There's Not One of Them I'd Swap

Caught

2011-01-23T20:45:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I caught my husband singing a love song...to someone else. And not only wasn't I jealous, but I was reminded again just how blessed I am. No, this is not a new version of "Sister Wives". And no, I haven't become so thoroughly progressive that I accept some kind of modern definition of love. It's just, I can't blame him.

The One to whom he sang IS perfect after all. It seems this One really did hang the moon and stars. And when my husband is focused on this One, he can love ME with a perfect love. And this One gave up His only Son to die for me (and you) so how can I complain when my husband sings to Him?

My husband loves the Lord, Yahweh, and seeks to put Him first in his life. That is, Andy loves the Lord more than he loves me. And I am so thankful. Truth be told, I love the Lord more than I love Andy. I completely believe that this is the reason that I have been married to this man for almost 14 years and love him more today than I did the day of our wedding. See, the Bible tells us in John "If you love Me, keep my commandments." That's Jesus talking, you know, Emmanuel-the "with us God". God in the flesh. And just what are some of His commandments for husbands and wives?

"Husbands,love your wives, just as Christ loved the church." Ephesians 5:25
"Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them." Colossians 3:19
"Wives,submit to your husbands" Colossians 3:18
"Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. " Ephesians 5:33

Not easy to do when we are acting in our own flesh and with our own interests. But if we love the Lord and put Him first, we CAN submit and respect our husbands. We CAN love our wives and treat them gently. And our marriages can be a live picture of the beauty and harmony that Christ demonstrated in His love for us.

Thank you Lord for a husband who loves you more than me and who I occasionally "catch" singing you a love song.

Sailing Camp-2010 Edition-Part 3

2010-06-28T12:35:00.000-04:00

For the final installment of the Sailing Camp saga, I'll show what happened after camp was over...
Ian really wanted to go sailing on my dad's boat, a 25' Venture. Unfortunately, there was very little wind. We sailed out to the middle of the lake and the wind died. But that didn't stop us from having fun! The kids jumped overboard and swam in the lake around the boat as we drifted around. Here (from back to front) are Doodle, Ian, Mator and Muffin.

The fender is attached to a line that is attached to the boat. The idea was that if we started to sail off, they should grab the line and hang on! We used to do this all the time when I was a kid and we would sail on Lake Erie and Lake Huron with this boat. When it was really windy, it was the sailors equivalent of tubing, just about 25 MPH slower! :-)
And yes, I actually did get in the lake and swim a bit too. As proof, I can still taste the lake (a day after the event!) There were 8 kids with my dad and I and we played out there for about an hour. We had to cut it short because we had dinner reservations at the Club so we headed in (by motor) and had a terrific dinner. After dinner, the kids weren't done having fun so we spent another couple hours back in the pool. Some of the big boys had fun lifting (and throwing) the littler girls on a raft in the pool. Here is Doodle on her throne.
What a fantastic week capped by an awesome evening. We stumbled back to the car at 8:30 and Mator fell asleep on the way home. I can't blame her, I almost did too!

Sailing Camp-2010 Edition-Part 2

2010-06-27T12:19:00.001-04:00

While not registered for camp, Doodle came with me on Thursday to watch and was able to get some experience sailing which got her excited to come to camp next year!

Here she is in an Opti with Mattew Davis, an experienced ten-year old who was more than happy to take Doodle out for her first sail. She seemed to love it and didn't stop smiling the whole time.

And here is my adorable niece, Annabelle (7), skippering with her friend Emily in an Opti...The last hour of camp is dedicated to the traditional greased watermelon competition. Yes, a watermelon is greased up and thrown into the lake (it floats) where the girls (who outnumbered the boys about 2:1) tried to get the watermelon to the boys' goal and vice-versa. There are usually tears as someone gets "almost drowned" but it is worth it for the fun. Here is Muffin jumping in the lake before the competition starts:Mator got to watch the action but was definitely more into swimming in the pool. She was especially attached to Daddy since he had been gone for three days this week.
Here are the sailing camp graduates: Muffin, Olivia, Elle and Ian (Olivia's brother) who was named most valuable sailor for all the help he gave to the instructors. That's my dad's boat with the sail up in the background. Just after this picture was taken, we departed for a "three hour tour"...see the next post for more details!

Sailing Camp-2010 Edition-Part 1

2010-06-26T11:21:00.005-04:00

Muffin completed her second stint of sailing camp at Buckeye Lake this week and had great fun again this year. Here she is (above, center) with her second cousin, Olivia (left) and another camp sailor. They are sailing in a Flying Junior (FJ) which has two sails and races with a skipper and one crew member. As a teenager, I raced as both a crew member of an FJ and skippering a Laser (a much smaller boat-one sail and one person sailing it) on Lake Erie during Jr. Bay Week. I'll just say for the record that I wasn't very good. My most memorable race was at Lake Erie when I was about 13 and sailing a Laser. The wind was gusting to 25 knots and I had very little control over the boat. I constantly capsized and turtled (capsize-the boat is on its side with the mast parallel to the water. Turtle-the boat is upside-down with the top of the mast pointing to the bottom of the lake and the bottom of the boat pointing to the sky so that it looks like a turtle's shell) the boat despite my best efforts. If you want to read about a really awesome teenaged sailor who, at 16, attempted to sail around the world by herself but recently had to give up that quest, read here: http://soloround.blogspot.com/

The next picture shows the boat heeling a little. Muffin is on the leeward side so you can't see her. There was a nice little bit of wind this day and the boat continued to heel...

And then it capsized. Again, Muffin was on the leeward side of the boat so you can't see her. Olivia and Austin (the skipper) are trying to right the boat by pulling down on the centerboard. Unfortunately, it is difficult to get up there when you are small and are wearing a bulky life jacket.
So John, the instructor, motored over and helped them right the boat. Muffin was helped in the boat and here she is helping her other two sailors back in. The small boats capsize relatively easily and are made to be easily righted. The only scary things about capsizing a boat like this are:
1-Losing any valuables that sink-don't take anything on the boat that can't get wet or doesn't float.
2-Getting back into the boat-this can be challenging for little people but is not impossible and can be learned (and you develop great upper body strength)
3- Getting caught under the sail while it is capsized. This happens and while not really dangerous, you feel like you might suffocate. Life jackets actually exacerbate the problem because it is harder to got under water and swim out from under the sail. You may even feel like you are tangled up in some of the lines that are attached to the sails making you feel trapped. This happened to Muffin in this incident and she was a little shaken up.
Instructor John sailed with them for a while and allowed Doodle to go with him too!

Doodle is 6

2010-04-23T09:31:00.005-04:00

Doodle had a birthday and of course, that is never the end of any story around here. It seems that any holiday (Christmas, birthdays, vacations) must be marked by an accompanying trip to urgent care.
Thankfully, we've never had any broken bones and only once, stitches were required. Rather our result is usually in the form of an antibiotic prescription. Maybe I'm exaggerating. The last time Doodle had a prescription filled for her was 2006. But when I think of the major illnesses my kids have had, they all seem to fall on a holiday / celebration! I suppose I just remember those the most, anyway!

Doodle had her friend party last Saturday. She had asked for a surprise party. Now, keeping a surprise amongst 5 six year olds is like trying to keep all the Polly Pocket pieces from ending up in the sweeper. Or trying to keep the Littlest Pet Shops safe from becoming permanently embedded in your feet. It is impossible. But the parents of these dear girls are wise. They didn't tell their daughters when or where the party was going to be. In fact, Doodle came home from school one day insisting that, "Rachel NEEDS to know when the party is going to be!" But we successfully surprised her and didn't even have to tell any lies to do it!

The theme of the party was "True Beauty" and we based it on "Gigi-God's Little Princess". After Muffin read the story describing how we are all princesses and princes of the King of Kings (God) we talked about how a real princess acts using scripture as the basis. The girls had come to the party all dressed up and then we treated them to a pedicure (compliments of my mom's foot bath and Muffin's artistic abilities), a manicure (Muffin and I shared these duties) and a young lady from the cosmetology school at our local high school did some beautiful hairdos. Here are the resulting princesses...
Almost immediately after the last guest left, Doodle began to complain that her throat hurt. I figured she was just exhausted and put her to bed a little early. I gave her some Ibuprofen in the middle of the night and by the time we got up, she seemed fine. So we skipped Sunday school so that she wouldn't infect anyone else if she was sick. We did make it to church and had the big girls stay with us in the sanctuary. Doodle's meds wore off in the middle of the service though and I had to take her out. In my defense, you would never know she was sick when she had some ibuprofen in her. So we went ahead with the family party that evening at our house. Here is a picture with the cousins. The first picture I said, "Smile!" and then I let them take a couple silly pictures and then I said, "OK, no smiles." I thought it was pretty funny how they were trying so hard to be serious!

The rest of the week was a pattern of this....Give Doodle some meds at bedtime, she acted fine in the AM. Came home from school and had a fever, repeat. I kept her home one day and the nurse finally called me on Thursday whereupon I finally took her to the urgent care convinced that once we had paid the copay, the healing would begin. It turns out she actually has strep throat. This is the first diagnosed case of strep in our house in ten years! I had thought maybe we were immune. Alas, she is home again today and we are waiting to see who else might get it.

Mator Swims

2010-04-01T10:00:00.001-04:00

Mator is about to finish her 12th week of swim classes and she has made amazing progress. Part of our ritual is for Mator to hide in a locker (she completely shuts the door) and then I find her. This is all well and good if I am in on the game. It's not really funny when I go to the bathroom and return to find her, well, missing!The first few weeks of class all she did was smile the whole time. I can't believe her cheeks weren't tired. She even smiled as she was swimming across the pool. Things got harder and she doesn't smile all the time but still has a great time. She can now jump off the side with no floaties, turn around and swim back to the side without any help. This will make me feel a lot better, especially after last summer's scare. We were at the pool and she took her life jacket off because she needed to go to the bathroom. As is the prerogative of two year olds (at that time), she quickly changed her mind and wanted to swim again. I left her at the edge of the pool while I went to get the life jacket. I gave her strict instructions: Do not move from this spot. Now, these instructions would have gone a long way with my older two children. I would have expected to find them in the same spot and they would have been there. Not this bird. I reached our chair, picked up her life jacket and turned around. She was gone. I surveyed the 25 or so feet between where I was standing and where I had left her. Mostly there was pool. I immediately looked down into the water and there she was, standing on the bottom of the shallow end, eyes as big as saucers looking up. All of 40 seconds passed between the time I left her side and the time I jumped into the pool and picked her out of the water. She started coughing and crying and spent the rest of that afternoon on my lap.

I wish I could say that it scared her so much she obeyed me from that moment on. But, I can't. I can say that I will feel a LOT better when she is old enough to be on the swim team and tread water and oh yeh-obey!

Doodle Donates

2010-03-30T10:00:00.001-04:00

Doodle, my almost six year old, came home from school a few weeks ago ready to cut her hair. This is quite significant. Doodle was born with more hair than Mator had when she was two. The picture above was her first Christmas when she was about 8 months old. Doodle has always been known for her long locks. So it was with a heavy heart that I agreed. Her aunt Andrea reminded us that she might be eligible for "Locks for Love" and that definitely softened the blow for me.

I picked her up from school and we headed over to do the deed. She was VERY excited. I was a little less excited. The whole process was very quick. I actually wish they would have taken off more so it would have been more useful. The stylist just said, is this OK? And I said yes but she could have easily taken four more inches.

Before the cut:
Holding her donated locks one last time...Her pretty new do makes her look so much older!

Our Weekend: Part 2

2010-03-27T17:19:00.012-04:00

I know you've been waiting on pins and needles for the second installment of our weekend-so here it is....

On Sunday, we went to church minus one child who had spent the night at a friend's house and went to church with her. That was a first (going to someone else's church without us) but yet again, I am reminded that they grow up so fast!

After rushing home and gobbling up lunch, we headed out the door again to see yet another niece and nephew in the local theater's production of "The Little Mermaid". My niece (Justine) was a "toady" and my nephew (Jared) a sailor. So cute! They both did a terrific job and the play was lots of fun, especially for Mator who wanted her picture taken with every character!

