My Blogging Story....

OK, Chili over at http://www.donttryit.com/ is having a "blogging story carnival". There are certain questions she would like us answer about our blogs. I thought it sounded neat, so I am participating and posting my answers here. :-) If you would like to, hop on over there and tell your story too. ;-) I for one would love to read about it. :-) So, get something cool to drink, kick back and enjoy. At least, I hope you enjoy it. ;-) Let's begin.....

1) How did you start blogging?

I have never been very "computer savvy", and definitely not a "trend follower", but my brother, "D" got me started. He and my friend, "Princess Ladybug" started their own blogs. I thought it was neat, and I was looking for a creative outlet, so I decided to do one too. "D" set me up and got me started. (Just a side note you can check out their blogs on my links list. They're the first two listed.) :-)

2) Did you intend to be a blog w/a big following? If so, how did you go about it?

I figured I'd have a small following, like family and friends. Because really it was a way to be creative, but also a way to let people know what's going on with me. Also, I silently hoped I would be read by many people. I tried to write as if I was writing to a "mass audience", although I am sure I don't have that many who visit. I would love it though. :-) I think it would be very interesting to know who is visiting me, how they found me, and what they think. Not many leave a comment, and at times it is disappointing, but like Princess says, "you blog for you, not for the comments". ;-) She's right, but don't we all want to "popular"? :-) I mean, come on people, we all still harbor a little of that "I want people to like me" thing we had in high school. Come on.... admit it... you know you do. ;-)

3) What do you hope to achieve or accomplish with your blog? Have you been successful? If not, do you have a plan to achieve those goals?

This is an interesting question. I am not sure that I have one real goal. I guess, like a lot of people, I want a way to stay in contact with other people I don't talk to often. It's also "safe" to be able to speak my mind on things I wouldn't ordinarily talk about. Aside from my family and friends I don't really "know" anyone else who reads my blog, so I can speak my mind without worry. I also wanted a way to be creative, work on my writing skills, and I guess in a way I hope leave a few "words of wisdom" for the next generation. I don't always let my family and friends know what I'm thinking. I tend to write my thoughts easier than verbalizing them, so I can communicate with family and friends those things as well. It's a way for them to get to know me better.

I think I have been successful. At least, I hope. You never know unless you get comments. :-) (hint, hint,...leave comments people!) :-)

4) Has the focus of your blog changed since you started blogging? How?

I think so. My style/format has changed for sure. When I first started it was more in a letter format to "Peter Pan" (the whole Wendy thing) :-) And I think I was a lot more serious in the way I wrote. Now, I write in an "open forum" format, and I try to more witty with my posts as well as thoughtful. Is it working? You tell me. :-)

5) What do you know now that you wish you'd known when you started?

My brother filled me in on the "safety" things pretty well. Therefore, I don't have a picture of myself, post my last name, location, etc; so I think I'm covered there. I have learned so many things along the way. Like how to post pictures, etc... I know I have A LOT more to learn. I would love to learn about the site meters, because I am becoming obsessive about that. :-) I do look at designs of other blogs, and sometimes wonder if mine is too simple, but then again, I am simple, so it fits me. :-)

6) Do you make money with your blog?

To be honest, I didn't even know this was an option. Does it pay well? :-) Anyone care to fill me in on this? :-)

7) Does your immediate or extended family know about your blog? If so, do they read it? If not, why?

Most of my immediate family does. I have one sister who doesn't read any blogs. My mom does occasionally. I know of one cousin who reads it. (HI, "S") ;-) If any other extended family does I don't know about it. (see me waving? Let me know if you are reading) :-)

8) What two pieces of advice would you give to a new blogger?

1) Keep your anonymity. Safety is crucial.

2) HAVE FUN WITH IT!! :-) When I first started my blog I only told two people about it, and I said, "If it's lame I'm taking it down." I am so glad I did it now. :-) It is a lot of fun, and it is fun to take time out for "ME" and write about whatever I want to write about. :-) Also, don't be afraid to play around with the format. :-) This is YOUR blog, and you should let it reflect your personality. OR an alter ego. LOL... your choice. :-)

OK, now it's your turn to tell your "blogging story". Don't forget to go to Chili's at the link up top and click on Mr. Linky. ;-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Win 6 months of NETFLIX for FREE.....

OK, I rarely post twice in one day, but I just read this on the blog It Could Have Been Worse, so I wanted to pass it on. :-)

Go here http://www.5minutesformom.com/1685/netflix/ Leave a comment and link to it from your blog. You could be one of the 5 winners. ;-) If nothing else you may find some new neat things while there. I did. ;-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

No one got hurt, nothing broken...party was a success

The week has been fast and furious, but it sure was fun!! ;-)

We played Trivial Pursuit "Pop Culture" addition 3 nights this week. Guys against the girls. Guys won. (Yeah, Yeah, keep grinning. We'll get you next time.) ;-)

The birthday party went very well, I think. ;-) The party was to last 2 hours. Um... Yeah. Everything I planned for them to do was finished within an hour. Including cake and ice cream. They spent the entire last hour playing and running through the house. But, no one got hurt and nothing got broken. They had fun, so I consider that a success. ;-) Even though the balloon racing car were a bust. I have to say that the race car driver photos of each child were just TOO CUTE! :-)

The cake turned out pretty good. Here's a picture, but don't look TOO close, because I can name 5 mistakes on this cake off the top of my head. ;-) But, it was a learning experience, and it was all eaten. I'm still taking decorating classes people; so don't judge me. :-)

It was so nice having my sister and her family visit this week. We laughed so much every day, and the couch has the pee stains to prove it. ;-)

I even tried crawfish!! And it was good. ;-) I can't wait until their next visit. ;-) OH, and I have to say that I have the BEST brother in law in the WORLD!! Any man who will get up at 5:15 am to take his sister in law to take pictures of a sunrise, and then massage her neck and head to relieve a headache is AWESOME in my book. If I haven't said it before let me say it now, "Welcome to the family." If you haven't run screaming by now we know you like us." ;-)

Love,

Wendy Darling

God is good, all the time....

My pastor says that all of the time, and it is true. This is a little update on the previous post. We did get the radiator fixed that same day, so we have had transportation.

After a week of boiling water to wash dishes and take showers the hot water heater is finally fixed. When I say "fixed" I really mean replaced. Just a word of warning people: LOWES and Whirlpool stink. We will never buy another product from either of them. Just saying.

In spite of it all it has been a great week. My sister "M" and her family have been with us for a few days, and it has been a lot of fun. ;-) The older nephew has enjoyed VBS WITH his new glasses. ;-)

The cake decorating class is off to a good start, even if the Lightning McQueen cake I am making for the party tomorrow isn't. I messed it up and have to start over. Darn the luck, now we have to eat ANOTHER cake. ;-) I'll post a picture of it when I am finished.

My brother in law, "T" and I got up at 5:15 this morning to head to the local rest area. We wanted to get some pictures of the sunrise. The clouds did not really want to cooperate, but we were patient. Even though we didn't get the sunrise we did get some pretty nice shots of the clouds. Should make a nice backdrop for future photos. :-) It's also really nice to have someone else in the family who really likes to take pictures, and doesn't mind getting up early, stay up late, or drive to "where ever" to get that "perfect" shot. ;-) I'm loving it!!

