It's Done

I'll try to stop talking about grass now and come up with more exhilarating conversation.
The space in the back is left for a fence and dwarf azaleas.

Dirt Is Dirty

Did I say the grass would be installed on Saturday? I meant Tuesday. I'll try to not spend this whole post complaining about our sod guy. He doesn't communicate very well though.

The bushes finally came out yesterday. It was very fun to watch them get removed. Mr. Joe (don't know sod man's last name) hired these two high school football players on spring break to come and manhandle the bushes. They did a fine job. They needed a machine for the huge hibiscus and especially the palmetto. Mr. Joe's dad was driving the Bobcat. Those bushes came out of the ground like they were just simple weeds. It was totally fun to watch.

This is the same angle I took the other picture at. It's lovely, ja?

We got to see most of the life cycle of ladybugs. In this picture you can see a larva, two pupas, one empty pupa and one adult ladybug. Homeschool is everywhere. The girls caught several ladybugs in their various stages and kept them in a bug jar.

We finished the front flower beds yesterday also. Many of these plants are still very small. We have a tibouchina there in front of the window, a yesterday, today and tomorrow over by the American flag and a rose bush. Many of the day lilies we planted still don't have blooms on them but the calla lilies are doing well. That's eucalyptus mulch. Apparently termites don't like the stuff.

I can't wait for the grass to go in; the amount of dirt in the house because of all 9 of us tracking it in is crazy.

My life must be dull. The most exciting thing I can think of to talk about is grass. Sigh. Well, at least there was no poo yesterday.

Another Post About Trouble

In other words, I'm going to talk about Lily for a bit here. First let me just say that she's off-the-charts cute. And look at Ella; isn't she a fantastic older sister. Mom, where's my sister? I want one like her. Hop to it.

We can't figure out what she did to get her face all dirty like this, but it probably involved eating some of the dirt. I hope it tasted good.

She obviously needed a bath after whatever she did in the dirt. I ran her a bath, tossed her in the bubbles and headed downstairs for a few minutes. After five or ten minutes Del asked where she was and when I told him she was in the tub he volunteered to go get her out. On his way up the steps he starts complaining about a dirty diaper. "Hey, did someone leave a dirty diaper up here?" Mom, Dad and I are all shaking our heads and denying any diaper-leaving of any sort. We continue to discuss whatever important matter we had been discussing when suddenly we hear Del laughing out loud and a "OH MY GOSH, YOU HAVE GOT TO SEE THIS."

I run up the stairs and when I get to the landing Del stops me in my tracks and turns me around and points. The stench of stinky-poo is assaulting my nostrils big time. See that little pile of brown stuff over there? Guess what that is.

No we don't own a puppy. But we do have a Lily. Apparently she had the urge and she got out of the tub to find a cozy place to deposit her poo. She was so sure she was in trouble (which she was) that she was extremely well behaved the rest of the night. Methinks little Tiger Lily needs to be potty-trained.

I'm sorry I just posted two pictures of poo and you had to look at them. Scroll up to the top and look at the cute pictures of Lily again.

The Final Touches

I think that after all this time we're finally feeling moved in. All that was really left to do was to power wash the house (we'll paint the exterior next year) and sod the yard with zoysia grass. None of this icky St. Augustine (read: weed) stuff that they pass off as grass. Yesterday our house went from looking like this

to this. Isn't it nice?

Yes, those are snowflakes on our windows. They're cute...the kids made some...and GG. It's as close to snow as it gets here.

And today Mr. Joe is coming to take up the old, dead grass weeds. He is also going to remove these awful, hideous bushes. They are horribly infested with aphids. We are actually calling a holiday from school today so that we can watch him take out these bushes.

On to even more exciting news. I got a call from my good friend Marie yesterday. First, she rubbed it in that she was eating Korean for lunch. Not nice. I had a lousy salami sandwich.

Then she made up for it by informing me that she had Atlas Shrugged audio. She's already put it in the mail so I can listen to it while I sew this cute dress (the red one) for Sarah. I'm so excited. Especially after Granny put this post up today about the movie. I'm quite anxious to know the whole story.

I Have a Few Thoughts Here

I just have to show you these totally cute pictures. Lily ate one of my cupcake bites, and Anna finally found her thumb.

Ayn Rand - I still cannot find that silly book. I'm very frustrated about this. Here's the story. Last Friday we went to the AirFest. I packed up the diaper bag (just a backpack with diapers in it) with extra diapers, changes of clothes and Atlas Shrugged, thinking that maybe I'd get a moment to read. I haven't seen it since. I've cleaned out the van two times, once more thoroughly than the first time, I've scoured the house, I've looked in my parents' van. Did I drop it? How frustrating. Now I am really kicking myself for not buying the audio version when it was on sale for $4.95 at Audible.com. I could have listened to it while sewing Ella's dress, Sarah's dress and many other times. I may have to get an iPod. I did notice though, that if I sign up for Audible they'll let me have Atlas Shrugged for about $7.50 instead of nearly $50. I may do that if I can't find the book by this weekend.

