Dreaming of a Peaceful Christmas

If you feel pulled in too many directions during the holidays, check out my article, Dreaming of a Peaceful Christmas, published in Edmonton's Child on page 19 and elsewhere this month. It'll take a bit of time to download, but hopefully it'll be worth it!

A different version can be found at Montgomery Parents.

Shoot Me Now: Paint Colors

I've said before that I was born without that gene that makes a woman want to shop and decorate. Apparently God gave me EXTRA mothering instinct gene.

So we're (read: my husband mostly) redoing one of our 2 bathrooms since we'd like to move in the next few years (love the house, but live on a super-busy street where people like to drive drunk, speed and crash their car through people's fences and into their yards) and need to update every room in the house in order to sell it.

With every room he does, he gives me the courtesy of asking my opinion on paint colors. He knows I have no taste. He knows I can't make a decision. He's being nice. And so it is again with the bathroom. How many shades of WHITE are there? This white is too yellow. This one too orange. This one too blue. We've decided on Antique White, then had to decide on one of 6 different finishes ... the one that's easy to clean or the one that looks good? We usually go with something in the middle and hope for the best.

When Aron travels this winter, I've decided I'm gonna repaint the entryway (it's too light and shows all dirt) and work on the "girls' room" (they don't sleep in it yet) because it has a sports border and I wanna tear it down and paint the whole room. Any takers on coming over to help me? Keep in mind there will be 5 small children around, including Tasmanian Devil Eva.

The interesting thing is, I'd like to do this not because I ENJOY it, but to try to help my long-suffering husband out. I fear I may only make more work for him and also fear he won't like the color I choose. Ours is a strange, backwards, mixed-up household. But it works for us.

Taste in Overland Park, Kansas

Recently Aron and I went out for our Annual Date Night to a restaurant called Taste in Downtown Overland Park, Kansas. Here's us:


Here's what we ate:



Here's what Sam did while we ate and talked:


Here's the rockin' chocolate buffet on a plate we had for dessert:


The dessert came with a chocolate straw, which we made marijuana jokes about:



What do you want from me? My parents were quasi-hippies ... both with a great sense of humor.

Food rocked. Go there!

My Poor DIL

I've already decided I will call Sam's future wife the SamWitch.

Fireproof: Here Come the Kids

Tresa loaned us the movie Fireproof recently and we got to watch it last night and this morning. It was so clean, the kids even watched a lot of it, too. Aron's off this week and is supposed to be working on the bathroom remodel, but instead we slacked off and watched the movie ... Sam slept on me all morning and the kids played/watched parts of the movie. Callie has never met a movie she didn't like, just like her mom.

Anyway, it was a great movie. Loved it. Very cool. It had an important message even if you aren't religious in any way at all. Does anyone else think the main chick looks just like the Duggars' new daughter-in-law? Maybe it's her sister. Oh, and we think it's cool that Kirk Cameron didn't kiss the actress, but had his wife stand in and kissed her instead. Take THAT, Hollywood! They've been married 17 years and have 6 kids (aka a Catholic Starter Family).

I think they need a sequel, though. It would involve the characters having lots of kids. Heck, even a couple would test that Fireproof stuff. Aron's homeschooling the kids in some simple music stuff right now, and he's getting a little taste of active boys and trying to teach them during a time when they'd rather be doing something like jumping up and down or hitting their heads against the wall.

So, the movie would show what a marriage goes through when you have kids. Come on, people, together we can come up with an awesome sequel screenplay. Give me your plot ideas, and I'll throw them by Kirk.