Teens/Children and Internet Security

When Miss B and Charlie were younger, it took a long time for me to let them access the internet without me right by their side the entire time. I progressed to letting them surf pre-approved sites but absolutely NO SEARCHING!

About three years ago, Miss B wanted her own facebook page and Dr. Love and I made her register under her nickname and our last name (which is different than hers). We weren't sure what facebook was all about and we wanted to maintain her anonymity. And there was the caveat that we knew her login and password information. A few months later, we were more comfortable when Charlie joined and he's under his own name.

When the kids got phones, we wrote up call & text usage rules, explained them in great detail, made them explain them in return and made them sign their names to the rules. One of those rules is that Dr. Love or I can (and do) check the text messages sent/received at any given time and woe to you if you've deleted your entire in/out box!

So when I was given the opportunity from BzzAgent to join a campaign for TrueCare Awareness Online I was not of a mind to be a part of the free, 3-month trial subscription. But then I decided to try it just to see what it's all about.

This is how it worked: As a BzzAgent, I was given a free, 3-month trial subscription to the TrueCare program. In return for the free subscription, I was asked to evaluate the program and share my opinion with my friends. Hence this blog post :).

I signed up with TrueCare, gave them Miss B's online subscription logins, etc... and then began receiving alerts when certaiin words & phrases showed up in her posts, notes and comments. Suprisingly to me, I got alerts when she used the word "fire." She was quoting song lyrics about God's refining fire. I got others alerts as well, she once wrote of "hating" something, but there was never anything that was truly inappropriate for her to write. I do like that any alarms words/phrases written by anyone else on her page show up in alerts as well.

I realize that not all parents are as vigilant as I am. I am blessed that Miss B's & Charlie's relationships with Dr. Love and I are good ones. I don't seem to have sneaky kids. (I believe I know why but that's a topic for a different post altogether!). So, I think the TrueCare Awareness Program can be of good value for some parents. The cost is low, only $10/month.

I don't plan to continue the service once my trial period is over. I still have a good handle on the kids' friendships, internet usage, etc... But I do recommend it for anyone who is looking for a little extra help!

Miss B Started Her Own Blog...

...and you can read it here. I admit to prodding her just a little to start it. She has several friends who blog and since she has such wonderful writing skills (I know, I'm biased!) and is funny & wise, I really think she needs the creative outlet writing a blog provides. I also helped her get it started-just some basic how-to's.

Of course, I had no idea that her first post would be about me and it embarrasses me a little and thrills me too. So head on over to Buttercup's Crayon Box and leave her some love!

And by the way, I'm officially on vacation for the next 12 days and can't wait to spend some time with my Dr. Love!

Leslie

It's Been Awhile (6 monthes!)...

Busy Worker at Home emailed me a month or so ago to ask me if I still blog. I suppose that I should answer that I don't since it's been so long. Life got very busy when Jack-Jack (aka The Young Prince) began sleeping less, crawling, etc... Then came summer with everything it held-including the computer takeover by my children. Then school started and Jack-Jack came back too. So, rather than try to do a catch-up post, I've decided to post some random highlights. Here goes:

My kids are both driving now on permits. When Miss B drives, I keep one eye on how she's doing and the other on my iphone or book. When Charlie drives, I buckle up tight and bite my nails.

Dr. Love got me an iphone for my birthday. I LOVE it! If you play Words With Friends, reply to this post with your user name and we'll start up a game!

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN is a wonderful place. Even though it took so long to get an appointment, it was well worth it. And, God knew what was going on with Miss B all along and He timed the appointment right.

Charlie now has a stuffed marlin hanging on the wall above his bed. A dear friend from college had it for almost 20 years and gave it to him when she redecorated. This led to many fun "Marlin" moments while we were on vacation.

The Shenendoah Mountains near Harrisburg, VA are hot the last week of June. Very hot. Can't go outside hot.

Miss B joined Charlie at Faith Christian School this year. She adores it!

Do you remember my dear life-long friend Connie? The one who made me this quilt? She's going to be a grandma before the year is out. A grandma to identical twin boys! You can see Connie & her daughter pre-marriage at the end of this post.