Here is Jared looking like a thoughtful sailor...Justine is the "toady" on the left...
After the show there were autographs and Mator was ready to give Justine her flowers...
The sea witch had fantastic makeup and happened to be very good with the kids too...Here is our toady, Justine, up close...
After this production we headed out to dinner and ice cream to celebrate all of our thespians. And then back to church for the final night of our Easter Cantata. This is a mix of music and drama to bring the Easter story to life. And it is very realistic. Last year (Doodle's first) my then five year old had quite a difficult time with the beating and crucifixion of Christ. I debated whether I should take her out of the sanctuary or not but I finally realized that if she missed the ending part-the resurrection-then she would miss the most important part. Lots of people died on crosses during the Roman's rule-but only one was raised from the dead. That's why we worship Him.

This year she was as "prepared" as she could be but it was still hard for her to sit through parts of it. But then again, shouldn't we all be troubled by the sight of our Savior suffering for us? Doodle's response serves to remind me of the purpose of reliving this difficult time in the life of Christ every Easter, and more often than that! We need to be reminded of the price of our sin as both a deterrent and a reminder of God's grace.

Our Weekend: Part 1

2010-03-27T16:54:00.005-04:00

What a weekend! Well, it's only halfway done but we are packing in the fun!

Last night we got to see my oldest niece in her school's production of "The Wizard of Oz". Newsflash to me: my 15 year old niece is all grown up! Wow! She was Dorothy and did an awesome job. Everyone said so. Especially after I would open every conversation with, "Dorothy is my niece. Wasn't she awesome?!" Not surprisingly, no one disagreed!

We got home and were in bed at around 11:30! This is crazy for my kids who are usually in bed by 9:00. So it wasn't too surprising that we slept in late. I decided I was going to try and stay in bed until I got hungry. Well, considering we went to this great Greek restaurant for dinner last night, I stayed in bed until after 9!! I justified this by the fact that my kids went to bed about 3 hours after they usually do so I should get up about three hours after I usually do. It worked for me!

This afternoon we went to Giant Eagle because the Easter bunny was visiting and they had some games and hey, I like Giant Eagle! Here are my cuties with the Giant Eagle brand Easter bunny.

After lunch and some sisterly sparring (purportedly a result of lack of sleep-pshaw!), the kids went outside to play a little. About 15 minutes later, Muffin yells, "Look out the window if you want to see Doodle riding a bike!". So I did. And Muffin, my little 9 year old teacher, had filled in for her lazy parents and taught her almost-six-year-old sister how to ride a two wheeler! And she's off...
Riding into the sunset...another step closer to grown up! Before I know it, she'll be in her own high school musical and I'll be wondering where those years went!

Mator's Friends

2010-03-26T09:16:00.004-04:00

Mator has some best buddies. Well, truth be told, she's her own best friend. She has been playing in her room with her "Little People" for the last twenty minutes totally engaged and having a ball by herself. But, when she wants some company, she loves to play with these guys. Ethan and Bryce are friends from church and they go to preschool on Wednesdays with Mator. So she sees them Sundays and twice on Wednesdays (school and church again). There is another boy, PJ, whom she also adores. She sees him at church too.

These boys are gems. God didn't give me any boys for a reason, but if he had, I would hope they would be like these three little guys. They give me hope that there are nice boys who are respectful and kind but also manly-men (as far as little boys go).

Here are Ethan, Bryce and Mator on their second day of preschool last September (singing, "If you're happy and you know it")After school that day I took them to Rising park to burn off some energy.Here they are this week at our house. I sent them out to the deck to play and gave them some bubbles. Then Mator came inside and asked for some towels so they could have a "beach party". Sure, that sounds like fun. I was sitting just inside the deck door working on my computer and when I looked out at them, I noticed that they were undressing. Hmmmm, what kind of beach is this?? I let them all go topless (it was 65 degrees!) and they seemed to be OK with that. This is why I just love 3 and 4 year olds-aren't they so cute!

Winter Review of Mostly Doodle

2010-03-21T14:48:00.004-04:00

Here are those famous Glitter Angels that made our cheerleading season so much fun! And a special mom (Kathy) and special niece (Justine) that helped so much!
And here's the reason I became a cheerleading coach....Here is my Doodle, perfectly perky and cheery before a game....
And this is my wonderful niece who was such an awesome helper-Justine!

Now that the snow is melted, I feel like I can begin to appreciate its beauty again. I am pretty sure that we had snow (a LOT of it) on the ground for every day of February. Now for Vanessa, my friend that lives practically in the arctic circle, that may not be a big deal. But around here, if we do get a big snow, it is usually gone in a week. I will say, we made the most of this snow! Across the street from our house is my dad's pond. We make this our four season resort. The dam of the pond is a nice little sledding hill and also a fun place to build snowmen.

Here's Justine, Doodle and Muffin with our house in the background. Don't be too confused. The lens can fool you. Our house is a good 400 yards away with a road dividing the property.

My brother got his snowmobiles running too. Here's Andy scaring the life out of Doodle... no wait, she loved it. It was me that was scared. Especially when I hear things like this...
Muffin-"Daddy let me drive the snowmobile and my bottom came OFF the seat when we drove over the driveway."
Doodle-"Daddy only fell off once when it tipped over but I fell off a bunch of times!"
And, to continue the Doodle theme of this post, here she is the night of her school program about dinosaurs. This is her best friend, Faith...
And here she is performing in the program. So stinking cute! And did I mention she had one of the hardest speaking parts? She had words like "evolutionists" and "fossils" and a lot of others that are hard to say in a microphone by yourself. But, after taking a few seconds to adjust the mike, taking a few more to swallow hard, she did an awesome job!

Glitter Angels: Take 2

2010-02-24T15:05:00.004-05:00

The Glitter Angels learned a few more cheers and a dance routine! Our last game is this week-it has been a lot of fun to work with these great girls!

Fabulous and 36!

2010-02-10T16:12:00.004-05:00

I had a dream birthday last Sunday. It started with being a tad late for church. Now, this is not ideal but I had to print some things to distribute and was a few minutes late for Sunday school. Andy had taken the girls at our regular time and they were already safely perched in their classes. While I was driving to church, Doodle notified her teacher (one of our deacons) that it was my birthday. He took Doodle and her friend on a search for me! He visited every sunday school class informing them that it was my birthday. Needless to say, by the time I arrived, I was greeted with many birthday wishes!

After church I took the girls to visit my father in law in the hospital who is now recovering nicely at home. Andy had a meeting after church. We had a really nice visit as he was feeling much better and the girls were so well behaved.

In the evening, my wonderful husband had managed to independently organize a nice birthday party. Most amazingly, he was able to get the National Football league to play their annual championship game on my birthday-thus allowing the entire country to celebrate my birthday! I enjoyed the great company of my family and the great foods that always includes. Andy even insisted on cleaning the whole place by himself after the party. What a dude!

Here are a couple pictures from the festivities!

Tell me again why honesty is so great?

2010-02-01T22:01:00.004-05:00

**********************
I was sitting in church and was feeling a little self conscious. I leaned over to my darling nine year old daughter and whispered, "Does my sweater smell funny?" She dutifully took a whiff, looked up at me and whispered back, "No. But your breath does."
***********************
It was a rare moment indeed. I found myself alone in the bathroom. And miraculously - there was sudden rush to join me. No one was maimed and bleeding profusely, no one had feelings that were hurt by a sister, no one felt obliged to access the facilities that I was inhabiting (even though we have two other equally lovely facilities in our home). Then, as soon as I had realized the solitude one is entitled to at such times, it was broken. Mator entered the room with one hand full of Polly Pockets and the other full of accessories. She sat down on the floor (because after all, where else would Polly want to hang out?). Then the little angel stands right back up, looks at me accusingly and asks, "Do you want some privacy?". Indeed!

The Glitter Angels!

2010-01-21T16:50:00.004-05:00

This one is for the Glitter Angels! For those of you who don't know (and will certainly be quite surprised) I am moonlighting as a cheerleading coach. Yes, the pickings were slim for coaches, I know! But I have been blessed with six awesome girls who are so much fun! This video is so that they can practice their cheers at home. It is NOT so that anyone can post funny comments about me being a cheerleader! :-)

Time Keeps on Slippin'...Into the Future

2010-01-11T21:06:00.004-05:00

Sometimes it seems that the work around here is never done. Yesterday I was cleaning out our entryway closet where all the shoes congregate. It involves removing three bins of shoes ranging from a child size 9 to a (getting bigger every day) size 4. Next, I sort through them and pull out the shoes that don't fit any more or aren't weather appropriate (crocs are year round though-as far as I'm concerned!). Of those that don't fit, I need to evaluate whether a younger sister will wear them in the future or whether we are done with them. If we are done with them, are they in good enough condition to donate or are they trash? THEN, it's time to sweep out the closet and carefully rearrange the remaining shoes into bins. The picture above shows what the empty, clean closet looks like just after sweeping.

It took 45 seconds for me to vacuum this closet and during that time I experienced a sweeping range of emotions. I started out a little irritated and the thought went through my mind that I had to deal with this mess far more often than I'd like. Then the practical side of me realized that I could probably do this once a month so that it would be cleaner /nicer. And a little bit of prideful indignation started up the back of my throat ("Like I have time for one more commitment!") Then suddenly, I saw that empty floor and a third thought crossed my mind: Someday there won't be any shoes in that closet. Perspective in 45 seconds.

This One's for the Out-Laws

2009-11-15T16:12:00.004-05:00

This is my cheap and easy way of letting my in-laws see the pictures from our fall shoot. But for those of you who are interested:
Andy's grandma-Mona; parents - Jim and Sue; brother-Todd (and his wife Julie) and their three kids; and us.

Todd and his family:
Andy and our family:
great grandma Mona:

Raiding the Dress up Box

2009-11-12T14:12:00.004-05:00

I kind of resent the fact that Halloween is celebrated on the last day of the month. Somehow, that makes my posting in November about it seem late. But the reality is, it was only 12 days ago. And that's not too bad for me!

So here they are ready to go trick or treating.There's muffin the clown.... Mator is Cinderella...
and Doodle is.... any guesses? Give up? A roller skater. Really. I am not making this up. I tried to gently persuade her to possibly add something to her costume in the minutes before we headed out the door. And her response? "I am. I am wearing roller skates." There is a connection to last year's Halloween (click here to read that).

So what is a mom to do? I was a little afraid of having "that kid" who wouldn't wear a costume but wanted candy. But in her mind, she was totally incognito. Here is how she dressed up for the kindergarten party at her school. They don't celebrate Halloween but they do celebrate with a harvest party. All the kids are allowed to dress up as scarecrows or farmers. Now this is cute...

Can You Feel It?

2009-10-30T17:30:00.002-04:00

I've been using a video (yes I said video-we've had this for at least six years and had varying degrees of success-largely dependent on the amount of time we actually do it-doesn't that stink?) exercise series called "Slim in Six". I usually get the chance to do it before Mator gets up but this last time, she got to "obseve" for a twenty minute workout. She didn't appear to be paying that much attention but suddenly Debbie Siebers commented on the tape "I'm feeling it, you should be feeling it too!" and Mator asked, "Are you feeling it Mommy?" Was I ever!

I was really tempted one late night by this "Ab Circle Pro" which promises a fit and healthy body in three minutes a day. Well, I've been around the block enough to know that THAT is a bunch of hooey but what if I did it for FIVE minutes a day?????

The End of Me...

2009-10-28T13:56:00.007-04:00

I've found myself saying it over and over these past couple days...."I am at the end of me." There is no more left of me. It is wasted and gone. I want to give up. Crawl into bed and yell to my three children and husband, "I am finished! Fend for yourself!" This month has been amazing and yet I cannot wait until it is over....