Here's a couple I took this morning. ;-)

Have a great day!

Love,

Wendy Darling

It's been a character building day....

A few years ago I read the book "It's Not Over Until You Win" by Les Brown. If you haven't read this book, or better yet heard him do it on CD, then you really need to get it.

This is the first time I had ever heard the term "character building day". As Christians we should not have "bad days", we should have character building days. God allows trials to test our character, to help us grow. When challenges arise are we going to trust him and have faith, or are we going to complain, get depressed, have negative attitudes, etc..? In other words "Be like the world."

Also, I think we should follow the example set in the movie "Facing the Giants".... "When we win we will praise Him, and when we lose we will praise Him."

I think, "When things are going great we should praise him, and when they are "challenging" is when He is seeing if we will still praise Him."

Normally, I wouldn't write about my sister "J", because she would just get mad. But, she doesn't read my blog anyway, so I'm going for it. :-)

Today was "one of those days" according to my sister. This weekend the radiator acted up. Today, there's a hole and it needs to be replaced. About $300 worth of "replaced". It's been at the mechanics for about 3 hours. We are waiting on his call to say it is fixed.

Nephew broke his glasses this weekend and needed to get to the eye doctor today. Took awhile to find a doc that took his insurance. We then had to cancel his appointment, due to the car, and reschedule for tomorrow. So, he is pretty much limited on what he can do with no glasses.

We had no hot water last night. Dear brother read the manual and figured out a tube needed replacing. So he called the gas company who said to call a plumber, who showed up only to find out that he had the wrong hose. So, we still don't have hot water. Although, due to loving brother heating water on the stove we were able to enjoy warm "showers". :-)

Now we are waiting for the plumber to call only to discover a tower is down and we have no phone service. ;-)

Are you hanging with me so far? :-)

I did manage to get dear brother to call the mechanic from work to let him know we have no phone service, so don't bother calling. The mechanic then let us know the parts house delivered the wrong radiator, but assures us it will be fixed around 4:30 pm. Brother's boss will drop "J" off at the mechanic's on her way to drop brother off at his 2nd job. Boss is a saint, but I think we are testing her patience today. ;-)

Are you still following me, people?

I have handled everything today with a smile, or at least I have tried to anyway.
Dear "J" has chosen to use this week as her vacation, therefore having no vacation in October, and has not chosen to allow this to build her character, or have a sense of humor. :-) The gall of some people. ;-) LOL...

You may thinking "Lose the Pollyanna attitude", "This is a little too preachy", "You're just being a slight bit too positive and perky"..... Maybe so, but I'm also not allowing my blood pressure to go through the roof, or have the entire household in an uproar only to come back to the same problems with no solution. Doesn't help.

Since this is already too much of a "motivational speech" I guess I will end with one of my favorite phrases from Les Brown. "When life knocks you down make sure you land on your back, because if you can look up, you can get up."

I'll climb down off of my soap box now. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

I'm Home....

...and I had a great time. I have to thank my sister and brother in law publicly for coming to get me, and showing me a great time. I also have to get this off of my chest.... CENTRAL MARKET ROCKS!!!! I'm serious ya'll. If you have never been there you have to go. I could literally spend hundreds of dollars just on the cheeses, olives, crackers and fruit! It is AMAZING!! If we had one in our area it would blow Wal Mart out of the water!! :-)

My dear sister made Mojito Chicken and it was awesome! http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_35619,00.html?rsrc=search the recipe is here.

She also made cheesy smashed potatoes that rocked!! :-)

I spent a little money on myself and bought "Facing the Giants" on DVD, and some Buttered Popcorn Jelly Bellys. We watched the movie, because I really wanted my sister and brother in law to see it. I thought they would like it, and they didn't disappoint me. I think I managed to hide my crying pretty well. ;-) If ya'll have not seen this movie you need to. I can't even express how awesome this movie is!! :-) Just see it as soon as humanly possible. Go rent it tonight, seriously. :-)

We came home today in what can only be described as just shy of a monsoon, in my opinion. I have to give my sister "props", because she only almost killed us once. ;-) Just kidding. :-) She did very well. :-) And we are looking forward to Thursday when they will come and stay the weekend with us. :-)

I am pretty sure I'll be in bed early tonight. Did I mention you should go rent the movie? OH, and stop by Target and pick up some Chipotle and Rasberry sauce, cream cheese and Wheat Thins. Enjoy this with your movie. ;-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to camp we go.....

Yes, the nephew left for camp today. He was so excited, and nervous, all at the same time. One minute he wanted to hurry up and leave, and the very next he wanted to go home. :-) After encouraging him, telling him how much we loved him, and how much fun he was going to have I have to admit that I had to fight the urge to follow the bus as it pulled out onto the highway. :-) I know, I'm silly. I tried to post a picture of him getting on the bus for ya'll, but blogger wouldn't let me for some reason. When I can I will try again. :-)

One great thing about "modern day" camps, at least this one is that they have a website! :-) They post updates throughout the day letting you know your kids arrived, what they are up to, their daily schedule, and you can even e-mail them! How cool is that?! :-)

After reading about their theme for this week I wish I was there! :-)

For many students, both Christian and not, nearly their entire life is presented as preparation for something else to come. When they’re kids, they can’t really do anything because they’re “just a kid.” They can really do stuff once they get to junior high and in the youth group. But then they’re just in junior high and should wait ‘til high school. But once in high school, they’re not really anything until they’re Seniors. But once they’re Seniors, they should just wait to college, then until they graduate and go to grad school and eventually get a job and then have to find someone to marry and then start a family and plan for retirement and everything else. Everything is about what’s to come. They’re in school to get trained to go until college to get trained for a job. They’re in relationships to realize who it is they want to marry. They’re getting jobs to train them to have a good work ethic. They’re in church so they can learn to do things right so that they might be good Christians one day.This constant preparation for the future exists in tension with the guilt and shame that they also feel about their past. Mistakes made some time ago can still hold a firm grip on a student’s life so that they feel trapped, unworthy and unable to live in the freedom that God has promised them through Jesus Christ. Both the trappings of the past and the pressures of the future often render our students paralyzed.In actuality, once they gain a proper understanding of their identity in Christ, they realize that God is at work right now and is calling them to live a life in relationship and on mission with Him right here and right now. This isn’t practice. This isn’t rehearsal. This is it.This is something that people have always needed to be reminded of. Moses and Joshua called the children of Israel to make decisions “today” about whether or not they would follow God. The prophets called people to repentance and action “today.” Mordecai challenged Esther about who knew whether or not she had come to be queen “for such a time as this.” It is perhaps not evidenced any greater than in the response of the disciples to Jesus’ call to “Come. Follow me.” They immediately left their nets, boats, tables and families to follow the Christ. God is calling us, all of us - young and old, child, youth and adult to life in and with Him. We have to choose whether or not we are going to live that life… here and now.

Love,
Wendy Darling

Wal Mart Sucks! .... and other thoughts for the day....

Can I say that in a blog? Will I be sued for slander? I. Don't. Care. I know I am not the only one who believes that since Mr. Sam died Wal Mart no longer cares about the customer. At least the one in my town doesn't. We have actually boycotted Wal Mart in the past, and the only reason it stopped was because the gas prices went too high to continue the 25 mile trek to the nearest town where we would actually have CHOICES in grocery stores.