Autumn is back...my favorite time of year. I love apples, pumpkins, cider, falling leaves, bonfires and the like. I like the word "autumn." I love the colors and the crisp air. I like burrowing under the blankets next to Dr. Love with the bedroom windows open all night. I like the sound of the coyotes howling somewhere in the fields around us. I like Autumn decorating better than any other!

Jack-Jack toddles around like a drunken sailor. He likes to play ball & is pretty good about delivering it right to me. He also likes to hand things over one at a time & then have them handed back the same way. He's a lot of fun!

I finally painted over the ginormous harlequin wall in my bedroom. That wall is now pink. Before I'm done, it will be a soft red. But since it took me 3+ years to paint over the harlequin, don't count on me being done any time soon.

The picture at the head of my blog was taken just a couple of weeks ago. It's my front entrance and Miss B. She's prettier than any of those flowers!

I think the biggest reason that I've not blogged is because of Facebook. I do like Facebook; I don't think I waste too much time there as others claim to be doing. I've been able to reconnect with friends from childhood and my teen years and also keep up with friends who've moved away and those I left behind in NorthWest Indiana.

So, no promises about when I'll blog again but if you know me personally, don't be afraid to call!

Leslie

Ornament Swap/Birthday Celebration

I am participating in "The Enchanted Forest" Ornament Swap! It's hosted by Yarni Gras! over at Yarnigras Swapper Spot. Signups close on October 31st, so if you think you might want to join in, hurry here to check it out!

We had a nice birthday celebration for Miss B and Charlie. Sunday afternoon we took them to our local mall and let them choose their own gifts from their favorite stores. Then we took them to dinner.

Tuesday morning they showed up wearing these sweaters which were chosen at different stores and donned that morning without prior agreement. We never realized that they were doing the "twin thing!" When they were little, I didn't dress them in identical outfits but in things similar to what you see in the picture that follows. Up until now, I haven't realized how much bigger than Miss B that young man is getting to be!

Then yesterday, on their actual birthday, they exchanged the gifts they'd chosen for each other. It was so sweet to me how each of them thought about & chose (with their own money, no less) something special that they knew would be appreciated. For dinner last night, I fixed something that Miss B especially likes and made a caramel apple cheesecake that Charlie requested. It was quick though, so that we could do our normal Wednesday night stuff (youth group, nursery, choir, etc...).

I'll leave you with a picture of the cheesecake....Enjoy!

Homecoming Dance

As you know, Miss B is a Freshman this year and tonight is her very first homecoming dance. She bought her own dress & shoes weeks ago and is meeting up with a group of friends. She's a whiz with nail polish but I treated her to a mani-pedi this afternoon. She wanted to wear her hair down and asked me to curl it. I know that I'm biased, but sometimes when I look at her, I can't believe this beautiful girl is my daughter! God certainly blessed me with her, and I am honored to be her Momma.

The very best part was when she walked over & stood next to her twin brother in her three inch heels and still didn't come close to his height! If you missed my Pink Saturday post, scroll down to see Miss B as a baby.

I love you my sweet girlie!

Pink Saturday

Another week has gone by and it's time for Pink Saturday again! Our wonderful host Beverly at How Sweet The Sound hosts this for us and it seems like we add more great blogs every week! Last week I visited Mimi at Our Family Attic for the first time and boy, did I find a kindred spirit! And, she visited in return and won my giveaway! Pink Saturday is all about meeting new blog friends and sharing our love of the color pink. Please take time to go see Beverly, scroll down the list of this week's participants and meet someone new yourself!

My pink this week is a photo I came across yesterday while searching for something else. Does that ever happen to you? If you've read my blog much in the past, you're sure to have seen pictures of Miss B and maybe even one or two of Charlie. Well, this picture is from Easter of 1995 when they were 6 months old. I still have both of their Easter outfits and they both got quite a laugh when I brought them out last night. I love the delicate smocking on Miss B's dress and her pink baby lips.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend and a happy Pink Saturday! Hugs, Leslie

A Shirt Story

Back when Dr. Love and I were preparing for marriage, one of the things we discussed was our budget. We both were working full-time and one of the things we included in the budget was the cost of taking his dress shirts to be done at the cleaners. We had an agreement that I would never have to iron his shirts.

