A Tribute to Homeschooling

Once again, the source of almost all of my humor hook ups of late, Jessica (and apparently Mindy or Sara maybe?) found something HILARIOUS.

I didn't catch it on either of their blogs so I'll post it here. Go to Jessica's blog to catch the "Cletus take the Reel" (Jesus Take the Wheel) spoof. SO funny!

Here's "A Homeschool Family" by Tim Hawkins .......

Girl's Night

The group photo.... gotta love time delay! At least our eyes are all open

It's 9:30am right now and our Girl's night just concluded seven and a half hours ago! Yep, we were Par-TAY animals until 2:00am! Well at least Tammy, Catherine, Beckie, Laura and I lasted that long! And other than the fact that my head feels like it's going to explode this morning, I don't feel a day over 21 :)
We had the bubbly flowing (Martinelli's) and the Fondues were SOOOO yummy!
Lena worked the hot oil fondue and cooked chicken and steak. She also did a tempura batter and we made onion rings and other veggies. Aren't vegetables always vastly superior when battered or dunked in cheese?!
We had two kinds of cheese fondues and dipped broccoli, cauliflower, apples and breads in those. And of course the chocolate fondue was awesome. We dipped strawberries, bananas, pound cake, coconut covered marshmallows and brownie bites.
I think we all probably gained at least 4 pounds last night but laughing burns quite a few calories, right?! My face seriously hurts today from all the laughing we did!
We sure missed all of you that couldn't make it! I will definitely be hosting again sometime in the near future so stay tuned.....
I have to give a shout out to Tammy, Lena, Shanna (so great to meet you!), Becky, Bethany, Jill, Beckie, Tami, Laura, Catherine and Sherry for SUCH a fabulous time! I am SO blessed by each of you sweet girls!
And Brett was totally entertained by what it is exactly that women discuss after hours :) LOL!
Much love to all of you and I can't wait until next time!!!!
I meant to make sure lots of great pictures were taken. We were all too busy apparently!
Well, I do have other pictures.... but they will only be used for blackmail purposes.

L1 & L2

Tammy and Bethany

The Ladies Man

We trade off sitting with the Waxenfelters every month so the grown ups can enjoy date nights!
Well, it looks as though Matthew and Abby enjoy their date nights just as much!
The last time we were over to watch their kiddos this little photo op transpired between the two of them.
So stinkin' cute!
I think they're in love :)

Mom's Overture

I am sure most mommies have seen this but if not, you need to. And if you need to laugh right now, watch it again. I got to see Anita Renfroe perform this live at the Women Of Faith Conference this last fall. She is hysterical!
So here is her Mom's Overture.... Everything a mom would say to her child in a 24 hour period sung to William Tell Overture.... done in just 2 minutes and 55 seconds :)

Giving some L-O-V-E

I've been inspired to spread some love by an incredible love spreader!
When you are going through hard times, be it physical, relational, spiritual, financial or otherwise you find out who in your life is really a true and faithful friend.
I am blessed with many incredible sisters that I can say this about but one in particular is on my heart today.

Maybe you'll recognize her beautiful face....



So, to embarrass, I mean BLESS her, I am going to make a top 10 list that will just scratch the surface of what I love about my beautiful friend, Laura Ashland.

1. She shares my first name so that in itself obviously qualifies her as way cool.

2. She is the most stylish chica I know. No seriously, she's a mom of three little kids who manages to almost always dress and accessorize to the T. Oh, and did I mention that she somehow pays like pennies on the dollar for all of her designer duds?!

3. She is one of the most generous people I have ever met with everything from her time to her money. She watches her friends' kiddos anytime, including mine, any time she's available and without hesitation. I know for a fact that some of these kids have had the stomach flu on her watch and she lovingly took great care of them. Um, WOW.
Here are two examples of her sweet generosity:
Knowing I'm sick today, she volunteered to bring our family dinner. I haven't decided whether or not we're going to take her up on it, but just the offer is SUCH a blessing to my heart.
On Thursday morning I was feeling exceptionally sad.
So the Lord sent me a little blessing. I was on the waiting list for the amazing Brittany Jenkins who had a random cancellation that afternoon (thank you Jesus!) and could get me in for a trim and some highlights. Laura watched the boys for me so I could at least have cute hair for a couple of hours :) Doesn't that always help a girl feel better?! And actually just hang'n for a little bit after I got back was the greater blessing.
Crowns in heaven my sweet friend!

