?

You Are Apple Pie

You're the perfect combo of comforting and traditional. You prefer things the way you've always known them. You'll admit that you're old fashioned, and you don't see anything wrong with that. Your tastes and preferences are classic. And classic never goes out of style. Those who like you crave security. People can rely on you to be true to yourself - and true to them. You're loyal, trustworthy, and comfortable in your own skin. And because of these qualities, you've definitely earned a lot of respect.

What Kind of Pie Are You?

A Little Something for Me

After many years of homeschooling, raising my family and turning the majority of my attention to taking care of my family and our home, I've finally decided to treat myself to something that I really love and have wanted for a long time: completing my education. Yes, I officially re-enrolled in classes this summer and am 3 more school days and one N.E.T. away from completing all of my pre-requisite courses to apply to the nursing program at any MCCC . I will continue on with coursework this fall, working towards applying to the accellerated nursing program at ASU West.

It has been rather surreal to step back into a classroom from the student side, especially into an accelerated course of Anatomy & Physiology in 4 1/2 weeks , which would usually last for 18 or more weeks. The amount of information thrown at us in one day makes my brain hurt, literally, but I am loving every minute of it. I enjoy the process of learning, and am glad for the opportunity to show my kids what it means to set a goal, study hard, work hard and achieve a dream, especially in terms of education. I'm proud to say that I am carrying an A average, and that is largely due to the pampered position my ENTIRE family has created for me.

I am so thankful to all of my kiddos for the sacrifices they are making for me to completely focus on this class at this time, i.e. lots of heating up frozen chicken patties, eating lots of leftovers, & PBJ's, an absent mom, more chores, and keeping a quiet house, but it is being rewarded by lots of time on the Wii and fishing at Grammy & Poppy's house. Yes, they went with them to Northern CA last week, so that I could concentrate on finishing this class. And I thank my parents, too, for being so willing to sacrifice their own lives for me in this way, although I know what a delight it is for them to have that time with them.

I'm excited to see where this will all lead to in the end, but I am definitely enjoying the journey. It's taken more than a "little getting used to" the idea of concentrating on me, but the sense of accomplishment, confidence and joy has well been worth it.

Hmm, I really should be studying, but...

I needed another chocolate fix. Try this one out and let me know what your taste in chocolate says about you;-)

What Your Taste in Chocolate Says About You

You are sophisticated, modern, and high class. Your taste is refined, but you are not picky. You are often the first to try something new. You are laid back and fairly easy to please. All you need in life is your friends. Sometimes you go along to get along... but you don't mind. You love being around people. Friendships are important to you. You feel lost when you're by yourself... so you tend to avoid being alone.

The Chocolate Oracle

A Funny Thing Happened the Other Day... a Very Funny Thing

What Kind of Chocolate Are You?

Time for a study break-more on that later-so here's a cute little quiz for you to take. How do you think I did? Make sure to let me know what kind of chocolate you are, too. Now, off to find some dark chocolate. I know I have some hidden somewhere!

You are White Chocolate

You are White Chocolate You are sweet, caring, and truly very innocent. Whether your naive ways are a bit of act or not, people like to take care of you. You are a quiet flirt, and your power is often underestimated!

What Kind of Chocolate Are You?

SURPRISE!!!!!

And what a surprise it was! Over a month until her official 13th Birthday, our Drama Queen had the surprise of her life when she opened the front door to surprise her Mama with her new outfit and jewelry (gifts from Grammy, for this very purpose, although she did not know it at the time) and 13 girlfriends greeted her! It's 3 days later and I'm still amazed at how we pulled it off and how surprised she truly was-check out her face in case there's any doubt. She was shaking and screaming for nearly half an hour afterwards. But the fun didn't end with the surprise, as we had turned our home into an American Idol set!
The girls competed through four rounds to the finals for $100 Grand and a new '08 Ford Focus and, while it was a SINGING competition, it wasn't all about talent. "America" (little sis, Mo) voted by drawing contestants' numbers for eliminations and for taking turns as the judges. The talent overflowed from the contestants, judges, and even Ryan Seacrest (little bro, Mijo).

We took a short break from the competition for her 5 layer chocolate cake from Costco (side note here-if you haven't tried it, you are missing out on one of the greatest indulgent pleasures of your life, and I don't care for cake!) and presents, but quickly resumed the competition for the finals. The DQ wowed us with an on your feet performance of I Love Rock N Roll and took home the big prize for the night. No, we did not plan for her to win, but can you imagine a better ending to her night?

Letter Reversal...Maybe a Little Too Funny?

My girls taped this over our doorbell, recently, while we were finishing up our last lessons for school, so the neighborhood children would stop incessantly ringing our doorbell. I must add here that this was on one of Dad's days off, while he was sick in bed. Notice the top right portion, where M attempted to write dad. Does anyone else read /bA - B/ (baby)? I hope you see the humor here, too=)