Wuve, twuu Wuve

 

Anytime I think of the word “Love”, I think of the movie Princess Bride and the famous saying.  With February upon us, the worlds focus will definitely be on love.  However, our church as really been focusing on love for a while.  And February will just magnify it even more.

God’s #1 mandate for our lives is to Love God, Love People!  The tricky part comes in with the loving other people.  Yes, we may think we can love other people pretty easily or the ones that are easy to love.  What about the unlovable people in your life? 

God wants us to love people as God would love them.  Wow, like that should just hit you smack in the head.  We aren’t supposed to love people how WE think they should be love, but how GOD wants us to love them and commands us to love. 

So how is that working in your life???  I know that definitely means some changes in my life.  So here is my challenge for you…while we are in the month of LOVE, evaluate how you love.  Are you loving as God commands?

Nice Surprise

While we were having fun with family, we went into a cute, hip store down on Mill Ave.  I was with my absolutely gorgeous and skinny SIL and her mom (who is just as skinny and gorgeous).  As we went into the store to look at their 75% clearance rack (even though I had no money to buy anything), I got a little nervous because I feared I couldn’t fit anything in the store.  And my SIL immediately found a top that she thought would look great on me and begged me to just try it on.  I secretly looked at the size and it was a large and I still thought “yea right.” 

Well, I agreed to just try it on and guess what….it actually fit!  I didn’t have any problems putting it over my head or anything.  I was shocked.  We were in a shop that skinny, hip college girls shopped in and I was actually wearing a shirt in this store!  Well, it turned out that the color and cut just didn’t look right.  But then get this….a shirt that my SIL’s mom had tried on was given to me to try on (and let me tell you, she is much smaller on top than me).  So without even thinking about it or looking at the size, I try it on.  It was a tiny tight in a few areas, but I will be on weight watchers again and it is a tight fitting shirt in those areas too.  But all-in-all it FIT!!!!  My SIL loved it on me so much that she said she would buy it for me. 

So I got a cool shirt now that I can wear out on a date or shopping.  And to boot, while we were eating dinner later I happen to look at the size of the shirt and guess what……. A SMALL!!!!!  I was completely shocked to say the least.  Yay weight loss.  Now to get off the last 20 pounds and down to my goal weight!  I will have to post a picture of the shirt when I have it on.

Christmas Wrap-up

Wow, what a great December/Christmas we had.  We did a lot of fun activities with the girls and family.  I had many times that I wanted to blog, but just found that I didn’t have any time.  We were so busy, I had to try and catch up on sleep when I could.  I did get sick and am still on antibiotics, but it hasn’t been anything too serious (though I did miss all of Christmas Eve with ML’s family with a throwing up child). 

Our event's consisted of: walk-thru Bethlehem/live Nativity with the girls and friends, Christmas Under the Stars with our church, sleepovers with friends and grandparents, bowling on Christmas Day with family, road trip to Sedona, Jerome, and outlet stores, Tempe Town Lake, going to the movies, and shopping for a needy family and delivering their presents.  Well, that’s all I can remember right now. 

We just love spending time with our families.  It was extra special because we have South African family that was in town for 10 days and we got to spend tons of fun with them.  This was the first time the girls had met them and they immediately fell in love with them.  I think we created some great memories for the girls that they will remember for a lifetime. 

And now that today is the first day back to school, it’s time to get the house back in order and mommy to rest and get back on a good schedule.  I am glad that 2012 is here and so excited to see what God has in store.

Happy 2012 to you!

Balloon Glow and Tree Lighting

I just love our town.  They have so many family friendly FREE events.  This was the first year we went to the Balloon Glow and Tree Lighting.  Of course, I go to take my first picture and the camera’s batteries die.  So these pics are compliments of my cell phone (not too bad).  Unfortunately, the picture of the tree didn’t turn out.  But, boy, were the balloons awesome.  We got to get up close and personal with them. 

We were so close we could feel the heat from the fire and smell the propane burning.  It was awesome for ML and I and for the girls.  We had never been that close to hot air balloons.  And getting to watch them from beginning to end was soooo cool.  Now if only we could for an actual ride.

