today's message

So several weeks back, over a month ago I signed up to receive these fun little messages from the universe. They are from this great site www.tut.com and they are usually right on and joyful.
Today's message was this:
"If you could live this life over, Tracie, would you still want there to be the same challenges?
Loaded question, huh?
Yeah, you cherry-picked each and every one. And you knew exactly what you were doing."
In awe of you - The Universe

I was out buying peanut butter at Basha's for a $1 a jar and stopped to grab a bite to eat (by myself). The cashier lady knows us well and mentioned how surprised she was at seeing me without all the kids. I told her I escaped. I truthfully don't know her name , she takes our order maybe 2 times a month. She then expressed how wonderful she felt Lydia was and how happy it makes her feel when she sees Lydia smile. She then told me that she could feel how great of a spirit Lydia was. I honestly told her that Lydia has brought me joy every single day of her life.

So would I still want the same challenges? Are they really challenges or just joy in disguise?
I'm thinking they expand me and even with the sorrow, the joy is always there.

On someone's back windshield

Today as I was driving through a parking lot I spotted someone's auto with the back windshield full of dirt and a message written in it.
This is what it said," I wish my boyfriend was this dirty"

My wonders for the week:

Thayne's laughter
Quayde still asking me to tuck him in at night
Staying up until 1:00 am watching "tv" on the web with my husband
Maliea's smile
Receiving a surprise package from Nana full of scrapbooking supplies and paper
Finding the perfect valentines gift for Michael that was practical but with a little fun thrown in
Singing Lydia lullabies in the middle of the night
Enjoying the kids school work and learning myself
Watching Chaiya expand out of her comfort zone and buy a shirt in a bright color
Getting a happy call from my sister Marissa

QOTD

Lydia to the nurse as she was leaving," Good Bye and Never Come Back!"

Winter

We awoke to lots of snow! Quayde, Zack and Lydia played outside for most of the morning, okay they played well into the afternoon. They would become all frozen then come inside warm up, find new socks to place on their hands and run right back outside. Lots of fun. Thayne played yesterday afternoon as it was falling. This morning he was a great deal more cautious about getting cold.

11 years ago in the AM when the sun was just thinking about coming over the horizon. My Quayde was born. I was thrilled with my new boy. I hadn't a clue about boys. Not sure I do now. Quayde has kept me busy. He has grown into a sweet, thoughtful and loving young man. Who decided to lose his temper this morning and get into his first fight with some kids down the road. He was more angry with himself than anything else. It was quite the lesson for him. The fighting was definitely not in his nature as he sat in the snow and cried and cried until I came for him. On this day 11 years ago, I had no idea most of his childhood I would be raising him by myself. Boys need fathers! I did an excellent job.... but Michael's presence in his life has been an incredible miracle. Quayde is a gentle soul who loves deep and thinks of others frequently. It is a honor to be his momma. We are not celebrating with a party today, that comes in a few weeks. He did get a crazy frog dvd which he was thrilled with although he had to have the volume quite loud, that makes it all the more fun.

NaCl

Yes ladies and gentlemen, Salt has been the topic of the day. We found a new book at the library called 'The Story of Salt" by Mark Kurlansky. Very fun book. Something we take for granted today literally ruled the seas in the past. After we spent part of the afternoon discovering all the ways that salt has affected civilizations, we went out and got some salt from France and some pink salt from the Himalayas. The grey salt was too expensive though, maybe next time.
Another absolutely incredible book we have been using for the older ones is "Uncle Tungsten" by Oliver Sachs. This is a fascinating book about chemistry! All set with Oliver as a boy growing up during WW II. Get it and read it for yourself for fun. I am loving it and we are only to chapter 5. Okay maybe I am a little off but this makes learning about metals and other elements way more interesting than Mr Caminsky ever did in high school. I think this might lead to some experimentation in the kitchen. On second thought I was the one who caught my hair on fire during class over the Bunsen burner. No one noticed until the next class which was Geometry, in which the teacher took one look at me, handed me a pair of scissors and said, "Take a friend to the bathroom with you!" It didn't smell very friendly either.

Go hunting

Chaiya and I were discussing what I had learned over the last several days. This will come to no surprise of course to my friend Kristi.
The most blaring idea is that I seriously need some clothes! Okay I have plenty of hanging around the house clothes, but something has happened major time since Lydia was born. I have no nice wardrobe to speak of. I have no sense of style for myself whatsoever. So this is going to be an adventure.

And the winner is.......

ME! Yes I won the grand door prize at the Wedding Merchants convention. Out of all those people there I got it. What you say? Free tuition for next years convention!!!!!!! This is worth over $300. I did the happy dance when they called my name.

Just for fun and wonder

I've been at a Wedding Merchants Convention for the past two days, one more day to go. So I had a few hours in between the last seminar and the banquet tonight so this is how I spent my time.
Listened to the church bells ring out the time and a song
Had a photographer from Seattle stop me on the street to share his shot with me and get my opinion.
Acquired a new Baja Fresh cup (Kristi you understand don't you?)
Had a very attractive man flirt with me as I was crossing the street and he called me a jaywalker cause the sign had already changed.
Savoured a small Cold Stone Creamery ice cream
Wondered about an old crumbling building and what it was about 50 years ago.
Marveled at how many Christmas decorations are still up around downtown Phoenix
Took several pictures of some tourists who needed that extra person so they could all be in the picture
Went into SEVERAL fancy hotels and used all their bathrooms, to compare and contrast. The Hyatt has crappy bathrooms (pun intended)
Spent 1/2 hour talking with a homeless gentleman and tried to help him feel real again.