**Andy was ordained as a Deacon in our church [PRAISE GOD!] We do not have elders in our church so this is a revamped ministry with increased responsibility.
**Andy recently joined the personnel committee at our church [PRAISE GOD] so now he gets to participate in the hiring and evaluation of staff. I truly believe that when he listens to the Holy Spirit he has major giftings in the line of encouragement and challenging people in a loving way. But it is more time too.
**Andy took over a new job at his school. He went from teacher / department head to Dean of Students (this is what used to be called an assistant principal). It is an extra two weeks before school and two weeks after school but for the first month this year he had to continue to balance his former teaching job (as a replacement was found and then hired), former dept. head job (same thing) and his new job (more meetings after school, more money, etc.) [PRAISE GOD]
**Andy finished up his last month as the Sports Director for our local radio station. He has been there two years and mostly LOVED this job but it is too much to do that and the Dean and do them both well. Football season is particularly crazy since they broadcast three games a week, have a daily sports report, pregame shows, Monday night sports show and the occasional volleyball game too. It has been a lot. This job has been a huge blessing for Andy but it will be over this weekend and will provide more time to so the other things (see above) [PRAISE GOD for providing this job, and the friends he made there]
**We all got a stomach virus that erased about a week from my memory. [Um, PRAISE GOD for healing!]
**Andy ran in the Columbus Half-Marathon while I managed the donations that came in. Over $8000 and over 100 donors were thanked and still continue to arrive. [PRAISE GOD!]
**We went to an Ohio State game Saturday (vs. Minnesota) and then to see one of Andy's students as she tried to defend her state golf championship. It was about 40 degrees out.
**Andy got sick again. This time it was the flu. Mator got it too. We're still waiting...[PRAISE GOD for healing and that it wasn't much worse!]
**I've had six photography clients this month and two last. That is insane for a part time job. This is the busiest month of the year because everyone wants their family pics taken outside since it is so beautiful. I also took our family picture (Andy's side) [PRAISE GOD]
**Our photography business also did the pictures for a local preschool / daycare. Two days of shooting and about 100 order to fill.
**I gave a midterm and collected a paper from the students in my online class. In addition to the regular weekly assignments that need to be graded.
**We had our county fair and I got to attend a teacher's workshop with the teachers from our children's school.
**We attended Cirque du Soleil.
**My nephew had a birthday!
**I've been homeschooling Muffin in science, reading and social studies.
**I lead Doodle's AWANA club at church (it's basically Christian scouts where they can earn badges for memorizing scripture)

That's all that I can remember right now. But I am tired. And I am at the end of me. There, I said it again. But then do you know what happens? I hear that still small voice of my Lord, Jehovah-Jireh (God our Provider). The God who provided all the good (see list above) and the not so good (see list above). And I hear Him saying, "Awesome. That's right where I want you to be!" Why would He say that?

"And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9 This is Paul talking here. About the three times that he begged God to take away his afflictions, his pain, his sorrow. And this was God's answer.

When there is nothing left of me, all that gets me through is HIM. Now I can see Him more clearly. Now I know that any good that comes from within me is REALLY from God, cause I am empty. It's exhausting, but so worth it. His grace is sufficient for you too. I know it is. Hang in there.

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-26T20:55:00.001-04:00

Moving back through the month of October, one of our annual highlights is a trip to Pigeon Roost farm which is about 25 minutes from our house. It is one of a few traditions we have so I feel quite obligated to keep it up! This is the first year we had to pay for Mator but she probably had the most fun too!

First of all, since some of my readers live in the frozen tundra and I'm not really sure how pumpkins grow elsewhere, I thought I'd show you one of the locally grown beauties with Doodle, my five year old:
Now, I know this doesn't compare to the prizewinner in nearby Circleville which topped out at over 1600 pounds but hey, it's still fun to see! And here is the annual group shot with the heads through the animals (always preceded by "I want the horse!" "I said it first!" a dispute which always lends itself to wonderfully natural smiles):
Here is a clever game set up to race rubber ducks down a PVC pipe:
See that corn cob next to Doodle? SHHHHHH don't tell her that there are seven million more in the adjacent corn maze. The three that she found are unique treasures and cannot be misplaced! Or replaced, it turns out. Here she plays in the corn box.
Daddy and Mator as we walked through the corn maze. Isn't that a cute princess sweatshirt around his neck? Real men wear pink (especially when their daughters refuse to wear said sweatshirt!)Here are all three girls in one of several tube slides. You can only see Doodle's feet but Muffin was a good sport about helping Mator on all the new things.
Here Muffin crawls through a much smaller tunnel.Here she acts as the magic carpet so Doodle and Mator can have a fun ride!A rare shot of me with all three girls:Sometimes, after a long day, it doesn't take much to CRACK me up...
Here's a much better side of my three year old cutie...

Andy's Race

2009-10-23T11:24:00.003-04:00

With all that October has brought, I am way behind on blogging. This post is a necessity so even though it gets out of chronological order (I'll go back and fill in details from before) I wanted to post it now...

What a wonderful experience! We left the kids with Andy's parents at lunchtime Saturday before heading up to Columbus. We went to Easton to get some necessities (you know, golf gloves and kitchen canisters!) Next we headed to the convention center to ~~get suckered into buying unnecessary race items~~ pick up Andy's race packet. It was amazing to see the number of people and all the things you could buy to improve your race. We did buy a couple of $3 t-shirts from previous races because they were nice Nike shirts.

From here we checked into our hotel, the Columbus Athletic Club. This was great for a lot of reasons. First, it was less than $100 which is $60 less than any other downtown hotel we could find. Second, we ended up in the EXACT same room we were in our wedding night! Of course, there are only ten rooms so the odds were good but anyway...Third, we were one block from the start of the race. Finally, I asked the concierge if there was any way I could get some roof access to take pictures of the race. He said, "Meet me in the lobby at 7:00 when I take up the press." What!! So I got to go up to the roof for the start of the race and had the best view in town!

After getting settled, we had dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse and I had my first meal since Tuesday. Yeh. We had a bout of stomach virus that ravaged our household this week. Knocked me out for 48 hours. Everyone else had a slightly lesser version but I am convinced that it was only some fervent prayers that allowed Andy to get the 12 hour version. Otherwise I don't think he could have run the race. The bad part is that the food I ate Saturday night at dinner was more than the previous four days combined. Needless to say, that is not good for the stomach...but SO worth it!. We had a really hard time sleeping. The rooms were comfy (although it was one of things that you think you have the heat adjusted but wake up at 2:00 AM sweating as if you had already run the marathon so you adjust it again and by 5:00 AM little ice crystals of sweat have hardened all over your body). No matter. We were up at 5:30 and took our time getting ready. We headed downstairs at about 6:45 and then it was just a blur.

As I mentioned, I got to see the sunrise and the race start from the roof of the Athletic Club. It was an awesome sight to see 15,000 runners and thousands more volunteers packed into a one block area. From Andy's perspective: he mentioned that he overheard someone say that as tight as things were down there at the starting line, that conception could have occurred. When the race started at 7:30, it took over twenty minutes for all the runners to cross the starting line.

I took my time coming down and walked down two blocks to mile 9 of the race. I have to say, it was EXHAUSTING just watching for Andy. I knew he was running about a ten minute mile and that adrenaline would probably lower that, but I didn't know when he had actually started so there was a thirty minute window where I was entirely focused on trying to pick him out of the runners. Then I saw him! I yelled and waved and almost forgot to take the picture so that by the time I did they were all blurry and horrible. So I sprinted almost two blocks to try to catch him again and it was too crowded so I totally missed that chance to take pictures. I walked up to about the 12.5 mark (in front of the statehouse on High Street) and waited. This time I didn't take any chances. No waving, no screaming, just focused on getting the picture.

I knew there was no chance of me beating him to the finish line and furthermore, the other 10,000 spectators would all be there too. So I eventually made my way to our meeting place about a block from the finish line-Chipotle. Andy finally made his way there and it was an emotional ending to a fantastic morning.
God is so good-let me count the ways:
*Andy finished the race.
*His time was 2 hours and 1 minute (a 9:15 mile pace) which was great for him
*We had great weather. It was about 39 degrees at the start but it was sunny and apparently perfect for running
*The illness that swept through our house allowed Andy to take Friday and just totally rest up which he otherwise would not have done
* As of today, over $8000 has been donated to help the family that he was running to benefit! More donations continue to arrive every day.
* This was something that Andy and I did as a team which is a great marriage builder. He did all the running and I did all the paperwork. I like that format (I think he does too!)
* Andy's parents were a big support too. They watched the kids for us so we could better enjoy the experience and Sue also mailed out all the support letters!
* We have been so blessed by all the support. It says so much about the Beavers family that so far we have had over 110 different donors. It just blesses our hearts to see the love that has poured out from so many people.

A big thank you to all who wished him well, sent a donation or prayed for him! Here is a highlight film:

Swine flu paranoia getting out of hand...

2009-09-22T15:54:00.000-04:00

Thanks to my friend Nicole for sending me this picture and letting me know I'm not the only one who overreacts to these things...

And for giving me a great laugh!! Hope you did too!

What a Man...

2009-09-20T17:02:00.004-04:00

I've been waiting a while to tell you about this guy I know. But I couldn't figure out how to talk about him without sounding like I'm boasting. So here's what I realized. Being married to a totally awesome guy really says very little about me - you can just ask my parents who both know that I married up (it does say two things and I'll get to that later). No, you wouldn't have to know me very long to realize that I don't deserve this man who is so patient and humble. A guy who so genuinely desires to work hard and do the right thing that even people who may not agree with his spiritual leanings tend to trust him. He's a guy who is reliable and intelligent and when he sees a problem, he tries to solve it or help the other person solve it. And what does having a husband like this say about me? Well, I think I was faithful in seeking God's will to choose a mate.Second , I know how good I've got it. And even though I could never make it clear enough that I am blessed beyond measure, I still try.

So what has Mr. Perfect (for me) done lately? Three cool things.
First, he is training for his first half marathon in October. He has run a few 5Ks over the last 3 years but this is a 13 mile journey. I got a few shots early one Saturday morning...When he told me he was going to do this, he said he needed a higher purpose and so we talked about and prayed about who he could help. He chose Al & Phyllis Beavers. You can read all about it here at the blog we set up to tell about it. You can also read an article from our local paper here. He has had an amazing response which has also really encouraged him. I am so proud of him for all of this.

Also, he recently moved from being a teacher to a "Dean of Students" at his high school. The new position is like an assistant principal and he has been dealing with a lot of behavior issues as well as curriculum and teacher issues. It adds two weeks to his responsibilities at the beginning of the school year as well as the end.

Finally, he is about to be ordained as a Deacon in our church. We do not have elders so this would be the equivalent in many churches. The group of men that are being ordained have spent the last 10 months studying together and learning about their awesome responsibility to lead. I think he is ready.

So thanks for listening, at least I know that my mother in law will read this! :-)

A Confession

2009-09-11T08:37:00.003-04:00

I am what I would consider to be an incredibly loyal person. I find it intensely distasteful to abandon the ones you love in favor of something new or "improved" (remember I'm the one whose daughter inherited my tendency to not want to hurt my stuffed animals' feelings?). Anyway, lately I've had a wandering eye. I feel like if I confess it here, perhaps I can get a little accountability.

It started when I heard my friends talking about how cool it was. But I resisted the urge to consider such things and even thought a little less of them. But then once, when I had a few minutes alone, I found myself being drawn in; and that's how temptation begins. Nothing happened and I felt really guilty and sort of fled the situation. But then there I was with all three kids and I was tired. And I gave in.

I went to Giant Eagle. I'm usually a Meijer or Kroger kind of girl. Occasionally even a Carnival foods woman. But this new Giant Eagle has been wooing me (it seems) with its slick ads, double coupons and (irresistible) free child care while you shop. For so long I've ignored its attempt to impress me with that beautiful produce and artfully displayed bakery items. But yesterday I could no longer resist. And frankly, I think I'm in love.

Let me be clear. I spent more money there at one time than I've ever spent on simply groceries. I know that is their tactic. I'm on to them. But I loved it anyway. And I only bought necessities and things that I had a coupon for (and only if those were on sale). Plus, unlike Meijer and Kroger, I only came home with food and not other random items (lunchbox, new shirt, ice cube trays, etc.). I used to fantasize about carefully prepared grocery lists and coupon lists that I stuck to and from which I refused to deviate. I dreamt of time to spent pondering the per ounce price of grated parmesan vs. the block. And now those dreams are coming true.