Christmas Kid Funny

Driving to school the other morning:

  Little Miss A:  "Mom, can you smell my breath this morning?"

          Me:  pausing for a long moment and thinking "no, I don't realy want to"


          Little Miss A:  "Mom, can you smell my breath this morning?"


          Me:  and then it hits me..."Yes, I think we can SEE our breath this morning"

Gingerbread House Fun

We always end up doing Gingerbread Houses at some point doing the Christmas Season.  We have become “honorary neighbors” to some friends of ours even though we live several miles away.  Our friends were hosting breakfast for their neighbors and we were invited.  It was such a cool thing, I hope to do it for our neighbors one year.  But anyway, my friend Veronica bought the simplest stuff for the kids to make gingerbread houses with.  My girls had so much fun and it was so easy.  I will definitely do it this way next year (just use graham crackers, frosting, and candy).

 

Fibro Friday: Back Injections

A couple months ago I started physical therapy as part of my pain management.  Another part of the treatment has been having injections in my back of steroids.  I have had 2 injections now and thankfully they are working.  The first one started working pretty fast which I was happy about since I have heard you never know what might happen.  And the second one worked and the doctor said we could stop at 2 which is awesome.

It is pretty interesting when I am done with them and being released.  My legs, especially my right, become very numb and I can’t walk.  It was quite humorous I can imagine watching my mom and I the first time trying to get into my house.  The second time, ML went so that he could be with me and I think he was shocked at how much it affected my legs.  Good thing he is nice and strong and could get me into the house with no problem. 

I am glad to be done with them for now and so thankful that they have worked.  Woo hoo for pain going away!!!!

Thanksgiving Reflections

What a fun month November was.  Looking back, I can’t remember everything that we did, but I do remember a lot of baking.  I can’t tell you how many loaves of my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread (to die for!) I made.   I also found a recipe for Pumpkin Cream Cheese Truffles and tried those…to die for!!!  Those were a bit hit and I made 4-6 batches of those (I can’t remember now).

It has become our tradition to host Thanksgiving and I love it!  ML always helps clean the house which helps and my mom even helped this year.  It makes it so nice that everyone chips in and helps cook so ML and I aren’t stuck cooking everything.  It turned out to be a nice, relaxing even with family.  And of course, we ended the night with our family tradition of watching “Christmas Vacation” with Chevy Chase.  Can’t get any better than that.

One thing I didn’t do this year was the 30 days of Thanksgiving.  But everyday I am so reminded of things to be thankful for.  The Lord has blessed me and my family so much that I am reminded to be thankful for more than just 30 days in November.

Happy December!

Awww, I love the holidays.  There were so many times I thought to blog during November and I just never got to it.  We had a great Thanksgiving and loved the fall season.  And now I am ready for Christmas!  The house is 95% decorated and we are getting scheduled with tons of festive, Christmasy stuff. 

I have some fun events planned to get out and share with others and love on others during this Christmas season so stay tuned…

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done."

Psalm 105:1

Saturday Random Play

I love listening to my girls play.  They are so creative and hilarious with some of the stuff they come up with.  Their favorite things to play are drive-thru (now that it is cool enough they play through the open window), dentist, beauty pageant, and now that I am in physical therapy, they play physical therapists. 

Some of the things they come up with you now are things they hear from us as parents.  Miss G and Little Miss A were playing Barbie’s and this is what I heard:

G:  Let’s go on a ride (in the Barbie car).

A:  Ok, I want to sit up front.

G:  No, You and your husband sit in the backseat and me and my husband will sit in the front.  That way we can each have some quality time with our husbands.

 

We were also talking in the car the other day and Miss E tells me that she doesn’t want to marry a tall man (because she is going to be short).  And Little Miss A blurts out “I want a husband that will carry my boxes!”

Boy, I just love these 3 girls the Lord has brought me!

Thanksgiving vs. Christmas

I absolutely love Thanksgiving.  I get upset when so many people and stores forget Thanksgiving and go straight to Christmas.  We have so much to be thankful for and it’s like people just forget all about it.  It’s sad that we need to force ourselves to remember to be thankful for stuff and even then people want to pass over this day/month. (ok, off my soap box.)

