Facebook Rules

I've been a member of Facebook now for over two years. I've logged a lot of posts, commented on oodles of pictures, been encouraged and/or challenged spiritually, laughed my head off countless times, and made many "friends".

My friend list is comprised of family, close friends, church members, former classmates and coworkers, home school group members, and acquaintances. It goes without saying that not all of those people are believers. As such we all have a different set of ethics and etiquette that we follow, and I can't expect everyone to act in accordance to MY standards.

But if I could have my druthers I'd make Facebook a place that is child-friendly and a haven for joy where much glory is given to God, and I'd have everyone abide by the following rules:

1. Don't swear. People who know me well know that I don't swear. So if you're going to comment on something that I wrote please don't type a curse word in the box. I don't appreciate it, and other people who are reading my posts don't appreciate it either. If you want to swear in your posts, that's your prerogative, and you have every right to do so. But please know that if you keep posting swear words in your status updates I'm either going to hide you or delete you.

2. Don't fight on Facebook. If you are having a dispute with your friend "@Cynthia Reynolds", resolve it away from Facebook. Don't type a status post that describes in much detail why Cynthia is such a jerk and how you no longer want to be her friend, etc. [hypothetical situation] Think of how many people will have seen your rant. If they are friends with Cynthia then you might be gathering enemies, and you're defaming your friend to people who don't know her; that isn't fair to Cynthia. Plus, when you inevitably make up you'll have wished you hadn't have said anything negative in the first place. THIS RULE APPLIES TO YOUR SPOUSE AS WELL. Feel free, though, to post about how you need prayer because you are having some difficulties with someone.

4. Don't post revealing pictures of yourself. Not everyone wants to see these type of pictures, and also anyone that you're friends with can easily click on that picture and save it to their computer. Now you no longer have control over who has a copy of that photo.

5. Please don't type graphically gross status posts. You're kids are sick, and that's all you can think about, so you write a status update about it. This is good because now people know to pray for you during this trial. But that's all you need to say. You don't have to go into graphic detail about just how sick they are and they messes they are leaving on your sofa or about the boils that are covering their bodies. [Oops. Now I disobeyed my own rule. But you get the picture...you REALLY get the picture.]

6. If you can't think of anything else to post other than something that falls into one of the above situations, then it's best not to post. My fail-safe rule is to either just leave my status blank or encourage others by posting a Bible verse. We can all use the Word of God at any time. ☺

I, Nicole Ann Sowers, solemnly promise to abide by these rules.

After a month-long hiatus I am finally posting something. ☺

Pictures of my girlies. ☺ Love them!

 Girls and I at our quarterly shopping trip to the Mall of America. Daddy got to join us! And we are extra thankful to Grandma Lori for watching Abby that day.

 Paige and Emma made a LEGO pyramid. They wanted me to submit this picture to the LEGO Magazine. Now that I think about it I never did that. Hmmm...

 Emma, my little fashion model, was trying to come up with a suitable Easter ensemble. After she found one she was pleased with she asked me to take pictures of her.

Paige's yearly piano recital was yesterday. She did so well! We were very pleased. Also it's kind of funny that Grandma Lori told Paige specifically to "smile", and as Paige walked up to the piano she looked very somber and disgruntled. Nerves maybe? Ah well. There's always next year. ☺ And we also thoroughly enjoyed listening to all the students perform. Thank you, Miss Ana!

Okie dokie artichokie.

David will be bummed. According to my last poll more people type "Okay" than "OK". (David types it as "OK".) Nobody types it as "O.K." I guess those extra periods are simply not necessary. As for myself, I use "Okay".

I'm sure though as long I don't "K-back" David he'll be fine. That probably needs explaining: you type a ridiculously long text to someone, and all they respond to you is "K". David and I have a rule: we have to either write "OK" or "Okay" or "Alright", etc.; no typing just "K". Ha ha!

Happy typing to you all!

I actually did something crafty.

