InterActive Blog

Let's try something. Just say yes before I tell you what it is. It will be good for you. :)

As women we usually fall into one of about 3 categories when it comes to relating to other women.

1. You may be very blessed to have a group of women in your life to be completely honest with, comfortable around, and enjoy spiritual intimacy with. If this is you please understand that you are blessed!

2. You have women in your life but none that you would consider sharing your fears, failures, or even triumphs with. You talk about "weather" issues, nothing too personal. You don't ask for prayer or help. Maybe you are afraid of rejection or believe you are not worthy of someone else's time or energy. Oh but you are!

3. You never get outside of you. Your problems are so important to you and so that is all you can see. You request help, prayer, etc..... but can never seem to get to the place of returning it.

I'm sure there are at least a few in each category who are reading this. So let's do something today to help each other out of our box, or maybe even out of our comfort zone. If you are one of the women who is blessed to have great women in your life than you can bless a woman who may not by praying for her today. If you are a woman that falls into category 3 then you can practice being other-focused today by lifting up someone you may or may not know in prayer!

This is what we are going to do. I will start by leaving a personal prayer request in the comment section. Please don't share anything too personal or on the flip side, too general.

The person who comments after me will pray for my request as often as they think of it and until you feel released from it, it doesn't have to be just one formal prayer.

I will pray for the last person to leave a comment.

{Grandma's Cure All}

You may remember me mentionioning before that my grandma is a believer in natural medicine, vitamins, etc.... I wish you could each sit and listen to the passion in her voice when she talks about how she has basically reversed her aging! Yes, she still ages but she feels better now than she did 15 years ago! She is 82 and can keep up with people half her age.

I got to spend some time with her this week and listen to all of the benefits of Omega 3. You can buy this in liquid or capsule form, it comes in different flavors now, but I'm sticking to the capsule because I can't handle swallowing liquid fish. Sorry grandma even if the liquid is better for you, the lemon flavor doesn't make me gag less. My grandma believes this is the one "miracle" pill that she would reccommend to people of all ages. (Talk to your doctor first). :)

So as she is feeding a spoonful of Emulsified Lemon Flavored Cod Liver Oil to my kids yesterday I was standing behind them quietly gagging at the sight. Surprisingly Berklee was fine with it but then Hayden not so fine. That's my boy! So then grandma pulls Cinnamon Flavored Flax Seed Oil, which also has Omega 3 in it, and Hayden slurped it down.

Now you have to know my grandma doesn't take no for an answer, pushy, and she then proceeded to put a teaspoon full of the cod liver oil in my face. ALARMS go off in my body! What is she doing? She really is crazy! I'm not drinking it!

I don't care that I am in a very awkward situation since I just stood by and watched my kids drink this stuff and then praised them for it.

"Grandma, please don't. Please?" I'm begging like I'm 5 years old again.

Grandma says, "Tanda, don't do this in front of the kids. That's a bad example. Your body needs Omega 3s."

"Yeah, but I can take the pill. Please just give me a capsule, don't make me do this."

The look in her eyes tells me she is not giving up and we still have the full attention of my two kids.

"Just stick your finger in it and taste it." She said this in a curt voice.

"Fine! See kids mommy is tasting the medicine."

Gag. Burp. Throw up in my mouth. Swallow. Dash for the dixie cups by the sink and a gulp of water.

Part Two

My grandma is also an ANIMAL LOVER. Like she has had hundreds of dogs and cats over the years. And 15 to 20 at a time! Not lying. It is CRAZY. She inherits dogs when their owners die, when the owners move, when random people drop their strays off within a 50 mile radius of her house, when grandkids go to college, when grandkids have kids, when people give away kittens out of a box at Wal Mart......

So, after the gagging episode I begin taking some pics of the animals and realize that Alex is still alive!!!!!! Alex was our dog growing up, we found him as a stray when I was around 12-13 and he was not a puppy at the time, he was already house trained. Can you do the math? Alex is at least 18 years old and possibly as old as 20! The average life of a dog is 12.8 years!

My grandma's secret you ask? Well since my grandma has arthritis and believes that Omega 3 has been the key to her being able to manage her arthritis pain she has been giving Alex Omega 3 and vitamin C and one other thing that I can't remember for a looong time now. Yes, human vitamins in a cat treat for a little stray dog. But he is happy and grandma is happy.

