Stupid is the word of the day.

Stupid is not a nice word. You may think somebody stupid, but I’d bet you don’t call them that to their face.  Why not?  I think we can all agree it’s because it’s a mean word. Many people instruct their children not to say the word stupid for this same reason. 

Stupid is just not a pleasant adjective. 

Stupid is defined as slow of mind; obtuse; given to unintelligent decisions or acts; acting in an unintelligent or careless manner; lacking intelligence or reason; brutish

That doesn’t sound nice, does it? And I’m happy to say that I don’t fall into any of those categories.

Then came Proverbs 12:1.

Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, But he who hates correction is stupid.

Hmph.

How often do I love instruction?

Umm.

And how often do I hate correction?

Double umm.

[heavy, heavy sigh]

I don’t even like it when spell checker corrects me.

I’ve still so much to learn.

This is a Woolly Bear Caterpillar. We have them all over our yard right about now. He’s neat looking but a little too common to draw much shock and awe.

But today we ran across this picture while looking for an insect.

Yep.  You guessed it!  It’s a Giant Woolly Bear Caterpillar. Shocking, isn’t he!?! And if legend has  is correct this means our winter will be a long and cold one.

According to legend, the severity of the upcoming winter can be judged by examining the pattern of brown and black stripes on woolly bear caterpillars–the larvae of Isabella tiger moths. If the brown stripe between the two black stripes is thick, the winter will be a mild one. A narrow brown stripe portends a long, cold winter. 

Want to know more?  Go here.  Make sure to read the comments.

The word of the day is Lazy.

Lazy is an adjective, a descriptive word.  If you’re lazy it means you’re averse or disinclined to work, activity, or exertion; indolent.   I think it’s more like a verb.  It’s whatcha do.  It’s an action. Lazy is the act of doing nothing requiring any effort.

The Bible has some really nasty things to say about lazy.

And it’s exactly what I’ve been doing lately.  It’s been my verb for many months now.

The one thing I’ve noticed about lazy is that it grows.  When I let a little lazy creep in, and don’t nip it in the bud immediately, it becomes this weed that grows and, little by little, suffocates any desire I had to do anything hard at all.
Not only does the desire go away, but the reasons for doing work at all get choked out, and I find myself easily making excuses for what I do and don’t want to do.

But, God is good and has reminded me that today is a new day.  Today does not have to be like yesterday.  I can pull the weeds and allow a beautiful garden to grow.

That’s what we’re going to do.  My kids will be confused.  They may not like the work at first (neither will I).  But we have to do it anyway, knowing we’ll all appreciate it later.

So it starts.

Right now.

Who made you, Jesse?

Hmm.  Let’s see.

Oh, yes. It’s right here. 
God made me!

Jesse is our genius child.  11 months old and already reading the Catechism. 

But only upside down.

Meet Johann

That's pronounced Yo-Hann

He’s our we’re too frugal to purchase a real tree every year Christmas tree. We’ve actually discovered that we prefer this gaudy little plastic pine to the ‘perfect’ real ones we used to search high and low for.

$15 at Walgreens. Already decked out with unrespectable colored lights.  Leaning a little to the left.  Bare spots galore.

Charlie Brown would be proud.

And my 2 year old can’t stop staring at it, repeating, ”I love the Christmas Tree”.

Imagine my surprise.

I wrote a post a few weeks ago about a bear I wanted from Build-A-Bear. The Build-A-Bear online store has a plethora of adorable bears and outfits to choose from, but there was one particular fuzzy stuffed cutie I had to put on my ‘must have’ list.

The bear that delighted me was a 16″ Darth Vader teddy Bear. Soft and black with a most adorable Darth Vader outfit on. He’s called Darth Vader Dimples.

It should come as no surprised to anybody who knows me that I like toys. Not just any toys – but the good ones, the unique ones, and the ones from years past. While the Vader teddy was not something from my childhood, he is unique and completely adorable.

And he fits perfectly amongst the toy collection on my desktop.

Yay-yuh. That’s right! I managed to snag one for me-own!

Thanks to the generous folks at Build-A-Bear, who kindly offered to send me one for free to review here on my blog, I now have this little piece of cuteness where I can see him everytime I’m at my desk.

I was so excited about this gift and when the package arrived I didn’t wait to dig into it.  I immediately opened it and found that Dimples arrived in a sweet gift box – making him already perfectly packaged for the holidays (If I was planning on gifting him – which I was not)!

Opening the handled box top I saw his little black helmeted head.  Oohs and aahs came from all around, from my teenager all the way down to the toddler.  This little guy and his adorable outfit and removable plush light saber made quite the entrance.

I wasn’t surprised that his outfit is very well made.  We’ve had a little experience with Build-A-Bear in the past and they do not disappoint.  A helmet with ear holes, a body suit with a tail hole, a pair of black boots, a cape, complete with a red light saber…

Dimples was fully decked out in Darth Vader garb.

As cute as he was in his costume, we had to see him in all his bear-ness (yeah, pun totally intended).  It wasn’t long before my 2 year old held the black bear with his soft fur and sweet dark eyes fully exposed. 

Dimples was so soft and plush and I saw why he is called Dimples.  He has a sweet smile.

Judging from my childrens’ reactions, I believe that a Build-A-Bear Teddy ($37) would make a perfect gift for any aged child (and a lot of adults) on your gift list.  Or, if you already have the bear, you can purchase just the Darth Vader outfit for $15. Or choose from another bear or outfit from Build-A-Bear’s large selection.  For just a few bucks more you can add a sound.  When you push the bear’s paw you’ll hear a message.  They have sounds already made for this or you can personalize your own!

I’ve been having way too much fun parousing the Build-A-Bear website.

For a limited time, when you spend $30 at Build-A-Bear you’ll get a free pink or blue 15″ Cuddly Hugs Teddy.  Just fill your cart and use the code 94630 at checkout.
That would scratch two gifts out of the way for the price of one!

And, don’t forget!  Satisfaction is a guarantee at Build-A-Bear.  You can return your purchase within 30 days of your purchase! 

Though, why you’d ever want to return a bear as cute as Darth Vader Dimples is beyond me!

Now, if only I could get my hands on the Hit The Road Bearemy…

The food fight, that is.

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Today I received a forward from a good friend that had a nice list of ways to attempt to prevent the flu this winter. Let me give you an abbreviated list -

• No sugar.  At. all.  Even through the holidays. 
• No carbs.
• Drink a daily dose of oniongarlicjalapenovinegarjuice, palm oil, coconut oil.
• Take your vitamins - D3, C, grapefruit seed extract, and a special drink mix for children because the adult stuff is just plain gross… 

Um…

I’ll take the flu for a week, thankyouverymuch.

I’ve been working on this new theme for the blog.  Something a little more festive.

And this template came with a little RSS guy on the left hand side.  Everytime I glance at him I think he’s on the toilet. But, really, he’s just sitting there in his little white chair reading the newspaper.

Normally I’d remove something like that and put my own gobbledygook there, but that little orange guy makes me a chuckle.

And I like to laugh, so he’s gonna hang around for now.