I did read Playing For Pizza by John Grisham. I used to read all his books but he got redundant and I learned about as much as I could possibly handle about lawyers. Playing for Pizza is about football though and while interesting I found the writing style to be elementary. I think he wrote that book in a serious hurry; the plot is shallow. It was an easy read though; I finished it in about 36 hours, even amongst all the other tasks I had to do and sleeping twice. It was nice to finish a book fast like that. I can still read!!! WOOHOO. I was beginning to wonder.

Oswald Chambers. I'm not sure I like this bible study. I just don't get it. It's My Utmost For His Highest. Two days in a row I've just been shaking my head wondering what in the heck Mr. Chambers is talking about. It's an "updated" version for all us modern people. I wonder if I'd like the older version better.

Getting up. Day three. Two days in a row now I've almost stayed in bed but both days I've been very glad I got up. I like kissing Del on his way out the door and having time to leisurely write blog posts, read my bible and today I'm going to fold three loads of laundry. I like it so far.

Psalm and Proverbs. Whenever I start reading my bible on a regular basis, I am constantly wanting to quote extensively here. This morning I read a bunch of Psalms and Proverbs. I just can help it, I have to tell you my favorite parts.

Proverbs 17
9 - He who conceals an offense promotes love,
but he who harps on it can separate even close friends.
27, 28 - A knowledgeable person controls his tongue;
a discerning person controls his temper
Even a fool, if he stays silent, is thought wise;
he who keeps his mouth shut can pass for smart.

Have you read Psalm 139 lately?
Here's 1-6 but the whole chapter is worth memorizing.

Adonai, you have probed me, and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I stand up,
you discern my inclinations from afar,
you scrutinize my daily activities.
You are so familiar with all my ways
that before I speak even a word,
you know all about it already.
You have hemmed me in both behind and in front
and laid your hand on me.
Such wonderful knowledge is beyond me,
far too high for me to reach.

From the Complete Jewish Bible.

Can I Get a Ride Please? Anyone?

We went to the MacDill Airfest last weekend. Actually, I take that back. We went on Friday - family day. The air show here is so much fun but we always go on Friday before 250,000 people descend on MacDill AFB and make life miserable. Ahhh, the perks of having a military ID. Speaking of which, I seriously miss the commissary. Have I ever mentioned that?

Anyway. Check out some pictures I took with my cool camera.

A-10...lovely, lovely.You must be one hard-hearted individual if the sight of precision-flying F-16s doesn't inspire a bit of patriotism in you. Sigh. Even more lovely.He was about to take off. Isn't that cool.I should have taken the time to run these through Photoshop. I would have posted this next week then. No complaints about the lighting.Thunderbirds for lunch anyone? I could just eat them up. Lovely! I'm jealous. I want to fly. But I'd lose every organ within me to the barf bag.

Alright, I Admit It

I like Terry. She's in my head. I don't know how she got there, but she writes what I think but don't have the ability to verbalize. It's neat to read what I'm thinking and I didn't have to write a single thing. Wow, thanks Terry.

My biggest problem with Terry isn't really a problem. It's more like conviction. Which in the end, is hardly a bad thing.

I am sure that at least 99% of the believing population can empathize with me when I say that I have a hard time finding time to read my bible, study the word and spend some time in prayer. Doesn't everyone? This morning as I lay in bed thinking about this, I finally decided that I'd spend more time in prayer and reading my bible if every single moment of the day wasn't filled with the noise of some child. Screaming, laughing, yelling, giggling, burping, farting...sigh. It's hard to concentrate.

Well, Terry keeps mentioning about how she gets up at 5 in the morning to have some quiet time and pray and read and do other important things like check blogs and induce guilt in her readers. In the past I've just shrugged that idea off because I don't like getting up early...I don't think. Del gets up to go to work at 4:30AM and who in the world wants to do that? Not me. But then, Terry said she gets up at 5, only a half hour after I've been up ironing a shirt for Del and sometimes making him coffee. I usually just go back to sleep. So I'm laying there this morning and feeling very convicted that it's been so long since I actually spent any real time in the Word that I'm not even sure where my bible is. I know where a bible is, but not mine; the one that's marked up and falling apart from use.

It's only a half hour difference.

If I got up I'd have two hours or more to improve my knowledge of God, attune my heart to his, pray for everyone in my family, on my street, in my town, in my state, in my country and all my friends. PLUS, I'd likely still have time to do fun things like read blogs, post stuff on my mostly neglected shared blog, cut out a dress that I want to sew for Sarah, drink a cup of coffee while IT'S HOT (hallelujah). I couldn't think of any negatives except for a couple of hours less sleep. And since Del is up and not getting that sleep, I probably should be, too.

So I got up. I even got dressed.

I knew right where I could find an Oswald Chamber's bible study. I read the first day and all of the book of Philippians, a highly under-quoted book, in my opinion. And I typed out my prayers. I tend to forget where I was and get lost and bored if I'm just praying. I like being able to go back and re-read what I have prayed.

We'll see how long this lasts. It's a matter of will and I am a weak and fallen human.

Hey, maybe I'll be able to read Atlas Shrugged. It's only 6:30! I still have a good hour before the kids wake up. Hmm, I wonder where that book is???