4. She is an amazing listener and encourager. That's pretty self explanatory. She has blessed me so much lately with a listening ear and encouraging words. Thank you for that!

5. She is always up to pray for and with you. What a gift it is to have someone not only say they'll pray for you but do it right then and there. I definitely have been trying to pay that one forward.

6. She is not a complainer. In times of personal challenge, she draws nearer to the Lord and blesses His name.

7. She is a great story teller. I could listen to her all day easily!

8. She is FUN-ny!!! Hilarious in fact :) Just play Bunco with her sometime!

9. She's a great mommy and a great wife. She'll probably argue with me on this one but she truly blesses her home and family in multiple ways.

10. She's an amazing chef, a fantastic decorator and the best gift-giver. OK, so those are three separate things but I said I would stick to 10 :)

All that to say that I love you SO much Laura! You bless me beyond words and I am so grateful for our friendship. You are honestly one of the main reasons I cannot see our family moving far from Sherwood. I would miss you WAY too much!
Keep doing what you're doing for as Galatians tells us...

Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

May the Lord pour out His countless blessings upon your family, and multiply back to you what you do for others in His gracious abundant ways!!

Josh's 5th birthday party pictures!

The lovely, amazing and immensely talented Mindy Strauss took Josh's 5th birthday party pictures. She is such a blessing in ways far beyond the magic she works with a camera!
We tried to "book" her almost a year ago for family pictures that we wanted taken outdoors. Outdoor shoots in Portland in the Spring are always a gamble. You never know what the weather will do and I think we tried to schedule three different dates and got rained out each time.
Then she had to go and have that adorable baby of hers! :) :) :)
Well, she sweetly worked us in her busy schedule a year later and we made sure the venue was indoors this go round.
Because our party got too large for the adorably painted standard party rooms at the Children's Museum, they put us in an exhibit area/private reception room that happened to be empty and available. There had been a wedding there (possibly between 7 year olds?) the night before and the room was decked out with some rather interesting decor, lol! Think hula hoops, animal pictures and pinata type things hanging from the ceiling! The area was great for crazy, energetic kids because it was huge! But it was also purple.... very purple, and red, blue, pink and maybe yellow? I am SO thankful for the black and white pics!!
Here are a few of our favorites. The rest can be found on our Picasa web album site
Just click here to check 'em out: http://picasaweb.google.com/blbodine

My poor little sickie

The reason I'm posting at 3:20am is because my sweet little Matthew is sick. Whenever he comes down with a cold/virus and it works its way into his little chest, it's bad news for him. He has asthma or at least reactive airway disease..... something along those lines. When he coughs it causes inflammation in his airways and his breathing gets labored. He just could not stop coughing long enough to sleep for more than an hour at a time tonight.
We went downstairs and cuddled on the couch. He now has a fever as well so I played doctor mom and gave him some Motrin and some cough medicine. He needed a breathing treatment and I didn't realize I was out of Albuterol. That's always a great thing to find out when it's 1:30am.
From his several past trips to the ER, I now know what to look for in distressed breathing. Thankfully the vapo patch I put on his chest was enough to at least calm the cough enough to put him back to bed after an hour. I tried to get him to sleep with me downstairs but he kept suggesting we watch a movie together instead :) He also wanted a "granana" (banana) because "my tummy's hungry, mom." I seriously could eat him up when he says things like that in his sweet little voice.
I am praying he is better by Sunday. Resurrection Sunday truly is the most special day of the whole year to me. I cherish and love this day far more than Christmas even. We don't want to miss out this year as we know it's going to be one of the most memorable services we Creekers have yet experienced. Please pray for our little sweetheart!