14 weeks, at least I think.

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but it's been a while since I updated on my hair. I realize, it seems a little silly to do this, but I really think at the end of the year, it will be fun to look back.

THE END OF THE YEAR.

I have 8 months to keep growing out this hair. Oh my word. I had better get something good out of this. 

 Toilet photo.

 No makeup photo.

 Sit on the floor photo.

 And here we are today.

 All for you husband.

One Earth Day, we ALL went geocaching.

My cute children, suffering yet again for me to take another picture. It was Sunday, and as on most Sunday's I always make them pose for me, into the DIRECT sunlight. Brilliant mom.

 Sunday, also happened to be Earth Day! Normally, I would not know that, but people were talking about it online, so going geocaching with the family, felt sorta earthy. Still quite chilly yesterday, but I didn't want to be the big bore and stay home again, so off we all went.

 Pierce was our compass man.

 Compass gives you directions where to go, and how much further you have.

 Being directionally challenged as I am, honestly more like handicapped, I just looked around and acted like I knew what we were doing.

 Once you get to the area where your cache is, you just start searching.

 And searching...

 And searching...

 And searching....so if you enjoy searching, this is the game for you!!

 I searched too, but my attention only holds so long. Plus I was cold, so I stole Paul's jacket and just tried my best to keep my mouth shut, as to not ruin their fun.

 Paul is sooooo much more determined than me. After 10 minutes, I was like, mmmmm k, it's not here, let's go.

 But his persistence paid off, because check it out, he found it, in a rock.

 IN A ROCK!

 Someone took the time and effort to drill a hole in a rock.

 And a tiny piece of paper inside, said rock.

 To sign and let the geocachers of the world know, I too, found this. I rule.

 My cup of tea? No. But I'm always up for getting out with my family, and the kids had a great time.

Anytime the family has fun, I in turn have fun, and any day that ends with mud on the bum I declare success.

You geocache, I will watch mindless t.v.

Ever heard of GEOCACHING?  Yeah, me either. 

Geocaching, according to the geocaching people is this.....a real-world outdoor treasure hunting game. Players try to locate hidden containers using GPS enabled devices, and then share their experiences online. 

I was given a short lesson on all this information yesterday, because Paul has taken an interest in it. 

See that mess all over the map? Those are caches ( I think that's how you describe it) all waiting to be found.

On Saturday, Paul was meeting up with some friends to do some searching, and the ORIGINAL plan was for me to be there as well. But once I ventured outside and felt the temperature, I suddenly had a heart change. I'm all for doing most anything, even if I find if yawntastic, but I want the elements to be in my favor. So with a nod of approval, I sent them out without me.

Apparently the kids LOVED it.

Loved being outdoors, loved the searching, and even getting a few treasures in the mix.

And an opportunity to spend time with their outdoor loving daddy, is always a winner in my book.

And I had an opportunity to do something, I RARELY ever do.

Sit on my bum for two hours, ALONE, and watch t.v.!!

I am not a big t.v. person anymore. When I have spare time, I am usually either listening to music or messing around on the computer, so the idea of just sitting and watching t.v., well, it kind of excited me!

 

I settled in with a blankie, and set out to be entertained.

I started with some Paula Deen....

Who made me crave cupcakes. How sweet do those look?

Then I moved to CHOPPED, which made me think of my mother-in-law.

I kind of got bored, so then I tried out a dance show, but this bored me because of the yapping judges....

And then, I SUNK to levels of low I should not admit.

Oh yes, I did.

Then it dawned on me why I don't watch much t.v., because it stinks. So I tried to play a little DrawSomething, but everyone left me hanging, which I'm REALLY trying to not take as a personal attack on my skillz. 

 And then I was so bored I decided to hack Paul's FB, which I have never done. Apparently boredom brings out the childish behavior in me.

Seriously, I was just bored after 2 hours!! Sure, I had plenty of busy things I could have done, but I was just being lazy, and found myself actually wishing I was geocaching in the 40 degree weather. 

Thankfully, I was finally saved by one of my all time favorite movies, You've Got Mail!!