Inspired by women at church I made transparent stars for our windows. ☺

I found vellum paper at Hobby Lobby and used that for the first two stars. Then for the final star I ordered kite paper online and have been using that instead. It works really well, and the stars are very cheery on our windows!

"Abby, too."

Our annual home school Valentine's Party was last Friday. The day before the party the girls wrote out their Valentines, and I gathered their bags that they would be receiving Valentines in.

Abby saw me redecorating Emma's bag, and she right away wanted a bag of HER own. She ran up to my bedroom closet and found a gift bag. She brought it to me, and I asked her if she wanted a bag, too. Well, of COURSE she did!

Here is Abby with her bag. She has been carrying it around for days and filling it with all manner of items from Valentines to buckets to Avon Soap. ☺

Note:  Abby just came by me while I was creating this post, and she exclaimed, "My bag! I see my bag!"
So cute!!

A tower and a smile.

Paige made the Eiffel Tower out of LEGOS:

That picture led to an impromptu photo session:

He wears a lot of hats.

This past week David has had quite a few things to fix around here. Over the weekend the toy room door fell off its hinges. And then Monday morning Abby used her bottom dresser drawer as a step stool, and she broke the front off the drawer. So on Monday David fixed both of those items.

Tuesday morning I noticed that one of the piano keys was sticking whenever I pressed it. I planned on calling the piano tuner to have him come and fix it, but before I did that I showed the problem to David on his lunch hour. He right away took the piano apart and discovered a quarter wedged under the key.While he had the piano apart he cleaned it out. Then Tuesday evening he decided to tackle the bathroom drain that has been running slowly. A little plunger action, and he had it draining quickly again.

Wednesday morning he decided to attempt to fix the Cap Locks key on our laptop. (It has been falling off the keyboard for months.) He put super glue on the key and let it dry. Then he meticulously carved the dried glue to shape a hook to replace the one that broke off. The key now works very well and no longer falls off when pressed.

All of those little "Mr. Fix It" jobs made me ponder how many skills David has. Let's count so far:  he's a carpenter/general contractor, he does piano repair, he's a plumber, and he fixes computers. But that's not all he does:  he's a mechanic, an auto-body repairman, he fixes vacuums, he repairs small engines on things like snow blowers and chain saws, he is an electrician, and a lumber-jack. He also does snow removal, installs furnace ducting, he sets up televisions and home entertainment centers, and he installs/repairs all manner of appliances. There are more jobs that he does, too. For example:  he's rescued many a friend (including myself) when they've locked their keys in their cars. I can't even begin to tally up how much money he has saved us with his unique skill set.

The girls and I (and David's extended family, too) are very blessed to have such a talented and motivated man who is willing to do all these odd jobs for us. Oh, and let me not forget to mention that David is also a loving and fun daddy; a caring husband, son, and brother; and he's also my best friend.

☺ Philippians 1:3= "I thank my God every time I remember you." Thank you, God, for my wonderful David!

Khaki and blue or khaki and red?

Let's say you're out of toilet paper. "Crud. Better go to the store." Then you notice you are running low on Kleenex. "Write that down on the shopping list." Now, where do you go to purchase those supplies:  Target or Walmart? According to my last poll Walmart was the favorite choice by eight to 5.

David and I both chose Target. I like Walmart's prices, but I prefer the cleanliness and general ambiance of Target better. And I really like their clothing, especially for children. Plus they have such great clearance items. A month ago I scored a light-up LEGO key chain for less than $4 on clearance. I was stoked! I now have three LEGO minifigures attached to my keys, and one of them doubles as a flash light. ☺

But if I need to pick up TP and Kleenex AND I want to get some apples and milk, all in one shopping trip, I'll drive to Walmart instead. I've measured it out, and Walmart is closer to me by two blocks. ;-)
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I was thinking about my latest poll question while sending a text message the other day. I realized that while I always type out the word "okay" David simply writes "OK". What do you usually do?