After a year or so of marital bliss we decided that I would (could!) quit working and we worked on our budget again. Needless to say, one of the things that would have to get slashed was the cost of our dry cleaning. To me, ironing became a small price to pay for getting to stay home! So I purchased a nice iron and a wonderful over-sized ironing board.

That was five years ago. Thus begins my shirt saga. Now, Dr. Love has many shirts and for this I am eternally grateful. Because for some reason I can't keep up with the ironing! Is there enough time in the week? Yes. Do I enjoy having 10-15 shirts staring at me from the bottom of his hamper? No. Sometimes they get washed & hang for weeks in the laundry room all forlorn until I finally get around to pressing them. Sometimes the very last shirt is taken off the hangar from the closet one morning and the next morning I am hurriedly ironing a shirt from the laundry room toput on his back that day!

To add to this ironing chaos, my son now attends a school with a dress code. He must wear a collared shirt (tucked in and belted) every day. He's allowed to wear polo shirts except on chapel days when he must wear a tie. Does he wear polos? No. He prefers dress shirts. And I lobbied and willingly signed him up for this! The bright spot in this particular part of the shirt saga is that I am teaching him to iron for himself (something hubby can very well do but what kind of wife would I be if I allowed that?!). I've started small: he irons one of his shirts each time I'm ironing them. He's been warned that we'll be working up to his doing his own ironing. Ironically, he's worn a polo shirt every day this week!

It is with great pleasure that I direct your attention to the picture at the top of this post as there's a good end to my story: this morning I knocked out six shirts and,except for the shirt that Dr. Love is currently wearing at work, for the first time EVER I'm caught up!!!!! And lest you get the idea from the picture that I'm analytical, I arranged them by color to make you laugh.

Here's the cliffhanger: Will I work hard to stay caught up OR will I take eight weeks off? Tune in..............

Pink Saturday

This can't be me...I would NEVER wear shoes that clunky! Although I did purchase yet another pair of pink shoes yesterday: a fabulous pair of Carlos Santana faux-alligator leather with kitten heels and extremely pointed toes in the palest of pink. Oh, and I found them at Goodwill! (never worn!)

My baby girl entered high school on Thursday. She can't be that old, can she?! Just yesterday I sent her off to kindergarten! On Wednesday, before a stint at the mall, I took her to meet up with Dr. Love for a special lunch. We talked about how her life is changing--gaining new priviledges and the responsibilities that go along with them; we talked about how we love and support her, etc... And then, are you ready for this? (I wasn't!) Then, she brought up that dreaded word....DATING! And I sat there thinking to myself "maybe God could call her to a life of singleness." Except, well, I DO want some grandbabies someday.


Anyway, Happy Pink Saturday! Please visit Beverly at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/ for a list of 150+ Pink Saturday posts. While I can't visit every blog that posts for PS, I try to visit all the first-timers and then choose some at random each week. Make sure you leave Beverly a sweet comment...she works very hard to moderate Pink Saturday for us! Thank you Beverly!

Pink Saturday/VACATION!

My apologies in advance to Mimi & Bebe for posting a picture they consider less than flattering!

As tomorrow is our first official day of vacation, I think it's fitting to show this picture from the Flope Family Vacation circa 2007. After all, Miss Mimi Flope is wearing her pink shirt!

Every family is normal until you spend an hour with them and we are no exception. We have several idiosyncrisies--one of them is that we have many nicknames for each other. The year this picture was taken, Miss B's friend Miss L was able to accompany us for the week and we were treated to her incredible sense of humor. She fit right in with us and The Flope Family was born.

This year, we've decided to do a "staycation" of sorts instead of spending a week in "Up North" Michigan as we usually do. We're very excited that Miss L is joining us again! We are blessed to have our own pool, a hammock and a nice firepit so we'll make use of those. We plan to spend a day in Ohio at King's Island and will also have a morning of jet-skiing here locally.

So Happy Pink Saturday everyone....be sure to check out Beverly's blog at http://http//howsweetthesound.typepad.com/ for more PINK!

Leslie

6th Anniversary

As promised, here is the vintage anniversary card I received from Michele. Isn't it pretty?!
Dr. Love and I celebrated with a relaxed weekend. I so enjoy just being in his company whether we're snoozing, sharing a snack from the same plate, catching up on the shows we've DVRed, or whatever.... I am so thankful to God for the blessing of my wonderful servant-leader husband!