My next step is to plan a date night with my wonderful husband. We'll take advantage of the free child care, head over to the little restaurant area of the store and enjoy our (maximum) of two hours. A little bit of heaven.

But shhhhhh, don't mention it to Kroger please.

Mator's First Day

2009-09-08T12:18:00.007-04:00

Last week, my just barely three year old Mator had her first day of preschool. This is a one day a week preschool sponsored by our local parks and rec called Alley Park Kids. Doodle did this a few years ago and it was a great way to get used to being away from home, working with other kids and following directions. Plus, it is a lot of fun!

Mator has been having some "issues" with leaving us lately. I think it is just related to all the changes in her life-moving to a big girl bed, getting rid of binkies and potty training-but she doesn't do very well when we leave her somewhere. In fact, she tends to be that kid whose cries escalate to a scream and they have to be removed from the classroom so that the teacher doesn't lose her hearing and the other kids don't misinterpret her tears to mean, "Hey guys, why don't you cry too? It is SOOOO much fun!"

So after we dropped off the big sisters we headed over to Alley Park (or snake school as her friend from church who also goes there calls it). She was very excited, and in fact had been counting down the days for two weeks. Here she is right outside the school.
Here she is right INSIDE the school. Notice the different smile. The nervous smile. The "you said you would stay with me the first day and you really meant that, right?" smile
Here she is waiting for the first activity. This smile is either still pretty nervous or something like, "Are you ever going to stop taking pictures? I mean seriously, I just took three steps and sat at this table. Whoopty-crap!"And this is at Mc Donalds after school-we're back to a real smile:
Doggone, she's cute, if I do say so. And no tears. Yet. This week I'm going to leave for part of the class. Stay tuned!

Pond Paradise

2009-09-01T09:14:00.005-04:00

We are super blessed to have year round fun in the form of our pond across the street (well, it's technically my dad's pond, but he shares!) In the winter we skate on it, spring sends us looking for tadpoles and baby turtles and most of the year we can go out on the canoe or pedal boat for lots of fun. But the best part, according to the kids, is summer time swimming.

Each year it seems there is a new, exciting addition. This year, my brother Frank added a dock to the "deep end" making it possible to dive into the almost 15 foot deep section.

Here are Doodle, Muffin and Mator "surfing" near the island. Doodle was even able to stand for a couple seconds without Daddy's help!
Justine is diving off the new dock.Doodle began to make a"mudslide" next to the new dock and then everyone else helped too. It was very slick but bumpy on the tush!
Here's Frank and Wilson in the canoe.
Muffin is jumping off the dock.
I love this shot. It shows 5 of the 8 grandkids- Jared (doing a pencil off the dock) Doodle, Muffin, Elle and Justine. Then my dad is in the background, surveying his progeny. In the far background is our house. It looks really close thanks to the magic of aperture but it takes about 6 or 7 minutes to walk across the street and get home.
And finally, despite my better judgment, I present me-my first day in the pond (and only time so far). On a hot day, this is the life!

God is so Good-All the Time

2009-08-28T20:45:00.000-04:00

A few days ago I wrote a post that told about some times when we our faith helps us to understand the hard times. This post will tell about how God has blessed us in some really fun ways.

Last month, we went to our local Fire Department open house and they had a chinese auction. We ended up winning four tickets to The Beach Waterpark in Cincinnati. Andy and I decided that it would be too much for Mator to spend a whole day there so we planned on getting a cheap hotel and taking the two oldest down on a Tuesday and spending Wednesday at the waterpark. {Just for the record, who do you think we give glory to for giving us those tickets?....Yes, God.}

Then, about a week before the planned trip, our Sunday School Teacher mentioned that he had four free tickets to the Creation Museum (this is about 30 minutes from the waterpark in Cincinnati). So we adjusted our plans to include driving to the Creation museum on Tuesday, spending the night at the hotel and the waterpark Wednesday. {Quick test, where did these passes come from? Hint: G....O.....D....}

We had an awesome time. The days were perfect-very warm but not so hot that as you were waiting around outside you thought you would melt. When we got to the Creation museum we found out that the passes included free tickets to the planetarium show (that would have cost us nearly $30-praise God!) So we visited the beautiful grounds, including the petting zoo and were able to pet and feed zorses and a camel! This was a great petting zoo because the animals were very interested in the food and lively.

Inside the museum are great movies and exhibits that explain the seven days of creation. There is a lot of background and science data but the highlight for the kids were the dinosaurs. Here's Muffin on the one that you can actually sit on (the rest were in exhibits).

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and headed out for the waterpark. We had a beautiful day there too. A couple of the slides were not operating which was disappointing. The wave pool had some trouble all morning too, it would kick on for about a minute and then shut down. Finally, the staff was not very helpful or happy that we were there. That being said, once I got over myself and realized, hey, these are free passes and we get to spend the day together-we had a lot of fun. And guess what, God provided for our needs again! I was in line with Doodle at lunch to get her a piece of pizza. I had brought a powerbar for me to save money. While waiting in line, a group standing to the side said, "Does anyone want a free pizza?" A whole pizza! Another lady and I shared it and I brought some back for Andy too! Isn't God good? Here we are, just before leaving at about 6:00! I was very sore for the next couple days, I must be a little old for slides and zip lines!

First Day-Kindergarten and Third Grade

2009-08-27T08:27:00.004-04:00

This year's first day of school, I had two lovely ladies ready and eager to go (well one was eager the other was tolerant). I made the brilliant decision to put an alarm clock in the girls' room and that has been wonderful. It goes off at 6:50 and so far, they have gotten themselves up and at 'em.

Muffin's teacher seems to be so kind and caring. The fact that she also has an interest in photography make it extra nice! Muffin is in the co-op this year which means that she goes in and does regular third grade in the morning (Bible, math, english and spelling) and then I pick her up either before lunch or after lunch / recess (our choice) and we come home and homeschool for science, social studies and reading. Muffin, although doing very well in school, has always had a desire to homeschool. Last year the school started offering the co-op option so we thought this would be a good way to try it out. We are on day six today and so far it has been pretty great. Well, the first two days we didn't do anything at home because Doodle had only half days. This week has been pretty awesome for me and good for Muffin too.

Here she is with two of her best friends, Caitlin and Olivia who are also doing the co-op.And this is her wonderul teacher, Mrs. Thompson.

Doodle was very excited and I think a little nervous although there were no tears (at least on her end!) on the first day or subsequent days. She was very proud of the fact that she went across the monkey bars on her very first day! Her teacher is Mrs. Bennett and is well known for being super-sweet and very musical. What a great match for Doodle! She also happened to be Ben and Will's(my nephews) teacher so that makes her cool too!

Here are Doodle and Mrs. Bennett just before ~~mommy started bawling and had to leave the building~~ Doodle embarked on her first year of elementary school.
This shot is actually from the second day of school. Since both girls were done by lunch time, we had the whole afternoon and spent a few hours swimming at the pond. Then we came home, had showers and ate dinner. Doodle had just finished her dessert when she passed out while sitting in the barstool at the table! They were watching TV and Andy said he watched her just crash. Now that's a good day!

Two Bads = a Good?

2009-08-16T15:45:00.004-04:00

We have all heard (and if you are a mom probably said), "Two wrongs don't make a right". But recently I've come to realize through two events that the world would perceive as bad, that God' word is always true.

First, a few weeks ago my business partner and I were discussing one of our largest photography contracts. We have had this contract for a few years and it grows every year. This year, due to the growth of the league, we knew we would have to try a different way to take every child's picture as our old system would not work. One of the ideas on the table was to have a "Picture Day" on a day that wasn't game day or practice day. One obvious choice for "Picture Day" was on a Sunday. We would start after church and shoot for 6 or 7 hours. I had some reservations about this because I knew that this schedule would prevent some people from being able to attend church on Sunday night. I don't personally attend church on Sunday nights but I know many people do. In our area, Sunday has always been off-limits for sports and until recently, so was Wednesday night (called "Dark Night" because all of the buildings in a community were dark except the church). So I asked my Pastor what I should do if this plan of taking pictures were to become a reality. After some wise words, he suggested that I could just pray something like, "Lord, please make it so that I don't have to take pictures on Sunday night." Then wait and let God work out the details. So I did. And He did. And two days later we got a call from the league that said we had lost the contract.

Is there joy and peace in that? Absolutely. I am reminded that Romans 8:28 tells us, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,who have been called according to his purpose." He didn't say that we would LIKE all things. He didn't even say that all things would be EASY. Just that in ALL things He works for the good of those who love Him. That's me. I love Him. So even this "bad" thing will be for my good. And the peace that comes from knowing that is also good.

A few days ago we found out that one of our children has been grouped with other children whose test scores were among the lowest 15% in her age level. She was placed in this small group in order to be given more attention and have the best chance at success. When I heard this, it was like a punch in the gut. I cried a lot of tears and had to deal with issues of pride, fears for her future and worries about the social implications. But guess what. I believe that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love Him. So even though I don't know HOW this will work for good, I know it will. Of course, I do hope that someday [soon] I will be privileged to know how this works for good. But there are no scriptural promises that indicate that will happen; instead, I will trust God's word without even seeing it is so. That is faith, to me.

In a day or two, I'll give a few recent examples of how God has worked things for good in ways that are EASY to be happy about, and I promise to post pictures too!

As Promised..American Idol Look Out!

2009-08-13T11:22:00.005-04:00

I am attempting to post a video clip of a recent performance by Mator. This was taken during our Foster family vacation to Tennessee this year. We have a talent show every year and this year it extended over a period of several days.

Mator chose to do a singing / dancing routine that, like all of her performances, are completely unrehearsed. This was the final performance of the evening and has been edited from a 6.5 minute routine down to a 3.5 minute piece. For those of you not interested in all that, the final 45 seconds is really the best part. I have attempted to translate and put the words onto the video (as much as I can) but because it is saved as a windows media file (much smaller than my original file) some of the resolution has been lost. I think you'l get the idea though!

Introducing: Mator! Her act was preceeded by that of her lovely cousins, Justine and Jill singing two numbers from the Broadway musical "Wicked". Also performing were the Foster trio (Jared, Justine and Jill) singing their version of the old classic, "Skunk in the Middle of the Road". And the theatrical debut of Justine, Muffin, Annabelle and Wilson in the "Question and Answer Report". Now heeeeeeeeere's Mator!

We like to call this little number, "You thought I wasn't listening but I heard everything you said!"

Complicated

2009-08-06T13:52:00.005-04:00

For those of you who think of me as a single-minded (or simple-minded), uncomplicated girl, prepare to be shocked out of your slippers. It turns out, I can be quite a complex person; consider yourself warned.

I hate to run. I love to run. Here I will explore these two seemingly contrasting views and try to make sense of how they can exist in the same person. And possibly get some recommendations for psychiatric evaluations, but OK! For most of my life, I've done everything I can to avoid running. A couple years ago I ran in a 5K in Lancaster and trained for four months. This year Andy was running again so I thought I'd try it again. I started out with a 20 minute mile and am down to an 11.5 minute mile after two months. I am NOT a good runner. So here goes...

Why I love to run:
1. 30-40 minutes alone, without the possibility of interruption.
2. Listening to whatever music I want with no one asking how long until we can put in a CD or a movie.
3. Time to pray and think about things I otherwise almost never would think about
4. Praise time- I listen to mostly praise music (with some Bon Jovi sprinkled in) so if you drive by while I'm running, don't be surprised if you see some weird arm gyrations because I'm in my own world, praising God.
5. For the first mile and a half, I can really appreciate the beauty of His creation and am often overwhelmed by the privilege of being able to enjoy it and interact with it in a body that was created by God and can do amazing things.
6. Remembering how fun it was to run in a race and thinking about it while I'm running.
7. Knowing that, unlike the brownie sundae, this is something good for me.
8. Remembering that one year ago (July 31) I tore my meniscus and six months ago I had surgery. During that time, all I wanted to do was to be able to run.

