Praise Report: This Just In

A couple weeks ago I dreamed a man from Nampa, Idaho called The Man and said he was offering my husband a job and asked if he could be there in a week. Thursday we got such a call. Doug from Idaho called and asked if The Man was still interested in the job. I tried to be subtle and replied, "um..yes." So, we are packing and purging and really wanting to thank you all for your prayers.
We miss you already.

God you are awesome.

It’s overwhelming

Lord you are loving

You’re more than worthy.

For you are good, you are good

Your mercies endure forever

And we shout

We cry out

Praise to the Lord

*Let them weep

Let them praise

Let the Lord restore their joy (repeat from *)

We will worship you Lord forever.

Summer Road Trip

Las Vegas
Mon 20 Jun - Sat 25 Jun
Today was full of swimming and laughter and children. I feel a little like miss hanigan. Speaking of, remember when my only request on this trip was to go to spring mt. Ranch and the show is sold out for all of June? My heart is sad.

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Day 3 - Starting Off Shaky, But I Think God Is Up To Something

Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Layla grace awoke with a small fever. That poor baby is so sensitive to trips. He gets dehydrated an has headaches an nosebleeds. We kept her home from VBS and stuffed her full of zicam and water. She us way better and we are now getting dressed to go.... Can you guess? Swimming.
Swimming was good times, especially after Jessica showed up at the right pool. Way to be on ball there Jess. Haha just kidding friend.
Also, I found a house to rent with a laundry shoot. Who could ask for anything more?

	Feeling better [Map]		Photo 1 [Map]
	Photo 2 [Map]

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Sent from my iPhone by My Vacation app (www.myvacationapp.com)

Summer Road Trip

Las Vegas
Mon 20 Jun - Sat 25 Jun
Today was full of swimming and laughter and children. I feel a little like miss hanigan. Speaking of, remember when my only request on this trip was to go to spring mt. Ranch and the show is sold out for all of June? My heart is sad.

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Day 2 - Day Two On The Alien Planet

Tuesday, June 21, 2011
The heat is for real as it turns out. Headaches and sleep induced comas are happening. As luck would have it, our old church's VBS is this week so we signed up the little kids- everyone except Izzy, is apparently too mature  it lasts all week and ends with a carnival on friday night! We took a dip in the pool and are now being vegetables at the Russo Inn.

	Addison is learning to swim! [Map]		We love the Russos very much! [Map]
	Layla grace spent the entire pool time practicing [Map]		Bored out of my eyeballs writing a paper on the st [Map]

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Sent from my iPhone by My Vacation app (www.myvacationapp.com)

Summer Road Trip

Las Vegas
Mon 20 Jun - Sat 25 Jun

Stopped at wendy's for fries and frosties. YUMO

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Day 1 - Through The Desert

Monday, June 20, 2011

So sleepy. The Man just left on a two week long work trip. I am praying I have to drive to Panaca, NV to retrieve him early because Nampa calls and asks hi to report to work.

Fingers crossed. Prayers on my lips.

The kids and I have to wrangle up a few last minute things for the trip, and I will be loading up on coffee before we head out on our trip to Vegas. Excited to see friends. Excited to leave when our trip is over. Should I be looking forward to that already?

Our trip was fairly smooth- no real tears, no punishments, no throwing up. Good times all around.

	We are leaving behind a house full of boxes. [Map]		Best buy to get accessories! [Map]
	Boring. Really boring. [Map]		The boys amuse themselves as they wait for the gir [Map]
	I came Soooo close to winning the big money! Sadly [Map]

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Sent from my iPhone by My Vacation app (www.myvacationapp.com)

13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!
14 Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!

Snort

If you can speak three languages you're trilingual.  If you can speak two languages you're bilingual.  If you can speak only one language you're an American.  ~Author Unknown

I came across this quote while doing research for my weekly homework assignment. I laughed out loud. Then I felt sad at how true this statement is. It also made me think of a quote The Man likes to throw out there when he speaks Hillbilly (his second language):

This is AMERICA! We speak American!


I laugh every time.

Summer

I am very excited for it to be summer vacation. Today is our first real veg it out day. I worked out and took my van in to the shop and have a silly list of things to accomplish, but everyone else is sprawled willynilly in front of the television. Some people say TV rots the brain. Some people raise their noses and say the TV shouldn't be a babysitter. To those people I say... well, nothing, but I step on the back of their shoes when they aren't looking.

JS. Jayehs. Just Saying.

The only thing going on now is homework. DIE HOMEWORK!! DIE A SLOW AND PAINFUL DEATH!!