Well, with that said, I messed up this month.  We accidentally as a family (including ML) stumbled upon the Christmas Hallmark channel this weekend.  We are now ALL addicted.  Every weekend from now on they are playing Christmas movies.  So I am torn because I am now in the mood for Christmas.  I still want Thanksgiving, but I kinda want to put my tree up.  (some one told me about a thanksgiving tree, maybe I will try that next year.)

I know, I know, I am a hypocrite this year.  I feel so bad.  Why is there not more time between Thanksgiving and Christmas?????  Then we could celebrate Christmas longer and wouldn’t be on a time crunch to put everything up in a few days right after Thanksgiving.  Maybe we should start a Nationwide petition to move Thanksgiving to earlier in November.  Anyone with me???

Shift in Alliances

There has been a shift in alliances in our house.  For years it has been, Miss E and Miss G that have always been together non-stop, ganging up against Little Miss A.  They shared the room, they wore the same outfits, watched the same shows, etc.

Well, now the shift has changed and Miss G and Little Miss A are best of friends.  Since Miss G is in the middle, she can fit in with the older kids and the younger.  So she is so friendly and willing to watch "baby" shows with Little Miss E.  The clothes are moving down children, so now Miss G and Little Miss A have matching outfits.  They now share rooms and Miss E has her own.  They like to play with each other and keep Miss E out of their games. 

It's just so interesting to see how the relationships of sisters work.  And I know there will be another shift again at some point.  I just love that they still play with each other and care for each other (for the most part).  May they grow up staying close to each other. 

Fibro Friday: PT Test Results

Well, I had a few takers on my little experiment.  Thanks for all who tried it out.  Most people that tried it just ended up standing there and nothing happened.  For me, in less than 7 seconds I was over like a ton of bricks.  My physical therapist had to catch me.  And when I showed my family and my oldest, she just kept saying “do it again!”  She thought it was so funny.

So what does it all mean????  It has to do with your sense of balance and your core strength.  Now, I have always known that my equilibrium has been off and my core strength is horrible.  Interestingly, my therapist also asked about ear infections and sinus infections growing up and said that would affect my inner balance also.  And in these last few weeks I have actually been fighting a sinus infection.  So that’s what the test explains.  My therapist also said the more you do it the better you would become at it.  So guess I’ll have to keep practicing. 

R.I.P. Grandpa DiVito

 

Dominic Charles “Pop” DiVito.

4/17/1923 – 10/21/2011

Father of Frank, Robert and Margaret (McGuire)

Husband of Polly

 

DiVito, Dominic Charles 88, of Surprise AZ went peacefully to the Lord on Friday, October 21, 2011.  He was born on April 17, 1923 in Boston, MA to Italian Immigrant parents Antonio Vincente DiVito and Margaret Cenci. He was a Veteran of the WWII Army Air Corp and retired as a Civil Service employee from Luke Air Force Base in April of 1985. He was a Third Degree Mason and a member of Chalcedony Lodge #6 F. & A.M. in Holbrook, AZ for over 50 years. Dominic is survived by his wife of 66 years, Polly; his sons Frank (wife Dixie) and Robert (wife Cathey); daughter Margaret McGuire (husband Mike); half brother Anthony DiVito of York Harbor, ME; 11 grandchildren, Beckey Clow, Claire DiVito, Daniel DiVito, Sarah DiVito, Tim DiVito, Kara Gentry, Erin Holland, Conlin McGuire, Shauna Ross, Mike Stone, & Nathan Stone; and 16 great grandchildren. His favorite term of endearment to us all was "Dopey Kiddo" which will forever remain in our hearts. His hobbies were to tinker in his shed and collect old or rare reference books. We kindly appreciate and thank Hospice of the Valley for all their help and support during his last days. In lieu of flowers we ask for donations to be made in Dominic's memory to Hospice of the Valley, 1510 E. Flower St., Phoenix, AZ. 85014.

PT Test

Yesterday I started PT (physical therapy) for the 2nd time (different doctor, new insurance).  It’s to deal with my major back and leg pain I have going on and my  newly diagnosed bulging disk.  Just by the little stretching my PT therapist did with me, I feel an improvement already.  But what I was so interested in was this little test he gave me. 