Why I hate running:
1. I enjoy breathing and the regular, relaxed intake of oxygen.
2. After 1.5 miles, my thoughts turn to whether I'll make it up the next hill, whether I might be dehydrating.At.This.Moment, and whether this really is GOOD for me.
3. I don't like to sweat. Or be hot. Or uncomfortable. Or tired. That's really four reasons.
4. I don't lose weight when I run but I do when I do other exercises. That is really frustrating.

On another note, my inspiring husband is now training to run a half-marathon in Columbus this fall. He is going to raise money for the Al & Phyllis Beavers family. More details will be coming soon!

Visual Changes

2009-07-30T18:08:00.003-04:00

I'm making a few visual changes to my blog but don't fear, everything is still here. At least, I hope so...Now you've got me all worried...

For those of you bloggers who like to make some changes (most of you are worlds ahead of me anyway) but this guy has some great tips and descriptions with many details.

You know it really kills me that I don't have a picture for this post, oh well, must go get some dinner!

Summer in the City (and the Country)

2009-07-26T15:27:00.001-04:00

Back in June we were able to go to Berkeley Springs, WV to spend a weekend with my dad's cousins and their families. My dad's cousin Chris set everything up at these neat old farmhouses (and one barn) for some 25 humans and three dogs. All five of our family slept in one bedroom at at farmhouse where my parents and my aunt Susie were staying. It was just up a dirt road from the house shown above where another six of the family stayed. This is where we did all of our eating and activities-both of which were well received by everyone in attendance. My kids will not soon forget the artfully placed bowls of peanut M&Ms that were found around seemingly every corner!

One of the highlights of the weekend was definitely a "ghost walk" planned by Chris. Sometime after the sun had completely set and darkness covered the surrounding woods, all 25 of us gathered our ~~torches~~ flashlights and glowing bracelets and set off on a 2 mile roundtrip to the cemetery and back. Some of the group dropped out about halfway but we persevered. No ghosts were spotted although several cries of "CAR!" quickened our hearts and had us heading for the ditch. I hadn't realized the impression that it had made on Mator until a few weeks later, when we were in TN with my family and we were out kind of late. We got back to the house after dark and Mator asked, "Are we going to go on that walk to the church now?" All this traveling is getting her confused!

Another highlight was spending time with second cousins and third cousins and whatever! Fun people! We got to swim in a little pool, have a "Christmas in June" birthday party and swim in the "hot" springs (really only 75 degrees but I suppose that felt good to George Washington!). Doodle was really taken by Cheyanne who was so patient and shared her cool hula hoops with the girls. All the kids loved meeting and playing with Kaia and Merek and were fast friends. Isn't that the neat thing about family? I hadn't seen them in about four years but it was so fun and easy to just hang out together.

Here's the pool that Mator, Doodle and Muffin loved with the view of the mountains:Here are the little elves after celebrating Kaia's 6th birthday with a Christmas themed party(top-bottom: Doodle, Mator, Muffin, Merek, Kaia):The spa at the hot springs- The five of us in one tub along with my parents and Aunt Susie. They heated the spring water to about 102 degrees:Outside the spa were the actual "hot" springs including this one where our first President liked to come and bathe:The springs were channeled through these canals for the public to play in. Here the girls were fishing for minnows and craw-dads.
Now I've gone on and on and will have to write another post about where we went when we left West Virginia (hint: it wasn't home!)

Someday...

2009-07-25T16:30:00.005-04:00

Someday, I’ll tell her how hard it was to let go and how her terrified screams broke my heart. But for now I’ll remind her that God is always with us. Someday I’ll express the magnitude of my regret for putting her in that situation. But for now we’ll focus on how brave she was to get back on and keep going. Someday I’ll be able to convey how 20 seconds turned into an eternity as I watched her float down stream out of my reach. But for now I’ll explain how I knew in my heart that the only way for her to be safe was for me to let go. Someday, she’ll understand that even moms make mistakes and the best we can hope for in those situations is that everyone will learn something. I know I did!
Thursday, while in Pigeon Forge, we went tubing. We went with a company called River Rage, mostly because they were the cheapest. When we got there, we were advised that we should take the "lazy river" trip instead of the more intense section of the river. And with the exception of a terrible spot to enter the river (in the middle of the most intense section of that ride) it was a great hour-long float. There were some mini-rapids but mostly it was a float down the river. Mator took turns riding on mine and Andy's lap while Doodle was tied to us and Muffin was pretty independent. We were feeling pretty bold when we finished and were considering doing the more intense section of the river.

There were several factors that contributed to our decision. First, we talked to some ladies who had done that part of the river and they hadn’t even gotten wet. Also, although they highly recommended that we not take that part of the river, the company did not prohibit it. I think what did it for me was the fact that I tend to be a pretty…hmmmm…what’s the opposite of conservative parenting? I’m the one who rolls my eyes (out of sight of the kids) when someone tells me my child is too small (by 1”) to ride a ride. I don’t let my child’s tears get them out of doing something they’re afraid of. When their swim coach gives them a hard time, I don’t speak ill of her, I simply tell them that is her job and it is my job to tell them how great they are doing. I stopped cutting the hotdogs into fingernail sized bites when they were 18 months. I am someone who does NOT want the merry-go-round removed from the playground because someone COULD break their arm on it. What's one broken arm compared to thousands of fun rides? In other words, I don’t want my kids to have irrational fears of this world so I make my decisions that way. This time, we were wrong.

We entered the river at a very calm point and decided that until we had a good grasp on what to expect, I would tie Muffin up to me and carry Mator and Andy would tie Doodle up to him. The first set of rapids was fun but Muffin was nervous. The second set of rapids were tough. Muffin bounced out of her tube and I grabbed her life jacket. But as I held her for that split second, I knew that I was holding her down in the rocks and rapids and if I let go, she would simply float the twenty yards down the river to the slow current where we would catch up with her. But there was no time to explain that to her. And as she floated away from me, her terrified screams were heard by all the campers on the side of the river who were watching. They were also heard by a young lady (probably 11 or 12) who was swimming in the river, looking for her dad’s glasses. She grabbed Muffin and pulled her to the side. Andy got to her first and heard the young lady's comforting voice calming Muffin, “Is that your dad? Here he comes. He’ll be right here.”

The adults nearby came down to check on her and noticed that her shoulder was scraped up pretty good. It turned out that it was a group of Boy Scouts that were camping and, naturally, they were prepared. I left Mator with Andy on the side and followed Muffin up to the camp where a U-Haul trailer was filled with medical supplies. They cleaned her up and sprayed a liquid bandage on it. As we climbed back into the rafts, I yelled up to them a final thank you and said, “You were an answer to a prayer I didn’t even know I had to pray!” Needless to say, Muffin was not excited about getting back on the river but we were assured that we had gotten through the roughest part. There really was no choice but to continue to the exit of the river because our only other choice was to walk down the road to the business where we had started and we had no idea how far that was.

So we continued down the river and I was beginning to second guess the choice we had made. The next set of rapids surprised me. I reached over to try and steady Muffin and calm her and then hit a rock with my tube. I fell out of the tube and Mator went with me. The next 45 seconds were a blur for me. I grabbed Mator’s life jacket with one hand and the tube with the other. I kept going under but everytime I came back up I could hear Mator and Muffin screaming. When I pulled Mator close to me, the current pushed me over her, forcing her into the rocks below us. So I pushed her away from me, still holding onto her jacket all the while trying to roll over the tube because it was upside down. I saw my sister in law down the river and wondered if I let go of Mator if she would be able to grab her. Finally the river calmed and my brother had floated up next to us. I threw Mator up onto his lap and she quietly shuddered. I pulled myself onto the tube and looked at Mator. I thought that her leg was broken. From her knee down were gashes in her leg and it looked limp. Muffin was just terrified. We made our way to the side and saw that the river exit for another company (River Rat) was right there.

At the same time, Andy and my dad’s tubes had all but completely deflated and were worthless on the river. I took Mator and Muffin out of the river and gave the others our tubes. We walked up to the River Rat (the other company) exit and I was a little nervous to find that they were closed. So we went to a campground next door and they volunteered to call our company for a ride back. By this time I knew that Mator’s leg was not broken and both she and Muffin were in good spirits, happy to be out of the river. As we waited for the ride, we talked to the campground owner who told us, basically, you get what you pay for. Our deflated rafts were one thing, but she said that the other company would never have allowed kids as young as Mator (and probably not even Muffin) to go on that part of the river since a recent rain had really swelled the river. I don’t blame River Rage, ultimately it was our decision. And it was a bad one. But I would recommend paying the extra $5 and going with the other company.

The one funny thing that happened as we were waiting for our ride was Mator. She looked at me and said, “Who was that girl who saved me?” I said, “That was me, honey”. “OHHHH! I wanted that girl to save me!” She was mad because she wanted the girl who had pulled Muffin out of the river to save her too!

Now, having put it all down for the world to see, maybe someday, I'll close my eyes and not see the river rolling in front of me, see my child floating away and hear her screams and feel completely helpless and guilty at the same time.

My 100th Post

2009-07-25T13:13:00.000-04:00

In honor of my 100th post, I will be (drum roll please.......) titling this post "My 100th Post". I should probably set up a pay pal button for all the donations that are going to start pouring in. I'll get right on that...

Foster Family Vacation-2009

2009-07-24T12:53:00.001-04:00

Tennessee style. Sweet tea and southern drawls accepted here. Yes, this year the Fosters took their annual vacation to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. This was actually a repeat destination (different house) from our 2002 trip. That year the kids were 8 months (Muffin), 1 year (Jared), 3 (Justine) and 7 (Jill). This year the kids were almost 3 (Mator), almost 4 (Wilson), 5 (Doodle), 6 (Elle), 8 (Muffin), 9 (Jared), 11 (Justine) and celebrating her 15th birthday, Jillian.

My photographer friends will appreciate this amazing feat. This picture was achieved in one shot on the top floor deck of our house. Seriously. When I saw it I knew that it couldn't be any better (short of substituting a few family members for members of the Angelina-Brad Pitt clan) so I didn't even take any more than this one. Wow!And what a week! Our house was huge, 8 bedrooms, 4 floors-and we used every bit of it with the 16 of us. The indoor pool was freezing the first couple days and then they figured out the heater and it was amazing.

I'll try and make a montage of pictures to post because of course, I took about 300 and once I see everyone else's pictures that number will be gigantic. Be prepared. There will be one edited video of Mator that brought my entire family to hysterics of laughter. I hope the video does it justice!

I Will Serve You While I'm Waiting...

2009-07-23T12:34:00.000-04:00

A pretty new song by John Waller has been a theme song for our family these last few months. A part of it it goes like this:

I’m waiting. I’m waiting on you Lord and I am peaceful.

I’m waiting on you Lord, though it’s not easy

But faithfully, I will wait. Yes I will wait.

I will serve You while I’m waiting; I will worship while I’m waiting.

When June 30 passed, so did our window of opportunity to travel overseas next year with the Department of Defense. They can still hire through August but for us, we need to know earlier to make plans for our house, Andy’s leave of absence from LHS, pack, etc. So we wait. The beginning of this story is here.

So is it disappointing? Not to me. There is a relief in knowing where we will be for the next year and being able to make plans accordingly. There is no question to us whether the Lord has laid these plans upon our hearts so I am at peace that it will happen in His time. I’m even a little bit excited to find out what plans He has for us here that He wanted us to stay (at least) another year!

We have to acknowledge that there haven't been many times in our adult lives where we've had a desire for something and had to wait for it. At least not something that we believed was worthy and of the Lord. At one point, we were ready for a second child and we had to wait 5 months for that to happen. That seemed like forever but I knew even then that God has a purpose to His timing. I've learned that so many times in my life. In some of those cases, the hurting or sadness of having to wait was still there but numbed by a knowledge both in my heart and head that God is Sovereign. So, this exercise of waiting another year is nothing but good for us and as we look ahead to this coming year I know these words will continue to be in my head...

"I will serve you while I'm waiting, I will worship while I'm waiting..."

And just because I find it difficult to post without a picture:

I took this in Cosby, TN while on a hike through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I was looking back into the old growth forest where some of the trees are hundreds of years old. I guess that is a lesson in waiting.