They rarely smile and greet you. Most of the cashiers barely look at you, much less say anything to you beyond the total of your purchase. Not even a "Thank you for shopping Wal Mart." When you do have a question about a product or something you can never find anyone to help you, and if you do find someone they don't know anything anyway. Today my sister called, because the camera my nephew got for Christmas is no longer working. All we wanted to do was exchange it, not get money back. She spoke to 2 people. The first was rude and then hung up on her, the second was VERY rude and she hung up on them. What ever happened to the Customer is always right? Poor Sam must be rolling over in his grave! When, Oh When are we going to get some competition in this town?!

OK, off my tangent. Today is Memorial Day. I was reminded of the times when we were little that our Daddy (a Vietnam Vet and member of the VFW) would go place flags on the graves of former soldiers. We would go and help. We didn't really understand it back then, but I am grateful that he gave us that experience. There is nothing more important than thanking a soldier for their service. It is because of them we have the right to speak our minds (such as the above paragraph) and live the way we choose. SO, if you are reading this and you are a veteran, "THANK YOU!"

I am going to spend a couple of days with my sister later this week. The nephew will be attending his first Children's Camp. He is excited, but I can tell he is also nervous. Dear Sister and her husband were nice enough to invite me to stay with them for a couple days, so I could have a break as well. I have to say I am really looking forward to it. :-) I could use a couple of days away. :-)

I need some extra prayers from you out there. I have about decided to change churches. I have been thinking about it for awhile, but I wanted to make sure that if I stayed or left it was because it was what God wanted, not because of what I wanted. I am pretty sure I received my answer today. I have a paid position in the church, so if I leave I will need to resign, speak to my pastor personally, and then leave. I REALLY like my pastor and most everyone at the church, but I really feel the call to leave as well. It is difficult, because I don't want any hard feelings. I don't feel there will be, but you never know. And switching churches and then having to find where you can be of service is scary as well. Thankfully, I already have several friends in the church I will be switching to, so that helps. :-)

I have, finally, signed up for the Wilton Cake Decorating class. I begin June 5th. I am excited. :-) I am glad I will finally be able to learn how to do these cakes correctly. :-)

Well, I think that pretty much catches you up with things about me. See you next time. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

Well, how to begin. I have loved writing letters to you, and being able to share my feelings, etc. But, we all have to grow up sometime. Yes, even you, Peter. So, I have decided to do away with this "blog" to you. I am going to "revamp" it and make it my own.

For the others reading this "letter" No, I am not going to stop blogging. I am just going to do away with the "Peter/Wendy theme" and make it more "ME". :-)

So, I will say good bye, Peter. It was fun, but growing up can be fun too, as well as exciting. :-) Please, hug all of the Lost Boys for me. :-)

Love and Goodbye,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

How was your day? We have been busy, and spent the day at the District 4-H Roundup. The nephew competed in the Poetry category, with "Casey at the Bat". He took 2nd Place! :-) We were thrilled for him.

Now, preparing for this did not come without some headaches. I'm talking about MY headaches. :-) Being homeschoolers we turn EVERYTHING into teachable moments. Some of these "teachable moments" come in the form of "learning things the hard way". Let me explain.

When he was preparing for Roundup at the County level I made the mistake of letting him overhear that "the poem did NOT HAVE to be memorized for County, but DID have to be for District" so, he chose not to have it memorized. Now, I tried to reason with him by saying, "If you memorize it now for county that is less work you have to do for district, AND you'll get more points from the judges if you have your's memorized and the others do not". (I'm pretty sure he was hearing the whole "Charlie Brown" wah, wah, wah... at this point)

Now, you would think that would he would just say, "That's a great idea Aunt Wendy, let's do it! And I will be so much the better person by working hard." Yeah, right.... this is a 10 year old we're talking about. So, needless to say, it was not memorized at County. I also made the mistake of suggesting he carry a baseball bat as part of his "act". His reply, "If I carry the bat I can't hold the binder with the poem". So, no bat. He took 2nd place at County, so he did move on to District.

Last week we got the judges comments from the County Roundup, so we would know what to work on for District. Now, this is the first time we have seen any comments or suggestions the judges made. David got 94 out of a possible 100 points. I was VERY proud. The judges had only 2 suggestions.

Your just dying to know what they are aren't you?

Take a wild guess......



Yep, 1) MEMORIZE THE POEM AND 2) CARRY A BASEBALL BAT.


I tell you, my tongue still hurts from biting it to keep from saying "I told you so". I did however look at him and say, "Hmm, why didn't we think of that?" No response.

SO, we spent about a week memorizing the ENTIRE poem. You notice how I said "we" there? Yeah, I worked with him EVERYDAY, and memorized it too. (I am not sure if you are aware of just how LONG this poem is, but trust me when I say it is LONG.) Anyway, I tried to be encouraging. When he wanted to quit I kept going over the "Do your best", "Remember the 4-H motto 'make the best better'", "do your best to please God, not man", "Be proud of your effort", "this is building character", "one day you will thank me", etc....... and the whole time I'm wondering if ANY OF IT is sinking in. (Again, I'm thinking the whole "Charlie Brown Syndrom") On Wednesday he got through the entire thing, and the look of pride and excitement on his face made it all worth it. :-)

Then, today he went into the room to compete. He made one request of me that broke my heart, but I understood. He asked that I NOT come in to watch him. He said I would make him nervous. I was sad, but I understood, and did not want to hinder him. So, I sat in the hallway.

That's right, Peter, I sat in the hall, outside the door for over an hour!

Every person who came out asked me if I wanted to come in, and I told them (with a smile on my face) "No, thank you. I don't want to make him nervous". Afterwards everyone who came out said how wonderful he did, and that he should be very proud of himself. :-) Then, when they announced him as the second place winner he beamed from ear to ear. I guess sitting in the hall wasn't so bad. I guess the speeches and the headaches were worth it. And, I'm glad it's over......at least until the Project Show in May.... OY! By the way, I'm still waiting for that "thank you".

Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

I hope you and the Lost Boys are doing well. Has Captain Hook been giving you trouble?

I have been "out of pocket" for a couple of days, sorry. Take a look at these pictures and it will tell you what I have been up to. ;-) I hope to take the cake decorating class this summer. I have most of the stuff for the class, and the money. Now I just need the TIME. ;-)

Love,

Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

Happy Easter! :-) I hope the local church does not mind my "borrowing" the last two pictures on the right from their website. The nephew was in the play The Passion last night and tonight. I saw both performances, and was moved to tears both times.

I know that it seems "mechanical" to think of the resurrection of Christ at Easter, but seeing this play made it so "real" to me. From seeing Jesus teaching and healing, to seeing him ride into the church on a REAL donkey. Then, seeing him be beaten and crucified. Everyone involved did such an awesome job making it dramatic and realistic. Then, as the choir and actors belted out the song "He's Alive", and Jesus emerged from the tomb in a cloud of smoke the audience responded with triumphant shouts and clapping like thunder. :-) I couldn't help but get emotional, and cry unashamedly. It made me wish everyone I knew who is not saved was there to see it!