Need more evidence.

Mattie-16 years, cancer survivor, same protocol

Missy-16-17 years at least, blind and deaf, same protocol

You can check out all the benefits of Omega 3 HERE.

What I Miss.....

...about the small little church I grew up in with a group of people of which whom some were close relatives and some were not, but until I was probably 7 years old I didn't know the difference. We were like a big family, a community who spent life together.

I miss watching the parents play volleyball late into the summer evenings, playing simple games like tag or hide and seek, the christmas productions with flowered sheets as the backdrop, and most of all I miss hearing people get up in front of the church and share their testimony.

I have always loved hearing a person's own personal story of how the God of the universe met them right where they were and changed their lives forever. No matter how miraculous or seemingly simple the story is it always amazes me. Your testimony is something that is yours and probably the only thing you can share with the world that they can't argue with. I have paraphrased my testimony on paper so I don't forget details but I want to write it all down so that I can pass it down to my children to give to their children. What about you? Do you love hearing testimonies or sharing yours?

Photo Shoot With

6 kids running around = difficult

Surprisingly, I got some decent shots for my cousin

and her two kids and her sister's daughter.

Berklee snuck in a few and Hayden had nothing to do with anything today. The 6th child is my friend's son who I adopt every Friday now. He is the youngest of them all and a perfect angel. They were actually all very good I'm just not used to keeping my eyes darting on 6 kids! Sheesh what does octo-mom, Kate, and the other lady with 20 kids do???

Special Little Boy

I have been touched so deeply by the Daggs family these past few months. Through this family and Kannon I have seen what a true test of faith looks like and it has humbled me and changed the way I think about what I consider a challenging day.

I know that in the future Alainea desires an audience to be able to share what the Lord has done in and through her life and maybe someday I can post it for you all to read.

In the meantime Alainea is planning to have a garage sale in the month of May to help raise money for their medical and living expenses. If you have any items you would like to donate please contact me and I can come get the items from you.

Scene 1 Take 2

I want to be sure I start this post by saying my purpose in writing most of the things I do is to give you ideas for your own family. I have a tendency to stay inside the box and I always appreciate a good idea. My intention is not to try to convince you that we are some perfect family, that is far from true. We have a desire to see families living their lives as God instructs verses living out what they see in our society. That's it in a short sentence.

So something we have tried to consistently do since Berklee was about 1 year old is have a nightly quiet time where we read stories from their Bible, sing a couple of songs and say our prayers. Because my husband is a creature of habit we rarely miss a night. It has been a good way to train both kids to be able to sit still and quiet in short increments of time each night. This took a lot more effort with Hayden. Now there is no work involved and it is a great time together.

So of course, when something gets too easy we decide to switch it up!

One thing we try to do is role play with the kids (what to do when you meet someone new, what to say when someone compliments you, etc...) and Berklee really eats up the "acting" part of it. Shawn took this from role play therapy that he does with kids sometimes.

We decided to start acting out the Bible stories because we definitely don't want our kids to get bored with the Bible! We don't act every night and we definitely will not be receiving academy awards but it has been really fun! Your kids will follow your lead. If you're not into it then they won't be either. But if you have fun with it and be a little creative it will go a long way. Here are some pics from our recent performances.

This is the story of when Jesus healed the blind man.

Obviously Hayden is the blind man, Berklee played Jesus,

and daddy (not pictured) was the disciple who

asked Jesus what the man or his parents had done wrong

to cause him to be blind.

Berklee pretended to spit on the ground and made play-doh (mud).

Hayden washed his eyes and he could see!

This is the story of the crucifixion that Berklee has wanted

to read and watch ever since Easter. She took the role of Jesus

surprisingly serious. How awesome would it be

if our children could grasp the reality of this scene at

such a young age!

Burying Jesus in the tomb.

This was part of the prop for our Noah night.

Do you have any "family time" ideas that you enjoy?

Projects.....

Thought I might need to inform you that the design below was made

for a little boy's nursery. His name is Grady. It became

clear to me that unless you knew what it was meant to say

then you might not know what the heck it says!