So Much Is Happening

• I began attending a new bible study. Excited to dive into the Old Testament.
• Addie is graduating from college...no, scratch that, kindergarten. It's easy to get confused with her.
• Sam is turning 5!!
• The man began a summer road construction job. Thank you Man. I know it sort of sucks.
• The end of the school year is here.
• My friend No(dot dot)el is coming home maybe to visit, maybe to stay forever.
• The new season of So You Think You Can Dance has begun. Good times. 
• We took a vacay to California visiting all the Targets between Sacramento and Monterey Bay. 

Now, I am going to bed. YAWN.
P.S. Three more classes and one night and I am done with my master's degree. Oh please oh please hurry. Double yawn.

Yeah, I've Got It

I want you to know that I completely have Bieber Fever. It's a real diagnosis. You know you have it if you:

• Break into a bout of Never Say Nevers randomly
• Have more than three Justin songs on your iPod
• Know at least half the rap by Jaden Smith
• Could see yourself in this shirt
• Watched the Justin B. movie and got teary at any point and/or
• at any point wish you could trade places with a tween just to enjoy his concert one last time.
• Have agreed to TXTL8R just because Justin asked you to

Yes. I've got it bad. I downloaded his entire acoustic album. The end.

Here Fishy Sing Along Songs

Sometimes we take our kids fishing on a whim. It's good family time. Izzy and I typically snuggle on a blanket; I read and she draws. We make fun of each other. Good times. The kids hang out with Michael as he baits and rebaits fishing hooks. You could say he is a master baiter.
Last night when all this took place, my youngest son Sam-I-Am decided he was too antsy to sit still, so when he got a bite on his line, I jumped up to help. Please understand that I do not fish. I don't understand it. It's boring. BUT I like my husband, and I like hanging out with him and my kids whilst I get to veg and read, so I go along.
It was all very dramatic- me fishing. I leaped up! I screamed and grabbed the pole in a dramatic fisher woman way. "WHAT DO I DO? WHAT DO I DO?!!" I yelled excitedly. I followed the first advice yelled back at me by Layla Grace," YANK UP THE POLE!" So I did. This, in case you are not a fisher, is incorrect.
I lost the fish. I was a disappointment to the Brewer household. So-much-so that they made a song about me. :/ Here it is:

Sam-O caught a fish
BUT Mamma jerked it off.

Repeat this stanza loudly and constantly until your mom makes you stop to get an idea of what it was like for me.
Next time I may stay home.

FYI

You shouldn't look like this. But that isn't what I came here to say. I just wanted to say, in case no one ever told you, taking time to care for yourself isn't selfish. Men don't think so; I believe this is only a motherly way of thinking. I was watching the Biggest Loser, which is something I do on Tuesdays, and a lady on there misguidedly said, "Sometimes you have to be selfish and take care of yourself. If you don't take care of yourself, you can't be available to take care of your family." I feel her first sentence was a commonly spouted statement. I feel like her second sentence actually disproved her first sentence.

What is so selfish about wanting to take care of my family? It's not as if I am hoping to care for them so they make me look good. Frankly when I go places with my children people look at me like I am insane, crazy, annoying, imposing, and just plane dumb. Not looking good.

I need to take care of me in order to take care of them. I want to take care of me because I want to feel healthy, and because I want my husband to think I am hot. I have to take care of me because God has made me a mother to five kids, and I don't shirk on a job that important.
I am not a martyr; God never asked me to slave and grovel and work until I nearly die just to care for everyone else around me. He asked me to love. I am not selfish. I am a giver.

Guilty Pleasure

I am addicted to Friday Night Lights the TV show. I MIGHT go to hell because it's a bit scandalous, but it's what I do to avoid the sleep. I don't like the days when my man is gone. COME HOME MAN!

Mother's Day is the Best

Especially when you are me and the wife of The Man and the mom of five pretty awesome short people. It started with presents. Really Really great presents: I got a new ring and some seriously fantastic earrings that I never plan on removing.
Then, we loaded up and took The Man to the airport (not my highlight by any means). Then it was bookstore time. See, here's the thing. The thing is. Let me explain something. I packed up Pastor's books to return to him, and I clearly labeled the box Louie (Not Louise, but The Man didn't notice that. So, he donated them to Goodwill with the other boxes marked Goodwill. Because I wasn't able to buy back ALL of the donated books belonging to Pastor, we stopped by Borders to see if they had that last one. They didn't. Instead they had clearance books out front for buy one get one free. Six books for $15. Awesome.
Next we headed to the mall to get my ring sized and took a turn in the food court and the Disney store where the kids each scored a little something from the clearance department. I got a keychain of Minnie Mouse in reading glasses that reads "Nerds Rule."

