I love this version of the song by Iz.  And I thought that it was one of Jason’s best performances.  Found this on You Tube and for those of you that missed it (or didn’t appreciate it the first time around LOL), here it is again.   There is a studio version that is awesome by Jason as well.  Can anyone say “Amblin hopes his album comes out soon”? 

What I loved about this is three things:  Perfect pitch/voice, heartfelt, and amazingly…he LEARNED the ukelele that week to play this song.  Yes, that’s right…had been playing it just that week.  Amazing! 

And now, I promise..no more Jason posts.  LOL  Well, I’ll try at least. *grin*

(studio version of Jason Castro singing “Travelin Through”)

I’m a thirty something mama of 4 with just a tad of hippie in me…but I am SO sad that Jason Castro has left American Idol.  Yes, I know it’s not earth shattering.  And I certainly know there are more important things in this life than American Idol.  But for 2 hours each week, I lose myself in judging voice, watching talent, and enjoying personalities on this show. Yes, it’s flawed.  Probably fixed.  But it’s also fun! ;)  And Jason brought out the hippie chick from under the Mommy layers, I suppose.  It was fun to watch him sing his soul out and handle the flack with class, smiling all the while.

So, here’s to a young, hippie, dreadlocked dude who has a terrific voice, perfect pitch, strong Christian faith, and was just plain fun to watch.   I’ll miss you!   American Idol won’t be the same but I’ll probably still watch.  Won’t vote..but I’ll watch.  LOL

So we have done some landscaping here at the Amblin household.  And I use the term “we” rather loosely.  In this case, “we” means a landscape team we hired and paid.  LOL  It turned out beautifully and we have 6 major beds in the backyard with various trees, shrubbery, etc.  We also have one large island bed in the front side yard with a crape myrtle, rose bushes, and perennials.  I noticed a few weeks ago that the perennials weren’t flowering…hmm….Upon closer inspection, I found that something was chewing off my flower buds!  My husband saw the culprit later that evening in the backyard…a LARGE rabbit! 

Now, I love bunnies from a distance.  They are cute and friendly.  BUT, not when they eat my flowers!  However, I am an animal pacifist so we got some bunny friendly repellant info online.  I went to Home Depot with my eldest and youngest children to purchase some pepper/garlic spray and a few other things to repel said bunny.
While standing in line, an older woman was ahead of me.  She had a palletful of perennials and with a very thick Russian accent asked me what I was purchasing.  I told her about the bunny and here was the conversation from there:

“You have rabbit in your garden?” (russian woman)

“Yes, unfortunately” (me)

“Ahh..vell…it would make a good fricasse” (russian woman)

“Oh, uh, yes, I suppose” (me with a slight smile and chuckle because I’m not sure if she’s kidding or serious)

“Ha ha” (laughs the russian woman) (and I think, okay she’s kidding) “But seriously, it vould be good” (russian woman with serious expression)

(Okay, maybe she was serious I think) I smile

“Good luck with the rabbit” (russian woman as she’s walking to her car)

I’m left wondering if the good luck was for getting rid of the rabbit or for preparing the fricassee!  Either way, I’m staying with the bunny friendly spray and a prayer that he moves on to other gardens far from mine!

Today, I realized that in my suburban mom older age, I have become what I used to giggle at as a young wife/mother years ago.  Okay, maybe not even that long ago, but definately way before I discovered Starbucks. 

 Pre-Starbucks, I used to completely not understand the appeal of a good hot drink ordered from that venerable institution.  Yes, it was good, I’m sure.  Yes, it smelled yummy.  But come on….it’s coffee/tea/cider people.  And all those variations??  Please…just fix something at home.

 Well, flash forward to today:

 ”I’d like a Tall Sugar-Free Cinnamon Dulce Carmel Apple Spice no whip”

Yes…those are the words that came out of my mouth.  Quickly, effortlessly, honed by a couple of years of practice.  And I waited eagerly, took a small sip, and sighed.  I now understand.

Today,

1)  I spent the wee morning hours with one children who had a bad dream.  Instead of sending him back to bed with a hug and a kiss (as I usually do), I laid down next to him for a bit while he drifted back to sleep.  Hearing his breathing even out, seeing his face relax, reminded me of those days when he was a little baby.  It was precious time for this mama.

2)  I gave my older son some morning freedom today.  Instead of starting off school right at 9am, we started later while he played a new game.  He was so thrilled to have me say “yes” to that idea!

If you’ve been reading here lately, I’m doing a 15 mins better each day.  I’m going to post them here so that I can have a record and be inspired.  Here is yesterday’s:

 1)  Instead of hurriedly rushing through my morning, I sat and played with my youngest.  When he wanted to play all the colors in Hi Ho Cheerio, I said “sure!” and so we did.  I had a wonderful time with him and that hour of play was full of memory making moments.

2)  I spent 30 mins pretending my dressed-up 10 year old really was a man named “Mr Wiggles” come to fix our computer and have a little snack.  The doorbell rang while I was in the midst of doing computer stuff.  I answered and there stood my son, in dad’s tie, a stuffed shirt, men’s dress shoes, and a suit jacket.  He announced in a British voice, “Hello, I’m Mr Wiggles and I’m here to fix your computer”.  I played along and had a wonderful time with him.