Conversation Between

Two 3 Year Olds in a Car.........

Just picture these two next to each other in the car

having the casual conversation below. I love this age.

Do you eat vegetables?

NO, I don't eat basketballs!


Did you eat your meat today so you can grow real big?


Yes, I'm gonna be bigger than Jesus!!


Today is your birthday.


No it's not.


Yes it is.


No it's not.


Yes it is.


Today is your birthday.


I don't have birthdays. I wasn't born.


Yes you were.


No I wasn't.


Yes you were.


No I wasn't.


OK. Look it's raining!

(((GLOW)))

Several women have asked me if I have been tanning? HAH!

If I had time to go tan, I wouldn't! I would lay down and just take a 30 minute nap!

Plus we all know how bad it is for us anyway.

So let me share with you the secret of my luxurious tan

that won't break the bank or give you wrinkles.

Dove Energy Glow

I just put it on like lotion every time I get out of the shower.

I put it on my face about every other to every third day. It isn't messy or streaky

and it comes in light, medium, and dark. It is about $9.99 and

I have seen several coupons for it lately.

I thought about taking a picture of my legs but I will spare you. This time.

But here is a recent picture of me.

Can you tell that I'm not pasty white like I should be?

Can you see my energy?

Can you see the glow?

Can you see that I have no makeup on

and the shadows make us look like we have black eyes?

And my handsome little brother.

Focus

It's late and I'm tired. Sooooo, if you can't read this little doo-dad I spent way too much time on and you are interested in a once a month time of fellowship and prayer or know someone that is, please leave a comment with your email address and I will send you an email with the info in a font bigger than 8.

P.S. I'm really excited about what the Lord has in store for this time. I have

been motivated to NOT settle for whining and complacency anymore!

The goal is not perfection but growth. I don't want to be in the same place

I am 10 years or even 10 days from now! Life is short and God has so

much he can do in and through us!

12 Things

I plan on getting my blog printed some day and leaving it for my children to store in their attic. So here are 12 facts about my life for them to have from me.

1. I inherited my cool name from my dad, Tandell. My grandma came up with the name while they were living in California. I think she had a dream about a Randall and then decided to make it funky. That's my grandma for you. : ) Here is a picture of me with my dad and brother.

2. Shawn and I read 40 Days of Purpose together when we first met and got engaged after the 40 days.

3. I have never broken a bone, had a cavity, or major surgery Praise God! But I am legally blind. Had nightmares when I was a child that I would be kidnapped during the night without being able to grab my glasses. : (

4. I got my first "C" ever in my life my last semester of college, the same semester I met Shawn. Ooops.

5. I once took a road trip to California in a mini van with 2 siblings, 3 cousins, 1 aunt, my grandmother and my dad plus luggage for 9. The van broke down several times, once in the Grand Canyon, we went without AC in the middle of the Arizona dessert, and we fought like cats and dogs the whole way. Some of the sweetest memories. Seriously.

6. I quit basketball the summer between my junior and senior year of high school after playing all of my life. It was a nightmare. My coach turned something I loved into something I absolutely hated. One of my favorite quotes from him. "Mother nature will let you pass out before you die." Yeah, good one coach.

7. Grew up very close with 3 of my cousins, Thaja(Tasha), Tara, and Tia. My brother's name is Tyler and my sister is Tristan. This was a very cruel thing to do to my poor grandmother......... (Side-Note: My mother's name is Teresa, father is Tandell, and step-mother is Tammie. Honorable mention to by step-bro James who we often called Tyrone for fun.) :)

8. We don't watch t.v. during the week unless there is a tornado warning or championship game and only movies sometimes on the weekend. It was gradual but I don't miss it now at all.

9. I have a tattoo of a butterfly which I am still quite fond of even though I wouldn't do it again.

10. My favorite fiction book is "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers. I can pretty much read anything by her or Karen Kingsbury.

11. I'm not that into music. Never have been. Can probably name ten CD's I've purchased my whole entire life. D.C. Talk, Madonna's Greatest Hits, and The Judds would be 3 I can remember.