As soon as I came home, I started asking everyone to try it to see what their response was to it.  So…I want you to try it.  Here’s what you do -   BEWARE DO THIS NEXT TO SOMEONE OR NEXT TO YOUR BED/COUCH…I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INJURIES INCURRED WHILE TRYING THIS OUT---YOU ARE FOREWARNED!!!!

1.  Put your feet together and stand straight up

2.  Cross your arms over your shoulders and put your elbows up a little

3.  Get ready to start counting by seconds

4.  Clothes your eyes

 

So what happened?  Anything?  Did you fall over?  How fast did you fall over?  How long did it take for you to fall over?  Or were you able to just stand there with no problem?  I want to know how other people responded.  The only problem is I forgot to ask what all it means LOL.  I think it has to do with my equilibrium, which I have always known was off, but I will ask when I go next week.  But PLEASE let me know your results.  I am just SO curious.

Make-up: Part 1

I am honestly not that vain of a person (minus the gray hair part).  Do I go out of the house without make-up on?  Yes.  Do I pull my hair up and just go run errands?  Yes.  I can be seen in my worst and have been seen in my worst.  But for your average, feeling well day I choose to get all dressed and ready before I leave the house.  I choose this for me!

I was recently at a Mary Kay party where a friend’s friend was talking about her everyday appearance.  How she drops off the kids at school in pj’s with no bra, rarely ever wears make-up, and doesn’t care what outfits she wears when she is out and about (I told her she needed Stacy and Clinton from “What Not To Wear”). 

This conversation really made me think.  As women, I think a lot of us get to the point where we just don’t take care of ourselves.  We just let ourselves go.  Where the same things around the house, never do our hair or make-up.  We are just stuck in “mommy life.”  It was after my 3rd child that I started slowly with my hair.  I was done with the ponytail look, everyday, morning and night.  So I made the step and went for a cute hairstyle.  And I have kept it ever since.  And now with the weight loss, I had decided that enough was enough.  I am taking charge of my own body. 

So mommies it’s time to take charge!  Take charge of your beauty and your life.  It will make you feel better, it can even improve your marriage.  But it’s time.  Do it for yourself.  You deserve it and you owe it to yourselves and to God.

 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20  (NASB)

^“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

Mommy Confession

Hello, my name is Beckey and I have gray hairs.  See that, plural, I have multiple gray hairs.  And I am depressed….well, not in a real depression sort of way (I know life could be way worse).  Out of everything I have received from genetics, I tend to receive more from my dads side. EXCEPT THIS!!!!  This comes from my moms side, who started graying by early 40.  My dad is the one who finally started getting gray in his 60’s.  So why did I not get this ONE trait from my dad????

I really wonder if it has to do with all of the heavy meds I have been taking over the past 8-9 months.  But this stinks, and it is only on one side of my head (the same side as my mom).  I probably notice it more than anyone, but I know other people have noticed it.  I am 33 and NOT ready for gray!  so it is time to do something about it.  I want to feel better about myself and I want to feel as young as I really am.  This week I will be experimenting so I’ll see if I come up with something I like (don’t worry, professionals are involved).

Miss A. Funnies

Miss A. is definitely the 3rd child.  She comes up with the funniest things and they just blurt out of her mouth.  Here are a few to add to the list:

hanitizer = sanitizer

cockcorn = popcorn

The phone rang the other morning and it was a solicitor so I didn’t answer it.  And Miss A. says, “what if it’s the mental institution?”  Who knows where she got that from.

Fibro Friday: Doctors in My Life

I have been thinking lately of all the doctors in my life and boy are there a lot of them. Most weeks I have at least 1 doctor appointment.  At least 1 or 2 weeks a month I have 3 doctors appointments in that week.  And I have needed to make appointment for my girls, but just haven’t had any time.  Besides my primary and girly-doctor, I see a Pain Specialist, Sleep Specialist, Rheumatologist, Neurologist, and Breast Surgeon.  Oh, and I just got cleared by my Endocrinologist and Dermatologist and I haven’t seen an Allergist in a while. 

Thank the Lord for great insurance and time to go to all these doctors.