Friday Favorites

I start today with a picture for all you quilt and/or baby lovers. Here's my grandnephew on the first quilt I made. I think he's exactly the finishing touch it needed!
I finally got tired of Charlie looking like a bumblebee (there's no shadow, that's all hair!):
And took him for a haircut. I'm going to have to stay more of top of this when school starts back in the fall!
Finally, I snapped a few pictures of Miss B as she headed out for dress rehearsal for her summer theatre class (she gets 3 credits for this!). The title of the musical is "Back to the 80's". Personally, I think her hair needs to be bigger!

Happy Friday!

My older brother is 9 years my senior and I adored him as I was growing up. My favorite memory is still when he would sit me in the huge newspaper basket on the front of his bicycle and ride me around the small town where we grew up. Most times he would stop and take me into the drug store so that I could choose a few pieces of penny candy. He left for college when I was a 4th grader and got married and moved away when I was in 8th grade. His first son was born when I was a high school Sophomore and his second son followed my Senior year. After I graduated and moved away in the opposite direction, I was able to see those boys a few times each year and we began vacationing together every summer when they were middle school age. I have always loved those boys and during those vacations I developed a respect for them too. I watched them get married to wonderful girls and have sons of their own and I've been blessed to hold those babies too!

Here's a picture of me with nephew #1 in 1981

and with his son, my grandnephew #1 in 2005


Here I am with nephew #2 in 1982

and with his son, my grandnephew #2 earlier this week

If you're reading this guys, I love you!
Auntie Leslie

Happly Father's Day!

Because Dr. Love has his High School Academy starting tomorrow, we celebrated Father's Day today. He got to sleep in and then be a contestant on his very own game show, created just for him by Miss B. His gifts were homemade and he loved them! Both Miss B & Charlie took turns at the sewing machine to work on their individual gifts. When the race was finished, we spent some time in the pool together & just hung around as a family. All in all, I don't think the good Dr. could have asked for more!
I adore you my wonderful husband, awesome partner and World's Best Pai!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Whew!

Last week was extremely busy! I know that Monday was full but I can't remember with what!

On Tuesday I cleaned the sunroom really well, including all the windows, even the high up ones! I re-arranged the furniture in there too. I also dusted off and in some cases re-arranged & re-attached my tins in there.

My neighbors (and friends!) next door are expecting their first baby in August and on Wednesday I helped scrape wallpaper off the walls in what will be their nursery. Now you know my issues with wallpaper! I prayed the night before, asking God to help it come off and He did! There were only 2 walls and it took up about an hour to strip each wall! Then we washed them with T.SP and did the remaining walls also. They're planning an elaborate "under the sea" theme that should be pretty cute.
I also had a friend of Charlie's overnight whose parents were out of town.

On Thursday a dear long-time friend arrived with her son for an overnight visit. We had a great time catching up and also got in a little thrifting. Here's a not-so-great picture of us:
Friday night was the Greater Lafay.ette Heart Ball and in preparation I had my hair styled at the salon I've finally settled on here after 2 years! In addition to my firend and I receiving complimentary parrafin hand treatments (because I'd pre-booked the appointment on a previous visit) I also received a complimentary make-up touch-up. Which in my case was my entire face done for the evening! That was a huge treat! After a wonderful day of friendship I had a marvelous date with Dr. Love. And, we're famous! A shot of the top of his hair and my back flashed across the local news as they covered the Ball. Good thing my hair looked fabulous!

Earlier in the week I had promised Miss B that I would sew her dress so that she could wear it yesterday. I stayed up pretty late Saturday evening getting it together. I encountered a few things with the pattern that I hadn't done before, and the zipper gave me some trouble too. The end result rivals any store-bought dress, in my humble opinion. Here's a shot of her showing it off before we left for church yesterday morning. She already had the red shoes from a winter outfit and so she chose the fabric to go with them!


At church, Pastor Viars began a new series entitled "Finding Hope From Your Past." This first sermon focused on ways our pasts can benefit us. When he was finished, he challenged us to examine our pasts and make four lists this week: victories, blessings, forgivenesses and failures.

Yesterday afternoon we dropped off Charlie at Purdue's College of Technology TOTAL Camp. He's got a fun week scheduled. Here's a picture of him with his roommate, a nice boy from Merrill.ville.