During the banquet I learned that I am NOT a barbie doll shoe girl.
Got completely out of my comfort zone and did a conga line to the song "Hot Hot Hot"

What did you do today that was amazing?

For Sunday

Sunday is a quiet day, a slowing down day. I was inspired years ago by Sarah BanBreathnacht's book Simple Abundance. In one of her chapters, she writes about how important it is to have a sabbath whether you are religious or not. Like the seasons of the earth where winter is for a resting time for the earth, the sabbath can be our weekly resting time. If you are a religious person, you are commanded to "keep the sabbath day holy" but wouldn't it be more soulful to commit to yourself and your spirit to relax and refresh to start the week anew. To take the time of a whole day to reflect and get ready to begin again.
For just a few minutes today, click here and watch this movie and know that I am grateful that you are my friends and family. Thanks for being a part of my journey.

Forward

I have been working on new main lesson plans , as requested by the older girls' ideas. Looks like we are going to explore the Tsars of Russia. Lydia will probably love trying to make the craft work we will be doing as it involves fake eggs. Maybe she will stop asking about Easter. We are going to start with Peter the Great, next week. I have a wedding merchants convention on Monday through Wednesday so the fun will be delayed until I get back. Quayde's birthday is coming up. I need to come up with a new fantastic idea since he shot down my medival theme. Can I do better than the pirate one of a few years back? I don't know. The pirate ship cake that had been attacked (fell apart) is going to be hard to top.
Thayne is laughing in the living room as I write this and that is one of my joys! I am grateful to have such happy children that get along so well!
Chaiya is signed up and paid for her Ventian glass blowing class in Oregon next month. The lady on the phone was wonderful to talk to. Now we just have to get her there.
I think I am going to reincorporate our evening candle and readings. I don't know how we got off track but it is always been a great closing to our day. Just looking for a few good books! As if that is hard.

Back to every day

One reason I absolutely love the holiday season is that , believe it or not, it gives me time to relax. Relax from the "have to" stuff. It is a great excuse to slack . Like today.......it is no longer holiday time so I need to re-do all of Lydia's insurance stuff with all the medical supply companies and doctors. I need to catch up on contracts that need to be written etc... All the necessary stuff that it takes to keep all the kids' medical things up to date has to be done now. Whereas for the last two weeks , it could wait because it was holiday time. Boy that makes me smile.
Lydia has been asking over and over,"What's the next holiday?" For some reason she wants Easter to be next. I think this is her first year of really having a recognition of what holidays are and how fun it is to celebrate. So I am going to try and be like the great mom I was with Maliea and Chaiya and do more with celebrating like we did in the past.
Can I tell you how much I totally love this new house? I do a happy dance every day! Although I have a little way to go in making it more authentic (we have nothing on the walls yet), this house just makes me feel good each day. I love the copper color walls in the bedroom and for Christmas , Michael bought this amazing paisley comforter to go on our bed. It has little bit of orange running through it here and there and is perfect.
We are so excited about this new year. Chaiya will be attending a glass blowing class in Eugene, Or in February for a few days. She is so excited about this. We are working on getting her and Maliea passports so they can travel to Europe some time this year. With Michael's retiree status they can travel with him for free on military aircraft. Maliea is interested in EarthWatch expeditions and watching and charting orca whales.
I am hoping it will be an incredible year filled with wonder and magic for them.

For those of you who are wondering, yes we were able to pull off the surprise birthday party! 142 guests were invited and everyone kept the secret. The guest of honor was stunned and overwhelmed . It was a very successful party. I am hoping that it will open a new 'division' of We Do! We Do! Helping Randy was a lot of fun. Our gift to his wife was 12 of the top billboard hits of 1967, which we played during the party.
I am attending a Wedding Merchants Academy next week in Phoenix. I am hoping to learn new skills and gain new ideas for my business. Here's to a successful year!

I am going to be spending the next weekend working on homeschooling ideas to get Quayde and Lydia to have more magically and wonder inspired learning adventures. Having so many ages to homeschool sometimes is a big challenge. We found that Thayne at the library is quite a trip. He loves to run up and down the ramp! The librarians are very patient with us. God bless their souls. They smile and smile.

This evening's adventure is purple cauliflower that I found at New Frontiers. I'm off to eat some fun!

Happy New Year

Wow! It's2007. Today Michael and I had the priviledge of attending (working) the most life-affirming, joyous, authentic Committment ceremony. The couples' real wedding is schedule for June in Wisconsion but the brides mother is quite ill and probably will pass prior to then. This couple created the most wonderful ceremony that I have ever attend. It was full of laughter and blessings, promises and tears. It was a great way to start the new year. It was a lot of joy to make their reception area beautiful. Even if we only had less than 48 hours notice prior.

I included this picture of my incredible husband just to make you smile! We hope 2007 is full of magic and wonder!