Typical Summer Day

2009-07-22T12:16:00.000-04:00

Here is a typical shot around our house. Muffin and Doodle are doing nails in the bathroom. They have really gotten along well this summer, very few fights or tears between them. That makes the thought of sending them back to school soon even harder. Doodle will be in kindergarten and Muffin in third grade. Doodle is ready to go today. Muffin constantly asks to be home-schooled. We are actually considering a form of that for her next year. FCA calls it a co-op and for elementary students it basically means that she is either there for the AM or PM. Then is home schooled on the missed subjects. The seems like an ideal scenario for her since it requires her to do some large group adapting but also maximize her strengths by moving at her own pace. We’ve already registered Doodle for Kindergarten full time and I feel sure that it is the right decision for her. We’ll have to decide soon for Muffin. Until then, I plan to enjoy the rest of our days of summer!

Sailing Camp - Buckeye Lake Yacht Club

2009-07-21T11:48:00.006-04:00

I'm about to go on a blogging spree. I wrote a few entries over vacation and will schedule their posting over the next few days so check back often! Here's a quick one about Muffin...
Muffin has had a very busy summer. In addition to swim team and softball, she also had a week of sailing camp at Buckeye Lake. It was an ideal situation for her to learn the basics of sailing and gain some confidence on the water with a bunch of friends. In addition to her cousin Annabelle, my cousin’s two kids (Ian and Olivia) came in for the week. Also, Annabelle’s friends (Michael, Mattie, Katie and Susannah) who are Muffin’s friends too made it lots of fun for her.

I grew up at Buckeye Lake (well, not literally but I spent A LOT of time there) and had many years of sailing camp-some fun, some not. It is a very long day (9-4) and being an introvert, it was exhausting for me. Plus I usually didn’t know anyone very well and it always seemed like everyone else knew each other. Really, all kinds of camps were a pain for me. I was always anxious to get back home. So I was really hopeful that things would work out for Muffin because she is a lot like me. The weather was great except for one day and having so many friends there seemed to make the difference because on Thursday when I told her, “Don’t worry, we still have one more day!” She replied, “What?!! It is only ONE week?”

Here she is getting an Opti ready to sail. She is putting in the centerboard.

Here she is sailing with one of the instructors. It was a very windy day so she ended up being one of only a few to take the tiller. Most of the other kids just went out with their instructor at the tiller.

Here she is with my cousin's daughter, Olivia. She even stayed at our house for a few nights during the week and the girls had a ball together.

Some days, while Muffin was out on the lake, the rest of us would hang out at the Yacht Club pool. Here is Mator making herself at home with someone's sun glasses!

Muffin is Baptized

2009-07-11T19:45:00.004-04:00

Way back in June, Muffin was baptized at our church. At our church, baptism is an outward symbol of faithfulness (Matthew 28:19- "Go and make disciples...baptizing them..") and a testimony to others about your faith. Muffin has asked for about a year and a half to do this but her new confession of faith made it the right time.

Most of Andy's and my family were able to join us for part or all of the service and the celebratory lunch at Pizza Cottage. We are so blessed that Muffin felt a pull to do this and our family was able to join us. Andy's mom had given us some adorable fabric and Muffin really wanted to be able to wear them on the day of the baptism so I was able to make her a top and the other two dresses. Aren't they cute? So easy too!

This One's For My Brothers and Sisters in Christ

2009-06-22T16:18:00.003-04:00

Can you imagine a better opportunity:

You are invited into a secular institution in which youth spend a great deal of time. You are not only allowed, but encouraged to interact with these youth. You get to participate in fun, edifying activities and crafts and share the hope of Jesus Christ in ANY way you’d like. You are surrounded by enough volunteers so that the youth to volunteer ratio is nearly 1:1. You get to share a meal that is so rare for the youth that they are excited simply to eat it. It costs you NOTHING but five hours of your time. When you leave, the youth and adult leaders are already asking, “When can you come back?” Would you pass up an opportunity like that?

Saturday I had such an opportunity and am so thankful I didn’t pass it up. I went with the Wings Ministry (click here to see a post I did last December when I went to SCI) to the Scioto Juvenile Facility in Delaware, Ohio. This is the only prison for juvenile (girls 10-21) girls that are felons in Ohio. Currently there are nearly 70 girls here and about 55-60 attended our party on Saturday. Here me now – all of these girls are felons. Can you imagine a group more desperate for the hope and forgiveness of our Savior? They are adolescents – the age group most desperately searching for meaning and significance. And we have the answer! John 4:30 – This is Jesus talking to the disciples (and us), “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” This is so true here!

Family members are invited to Wings parties too and for this particular party (watch for the significance here) about 15-20 of the girls had family members show up. Maybe one-third of these girls had families come to spend three hours with them. Surprised? Me neither. I was taking portraits of the girls and their families or the girls with their Wings volunteers. Usually I would take the pictures home, edit them, print them at Walgreens and return them to the prison to be distributed. But because these are youth, the Department of Youth Services does not allow pictures of the minors to be taken off the premises so my mom (who also helped me) let me borrow her printer and we printed out about 40 pictures. It actually took us an extra two hours after the party was over to finish printing but it was so worth it. My friend Dawn helped out too and she was great with the girls!

Over and over I hear Christians lamenting the fact that prayer and the Bible have been “removed” from the public schools. This is not even close to being true. There are restrictions on how much adults can LEAD such activities but student led groups are actually protected by the Constitution and the Supreme Court has upheld those rights. These groups can even bring in adult speakers (read: Christian youth workers) to speak to the student groups on a regular basis. At the high school where my husband teaches, a group meets twice a week and the student leadership is supported by a group of wonderfully committed ladies that bring fellowship, teaching and cookies to the school each week. Instead of complaining, they are doing something. Many of you are ministering to others in equally exciting and impactful ways. I’d love to hear about them! I’ll figure out a way to put links in here to your site if you let me know!

Huston, we have a problem...

2009-06-12T15:55:00.004-04:00

This is roughly one-third of the animal / doll population in our home. If I ever get enough time, I plan to pursue a PhD in the reproduction of stuffed animals. They are absolutely out of control here. Yesterday, I had the oldest two gather every animal and doll in the house and put them on the floor of my bedroom (nicely arranged so that all could be admired, no big piles). They did this while I was giving my final exam (praise God the tests are graded and grades are submitted!!). Then last night, I found about 12 more that they had missed. Then the gruesome task began.

I asked them to join me in my bedroom and asked them to do something akin to "Sophie's Choice". "Please pick your favorite 5 animals." Muffin was immediately overcome with grief. I assured her that we would not tell the other animals that they weren't her favorites. Muffin and Doodle each picked 5 and put them in a laundry basket. And, just for my dad (whose famous line, "Girls are for teasing" was passed on by my brothers but not me!), I said, "OK, the rest are going in the trash.... Just kidding!" Although, between you and I, I was only partly kidding-I was testing the waters here. Anyway, those top five animals went into their beds.

Next came the stuffed animal bin. They each got to put in two at a time until it was almost full. These two exercises accounted for nearly 40 stuffed animals. Then I picked out about 10 of Mator's favorite animals and put them into her bin. Then I said, "Now each of you pick ONE animal to give away. Yes, I am serious." You would not believe the tears that fell, especially from the 8 1/2 year old. I began to realize that the importance of this exercise was not in cleaning out their rooms and getting them organized. Clearly, the giving away of two or three stuffed animals was in no way going to help there. Equally clear was the realization that giving away more than one each was going to be downright traumatizing, at least for Muffin. The lesson here was going to be one of sacrifice. And at least one of us really learned it.

I cannot possibly exaggerate the sobs and tears that Muffin let loose as she was choosing one animal to give away. It's not that I can't relate. Truth be told, five or six of their animals are actually mine from when I was little. I loved my animals like they were my children too. But here's the part I really don't want the kiddos to read until they have children of their own... I actually had to leave the room so that I didn't laugh in front of them. This was the animal Muffin finally chose to give away: This two inch tall bear was almost certainly from Oriental Trading and probably valued at less than a dollar. It was given away at the dentist the last time she visited (by the way, I wish dentists would go back to giving away candy. At least with candy, you eat it and it's gone-no junk piling up around the house!) And, she has two that are exactly the same (except they are tie-dyed). The good byes for this bear lasted about ten minutes during which time I had to "go talk to Daddy for a few minutes".

When I came back, the tears had dried and Muffin and Doodle were hunting through the animals again. "Doodle said she would let me donate Boots (the one Doodle had chosen) and she would choose another one of hers to give away." Wow. Well, the lesson of sacrifice was certainly not lost on the five year old! But it wasn't enough for me to leave it at that. Muffin needed to learn it too. Please note that I am skipping the part where we talked about the fact that some children had ZERO things to cuddle and we would be making someone else very happy and while it was OK to be a little sad and miss the animal, we should focus on the joy we would be giving someone else (BLAH BLAH BLAH).

So sometime next week, we are bagging up three animals/dolls and ceremoniously donating them. And guess who else learned to sacrifice? A certain someone who had hoped to donate a garbage bag full of fiber-filled critters will now be sacrificing valuable basement storage space for a box of animals that were too precious to let go of. I still love being a Mom.

A short story involving chainsaws and taco meat

2009-06-09T15:14:00.004-04:00

Two really cool things happened yesterday. One amazing thing happened at Walmart on Saturday but I'm still processing that one and will write about it soon. But yesterday, sweet heaven above, was wonderful!

First, my husband cut down two dead trees. With a chainsaw!! This was a lot of fun for me and the kiddos to watch (from a safe distance) and then Muffin and Doodle helped him load up limbs and take them to the burn pile.
Second, an extremely rare event occurred. So rare, that while my beloved husband objected, I named it the best day of the year. I am quite confident that this has not happened in AT LEAST the last four years. Wait for it...Last night, every member of our family consumed their entire meal with complaint or cajoling. There was not a single utterance of, "How much of this meat do I have to eat?" There were even several, "Can I have more?" I am not exaggerating when I say that this has not happened one time since Doodle was old enough to eat table food. It is some unwritten rule that if Muffin LOVES something (Mac and cheese) then Doodle must dislike it. Similarly, if Doodle loves something (popcorn, pizza) Muffin must therefore intensely dislike the same food. And goodness knows that if Andy and I enjoy a certain meal (anything with garlic or tomato sauce) every small person in our home must loudly object to its presence at the table. So now we have ONE meal that everyone likes. And what is it? I will graciously share the recipe right here so that you may attempt this at home:
Taco Pie:
1 can of crescent rolls (pinch the pieces together so you make two sqaures)
taco seasoned beef
cheddar cheese (shredded)
Directions: Place on square of crescent dough into a greased 8x8 pan. Spread a layer of taco meat. Cover with cheddar cheese. Place second crescent square on top and pinch edges together. Bake according to package directions.

That's it folks. Andy and I used to make it all the time when we were first married. I believe it has Pampered Chef origins. Anyway, I don't know how I've forgotten about it this long but all I can say is that last time I was at the grocery store, it came to me like a vision from God. Now we know why He sent me the Taco Pie. It brought peace to our family and maybe it could do the same for the world. Give it a try and let me know what it does for you and yours!

A Mother's Love

2009-06-01T12:41:00.011-04:00

Last Saturday God gave me another opportunity to serve using photography at the Brenden Krannitz Memorial 5k. It was an incredible, beautiful day that I was privileged to be a part of.

Brenden was a student at Fisher Catholic and is the nephew of my friend Kristin. I got to know his family when I took their portrait at their house. Brenden was 15 when he was diagnosed with Melanoma. His family and friends rallied around him and the image above was one that I took to represent their closeness. A few months later, Brenden passed and is greatly missed by many. This race raised money for a scholarship in his honor at Fisher.

Brenden's mother is tireless in her effort to honor Brenden's memory and make some good come from his death. Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." Watching her put her energy into her two other children, B and K, as she plans and carries out the activities of race day is inspiring. Her commitment to increasing awareness of the dangers of excessive sun exposure is also changing lives. Seeing Amy in action on race day is one of the reasons I love going.This is Brenden's brother, B, with the beloved Father Franks from St. Mary.

