Identity Crisis

As long as I can remember, I have been identified as the "curly red headed" girl. Granted, when I was little it was much brighter, so there was no denyin' it was red. Mom could always spot me on the beach - the pale kid with the carrot top!

In recent years it has darkened to a calmer shade of amber or perhaps bronze. Although, now many people seem to be confused by its color and don't quite know how to categorize it.

When I was young it was sometimes considered strawberry blonde (one guy even called me blondie, but I think he needed to have his eyes checked) and more recently I'm guessing that people must place it in the brunette category.

Considering that my hair is the one part of my body that I do like, I find myself feeling quite disconcerted when someone no longer considers me to have "red hair."

Just the other week I was meeting a friend for lunch. She gave the waitress the description of "curly red hair", so she could direct me to the proper table. After I arrived my friend let the waitress know. The waitress indicated that she thought she was supposed to be looking for someone with red curly hair. Ouch!

At least my friend still thought it looked red! She seemed shocked that anyone would think otherwise. I relayed to her some of my stories of people telling me, "Oh, in this light you do have reddish hair!" or when someone else referred to me as the redhead in the room and the other person replied, "What redhead? There's no redhead in here."

I'm beginning to wonder if I'm holding on to some delusion here about having red hair. So let me know what you think. How should I describe myself these days? The lady previously known to have red hair but now its a shade of auburn or brown. What should I put on my driver's license?




Go ahead. Tell me what you think and I'll try not to cry about it!

Kitty IQ Test: Round Peg, Square Hole. What A Smart Cat!

Welcome to the Blog Party!

Welcome to my little corner of blogville. Grab a cup o' coffee (or tea if you prefer!), sit a spell and enjoy exploring the den!

My first post will give you a good idea of what to expect here at the den. I've only been blogging since the New Year and am enjoying keeping in touch with friends and family, as well as, meeting new friends!

Now that I'm a bit more proficient at blogging, I am starting to incorporate some regular features. Each Monday I post a Monday Morning Memory verse that is displayed on the sidebar for the week. Currently, I am working on memorizing Proverbs 31 and applying it to my life, marriage and family.

On Wednesday I enjoy posting a picture and linking to Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom. Healthy Habit Tips will also become a bit more regular as I continue to delve into the world of healthy eating and exercise.

At the Popcorn Diaries I review movies that we've watched over the weekend. On the side bar I keep a list of family favorites, including a count down for the next film in a favorite series, The Chronicles of Narnia!

I am married to a wonderful computer geek (term of affection here at the den!) and often post about our cubs, Darlin' (12) and Buddy Bear (10).

I am an extrovert. I enjoy hosting or attending parties and events with friends and family (and then posting about them!) I especially love decorating cakes for my cub's birthday parties and planning theme parties!

That about sums it up for me. I hope you enjoy your time at the den!

Don't forget to join the party and check out all the cool prizes:

• #72 A Webcam. . .cool! (from Liz)
• #112 & #130 I love Starbucks!
• Tons more stuff . . . so go check it out!

The Good Wife

This week my Monday Morning Memory verse is Proverbs 31:12 - She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.

I just added this one one to verse 11 on the side bar because it is easier to remember the two together. Just makes more sense.

The reason the husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value, is because his wife is good to him and does not harm him. The rest of the passage goes into detail on what that looks like.

To sum it up, the Proverbs 31 woman looks out for her man and treats him well.

Hmmm, so the focus for this week is. . . be nice!

Tooth Dismay

When Darlin' got glasses in first grade I was amazed how much she looked just like my cousin, Jill, when she was that age. In second grade Darlin' had to get braces due to the horizontal shark teeth she seemed to have sprouting from her gums! With the braces and the glasses she was the smitten image of my cousin. Pretty wild how those family resemblances work, eh? Darlin' is now in 6th grade and eagerly anticipating her participation in Jill's fall wedding!

This week we had the obligatory follow up at the orthodontist. It had been several months since Darlin' was told to sleep with out her bottom retainer in an attempt to allow the teeth to move out a bit for a proper bite. Hmmmmm, would have thought that the braces she wore for 18 months would have helped, but who am I?

Darlin' and I were both dismayed when the orthodontist proclaimed that she would need "phase two." Yup, you guessed it - she has to get another round of braces for 14 months! Poor thing!