As a result, 4 children were saved this evening, and I believe many more will make the decision soon, based on what they saw tonight. :-)

It was a wonderful way for all of us to forget about eggs, bunnies and Easter baskets; and to focus on the real reason we celebrate Easter. We celebrate because Christ did not remain dead, He DID rise, and will come again. :-)

I left that play with two feelings. One of pride for my nephew doing so well, as well as our friends who were also in the play. And with an excited,renewed spirit. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Perer,

I have been taking a lot of pictures of flowers lately. I really enjoy taking pictures of flowers. I posted them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7468555@N03 Stop by, and if you like what you see leave a comment. :-)

OH, don't forget to see the post below and go register to win the vacuum cleaner! :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

This will be a little different letter. I have promised to link to someone else's blog to tell all of our friends about a contest. :-) Just go here http://www.5minutesformom.com/1343/dyson/
and you will have a chance to win a Dyson Slim Vacuum Cleaner. :-) http://www.dyson.com/homepage.asp?sinavtype=menu

Good Luck
Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

I hope things are going well in Neverland. Well, this is just to give you a quick update. I told you that I had entered a photography contest. Well, I won first place. I can't believe it. I have never entered one in my life. :-) The nephew also entered, and won second place. Above are the winning photos. :-) Enjoy!

Love,

Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

It's been a long day. I'm off to bed, but just had to brag first. The nephew got first place in the 4-H photo competition. :-) Here he is with the winning photo and first place ribbon. He also took 2nd in the Poetry competion for his recitation of Casey at the Bat, so District Roundup HERE WE COME! :-)

Love,

Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

How are things in NeverLand? I hope Captain Hook and Tink are behaving. :-)
The nephew has been taking a lot of photos to prepare for several photo contests. I've been "getting into the action" by taking my camera everywhere I go, and just playing around taking pictures. I thought I would share some with you. :-) I have actually entered the next to the last one into a contest. It is titled "Where the Heart Is". I'll let you know how it turns out. :-) Enjoy!

Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

Sometimes I marvel at the level of stupidity some people have for stating the obvious. Especially when our tax dollars are spent on said "stupidity". Take this article for instance,

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070308/hl_nm/sleep_disorder_dc

The opening remark in this article states, "NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - When children have sleep problems, their parents -- especially mothers -- often have sleep-deprived nights too, research shows. "

Did we REALLY need someone to research this? All they had to do was ask any mother who has ever stayed up with a sick child, restless child, etc... to find out that the mother and/or father did not sleep either. And since there has already been a study to show that you NEED sleep to function properly the next day the conclusion would just be a given. That leads us to know the mother was probably not a happy camper the next day, and the old adage "If Mama ain't happy ain't nobody happy" rings SO TRUE. This is one of those times when you just have to look at the person who asked to have this study done and think "MORON."

Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter

I have had 141 hits on my blog! :-) WOO HOO!!! :-) Sure wish the visitors would, please. introduce themselves. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

How are things in Neverland? Well, my brother and I were watching TV this evening, and he mentioned that his "ideal" woman would be a combination of the character "Nurse Gladys Emmanuel" from Open all Hours and the characters "Daisy" and "Rose" from Keeping up Appearances. (These are all British Comedies)

That got me thinking about what my "ideal" man would be if I had to base him on TV/movie characters. I, finally, came up with this combination: the sense of humor of Jim Belushi's character in "According to Jim", the voice, eyes and smile of George Strait's character "Dusty" in Pure Country, the ruggedness of Tom Selleck's character "Magnum P.I.", and the sensitivity and wisdom of "Mulberry", another British Comedy. :-) I don't think I'm asking for too much, do you? :-)

Love,

Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

How are things in Neverland? It is pretty cold here. Got down to about 20 F this morning, but the wind chill is a lot colder than that. :-) I don't mind a bit though, I love cold weather. :-)

Do you remember me telling you about a new singer awhile back? His name is Eric Dodge. Well, Eric has a band member who wrote a song for our troops. It is called "I Pledge", and it is awesome! This song has got to get on the radio. Any way, they had lots of people download it and send it to the troops as a gift. Then, a few weeks ago they made a video of the song, again a gift to the troops. It is such a good video. I thought the idea of setting it in the future, at an archeological dig was very creative. It shows that we are still a free country, because our men and women in uniform are still doing a wonderful job protecting us and our liberties. :-) The mountains of Utah, where it was shot, are beautiful. :-)

If you would like to see the video just go to this link: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ericdodge
Enjoy it!! :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

Guess what finally came to East Texas. WINTER! Check out the picture. No, it's not raindrops. That is ICE. Yep, our back yard is covered in ice. The nephew and I headed out with our digital cameras and in less than 5 minutes we took photos of this rare occurrance. :-) Believe me, less than 5 minutes was all we could handle. It is COLD!

Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

I hope you are doing well. I am SICK!!!

Ok, not sick physically, but I am so sick of hearing about Rosie O'Donnel and Donald Trump. What the heck has happened to our society?

President Bush was on TV last night, talking about the war in Iraq. Talking about his new plan (which I support btw) We are still at war people!! What were the news stations talking about? Rosie and Donald. I just don't get it. What about the Economy? What about the issues before Congress right now? What about the U.N.?There is more going on in the world!! And to be honest, most of the people I know DON'T CARE what they say. It is like hearing about 2 kids in a school yard fight. GET OVER IT!!! Even my FAVORITE news channel, Fox News, is talking about it all the time. UGH!!! Sorry, just had to vent.

Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

Today was a wonderful Christmas. I really enjoyed most of the whole weekend. :-)

My sister, BIL, and youngest nephew spent the weekend with us. This was the first time that they have done that since they have been married. :-) We spent the weekend eating, laughing, and playing Chicken Foot. :-) I loved it. Not just that it was fun, but just the "bonding". At least, I felt it.

I have never really been able to spend quality time with my sister and her husband. My brother visits, and they like a lot of the same movies, music, etc... they have the same sense of humor. But, I had never really felt like I had been able to spend time to "get to know him" and just have fun. It really meant a lot to me. :-) (So, when you're reading this Laslo, I hope you had just as much fun.)

This year was the first year we had the "Advent Wreath". I really enjoyed lighting the candles each week, and bringing the focus back around to Jesus. Last night the youngest nephew got to get in on the lighting of the candles. Our tradition of reading Luke 2 was carried on with my sister reading it this year. That was really nice. My brother continued his tradition of reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas", this time with the youngest nephew as well. It was so nice to see the "young, innocent, wide-eyed excitement of a child. :-)

Today we finished the Advent Wreath with a family prayer. I really appreciate Laslo leading us in such a beautiful prayer. :-)

And last, but not least, the food and the PRESENTS! Yes, the oldest nephew got the digital camera he wanted. :-) His favorite gift of them all. :-) And Santa did not disappoint "little one". He did bring the Buckaroo game. :-)

Yes, we did have our disagreements, and the kids did argue and throw fits. After all, we are a family. :-) But, all in all it was the nicest Christmas I can remember in a LONG time. I really hope we can do it again next year. :-)

By the way, I am visiting Laslo and Queen B in May. It would be great if I could come a day or two early, so we can play games and just relax before we have to go to the seminars. You up for it? :-)

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year.
Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

Wow! You're hearing from me two days in a row. That must be some kind of record. :-) I made a cake for the people who really helped make yesterday possible (see blog below)by buying most of the gifts. :-) I thought I would share the photos. I was pretty proud of it. I really like decorating cakes, and one day I DO plan to take the Wilton Cake Decorating class. I still have a lot to learn. Maybe some time next year. :-) Hope you like them. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

I was going to write to you about the wonderful, blessed day we had yesterday, but Cleggy did it for me. And once more, he did it better than I could. So, I am going to refer you to his blog to read all of the details. :-) To the right is Santa and his youngest helper. :-)

http://holmfirth.blogspot.com/

Merry Christmas!!!

Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

Sorry it has been so long since I have written.

Tonight I wanted to tell you about my favorite time of the year. Yep, CHRISTMAS!! :-) I have been busy the last couple of weeks, but it hasn't been the "hectic, chaotic" busy. I haven't been running around like a chicken with my head cut off worrying about buying gifts. My goal for the Christmas has been simple, "relax, and make sure the kiddos know the REAL reason we celebrate Christmas." :-)

We have made lots of memories, and thanks to my new digital camera I have documented them all. :-) The first thing was to make Advent chains, stressing the birth of Christ. We read books about the birth of Jesus, and a book about "The Best Thing About Christmas, Jesus." See a pattern here? :-)

The commercialism of Christmas has always bothered me. I think the show "Merry Christmas Charlie Brown" pretty much sums up how I feel about Christmas. I think it does for most people. We can't get bogged down in the presents, expense, time, etc... We can't get so bogged down that we don't ENJOY it, get so stressed we wish it would "hurry up and be over", and forget the REAL reason to celebrate Christmas.

I have just taken a laid back approach, and let the kids have fun. We have made ornaments, handmade gifts and ginger snaps; and have plans to make gingerbread men, assorted cookies, and cards. :-) Each time bringing it back around to Jesus. We are singing Christmas Carols, they rode in the parade together, and we talk about why it is important to GIVE to others rather than ask for what we "want". :-) The nephew participated in a Christmas play at church this evening that was about this very thing. I have to admit, when they sang "We bring our gifts, You bring Your presents" I cried. I usually only cry when I hear "Mary Did You Know", or "Silent Night". Maybe it was the song, maybe it was the pride of hearing/seeing my nephew as part of it, maybe both. I don't know, but it touched me. :-)

I have enjoyed this year so much. I love the smells, the lights, the music, and the holiday shows (Frosty, It's A Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol...)and I love watching them with the kids. They make it "magical". But most of all I love the look on the kids faces when we talk about Jesus's birth, and when I ask them "Why we celebrate" it is like music to hear them say "Jesus".

We are creating new traditions, such as the Advent Wreath, which again stress Jesus. I can't help it. I just love it. It is such a great opportunity to share Jesus, especially with children. :-)

I have two special Christmas Memories to share with you. The first was when my nephew was about 4 or 5. We read "Little House on the Prairie". The one where Laura and Mary got tin cups for Christmas. It really taught him that Christmas isn't about getting "things", but spending time with family. He LOVED it. So, that year we got him a tin cup, a new shiny penny, a peppermint stick and I made him a heart shaped cookie with white sugar on it. We put them all in his stocking. As soon as he opened it he yelled, "It's just like Laura's!" It was awesome.

The second is from my childhood. I was about 11 or 12, I think. My sister and I had asked for a stereo and typewriter. That was all we asked for. We were sure we would get it, not realizing the cost, of course. We were kids. A couple of weeks before Christmas our mom sat us down and tried to explain to us that we would not be getting the stereo and typewriter. She did not want us to be disappointed, so she wanted to go ahead and tell us. I thought she was just saying that because she wanted us to be surprised. After all, that is all we asked for, so that is all we were expecting. I even told her that. She tried her best to make us understand, but after all we were kids. Stupid selfish kids I might add. (At least on my part)

Christmas morning we did indeed awake to a stereo, a typewriter and a Kenny Rogers album. We loved them all, and used the stereo for many years. Unfortunately, it was also many years before I found out just how hard it was for our parents to get those gifts. Daddy put in A LOT of overtime, and worked odd jobs. They did that because they did not want us to be disappointed and because they loved us that much. I wish I had had the maturity back then to truly appreciate all that they went through for us. I will always remember that Christmas.

So, to conclude,let me wish you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

Just in case it hasn't aired in Neverland yet, let me fill you in.....


EMMITT BEAT MARIO, EMMITT BEAT MARIO.... :-)


Love,

Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

Days 4 and 5 were pretty much "low key" compared to the first three days of vacation. We left the hotel about 8:30 that morning to drive into Oklahoma City. Now, the directions said we were a little over an hour away, from Oklahoma City. We were supposed to meet the nephew's sister and her family for lunch at Pizza Hut in Del City at 11:30 am. We reached Oklahoma City with no problems. Then came the task of looking for 290 to get to Del City. This is where the problems began. Just to insert a little warning here, if you ever need to find 290 in Oklahoma City don't bother, because IT DOES NOT EXIST. Somehow a little elf changed my 4 to a 9. We were supposed to get on 240. I am still blaming it on the elf.

We got half way to Tulsa and pulled over to called his sister for directions. They had no clue where we were. We knew we were on Route 66, and we weren't supposed to be. Oh well, Mom wanted to see Route 66 anyway. So, we turn around and drove back to Oklahoma City. After a few more wrong turns we finally get back on 44 and find 240. Within 15 minutes we are at the Pizza Hut, and guess what time it was... 11:30! :-)

We had a great lunch and enjoyed a nice ride home. We went to the lake close to our hotel to look at the ducks. We went to a grocery store and bought things for sandwiches. We had an early supper, we were all in bed at 8:00 pm, and got up early for breakfast and to head home.

Our plan was to come home back through Witchita Falls and then to Weatherford, Corsicana, Athens and home. We woke up to rain. LOTS of rain. It rained all the way to Witchita Falls where it was raining harder. We called our sister for a "weather report" in Weatherford and Corsicana. She got on the "net" and reported that they too had lots of rain. So, we cut that entire part of the trip and went home the same way we had come up. I was disappointed, but the vacation had been so wonderful we just couldn't be upset for long. We stopped back by Mary's of Puddin' Hill, and stopped at a neat Mexican Food Restraraunt for lunch. Took us about 9 hours to get home, and it rained most of the way, but we sang just as much on the way home as we had on the way up. Mom never wants to hear the "Gas song" again, I am sure. :-)

As soon as we made it home we unloaded, put things away, started laundry, and went out for dinner. We were tired, but so rested and relaxed. It was great!!

I hope you enjoyed hearing about our vacation as much as we enjoyed going. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

To me day 3 of the vacation was THE BEST. :-) We left Witchita Falls about 8:00 am and drove into Oklahoma. We stopped at the Visitors Information Center to walk a bit, take care of business, pick up some more info about the things we wanted to see, and let the nephew by a t-shirt. This was just after paying the toll. Oklahoma has A LOT of tolls. I don't know how the people who live there afford to travel.

Anyway, we drove on into Lawton and our first stop was the Ft. Sill Museum. Now, I don't know why this did not occur to me sooner, but we actually had to go through a security check point. Not that we minded at all, it's just that it didn't occur to me that we would, even though I knew it was an operating military base. So, after going through security we made our way to the museum. Along the way we passed tanks, rockets, old guns that are on display, the barracks, and the officer housing. It was really neat to see all of that up close, and to hear the tanks and gunfire up close. This is where the army practices there shooting.