This year Andy raced and despite a somewhat difficult (hilly) course, beat his personal goal! He also got third place in his age group and received a really cool medal! Here he is getting ready for the race and helping me get my settings right for the starting line.As a photographer, I get to observe people in a non-threatening way. Some people are uncomfortable having their picture taken but most people don't notice me or they just accept that I'm doing a job. Plus, it is my responsibility to look for the details of the day to help tell the story. One other "picture story" really touched my heart.

My 8 year old daughter (Muffin) took gymnastics this year and one of the girls from her class, A, was in the race with her mom and brother. I took pictures at the start and then waited at the finish line. I saw A's brother finish but didn't see his mom and sister. I waited a while and then I saw the brother and asked if his mom and sister had finished. He said, "Look, here they come!" Coming around the final bend, they began to pick up speed, as most of the runners do in the final stretch. But look carefully at this sequence of pictures. To me it was the perfect visual reminder of a mother's love:
Notice how Cindy (the mom) is so close she is almost touching her daughter in the first picture. As they near the finish, Cindy begins to slowly distance herself, allowing A to finish the race and bask in the glory of her achievement.

This is something that most moms do without even thinking about it. But it should not be overlooked and was a great encouragement to me, a mom. The joy of seeing your child begin and then accomplish a difficult task is so great that all the sacrifice on the part of the parent are forgotten and deemed completely unimportant. This is what moms do: we sacrifice, encourage, challenge, train, prepare, and then we watch. And every once in awhile, we see them finish the race.

Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

2009-05-29T07:53:00.009-04:00

We went to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium yesterday and had a very nice time. Doodle, having just completed preschool was kind of gyped out of a preschool field trip to the zoo. When Muffin was in preschool, they went every year. They don't do that anymore so I wanted to take Doodle. My mom has a membership that allows us all to go for free (THANKS MOM!!) so she and I took Doodle and Mator.

It was neat because we didn't go last year so neither of them remembers anything about the zoo so it is like the first time for both.

Some highlights:

Two month old baby Asian elephant:

There is a long line to see this and I was trying to figure out why. It seemed like I had seen a baby elephant there before. It turns out that Asian elephants born in captivity are VERY rare (as in one or two a year) and the earlier elephants were African elephants. Interesting.

Another favorite moment: feeding the Lorikeets. Actually, feeding the Lorikeets freaks me out, so I realized that if I stay behind the camera, they ignore me and land on other people (like my kids). One landed on Mator's head and it was hysterical!

She was so good about not screaming or jumping around (two of her trademark activities) but just standing still and being uneasy.

Here are some other random shots:

Doodle cuddling with a Tiger:Merry Go Round with Grammy:
Mator standing (and acting like) a stingray:

Only downer: it rained. I like to think of myself as prepared but I was totally not in this case. I had wipes, hand sanitzer, snacks, lunch, towel (for table cloth/blanket/ shade/etc.), change of clothes for Miss Potty Trained, video and still camera. Everything. Except rain coats or umbrellas. Last time I checked there was a chance of showers in the afternoon and I thought we'd be gone by then. So, we were pretty wet. But no one complained about that (except maybe me!)

We got home about 4:00 and just skipped naps (WHAT!!!). Then Andy took Doodle and Mator to visit his Grandmother Mona who is in the hospital. Muffin and I went to see cousins (Justine, Jared & Abbey) in their band/choir/strings concert. They all did so well and Muffin and I especially got into the Music Man medley that was performed (tried not to embarass anyone but how can you not march and sing to "76 Trombones" ??) and a Phantom of the Opera medley. And, my niece was correct when she said that their last song, "Intensity", was the "Greatest song in the world, LITERALLY."

Disciplines of A Godly Woman- Part III

2009-05-20T14:59:00.004-04:00

This is my third and final installment about my overnight with Muffin. Part I is here, Part II is here.

We stayed in the pool until it closed at 10 and by the time we got cleaned up and ready for bed it was close to 11. We got up around 7:30 and went down for some complimentary breakfast. Now, you never know how that is going to work out but this one was pretty decent. They did have a waffle maker and cereal and bagels so we were quite content. When we got back to the room we did a lesson on Bible Study:
I gave her a Devotional for girls and we did the first one together. Then we got showers and got ready to go. We also did a lesson on tithes / offerings.We had asked the church for an extra set of giving envelopes for Muffin to use and to keep track of her giving. Hopefully that is an incentive.

We left the hotel at 11 and headed to Picktown. We grabbed some lunch at Wendy's and then went to see the Hannah Montana Movie.

Quick Review: Cute movie, mostly modest, a little too much focus on LOOOOVE but we liked it anyway.

After the movie, we headed back to Lancaster to pick up Doodle from preschool. Muffin fell asleep on the way there. But there was one more stop. We sat in the car and talked about prayer:
We talked about how in Old Testament times the Israelites made sacrifices to the Lord and the aroma was pleasing to Him. So we went into Bath and Body Works to select a nice spray that Muffin could use when she prayed to remind her (and us) that our prayers can be an offering that is pleasing to the Lord.

We were done just in time to pick up Doodle from school and Mator from Grandma Sue's. I am so thankful for this opportunity to spend time with Muffin and share these important thoughts. I am so thankful for my mom (who watched Doodle and Mator), Andy's mom (who kept Mator during her nap) and Andy (who financed and supported me on this adventure).

Disciplines of A Godly Woman- Part II

2009-05-18T15:19:00.001-04:00

This is the second installment in my story about the overnight trip Muffin (my 8 year old) and I went on in early May. Part I is here.

The nail painting that was supposed to take about 30 minutes, took closer to 90 but who's complaining? We were pretty hungry though so instead of driving out of town to eat, we just stopped at our local "Bob Heavens" so we wouldn't starve to death (or get too grumpy!) Here I got out the notebook and as we were waiting for our food, we did the first lesson: Fellowship. Here is the paper I used:

We got to sit at the bar in the restaurant and look up Scriptures and talk about the value of meaningful fellowship. She is blessed to have a few WONDERFUL friends and I am so thankful. She will always be able to compare future relationships to the purity and delightfullness of those she has now. And now she has a scriptural filter to begin learning to discern what kind of fellowship is pleasing to the Lord and what kind isn't. To be sure, I am not saying that she should only fellowship with believers; although at this age, we are still carefully monitoring all of the influences in her life. But as she grows, our hope is that she will be a light to all those with whom she comes in contact.

After dinner we drove the 25 minutes to Canal Winchester to the Best Western. By the time we got settled, it was about8:00. We decided to do one more lesson now and then go swimming until we were too tired to move. Next we discussed Worship:

We went over this sheet and then we made a list of all the words she could think of to describe God. We made those into this wordle. We printed this out at home and put it in the cover of her notebook. After this activity, we went to the POOL! We were the only people there for the first half hour. Then about seven kids came in ranging in age from 8-16 (unattended) and I thought it was going to get pretty rowdy. Actually, they were pretty well behaved and when I was tired of swimming was about the same time that Muffin made friends with the 8 year old girl.

Here is probably my second favorite moment. Muffin is QUITE competitive. That is an understatement. Anyway, this little girl wanted to race Muffin (who is a pretty good swimmer). I felt a little sorry for Alexis because she was definitely NOT a good swimmer and I couldn't figure out why she wanted to keep racing Muffin. Then I realized that Muffin was letter her win. I don't think that has EVER happened before. This little girl was staying at the hotel because her house had had a fire and they were unable to be at home for a month. Muffin realized that she could bring her a little bit of joy and made a HUGE (for her) sacrifice. I was so proud! Here she is doing a "handstand" from the side (yes, it is a dive, I know!)

Disciplines of A Godly Woman- Part I

2009-05-16T09:47:00.010-04:00

My last blog entry (good gracious, a month ago!!!) told about how my oldest daughter, 8 year old Muffin, made a decision to accept Jesus Christ as her Savior. In that decision are a whole lot of details that can be overwhelming to a new believer. Without discipleship, a new believer can not mature or develop in the fullness of Christ. As her mom, it's my responsibility (along with her dad) to make sure that she understands that this commitment is only the beginning of something, not the end. I also wanted her to know that this decision is huge, one that will affect the direction of the rest of her life. With those things in mind, I planned an overnight for us to talk about the "Disciplines of a Godly Woman".

Step 1 - Plan a place to go. I looked online for a cheap local hotel. My girl is in heaven if she can swim in a pool so that's what we were going to do. The cheapest nights are weeknights so that meant (GULP!) missing a day of school. As a former teacher, this is a BIG deal for me. Here's my philosophy: I really don't like to send my child mixed messages. I want them to know that if I say something, they can bank on it. I try really hard not to make promises I can't keep (or threats!). So, I have a hard time sending a message that school is not important when it is inconvenient or I need something but it is important every other day. Yes, we do miss school, but it is a BIG STINKING DEAL when we do. I digress...

Step 2- Check with teacher to see if there is anything happening that can't be made up or done in advance on the day we are going to miss. Another blessing of attending a Christian school: I just flat out told the teacher and the attendance officer what we were doing and both were very supportive.

Step 3 - What are the disciplines of a Godly Woman? I narrowed it down to 5: Bible Study, Tithes & Offerings, Prayer, Worship & Fellowship. I want to make sure that she understands each one and knows how to practice them. I bought a 3 ring binder that is about 9"x6" so that our sermon notes (that come on a half sheet of paper) can be stored in it. Then with Andy's help, we developed a little lesson for each subject and thought of a physical reminder for each one and put them in the book. Then I gave her an invitation that looked like this:

So, here is how it went down...
Thursday after school, Andy and Muffin had dentist appointments so I met them at the dentist at 4:15 and we traded kids. Muffin and I had appointments to get our nails painted at 5:00 so we stalled until 4:50. When we got there, the lady told us that she was behind some so we walked down to the Christian book store to kill some more time.

Let me just say upfront that I do not make a very good girl. I have no real decorating talents (just look at the interior of my house). When I am a hostess, I love to focus on the food and activity, I have no desire nor any giftings in centerpieces, name cards, invitations, etc. And the last time I had my fingernails professionally done was for my wedding (12 years ago!). But this was the best $5 (each) I think I ever spent. I got a french manicure, Muffin got hers painted and airbrushed with stars, and we got to witness to the lady who did our nails. This was one of the neatest things that happened so I'll wrap up this post with the story...

A lady in the salon was getting her hair done as we were waiting to get our nails done and getting them done. At one point, the nail tech asked what why we were on our little outing. Muffin told her, "I got saved". When the tech didn't say anything, I said, "Why don't you tell her what that means?" And she did. The tech still didn't say anything but the woman getting her hair done heard her and stopped over to us and said, "Did you get saved honey? That is so wonderful. I knew there was something different about the two of you when you walked in here but I didn't know what it was. Now I know!" Oh thank you Lord for a confirmation of one of my favorite verses right now,

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2

I just love that God can make His word so real for us. As I struggled to adequately prepare the lessons we were about to embark on, He taught us one just as important. Thanks be to God!

Prayers are answered

2009-04-15T09:14:00.008-04:00

        Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia! 
 Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia! 
 Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia! 
 Where's thy victory, oh grave? Alleluia!

On Easter Sunday, my oldest daughter made a public confession of her desire to serve the risen Savior for the rest of her life. I have had a hard time writing about this as it seemed to somehow diminish the sanctity of this event by posting it on the blog, but then that seemed hypocritical considering Christ is the center of my life and to deny access to that area on my blog would be denying who I am. So here is the story...

About a year and a half ago, Muffin said that she wanted to be baptized. This brought up a conversation about why one gets baptized and she stated that she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart. We talked to her some more but since she is our oldest, we had a really hard time discerning her heart. Here is the sad thing, if ANY other child in the world would come up to me and say, "I want to ask Jesus into my heart" I would immediately open up a Bible, ask them some questions and pray with them. Why is it so much harder with my own children? I question her motives, consider the depth of her understanding and wonder if she knows enough to make this commitment.