Title above is kind of odd isn’t it?  I couldn’t think of any other way to title this post though.

It’s been awhile.  I’ve been traveling, been sick, and then just plain had writer’s block.  Ugh.  But now I’m back and hopefully here to stay. 

Mary over at Owlhaven (www.owlhaven.wordpress.com) is doing a really cool thing.  She’s decided to continue to do her best as a wife/mother each day but is aiming to do 15 mins better.  Then she lists what she’s done.  I thought it was a wonderful way to encourage myself to live in the moment instead of living on a list, checking off each “to do”.  So I have decided to do 15 mins better each day.  And I’ll post here for accountability and encouragement…assuming of course that I still have readers! LOL  Otherwise, I’ll guess I’ll just be posting to me at first.  *grin*

Last night, I went out to dinner with a homeschool moms group that we just formed in our neighborhood.  We went to a great Greek restaurant!  I’ve not ever had Greek food and man oh man is it good!  I stuffed my little self!  Including a half serving of Baclava cheesecake…a slice of toasty gone to heaven sweetness.  Yummo…my mouth is still watering!  We had some great conversations about life, homeschool, curriculum, children, Haiti, and all sorts of other topics.  I love to get together with other women and just talk.  It’s fun to hear all the different perspectives and experiences that we as women have stored up.

 This morning, we have to leave an hour earlier than normal to get to the dentist.  One of my children has an extra tooth (!) that is coming in all of a sudden.  So, we’re off to figure out how to have that taken care of.  I have a feeling it involves anesthesia and an extraction. 

 Talk to you soon!

Merry Christmas to all of you!  I hope that this Christmas touches your heart, provides miracles to your souls, and causes you to see just a bit more clearly the wonder that is Jesus Christ.

Happy Birthday, My King!  You are Lord of lords, King of kings, mighty God, Lord of Everything.  You’re Emmanuel, You’re the Great I Am, the Prince of Peace who is the Lamb.  (taken from a favorite phrase song)  Whenever I sing that song, Lord, I am reminded anew of how much You gave me at Christmastime.

 I was thinking the other day while driving about God and His son Jesus Christ.  All of a sudden I was struck with the truth of how God brought forth His son into this world, knowing all the while the pain and death His precious son would suffer.  And yet, still, His plan was there.  I knew all of this, but for some reason in the car the other day, the truth of it struck my heart.  And I wept.  Tears of gratitude, of unworthiness, of joy, and of sorrow.  My God, how much You love Your children.  Thank you!

Shannon at www.rocksinmydryer.typepad.com is doing the weekly Works for Me Wednesday.  She’s asked us to give our best quick “yikes what’s for dinner” recipe.  Ours is a Cuban meal (of course!).  Frijoles negros or black beans & rice for y’all who don’t speak Spanish.

 Ingredients:

Cooked rice

2 cans black beans

diced onion (1)

diced green pepper (1)

2 garlic cloves

olive oil

Start rice cooking.  In another pan, heat 2 TBS olive oil until frangrant.  Saute the onion and green pepper.  Add the garlic when the onion begins to soften.  Once all is golden and translucent, add the black beans straight from the can (do not drain).  Add 1-2 Tbs olive oil and 1-2 tsp salt.  Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer.  When the rice is done, serve over rice.  The longer the beans simmer, the better they are.  I also serve a salad from a bag with this. 

Works for me!

I know…inexcusable.  No posts for a month.  Yikes!  I’m really sorry. :(   Life gets busy and going around the holidays for us and I just haven’t been online a whole lot.

 Jenny Craig is going so well!  I’ve lost 9 pounds and 8 1/2 inches in 5 weeks.  I am so excited!  Even my skinny pants are baggy. LOL  So far, I’m loving Jenny Craig.  The food is really good and it’s teaching me a lot about portion control, caloric intake, and exercise.  My breakfast this morning was:  Scrambled eggs with cheese, turkey ham, and potatoes. I also had diced apple and some cranberry/apple tea.  Yumm-o!  Lunch will be creamy potato soup with cheese, spinach salad with balsamic dressing and a slice of whole wheat toast.  Dinner is Barbeque chicken pizza and a vegetable serving.  Dessert is Triple Chocolate Cheesecake.  All of that food plus a fruit snack during the day is only 1200 calories.  (What I need to eat in order to lose weight).  Cool beans!

 In other news, we’re doing fine here.  We’re looking into a private school for our eldest beginning next year.  It is a great school and will really be able to meet his needs for high school.  We’ve applied and will find out in March if we get in.  He’s had a student tour, a student visit day and I’ve had 2 interviews plus a tour.  It is a fabulous place.  Please be in prayer with me that this will work out and he will be able to attend. 

Yesterday, our family went to a local state park.  It was gorgeous!  The leaves are in the last few stages of color, with a lot of leaves already on the ground.  We hiked, played at the playground, and had a rousing game of soccer.  Our family loves to be outdoors this time of year and it was so nice to reconnect with each other after the busyness of the week. 

 What types of things does your family do to reconnect?  I’d love to hear from you!