After loudly lamenting future deprivation of gum, candy and popcorn, again, she accepted the inevitable and grumbled, "Thanks a lot, Jill."

Maybe I need to back off on those family comparisons, eh?

Happy B-Day To My Lil' Buddy!

Today is a milestone day for me and my littlest cub: his 10th birthday (sniff. . . sniff. . .when did my baby boy get to be so big?!) He is very excited to have entered into double digits whilst I, on the other hand, continue to be traumatized!

True to form, we had a celebratory weekend culminating with a special birthday dinner today. Buddy's birthday party was held at Chuck E. Cheese's. The kids had a blast! The only draw back to throwing a party there for older kids, is that they run through their tokens in the first ten minutes with all the arcade games. (Gone are the days of climbing and sliding contentment!) We managed to keep them active by rationing out our stash of extra tokens.

Lil' Buddy (who's not so little anymore. . .sniff. . .sniff. . .) wanted to do a race car theme for his birthday this year. (Yes, you are correct, this implies that every year the cubs have themed birthdays. It's a bit of an obsession on my part, but I do love planning parties. Remember Darlin's?!)

To round out the race car theme we provided Disney/Pixar's CARS plates, napkins and candle. The party favors were CARS stadium cups filled with candy, a Hot Wheels car and a CARS pencil. The pièce de résistance was the race car cake!

Top View

Side/Back View

Side/Front View

Pretty cool, huh? Buddy Bear loved it and so did all his buddies. Of course, the birthday boy had to have the piece with his name on it, which was basically the whole side of the car - still cute!

Despite the difficulty I had in getting a decent yellow and red color that would suit a race car, it was one of the easier cakes to decorate. The pan is a 3-D car pan from Wilton, so I didn't have to brave sculpting some semblance of a vehicle.

All in all it was one of the smoothest parties we've thrown. The most work I had was baking and decorating - which took some planning and foresight on my part as it was quite a busy week aside from party prep. The favors were soooo easy and once at Chuck E. Cheese's everything was a breeze.

Wonder how to top this for his 11th?! Sniff. . .sniff. . .sniff. . .

A Fortunate Man

I had the honor this weekend to do a short devotional at a friend's bridal shower (one of "my girls" from youth group, all grown up and getting married. . .sniff, sniff. . . I'm getting old!)

If you haven't guessed by now, I decided to speak on Proverbs 31. I was amazed while reading this chapter how many characteristics of the Proverbs 31 woman Amber already possessed. (I only wish I had such a head start entering my marriage 15 plus years ago!)

She is:

• a gem
• organized
• hard-working
• business savvy
• physically fit & strong
• a keen shopper
• optimistic (no whining allowed!)
• instructive
• able to manage and delegate
• not lazy or idle
• fears the Lord
• even knows how to farm!

Pretty impressive, huh?

My hope at the shower was to encourage Amber to continue to cultivate those Proverbs 31 qualities that are already evident in her. What a great way to enter marriage.

It was also a great reminder to me, and hopefully the other women present, to examine ourselves to see what Proverbs 31 qualities we already possess. Too often we view the Proverbs 31 woman as an unattainable woman that is beyond our grasp. This list of qualities should encourage, and at times, challenge and convict us to strive for excellence in our life, marriage and family.

What I love about Proverbs 31 is that it is a list of character traits for a young prince (v.1) given by his mother in alphabetical (Hebrew) order to help him find a wife. Here God provides the guys with a list of qualities to look for as they search for a marriage partner.

This reminds me of the many girl retreats I have led over the years (Amber was at the very first one!) At some point the girls take the time to think and pray about a list of qualities they want to have in their future husband. When I hear about them dating seriously, one of the first questions I ask them is, "Does he fit your list?" They proudly state, "Yes, he does!" (Come to think of it, I don't believe anyone has ever answered "no.")

What a privilege, we as mothers (or even mentors!), have to prepare our sons and daughters for marriage. Helping them to develop Biblically based lists of qualities and characteristics that the Lord finds pleasing for their future mate.

Amber is on her way to fulfilling the list God has given in Proverbs 31. Her husband will be a fortunate man, because he has found a Proverbs 31 wife!

Proverbs 31:11 - Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.