The museum was really great. We learned a lot about the original post, Geronimo, the Buffalo Soldiers, ect... David bought some souveniers for his friends, and we watched a 20 minute film about the history of the museum. It was very informative. The lady in the museum told us about the chapel on the base. It is the original chapel, and is the one they still use today. They also have a bell, and if you visit the museum you are supposed to go ring the bell. So, I have a really neat picture of the nephew ringing the bell.

We then made our way into the Wichita Mountains. Our destination, Meers Store; home of the 7" Longhorn Burger. Mom and I split one, but the "men" had their own, and finished it. These burgers are served on 9", tin pie plates, just to emphasis how big these suckers are.

After a very filling meal we drove into the mountains and the wildlife refuge. We saw some buffalo very close to the road. It was awesome to see them that close. We also saw hundreds of prairie dogs. Everywhere you looked there were prairie dogs. We drove into the Holy City of the Witchita's. This is a city built out of stone, and they perform the Passion Play every Easter. It is so cool!! The chapel has paintings of the 12 disciples on the wall, and angels painted everywhere, including the ceiling. Dave laid on the floor to get pictures of the ceiling. :-) After we left the gift shop we continued driving through the mountains, and then made our "treck" up Mt. Scott.

I have to brag on my brother here. The man does NOT like heights, but he drove over half a mile to the top of this mountain, and stopped twice along the way to allow me to take pictures. That's love for your family!!! They trip down was a lot easier. :-)

We then went to our hotel. We decided to just get fast food and call it an early night that night. This day was the most fun day, in my opinion. We laughed so hard that day, learned so much, and the weather was gorgeous. This is one of those days that you had to be there to really understand just how great it was.

Next time, days 4 and 5. That entry will be much shorter. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

Well, here are the details of day number 2 of our vacation. For the “cliff notes” version I encourage you to read “Cleggy’s” blog at the “White Horse”. :-) Wish I had written those instead. :-)

Ok, so the second day we woke up around 6:00 and got dressed. We put our things together, and ate a so-so continental breakfast at the hotel. We checked out and were on our way at about 8:00 am. I believe it was that day that dear nephew learned to sing “Witchdoctor”. :-)

In no time at all we were in Gainesville. We saw a sign for an outlet store and decided to check it out. It looked pretty cool, but did not open until 10:00 am. They had a huge pond out front, with lots of ducks. It was such a pretty sight that I had to “break in” my camera by taking some pictures. After all, I had a gig scan disk in the camera. It wasn’t like I was wasting film. :-)

It seemed that as soon as I opened my door the “northern” that we had been hearing about decided to hit. The wind was blowing so hard I had trouble putting my sweater, and it felt like the temperature dropped 30 degrees in a matter minutes, literally. I got my pictures, and we decided to drive around the historic downtown area and wait for the mall to open. I remembered that there was a neat train museum, and interesting courthouse/town square to occupy our time.

Turned out we picked the wrong weekend for that. The very next day they were having a “celebration of the depot”, so the museum was closed to prepare for the day. We decided to drive around and sightsee. It was really neat. Lots of big old houses, neat courthouse, lots of old businesses… We even found a pharmacy with an old fashioned soda fountain inside. We decided to wait for it to open. Dave and I got out and walked around the square “window shopping” and taking pictures. I am sure people looked at us and thought “hmph… tourist”, but I didn’t care. :-)

The pharmacy opened and we went inside. It was worth the wait. This place had the old counter, bar stools, Coke memorabilia, and old draft machine, 45s hanging on the wall, etc… It was cool!! We decided to order “dreamcicles”. Vanilla ice cream with orange soda. They were good. :-) Then, we were off to the mall.

Our first stop was the information center where we got a map of all of the stores in the “mall”. We immediately decided on 4 stores we wanted to go to. Turns out 2 of them had closed down, one being the toy store that the nephew desperately wanted to go to, and the other being the Bible store he desperately wanted to go to. Guess it was not his day. We went to the last two stores that did exist, and did a little shopping. It was disappointing, but it was a nice mall, and we had nice, cool weather to walk in.

Back in the car, more singing and laughing, we stopped at a Dairy Queen for lunch. We then made our way into Wichita Falls. Let me interject here how much MapQuest sucks!! The hotel was no where near the directions they gave. Thank God for cell phones! After calling the hotel for directions we arrive at the hotel in about 15 minutes. Good news, the hotel is in the same parking lot as a mall! :-) We decide to go into said mall and look around. We go into a couple of stores, look over the directory to locate a toy store. Finding none we head on to the hotel to check in, only to discover that directly behind our hotel is a Toys R Us. The nephew is bouncing off the walls at this point. Unfortunately, he was down to about $10 left of the days “spending allowance”. I make a deal with him later, and he does get to go to Toys R Us, so for those of you who were disappointed for him, don’t be too upset. :-)

We check into the hotel, eat at Denny’s, and head in for the night. Other than the hotel beds being too small, it was much better than the hotel the night before. We all rest pretty well, and David and I both enjoyed playing the Deal or No Deal game he bought at Toys R Us. :-) So, the day was very relaxing, fun (you just had to be in the car to experience and hear that stuff) :-) and “uneventful”. But we loved it.

More next time
Sincerely,
Wendy Darling… “Ooh, eeh, ooh, ah, ah, ting tang walla-walla bing bang”…..:-)

Dear Peter,

We made it back from vacation! :-) It was wonderful, and I will tell you all about it. :-)

On Tuesday I rented a Ford Taurus from the car rental company in Rusk. It was raining on Tuesday, so we took our time packing and set everything in the school room. When the rain “let up” I ran outside to open the trunk. I was very pleased to find it had such a large trunk. We loaded everything we could into it. The only things left to be packed were the things we would need in the morning, such as toiletries. :-)

We left Wednesday morning at about 7:30 am. (In my head I was singing “We’re Gonna Make It After All…”) With a quick stop by the local donut shop we headed out. Our destination was Denton, TX. About a 3 hour drive, maybe. We were prepared. We all had drinks, donuts, the nephew had the DVD player in the backseat, and we were well stocked with CDs in the front. My dear brother made 3 awesome travel CDs. He really put a lot of time and thought into the music he put on these. By the time we returned home our nephew had learned some new songs that we sang when we were his age. :-) More about that later….

Our first stop was in Greenville, TX. We stopped at the Audie Murphy/Cotton Museum. http://www.cottonmuseum.com/audie.htm if you ever get to Texas I highly recommend a stop here. We learned so much, and it was such a neat experience. Of course, the nephew was ready to leave before we were, but we still enjoyed it. I learned a lot about Audie Murphy that I did not know. I never knew he was a successful songwriter.

As the sign at the museum says we also learned about cotton, “from plant to fabric”. The “homeschool teacher” in me took over, and a lesson was “taught”. Maybe not learned as completely as I would have liked, but it was taught. :-)

We then drove to Mary of Puddin’ Hill. http://www.puddinhill.com/ It is a candy store. HEAVEN!! We sampled fruit cake, fudge, peanut brittle and cranberry butter. It was fantastic. I bought 1 piece of toffee candy, for $1.23, and I enjoyed it. :-) If you ever get to go there I encourage it. They do have sugar-free candy as well. :-) We got to watch them make candy through the “viewing window”. They even have a picture of “Lucy and Ethel” in the famous “candy wrapping scene”. It is so neat. They also had a carrousel and doll house made completely out of chocolate. (see pic above) COOL!!