12. My first crush wasn't Joe from New Kids on the Block. It was Michael Jordan. For a very long time. I would write the Mickey Mouse Club on a regular basis, stick my letter in neon envelopes, and pray that he and I would be able to meet on Guest Day which the Mickey Mouse Club had every Wednesday. : ( I also memorized this quote during that time.

"If you have a dream, you have everything.

If you have everything and no dream than everything means nothing."

--Anonymous

Ahhhh. Tweens.

(Stay tuned for pics of my very awkward years. For your pleasure and my therapy.)

Spice?

Need any spice in your love life? Surprise your spouse with one of these!

Yes, my husband did buy one. And yes we gave each other a massage last night.

Oils, check. Heating pad, check. Sound machine, check. Great conversation, check.

Relaxation, check.

..............................................

It will pay for itself very soon. : )

You can thank me later.

To Do and To Do List

To Do:

Take your kids to the new Children's Zoo that opened up at the OKC Zoo. There are goats that need your children to force feed them straw and, of course, to be loved on too.

But even better then the goats? What? Something better than goats you say? Yep. A water feature for the kids to play in on those steamy summer days. There is a part for the smaller kids that has level ground and some small fountains to shoot up and scare them and then make them giggle. And for the children who are able to balance quite well there is a rocky stream of water.

FYI. I wouldn't feel good about this on a crowded day with lots of kids running and pushing their way up and down the riverbed. And please do not be the parent that tolerates your kids picking up the rocks and throwing them. Please just follow through with your threats instead of trying to avoid a melt down. What if that rock would have hit my child after the 8th time you told her not to throw it? I would have been really really upset and may have even reported you to..........that old guy over there with the zoo t-shirt on. This is totally a what if situation but it almost went down like that.

To Do List:

Okay, and here is a great thing that I have to give credit to my hubby for, as it was his idea. My husband works very hard every day and is great at what he does. His hard work comes about through his fascinating brain and verbal skills, not necessarily through the work of his hands. He is a "white collar" man I guess you could say.

So, if you have to pay someone to change your oil and do all that stuff to your tires then I have a great thing for you. It is lovely. Go to the Hibdon Tires on NW Expressway that is right by Mardel, if you live in the OKC metro of course. Before you leave Hibdon's fix yourself a nice cup of coffee, cappuccino, or hot chocolate and be sure to say hello to Dustin. He was a good friend of mine in high school and I think he runs the show there. Then you take a short, leisurely stroll with your tots right next door. Grab some reading material for yourself first then make your way over to the kids section. We went at 10am. The kids played with the train, watched Veggie Tales, and ate a Peanut Butter sandwich for lunch all while I took notes on some interesting books and drank coffee.

Brilliant!

I think I can now get my oil changed in the recommended 3,000 to 5,000 mile range instead of waiting until my check engine light comes on!

Fly Lady Meets Proverbs 31 Woman

I stumbled upon this great website today and printed off several pages for my evening reading.

Victoriously Organized Woman

I'm sure you have heard of Fly Lady right? She teaches you how to zip through your home each day of the week and stay on top of your light and heavy cleaning. Well, this site is that and so much more.

Check it out. Great tips, recipes, and inspiration.

Also, I must warn you. There is a ferocious, little invisible bug floating around our neck of the woods. If one person in your house meets this little dude you can just expect for your whole family to be introduced shortly. The bug will liquify your insides, then set off some powerful explosives, and exit your warn out very stinky body within 12 hours. You've been warned.

Easter

I think our Easter eggs turned out quite cool. My expectations were not at all along the lines of "pretty" eggs but I determined to let them be creative and not intervene and I think the Lord blessed me with some nice eggs. On some things I really swing towards the Type A personality spectrum and for some reason decorating eggs brings it out in me. We had about 3 dye-spill-close-calls but only a few drops on the counter when it was all said and done.

Berklee was so proud of these eggs and probably could have done a couple dozen more.

Shawn and I enjoy holidays, especially Easter, but we are trying to be very aware that all of the activities and traditions are things that humans added to the already remarkable day. How does your family feel about these holidays? I think Jesus wants us to live a joyful life but I sometimes wonder if he shakes his head in sadness and sighs, "Father, they are missing the point of what you did for them on this day."

Tomorrow will you celebrate the fact that God raised Jesus from the dead so that he could be the living sacrifice for our sins?