This week is shaping up to be slower. I'm hoping to work on my quilt most of today. I do have two pair of shorts to sew for Miss B and her 80's prom dress to alter for her theatre class but I'm planning to save those for tomorrow.

I hope you have a great week too!
Leslie

Strippy Bag

This is the bag that Miss B and I created together. She saw a similar bag at Target that she liked for $20 so we set out to make our own. She picked out the fabrics, made a newspaper pattern of the shape that she was looking for, decided how wide the strips should be and placed them as she wanted. I did most of the sewing except for the strap. The inside is lined with the beige-y fabric. She's been using it to tote her essentials to theatre class in the afternoons.

One week down...

three more to go. Miss B is taking two summer school classes, PE & Theatre. So I'm spending quite a bit of time in my car these days and our daily schedule changes from day to day (and if you know me, you know I abhor change!) I've been able to hang out with Charlie one-on-one and that's been pretty cool. And watching Miss B mature a bit is fun too.

Here's the quilt I'm working on. It's not coming together as quickly as I'd like....having to run Miss B here & there twice a day on top of overseeing Charlie along with keeping up with the house doesn't leave me much quilting time. Plus I've done two other projects and have a dress in the works.

This is the fabric for Miss B's dress. I wish I'd seen it first because I love it too!

I ordered four swim components off the clearance page ($35.00 total) at Land's End.com and received free shipping. I had to mix & match tops & bottoms but I think they look alright for backyard swimming. I love the "swim mini" bottoms. I don't feel exposed if I walk around to the front of the house or out to the mailbox.

Miss B needs 3 costumes for her summer theatre class so we scouted our 3 local Goodw.ill stores on Saturday. We may have found the dress she needs for the prom scene; she took it to class with her this afternoon see if it gets approval. I found these sweet little silver pieces and they look great nestled in among the silver candlesticks on my table.


We noticed on Saturday that Charlie continues to get taller. Miss B thought it would be fun to be the Veri.zon bars. Hence this picture.

This bag is probably my best sewing accomplishment this year. Miss B couldn't find an E.lmo backpack for her baby brother's 1st birthday and so we set out to make one from scratch. She purchased the canvas fabric and the zipper and we downloaded the photo from a free internet site and printed it onto heat transfer paper. Miss B added baby bro's name and then I found the red webbing for the back straps. We even sewed pieces of plastic canvas into the large sides & bottom to give it stability. And the whole thing can be thrown in the wash machine!

Charlie Makes Breakfast

Tears In My Eyes

Miss B just showed me her final English assignment for the year. The name of the assignment is "I am from poem" and her grade is an A+. After reading through it I immediately hugged her, trying to hold back tears, and asked her permission to post it here on my blog. Enjoy!

I am From a Family-Time Family

I am from a family-time family,
loving to spend time with each other,
and never wishing harm to one another.

I am from an early morning greeting,
waiting for me at the top of my steps,
warmth fills my nose with the sweet scent.
The embrace of chocolate chip pancakes,
cautiously being flipped in the kitchen.

I am from clothes piled high on my desk chair
to hard work put intricately into new pillows and blankets.
Homemade,
they lay sprawled across the corner of my sink-into couch.

I am from friendly neighbors
waving as they stroll down the street.
I am from beautiful tulips,
pushing up through the freshly down mulch.

I am from hungry cats,
crying for food as they peer out the window.
And an anxious puppy down the street,
waiting to be walked.

I am from glorious bonfires
billowing smoke around our house,
to a little neighborly fun challenge of corn toss.
I am from family dinners
every single night,
and lots of family creativity making twist trees during the Christmas season.

I am from many comfort foods
each specialized.
Sautéed mushrooms over pasta, to my brother’s favorite,
steak cake, which is thin chocolate cake,
cut into funny shapes and sizes.

I am from a fishing line
cast shortly from my grandpa’s pontoon.
Drop in, pull out.
Over and over again,
The fish never ceasing.

I am from “Breezy Mareezy” to
“Charlie Bricker,”
My Mom saying her new little slogan,
“Flip that situation—think of a way to make it positive.”

I am from a family like no other.
We are unique in our own special way,
always putting a spin on life,
and looking out for each other’s best interest.