And even better? My family was finally back home to watch some of it with me.

Next time, I'm joining the fun, even if it's snowing.

226,954 miles.

I kinda feel weird blogging this, because it's just about a thing, a possession. But I talk about most everything on here, so here goes. 

This van right here, as ghetto fabulous as it was, was a gift from God. 

 Literally a gift.

First we lost our car, then we lost our house. Both of those things, really hard to live through, but I have to be honest, living without a car affected me more.

I don't really remember how long I went without a vehicle, but at the time it felt like an eternity! Stranded at home, depending on others to get me to and fro, and honestly, no means to an end in sight. Pierce was on the verge of starting kindergarten and I was stuck feeling desperate, thinking I had no way to get to school for anything.

Prayer, after prayer after prayer was going up, for some kind of answer, and in the 11th hour when it seemed hopeless, and answer came, and it came in the form of a van.

That van has carried us for almost 2 years, and it's a SHOCK it's lasted this long. No working air conditioner, countless issues popping up, and of course, hearing me coming a mile away. Aside from all those issues though, I have been grateful for that van. It's a reminder of mercy.

But here we are, 226, 954 miles and the ol' van, is barely creeping down the road. The kids would often ask me, "Mom are you even trying to drive?" "Oh yes kids, the pedal is on the floor. Let's just crank up our Jay Z Celine and ignore it, okay?"

 We picked up, our new to us vehicle yesterday, and I am happy about this for more than the obvious reasons. Happy to not sweat out another summer, yes. But happy that it represents Paul's good health and hard work.

 Could we end up car less ever again? Of course. But for now, we are going to enjoy it.

Let's go Hope....time to crank up some Phil Collins and go fill a stereotype!

Thankful.

My sweet friends.

For about 5 months now, I (along with many other ladies) have been going twice a month to visit with some women. These are women (men and children) who live in a foreign land to them, living around unfamiliar people, learning an unknown language, and have very limited resources. Can you imagine how scary that would be?

Let me back up a little bit though. This for me, is all very new. I've never been out of my comfort zone, and always lived a very sheltered life so to speak. Reaching others, and people in need was never on my radar, for various reasons. Main reason though? Just plain selfish. 

I was always too busy thinking about me. My home, my needs, my children, my hangups, my people's hangups. ME. ME. ME. 

But you want to know what can change all of that real quick, fast  and in a hurry? 

Lose your possessions.

All of a sudden, things become clear. Crystal clear in fact.

  The things you once thought were important? Eh, not so important after all. I can remember begging God, "If you would just help us out of this, I will help others, I promise."

Well, God answered, and now it's my time to do what I can. I'm sad, it took all of that to open my eyes, but I'm grateful to have finally had them opened. But this really isn't about me. All I wanted to do was introduce you to my sweet friends....

Pink eye is a good excuse to stay home and party with mom

Phone rings this morning

"Hello"

"Mrs. Bush, we have Pierce up here in the office. His eye is red and he's complaining that it hurts"

"Oh, okay"

"Yeah, I really can't tell if it's allergy eyes, or pink eye. I think you might need to get him seen."

"Okay, I will be there in about 10 minutes"

And with that we were at the doctor who confirmed, "conjunctivitis" Keep him home today, give him some drops and he can go back to school tomorrow.

 Did anyone hear the screams of joy from here? Because just like that, a party was born.

Pink eye is kinda awesome. It hasn't slowed him down one bit, and we've had a day to just play around.

Video games.

 Trying to beat me up.

 And lots of outdoor time to ride bikes.

So, let me show something pretty darn funny. We cannot find Pierce's bike helmet ANYWHERE, we have searched high and low. Paul was really um, brilliant, and said, "just use your sparring helmet!"

Oh my stars.

 I can't help but just laugh sometimes, at what he looks like riding his bike.

 And Hope was having a grand ol' time with her brother at home too.

 Until her bike broke down, and mom couldn't fix it.

 Nothing that a little pretend play couldn't fix though.

 And I hung out in our van, for what will probably be the very last time.

Stay tuned....