Yes, it's true.  I am flying out to California this afternoon and I am beyond excited.  Did you catch that "I"..........no children.............just little ol' me.   Thank heaven that Max and Sophie have been such great travelers but "holy moley"; the preparation.   Note to Mothers with small children;  when traveling with small children, you must prepare.  Don't forget the new trinkets, stickers, snacks, books, etc.  They will be necessary when a delay occurs.  Notice I say "when" and not "if",  travel often enough and delays  happen. 

Today, I get to throw all that out the window.  I get to sail through security without having to load two extra roll-aboards and  six pairs of shoes onto that blasted rubber belt.  Iget to  grab a cup of coffee and magazine and plop myself wherever I want.   There will be no last minute bathroom breaks, no trying to make sure my kids don't get mowed over by the big "golf cart" zooming through the terminal,  no trying to find the nearest McDonalds in our terminal, no trying to locate that cute playground at DFW that the kids love.   Bliss.........  How sad is it  that my idea of a relaxing time is going to the airport?   

I digress....again.   My adorably cute, sweet, FUNNY friend Clara mentioned a U2 concert and "extra ticket" in the same sentence and I  pounced on her.  "You have an extra ticket?????",  I said.  "Yeah, do you want to come?" she replied.    Well, YESSSSSSSSSSS!  After making sure Dan was in town, I booked a flight and now  am on my way.  Life is good!

I will be staying with Mom and Dad so I will be able to have my Mom all to myself.  She reminds me of a cherry pie when my family takes over her house.  First off,  it's quite messy (the house I mean), second, we all want a piece of her.  She's also sweet, and smells good too.     People, I get her all to myself this weekend AND I get to play with Clara!   You can't see me but I am doing my happy dance right now!

Has anyone been to the mall lately?   Well, I made a trip to the mall yesterday and I have to say, "it ticked me off"!  

I was happily strolling through the mall, glad to be out of the rain and looking at the pretty window displays with all the new Fall fashions and such.   When, "BAM", one of those "cart people" selling painted sand crabs, clip-on hair extensions and the like were in my face.   At first, I was pleasant and answered their questions "where did you get that necklace",  "can I ask you a question?"   But by the end of my shopping trip I was dodging  and plowing right through them.  If I can be frank, I was a bit offended when the guy with the flat iron saw my curly hair (it was a rainy day) and exclaimed "OH MY", as he practically elbowed an elderly women to get to me.   Hmph! 

If I would have stopped for every single one of  those vendors,  I would have walked out of the mall with my hair straightened,  some new sunglasses, a painted sand crab or two, a new phone, a hello kitty suitcase, a clip-on pony tail, salt scrub lotion from the Dead sea, a remote control helicopter and a head massager.   I mean really now!!!

Does anyone feel like this today????  Help me!!!!  I am running on coffee at the moment.  I know I need to hit the gym..........so don't want to.   Max was up twice with a "bad dream".  Dan is out of town.  Contract is once again back in the companies hands.  We are leaving for Paris in a couple of weeks to sign leases for apartments and contracts for schools, open bank accounts, etc.   We still have so many things "still hanging".   I could go on and on but that is so boring.   

The good news is that we are pretty sure we found someone to take care of Otis.  Whooo Whoooo!!!Here is wishing you a laugh and a fabulous day!  

I am not sure if I was the last person on this planet to read this book but now that I have read it, I feel the need to share  this little treasure.  In my opinion, this is a "must read" for everyone, including children (at the appropriate age).  It shines the light on some unflattering truths about our country but it is necessary and serves a purpose. 

This is a true story about two very different men who were brought together by one amazing woman.    This story will make you laugh and cry.  It is moving, deep and emotional and will push you to open your heart and mind and let the light in.    It will also help you to view people with a different lense.  It will encourage you to remove the judgemental, critical lense that we so often look through and instead look through a crystal clear, loving lense that God ultimately desires for us to see each other through.

"I'm a nobody that's trying to tell everybody about somebody that can save everybody".
-Denver Moore

****This book is available in paperback at Costco for $7.00. 

How do you fix a broken jack o lantern?   "Use a Pumpkin Patch"

Yesterday  was one of those gorgeous fall days in Texas.  Crystal clear, breezy, and cool.  We loaded up the kids in the car  and headed up to Celina which is about an hour north of Southlake.  Absolutely worth the drive.   They had a beautiful pumpkin patch, hay rides, tractor pulls, petting zoo's, food and a picturesque location.

I am not sure, but I think he looks embarrassed.  Oh, now I feel bad.....but not that bad.  I mean, pugs were made to dress up.  The DFW Pug Rescue, where we adopted Otis,  has an annual Halloween party for the pugs.  They all come dressed up in costume and parade around on leash with their proud owners.   We haven't made it to a party but this year I decided that we must dress him up for Halloween and I just couldn't wait to post a picture of our little bumble bee.  This bee has no stinger, it's all love baby.  