End of the School Year Ramblings

Today is the last full day of sch.ool....tomorrow is a short day and then "no more cla.sses, no more books..." The summer is pretty much planned to the hilt: Unless God has other things in mind for us, Miss B is taking summer PE & theatre and will be tied up with those for 8 hours every weekday in June. Charlie goes to technology camp at Purdue for a week in June. Dr. Love is busily getting the finishing touches on his High Sch.ool Entrepreneurship Academy that will have him gone for an entire June week too. Towards the end of the month we will have visitors from Alabama. Then in July the kids will be gone on a Texas trip for 12 days. We'll be in Michigan for vacation the first week of August and then school (High School for Miss B!) starts back up the very next Wednesday. Somewhere in there we hope to do a little visiting up in the Region and also get to Wisconsin to see Aunt Joe.

Yesterday was my 45th birthday. I woke up to a big zit on the end of my nose!
Dr. Love and the kids plus Miss M took me to Turkey Run State Park for a day of kayaking (Charlie & I) & canoeing (Dr. Love and the girlies) plus a cook out. We took the short trip so we'd have time for hiking too. I'd never been in a kayak before; now I don't think I'll ever sit in a canoe again! I loved being closer to the water & able to move about the water more freely plus I could stop & look for rocks at will. I really liked having the backrest too! Just as we got to putting the boats in the water the rain began so I don't have any pictures of the actual trip down the creek. It was a nice gentle rain so we weren't too bothered.
Afterwards we changed into dry clothes & headed for the part itself. As Dr. Love started the charcoal, the rain came down in earnest so we huddled around the grill under umbrellas while the hot dogs cooked. Since it was still raining off & on, we decided to not hike on this trip. We did stop & make a reservation to spend one night at the Inn next Memorial Day weekend. After napping (me) on the way home, we leaded up the wash machine & then napped (me & Dr. Love) again! The day ended with Kentucky GRILLED chicken, presents (a red rooster for my kitchen counter and a very generous gift cert.ificate to my local quilt store) and a chocolate cake that Miss B made all by herself.

Our family devotions have moved on to the book of Esther at Miss B's request. Since I finished Beth Moore's 10 week study of Esther back in April, Dr. Love has me co-leading our discussions. Today we talked about Xerxes' command that all husbands should be mas.ters in their own homes and cross-referenced that with the passage in Ephesians that tells husbands to love their wives. We discussed the idea that love is an action, not a feeling. I also brought up the verse that instructs older women to teach the younger ones to love their husbands & children, etc. One of the kids was taken with the idea that loving someone is not always easy. I think we may have more discussion on this topic during dinner tonight.

The robin in the slide show has built a nest on my front porch. I opened the door to take a picture of the chair cushion that I made and saw Momma feeding the babies. She was none to happy with me for intruding and she flew around & chewed me out but good! I'm glad that the nest is high enough to keep the neighborhood cats from accessing it.

Miss B's new skirt took just a couple of hours to make. There's a dress on the way for her too but I need to get some housework done before I start on it. We're also working on a backpack for her 1-year-old baby (1/2) brother. She wanted one with Elmo on it but we couldn't find one in the stores. I'll post pictures of both the dress & the pack when they're finished. I've got a second quilt going too.

I was thrilled to find the rug on Craigslist! I was a bit worried about the color--it looked sort of peachy in the sun. But I think it blends in really nicely with the room and is just right.

Wishing a happy day to you all...Grace & Peace,
Leslie

p.s. Once I posted this, links showed up! I don't like that, so I added some periods in the words. I really do know proper punctuation!

Bragging On My Husband

Here's the picture of Dr. Love and myself at Saturday night's Indiana Techpoint Mira Awards.
While attending a work-related event on a weekend is not my idea of fun, getting dressed up to go out on my gentleman's arm is always special. I enjoy observing his interactions with his clients (everyone likes him!) and hearing his business acumen. I just think he's the epitome of a man's man: smart & savvy, able to pop the hood on the car, discuss sports and repair a leaky faucet. Not afraid to read directions or research how to do something. Looks equally good in a monkey suit or jeans. Willing to give his time & energy to what he believes in. Above all, a servant-leader who loves God and desires his family to grow closer to Him.
Thank you Dear God, for the man of my dreams!