After leaving Greenville we were on our way to Denton. Around lunch time we decided to stop at a grocery in the next town and find a park to eat lunch. We stopped and purchased pimento cheese, chips, rolls, dip and drinks. We asked the cashier about a park, but she only knew of one, in the opposite direction we were headed. We figured there had to at least be a roadside park/rest area up ahead so we journeyed on, keeping a close eye out for somewhere to enjoy our lunch. A few miles down the road we saw a sign for two parks, in the same direction. We tried to find the first one, following the signs. We ended up on some dirt road. After a few miles we realized that even if we did find the park we didn’t want to eat there. So, we made our way back to the “main road” and turned to go to the other park. We are so glad we did. We ended up at a big picnic/park area. The kind that people rent for large functions. There was a gazebo, pond, ducks, etc… It was NICE. There was even a small house/office. NO ONE else was there. To make ourselves feel better (okay, make me feel better) Dave went to the office and asked if we could picnic there. They were very nice and said yes. So, we unpacked our “stuff” and enjoyed a nice picnic.

It was so nice not being on a “schedule”. We just relaxed and enjoyed every moment. And took LOTS of pictures. Have I mentioned how much I love my digital camera? There was only one “scary moment”, and that was when the nephew dropped my camera. My heart went in my throat!! It is fine, so don’t worry. But, that was a very scary time for me.

We then got back on the road and went on to Denton. Turns out that MapQuest is not very good at giving directions. It gave us the directions for the where the hotel used to be, two years ago. Thank God for cell phones. :-) I called the hotel and got the right directions. We got back on the road and were soon at the hotel. :-) We checked in, put out things in the hotel, rested and then went to a book store. It was pretty cool.

We went back to the hotel. I took the nephew to the pool. We ordered pizza for dinner. Dave and the nephew went to the exercise room and enjoyed that for awhile. Mom and I took our showers. They came back to the room and took there showers, and then it was time for bed and TV. You would think this was really late in the day by now wouldn’t you? NOPE, it was about 8:00 pm. I fell asleep halfway through MythBusters. :-)

When we were little one of the things we loved about vacation was staying up past our bedtime. On this whole vacation we never stayed up passed 9:30 pm. And that was only on one night. :-) Man, I am old, but well rested. :-) So, I went to sleep with the sounds of the day(laughter, music, singing songs such as The Purple People Eater, The Partridge Family, Disco Duck, etc…) playing in my head. It was a great start to a great vacation.

Day two next time…. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

I hope things are going well in Neverland. :-) Remember awhile back when I quoted the Mary Tyler Moore theme? (insert song.... "we're gonna make it after all") :-)

Well, looks like we ARE going to make it. Vacation is 2 days away!! I have informed my family that I will not be 100% convinced until we pull out of the driveway Wednesday morning, but I am 98% there. :-)

I go to rent the car tomorrow. All hotel rooms are booked. Money is in the bank. Packing list is made, and has been triple checked. Road trip snacks have been purchased, and others will be made tonight and tomorrow. CDs for the road trip are being made, others have been picked out, and everyone has chosen the outfits that need to be packed for tomorrow. The itinerary and all brochures, maps and confirmations have been placed in a vacation folder. Substitutes for the nursery and my classes have been booked.

OK, does the word "anal" come to your mind? I know, but this is the first vacation we have had in so long, and I just want to make sure that nothing goes wrong, and we have a wonderful time. :-) We're really going to get there this time. Can you tell I'm excited!! :-)


Talk to you when we get back. :-)
Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

I hope you are doing well. How is the weather in Neverland? It is finally cooling off in East Texas. We are praying for a REAL fall and winter. :-)

I just had to tell you about a new singer that I have "discovered". Ok, so I heard about him from "FlyLady", but this guy is AWESOME, and I really wanted to share him with you. His name is Eric Dodge http://www.ericdodge.com/

Ok, first of all THE MAN CAN SING!! He really has a great "country" sound, but he also sings broadway. It's amazing. :-) Personally, I think he's better than Tim McGraw. Actually, I'll go as far as ranking him with George Strait. (You know me, Peter, if I rank him with George he has to really be something) :-) I encourage you to go to his website and listen to the songs there. I really like "What a Concept", "The Other Kid", and "This is the Moment". I LOVE the song "When I Was Your Age." To get to this song click on the "Good Things Utah" link. You get to watch the video of when he sang it on TV. Oh, did I mention how very good looking he is? :-) He also seems to be very genuine...humble. Can't go wrong there. :-)

When I first listened to the song, "When I was Your Age", I had to laugh. How many times did we hear those same sentiments from our parents and grandparents. How much "easier" we had things then they did. Now, I find myself saying those very same things to my nephews. I played the song for my 10 year old nephew. He didn't "get it". Oh, but he will one day. Just like the song says... :-)

Listening to this song brought back so many memories of my childhood. The "modern" things we had to make our life "easier". I mean, after all we had color TV! We got 6 channels!! If I remember correctly we got the three major networks, PBS, and two stations on UHF. In Houston they were channels 26 and 39. I remember 39, because that was the station Underdog came on. :-) We had electric typewriters. How much easier could life get? And those huge console stereos. Portable record players! :-) Almost every home had at least one telephone. Most people didn't even have party lines anymore. :-) We had small cassette tapes as opposed to those bulky old 8 tracks. How much better could life get?!

When comparing the kids of today with my generation sometimes I wonder how we survived without all of the "neccesities" of today. Cell phones,computers, internet, hundreds of channels on the TV, etc...It's like an entirely different world. Then again, maybe we had it better. But, that's a "blog entry" for another day. :-)

I encourage you to listen to Eric's song, and think about your childhood. Check out some of his other songs, and then purchase the CD. I don't think you will be disappointed. I really see this young man making it BIG very soon. :-)

Tell Tink and the Lost Boys that I said, "Hello".

Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

Tonight I had the best date I have had in years. Ok, so it is the only date I have had in years. Still, it was wonderful.

My date was very handsome, and polite. He has blonde hair, blue eyes, is almost as tall as I am, and 10 years old. Yes, my dear nephew and I went out on a "date". We went to a very nice restaraunt here in town. OK, normally I wouldn't take children to this place, but it was a special night and I thought I would take a chance that he has matured. He has been well behaved for the last few days, and is really trying to do better. He did not disappoint me. We had a very nice time, and he used his table manners. I only had to remind him twice to put his napkin in his lap. :-)

Even after my letter about exercising I decided tonight we would share a dessert. I RARELY order a dessert, but we decided to have one. We shared a slice of Chocolate Earthquake Cake. And you know what? I loved it and didn't feel a bit guilty about eating it. I am broke, but I don't care. It was the best $23 I ever spent. We dressed up, went out and made a nice memory. I even got a picture of us before we left so I can put it in the scrapbook. Hey, I'm a scrapbooker. :-) Just thought I would share my evening.

Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,

Well, after all these years I have decided that I do like exercising. Provided of course that it is in my own home and I pick the music. :-)

About three weeks ago I began to use this "pedal machine" given to us by our dear sister and her dear husband. I didn't think I would accomplish much, but it was moving and that was progress. I made a "cleaning CD" that has now become my exercise music. 63 minutes of music to be tortured by.... I mean to get healthy to.

I am now up 2.2 miles a day, with my legs. Then I do floor exercises for about 10 minutes and then a 0.5 a mile with my arms. After 3 weeks I have discovered that I do have more energy, I wake up faster, and I am able to walk more during the day. Ok, so when do the smaller size clothes come, because I need a pair of jeans and I don't want to spend $64 for a pair my size.

You may be wondering "what took me so long to come around". Well, I have always had valid reasons for not exercising. One, I do not want to do it anywhere but at home. I did not have the right kind of equipment. I am physically unable to do it right, and if I can't do it right I don't want to do it at all. My main reason, "I have no time". Believe me, with my schedule this is a VERY valid reason. I usually don't have time to eat much less exercise. How did I suddenly "find the time" you may ask? I get up at 5:45 am. Yep, you read it right 5:45 AM. I literally hop out of bed, make my bed (for FlyLady), and go straight to the torture device, uh... exercise machine. It is ready and waiting for me, because I set everything up before I went to bed the night before. I put on my headphones and start pedaling. I don't even think about it, so I can't talk myself out of it.

I exercise until around 7:30 am. I take a shower, dress to my shoes, eat breakfast, and then dear nephew and I begin his school work between 8:30 am and 9:00 am. Which would be about now, so I am off to teach.

Tell Tink and the Lost Boys I would appreciate your prayers and encouragement. A little Pixey Dust wouldn't hurt either. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Dear Peter,
I have been reliving a childhood. I say "a childhood", because the one I am reliving is not mine. It is my nephew's. I am reliving it through the little girl that I babysit. It occured to me the other day while we were watching TV. She was eating her cereal while I was attempting to pull away the wayward hair from her face. Then,I heard the familiar song... "Hey it's Franklin, coming over to play..." I instantly smiled, and that warm, fuzzy feeling came over me. It has been a long time since a child has watched the NOGGIN shows here.

Watching Little Bear and Franklin gave me that same feeling I used to get when I watched Sesame Street and Mr. Roger's. Maybe I am just being overly sensitive, because I swear I almost cried. To be young again, with no cares in the world except "what will I play today", "Do I watch Franklin or Blue's Clue's", and "Just how much can I get away with before Aunt Wendy has had enough and makes me stand in the corner for 3 minutes?"

It also made me long for the days of when my nephew was that age. I could do nothing wrong in his eyes at the time. Now, everything I say is an argument. He used to cuddle up with me to watch those shows. Now he is "too old for that". Everyday was an adventure with something new and exciting to learn. Now he is 10 going on 40, and already "knows everything". I didn't know the adults were the ones who got the "pains" when kids got "growing pains".

Does this make any sense? I don't know. I wish they could stay little just awhile longer.

Okay, I got tagged by Princess Ladybug. Here are my answers...

"10 years ago..."

I was working at the local "alternative school", still under the delusion that I wanted to teach public school. My older nephew was 2 months old, and we were taking every opportunity to enjoy spending time him. We had not, yet, met Princess Ladybug, but we did write and had become friends.

"5 years ago..."

I was engaged to be married; actually I called it off in July of 2001 so I guess I wasn't engaged anymore. I was homeschooling my nephew, and was the Children's Director at our church, and taught Sunday school.

"one year ago..."

I was still homeschooling my nephew, as well as a young lady in high school, and babysitting a two year old girl. I was teaching 2 classes at our homeschool group, was just elected Secretary of said homeschool group, and voted in to work in the church nursery.

"5 songs I know all the words to..."

Count your Blessings - Rosemary Clooney
Amarillo by Morning- George Strait (actually, I know most George Strait songs)
Just about every song in High School Musical
The theme to Hanna Montana
The theme to Franklin
Too many to name, actually...

"5 snacks I love and wish I could eat"
Oreos
Cheese Dip and tortilla chips
Turtles
Milk Shakes
Hostess Cupcakes

"5 places I'd run away to..."

The mountains in Colorado
Massachusetts
Tour around Texas
Disney Land

"5 things I'd never wear..."
Tube Tops
Mini skirts
Spandex
Bikini
Stiletto heels

"5 favorite TV shows..."
Alton Brown
Zack and Cody - with my nephew
Franklin - with little girl I babysit
Paula Dean
Fox and Friends

"5 greatest joys..."
My Faith
My Family
My Friends
Listening to good music
Scrapbooking

"5 favorite toys...."
My scrapbooking "stuff"
Computer
Crafting
Exercise "pedaling" machine

Okay, I can only think of four. I don't have many "toys".

"Tag Five People..."
The White Horse
Laslo's Semi-boring Adventures
Queen B Experiences Life
what if this is as good as it gets?
http://www.texcalif.blogspot.com/

Dear Peter,

This "assignment" was given to me by FlyLady. (www.flylady.net) I am supposed to write 37 lessons that I have learned in my 37 years of life. ( One lesson for every year old you are) :-) I chanllenge everyone who reads this "letter" to do the same. Here are my lessons that I have learned, in no particular order.

1. There really is no sweeter sound than that of a child laughing.

2. It is better to keep your mouth shut and have others think you a fool than to speak and prove them right. (Thank you Bro. Doug)

3. You really can't roast marshmallows in a microwave.

4. The Great Commission really is the greatest commandment in the Bible, and the hardest to follow.

5. I'm not as dumb as I used to think . I learned how to use a computer! :-)

6. Doodlebops IS more annoying than the Wiggles.

7. Water really is good for you.

8. When you don't listen to the Lord, there WILL BE consequences.

9. There is no greater gift than family.

10. Always plant in the evening, and use Miracle Grow. (lesson from Papa).

11. Less is more.

12. ALWAYS check www.snopes.com before passing on e-mails. (thank you, Dave)

13. Spell check is a good thing.

14. I can do anything for 15 minutes!

15. No matter how you cook it, liver still tastes bad.

16. There are no "coincidences", everything that happens is part of a master plan.

17. Time alone is not only nice, it is a neccessity.

18. The house will not fall down if company "drops by" and the floor is not vaccumed.

19. I don't have to eat the whole candy bar to be satisfied.

20. Be prepared!!

21. I do have good leadership skills, and I enjoy being a leader.

22. You must "stretch" and "grow" as a person or you will not be truly happy. (get out of your comfort zone)

23. If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours.

24. Organization is key.

25. No matter how bad you think your life is, there is always someone worse off than you.

26. Mr. Snuffaluffagus is REAL!!!

27. Character is everything.

28. To survive in this life you MUST have a good sense of humor. Laugh at yourself.

29. Hobbies save your sanity.

30. I will NEVER be perfect, and that is OK.

31. No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. (Eleanor Roosevelt)

32. Take advantage of "teachable moments".

33. Music really does make the world go 'round.

34. Live each day as if it really was your last.

35. ALWAYS take the opportunity to tell your loved ones that you love them. You may not get another chance.

36. Humility is not a weakness.

37. The older I get the more I realize I have to learn.