I had the hardest time getting a picture of him because all he wanted to do was jump up on me and play.   It's like he knew that he was adorable.....in a pug sort of way.  Love you Otis!

 

My memories of the dentist are white walls, linoleum floors,  crunchy chairs, the room was always too cold along with the instruments used for poking inside my little mouth.    I remember looking at the acoustic ceiling and counting all the little holes in it.   They finally taped a poster of a kitty to the ceiling which helped....a little. 

Times  have changed people. 

I get a kick everytime I take the kids to their pediatric dentist.  The lobby has a lovely flat screen tv with a movie playing continuously.  They also have four separate video games to keep the little darlings entertained.  Once they are called by the beautiful hygenist, they are asked to pick out a DVD from a large selection of the latest movies.  They then climb into  lovely primary colored chairs which face big  windows with sunlight streaming in.  They don their headsets and sit back, relax and look up at the television  screens which are strategically placed on the ceiling.  The rest is history.  They are  ever so content and once finished they get their shiny new toothbrushes and dental floss and are given a certificate for a free ice cream cone across the street.   They are then  asked to "smile wide"  and a picture is taken which are  instantly viewed from yet another tv screen showing toddlers, grade schoolers and tweens smiling ever so brightly showing off their pearly whites.  Wait, we aren't finished yet, they then get to choose a toy from 6 seperate drawers.  Oh, the fun.  I tell you, they LOVE going to the dentist.   Who wouldn't?
 

 

Wasn't there a movie made recently about "mean girls"?  I have heard from girlfriends about their struggles with their kids at school or with other neighborhood kids.  I listened but  I guess I didn't think I would have to worry about this with my kids since they were only six years old.  Wrong.

We have  our first "mean girl"  situation on our hands and it is breaking my heart.  They say the first five years of your child's life are physically challenging, the next 100 are mentally challenging.   I agree.  Sophie just can't understand why this little girl at school doesn't want to be her friend and why she is so mean to her.  She has shared with me over the last month different situations and I have listened and we have tried to come up with solutions, all to no avail. 

I have noticed this week that Sophies sunshiney personality wasn't as bright.  I couldn't put my finger on it but I felt like something was wrong.  When she came home from school yesterday, she broke down and cried big, fat, crocodile tears.  I comforted her and cried right along with her.

I must be honest and admit that I am scared.  This is the beginning of many, many hurts and heartaches.    Am I up for this?  Will I say the right things?  Will I comfort the way she needs to be comforted?  Will I  inflate or deflate her struggles?   My reaction is so important.   I read something recently that could not be more true;

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous,
It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside of your body"
-Elizabeth Stone

My heart feels so unprotected and vulnerable right now.   Lord, give me the words and the wisdom to guide Sophie.  Help her to find her identity in You and not in the world.   

All kids love anything and everything to do with Halloween.  My kids are no exception.  I found this pre-made haunted house and the kids had a ball decorating it.    Max made sure to squirt frosting on the back of the house and pronounce "that's blood dripping".  He then proceeded to stick candy corn and other candies into the frosting and say "those are bones and guts".  Ha.  I love little boys.  It's all about the blood and guts.  The creepier the better.

Dan has always loved Halloween.  When we lived in California, before the kids came along, he dressed up as frankenstein and hid next to our front door in the  bushes.  He would wait until I engaged the kids with the candy bowl and as they were trying to find their favorite candy  he would slowly walk up behind them and scare the bajeebee's out of them.   

There was one family I will never forget, they screamed so loud (the Mom and Dad included) and ran in every direction, including inside our house.  One little boy threw a punch at Dan too.  We were holding our sides laughing so hard.  The family was doing the same until their  little boy could not be found.  We found him inside with a couple of other trick or treaters, hiding from frankenstein.   

I was so frustrated yesterday, feeling like I was spinning my wheels trying to get all my "ducks in a row".  When I finally threw my hands in the air, "bing", an email came into my inbox.  It was from a women named Emmanuelle from a relocation company in Paris.  We ended up talking on the telephone and she was absolutely lovely.  She discussed everything that her company does and can I just say "where do I sign up"?   Now, all I need to do is to get in contact with  human resources in Paris and make sure they don't have a specific relo company that we have to use.  

Don't think that her name Emmanuelle was lost in translation  on me.  Now, I'm not saying she is the "messiah" or "the chosen one"  but she was my "saviour"  for a few moments yesterday.  I love, love how God speaks to me.   I wish I didn't need so much reassurance from Him.   The sad truth is that I do.  I am such a "babe"  in so many  areas of my faith.  I am stubborn though and I refuse to give up on me and I know that He will never give up on me.