I also picked up the movie Tangled which makes me giggle and ensures a cozy night with my kids: my favorite sort of night. After lunch we headed to Yogurt Beach to meet up with my two big brothers and their wives and kiddos. We are quite a crowd: 14 of us altogether as we are sans The Man and my mother, who is in Omaha with my grandmother.
After that, we headed home where the girls created a homemade foot scrub and gave me a pedicure. Now, we are watching Tangled, and I am giggling- also, we are snuggling. On another, less happy note, the children have agreed that I look like the mother from Tangled. You know, the fake evil mother? Great.

Wheelin' and Dealin'

In keeping with my efforts to procrastinate my homework assignment as close to its due date as possible, I made a list for the grocery store and took my five children there. I do not recommend this. To know why click HERE. BUT, today I was feeling frisky. I woke a good two hours before I normally do on the weekend, (HA or any other day if we're being Frank) and we were accomplishing much on our errand outing. I had my coupons and list, so we headed for Smith's for their 10 for $10 sale. We got a silly amount of things that filled three shopping carts to the brim and bursting. We paid an average of $2 per item, which I realize isn't nearly as amazing as those couponing ladies, but considering I bought great cereal, organic milk, Naked Juice (cause who puts clothes on juice?!), toothpaste, Cheezits, a mega pack of multi-vitamin gummies, sunscreen, a year's supply of Bounce dryer sheets, and barely anything else that was under $2 to begin with, I would say that is some smooth wheelin' and dealin'. Next time I will be better prepared with coupons, but I am coupon newbie, so I don't yet have that stash to pull from. I DO however have a 'stache, so maybe I will get a waxing with the money I saved.

Frick Frack PHOOEY

Our television died. It has been a sad pending experience, but it still hurts now that it has happened. Aren't TVs supposed to last longer than two years? This time there were no Wii remotes thrown at the screen. This time it started smelling of burnt machinery and sending up wisps of smoke. This morning, when there was smoke and sparking, we knew it was a goner. Just like my favorite leisure activity. WAAAH! We seriously need jobs. It's dangerous to go so long without money. You know what happens? Your list of things to buy with your first paycheck gets longer and longer. Going to bed. gah.

Proof that God loves me: My husband called near and far and found a replacement part for our TV! That man has a direct link to God, I tell ya.  There isn't even SMOKE anyMORE!

Eavesdropping

I didn't mean to be an eavesdropper (where in the world did this saying come from anyway?), but I was sitting here minding my own business when Eli and Layla Grace began chatting.

Layla: EW Moby smells! Gross! (gag)
Eli: Layla, you better get used to that.
Layla: What? Why?
Eli: If you are going to be married, you need to get used to the smell.
Layla: What? Why? Gross.
Eli: Also, if you are going to get married you need to get used to Sam biting you.
Layla: What? WHY?
Eli: Cause Mommy and Daddy are married and Daddy bit her. They were laying in bed together and Daddy just bit her. Cause they are married.

Me in my mind: sigh. I blame my husband for this.

Responsibility Reschmonsibility

I DON'T WANNA! I DON'T WANNA!

As I sit here refusing to get out of my bed a long list of responsibilities is running through my head. Incessant. Then, I look over and see my book and think to myself, "Self, wouldn't it be awesome to stay in bed all day and read this book?" Then I answer myself, "Yes. Yes it would."

But then my belly gets queasy with anxiety over procrastination, and I wimp out. This is me not wimping, but this is also me not at all sure where to begin! I need a life coach. Where is Jenn Russo when I really need her?! BAH! I think if she were here she would say, "Let's start by getting out of bed. Get dressed and do SOMEthing with that hair- for the sake of everyone with eyes, please. Then, make your bed, cause if you don't I will be thinking about it all day. Next we will eat breakfast, get coffee, and prioritize." Maybe I should just hang a picture of her next to my bed. Highly organized people offend me. OKAY FINE they don't; I am totally jealous of their self control. I heart Jenn Russo AND her organization skills.  So, this isn't a picture of her; I don't have a picture of her because she is all the way in Las Vegas, but this drawer is probably in her house. It looks like something she would do.

Thanks for the motivation, JR. I am going back to bed.

Sam At Bedtime. He got me again.

So. Samuel Fisher is a big movie quoter. Let's be real. If you are going to be one of the children in this house, you have to be a movie quoter. AGAIN he wasn't in his bed. I said, "FISH what are you doing?
 He said, in his best New York accent (which was phenomenal) "I WAS ON A SAFARI, BOB!" This is of course my favorite line from Return to Me delivered by Dick Cusack, John's and Joan's seriously awesome father. I cannot discipline under these circumstances.