So Andy took her to talk to our Pastor. He gave her a tract for kids (not the particular one in this link but you get the idea)
He told her to read it and discuss it with us when she was ready. She did read it. That night. And when we found it some time later, we found the notes she had carefully written in the margins. Things like, "Wow!" when reading about the sacrifice of Christ. And "Yeh!" when reading about his resurrection. Then she signed it and dated it that she had prayed the sinner's prayer. She did not talk about it with us for some time. I can't explain or defend our lack of action on this. Certainly the Holy Spirit was pressing me to act but I could not figure out how.

About two months ago, Muffin began attending the worship service with us instead of the children's service. We had been encouraging her to attend one service a month in first grade, two in second and now she wanted to go with us almost every week. These verses were an encouragement to me:

"He called a little child and had him stand among them.

And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me." Matthew 18:2-5

So I began to pray during our Pastor's invitations each week that God would pull her to Him during an invitation. This was kind of my "Gideon's fleece" (Judges 6:36-40). I never talked to Muffin about coming forward during an invitation, I waited to see if the King of Kings might call her to Him in that way. This kind of public display is not in Muffin's nature. She is an introvert. So on Easter Sunday, when she tugged on my shirt and said during the invitation, "I want to ask Jesus into my heart" I knew that the God who knows my fears and doubts was making Himself real to her. Andy took her forward where she talked to our Pastor. He reminded her that a child's first commandment was to obey her parents and encouraged us to continue the dialogue with her.

We went straight to Andy's parent's house for Easter dinner and Muffin stayed in the car to talk to Andy. He made sure that she understood what was happening:
1. Did she admit that she, like all of us, was a sinner?
2. Did she recognize that God is Holy and our sin separates us from Him?
3. Did she know that Jesus Christ's (a sinless man and God at one time) death on the cross was a sacrifice without which we could not stand before a Holy God?
4. Did she want to accept the gift of salvation and spend the rest of her life in service to Him?

Praise God, the answer was yes. They prayed together and came inside to share the good news with our family. She was so excited and I think was unprepared for the overwhelming excitement of each person she told. It was wonderful to see and now that I've written it, it all seems so simple-why did it take this long?

When I am Weak He is Strong

2009-04-06T22:36:00.004-04:00

Sometimes I don't know what to do.
There. I said it. The truth is out. Those of you who thought I was a perfect mom who knows everything and even teaches a parenting sunday school class- now you know the truth. And the rest of you (well, really I'm pretty sure no one falls into the other category so this means you) well now you've heard me admit it.

Overall today went very well. But the last few hours degenerated into sheer misery for all in my home. It started when I went to pick up Muffin and Doodle who had had the rare privilege of spending a play date with their friends who are sisters and the same age. They had an awesome time but as is usually the case, the leaving was difficult. This is not a new phenomenon and I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't figured this one out yet but here is the basic premise:

One or more young children do not want the fun of a play date to end. Silliness (like hiding or running away) ensues under the watchful eye of the host family. I respond good naturedly and then my tone gets more serious and involves significant eye contact - "Get your shoes on and meet me at the door". About the time we get into the vehicle, the dam bursts and fights break out among my previously cheerful children- who pushed whom into the car, who touched the other's seat, who dared to exhale just as a sister was inhaling, etc., etc.

My voice gets more serious and my statements become more command-like, "Do NOT talk like that to anyone." "If you touch your sister again, you will lose a bedtime story."

Next in the pattern, "Why are you so MEAN mommy?" Who me? The one who arranged this playdate with the other parents, the bus barn and your school? Who me? The one who drove 30 minutes each way to pick you up? Who me? The one who let you play an extra half hour while I visited with the lovely host family? Who me? The one who picked up all the stuff you dropped in the driveway because you were crying too hard to see?

And here is my open and honest question - What do you do to teach your children to be thankful for the fun they have had instead of bitter and angry that it has to end? I am at a loss.

Thankfully, I am not LOST. I am constantly reminded that my God gave me these children for a reason and that He is teaching me about His character through all of these trials. Just tonight, after I had spent about 1.5 hours trying to resolve a computer issue, I rewarded myself by checking in on some of my favorite bloggers. Now this one is always one of the first I check each day. For some reason, I put her off earlier today but tonight I took a few minutes to read her entry for today. I had to cry. I knew God had her write that for me (by the way, she has a very funny introduction but I'm talking about the meatier part after that). Even in my weakness as a parent, He is strong. Anything I can do right is because He is perfect. Thank you Lord (and Melissa) for that reminder!

Is it Monday yet?

2009-04-05T14:53:00.003-04:00

Whew! What a weekend! Andy left early Saturday morning with his brother to go to Detroit. He scored some tickets to the NCAA Final Four tournament making all of his friends and acquaintances madly jealous. This is how it works so you can tell (or not tell) your husband. After this tournament is over, interested people put their names (and $25) into a lottery for tickets. Around August, they draw for the tickets to next years tournament. If your name is chosen, you are charged for the number of tickets you requested. I'm thinking it was $150 or something like that for each person. Then you get tickets to the two semifinal games on Saturday (the actual Final Four) as well as tickets to the National Championship game on Monday night. Then you come home really late on Monday night or stay one more night and take another day off of work. Your choice. Andy is staying one more night.

Also yesterday was my aunt great-great Aunt Elsie's Memorial Service. From what I saw, it was a very nice service although the length of it rivaled my own wedding (I've been told it was rather long but I had no concept of that at the time). Since Andy was gone I had to manage with Mator. She actually did a great job for the first half hour but then I had to take her out. We could still hear from the Narthex but then she got loud out there too so I moved to another room. Then she wanted to return to the "show" and I thought we'd go into the narthex and listen but she got a head start and went barrelling down the side aisle. Naturally, my command to "Stop." was completely ignored and I was left with the debate of which was more irreverant- running after her down the aisle as she was giggling at the chase or letting her continue down the aisle, possibly to the waiting arms of my mom who was sitting in the choir loft on the stage. I elected to give chase, scooped her up and made a hasty exit far-far away.

There were many nice church folks who came to honor her and support my mom and I was so thankful. After the service we had a reception for family at a local restaurant - Billy Crickets. My in-laws had come to the service and offered to take Mator to their house so that I could enjoy the reception and I happily agreed. There were about 50 of us there in a private room and I had lots of opportunities to visit with my aunts, uncles and cousins while Muffin and Doodle played with the other kids. I'm pretty sure they ate, but not entirely positive. I know I had a lot of good things!

We didn't get home until nearly 11 and it was Doodle's turn to sleep in my bed since Daddy was gone. It went well until about 3:00 AM when Doodle began running her marathon....on my back. Somehow she had turned completely perpendicular to me and had her feet planted against my back. Once I turned her the right way it was fine.

We made it to church on time and even to Sunday School. I was in charge since Andy was gone and I think we had a pretty good discussion. He developed a chart to break down sinful behaviors, a biblical goal that takes the place of the behavior, scripture to back it up and then an application column. We went over that for self-control vs. emotion driven behavior and had a lengthy discussion on how to use the fruits of the spirit to train up your child.

It is a beautiful day here so after lunch we had some outside playtime and now some down time. We are planning on heading to church tonight to see our Easter Cantata. Mufin has school tomorrow but the rest of the week off for spring break. Now guess what day we're expecting a possiblity of snow??

These Days are Yucky

2009-03-31T10:20:00.005-04:00

There are some parts of being a stay at home mom that make me wish I had another occupation listed on my census report. Most days cook, teacher, housekeeper, driver, entertainer, trainer would be other names for my job and those are all parts that are usually a joy to do. Today, however, the chief duty could be best described as "big meanie". This is a "draw a line in the sand" kind of day. We've had them with each of our children, usually in the two to three age range of our children. Some may argue that is far too late but that is when it happens for us. I remember the day Doodle spent nearly 6 hours on the couch because she refused to comply with an instruction that Andy had given. She got off the couch only to go to bed for her nap then was returned to the couch to scream or whatever. By the end of the day, our authority was clear to her. Not to say that she never challenges our authority, just that there is never a question of who is going to have it at the end of the day. Today is Mator's day.

Early in our playtime this morning someone decided to play with the lite brite. Let me just say that there is a special place in the afterlife for those who produce (or give as gifts) lite brites and Polly Pockets. I have never known a parent who bought one of these things for their own children. Anyway... Mator thought it would be a joy to dump out the entire bag of nearly 300 pegs. Oh, and throw them joyfully into the air. The result was me telling her that she had to pick them all up before she could do anything else. So here we are, almost two hours later. Screaming, crying and general fit throwing have wound down and it appears that the pegs will be returned to their bucket. (Miraculously, the screaming, crying and fit throwing was restricted to the under three crowd only today!)

So why do I bother? Why don't I just pick them up and be done with it? Why don't I let Doodle (who has such a heart of empathy that she cried when I explained that THIS time, she wasn't allowed to help Mator) just pick them up like she wanted to? Here's why:

"Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is well pleasing to the Lord." Colossians 3:20. God has put us in authority over our children for a reason. We may not think we are worthy or equipped but He has done so nevertheless. In fact, He has put all of us under the authority of someone here on earth. Wives submit to your husbands (Ephesians 5:22), to our laws and government (1 Peter 2:13), and to God Himself (James 4:7). How much easier would it be to learn humility and submission as a child than to be an adult and still not get it. We teach our children that we are their authority not because we are perfect and deserve their utmost respect. But because God has given them to us and He expects it. As our children grow in wisdom, we gradually make the link from submitting to us to submitting to the Lord.

Now, I'd much rather spend every day at the zoo or water park - those are the fun days of parenting. I'll be glad when this episode is all over and I can only pray that my Mator's heart is one step closer to the God who created her.

Hairclub for Toddlers

2009-03-23T14:45:00.005-04:00

My reader (that is, my mother in law) insists that this kind of story never gets old, but if it does to you, get used to it! That's what I keep telling myself as these things just continue to happen. My last lengthy installment was back in the fall although I know I sprinkle these stories in as they happen too. And before I get a lecture about lack of supervision from anyone, please tell me how a mom is supposed to put a load of laundry in the dryer and a new one in the washer if she can't leave her 2 1/2 year old unsupervised for a few minutes!! Seriously, baby wearing a 30 pound toddler can get really tiresome. So here are a couple things that happened this week, some captured forever with digital photographs and some better left to the imagination...

Let's start with last Thursday, the day Mator got two baths within a three hour period. The first was just before nap. I left her contentedly playing in the playroom with the Barbies for 10 minutes while I was putting away laundry upstairs (it's always the laundry isn't it? HMMMM, if only that was something I could eliminate!) I heard her come upstairs and I thought, "Oh good, just in time to take a nap!" The first thing I noticed that was her diaper was off. That usually means she pooped and sure enough, when she turned around, there was a wipe in her hand, covered in brown. But that's not all. Her heiny, hand and [wait for it] MOUTH were all covered in brown. "What is that??? Is that poop on your hands??" There was only one way to find out, I grabbed her hand and....sniffed it. Good news, for the moment, was that it didn't smell like poop (although her heiny clearly DID). Turned out, she must have sought to prove our preemptive measures useless. I had finally moved the treat basket to about the only place in the house she can't get to (and I still can) so she decided to settle for Nestle's Quik that she found in the pantry. There on the kitchen floor was the almost empty canister, a spoon still resting inside and the brown powdered evidence all over the vinyl flooring. The second bath involved more poop but no chocolate so it's not worth repeating here.

A couple nights later, Andy and I were preparing dinner for some good friends of ours. The big girls were outside playing and Mator was in her room (so we thought) while we put together the last minute details of dinner. When I went up to check on her, I found her sitting in Muffin's bunkbead (disobedience #1), with scissors in her hand (#2) and cutting the hair of the doll that we bought in Alaska for Muffin on our once in a lifetime trip (#3). The dolls black braids were all over the pink sheets and at first that was all that I noticed. I grabbed the scissors, then grabbed her, then started grabbing BLOND hair off of my shirt. I began to run my fingers through her already fine hair and huge clumps just started coming off in my hands (#4). I was about to throw up. The next few minutes were a flurry of child training techniques all blended together: First there was the spanking, then came the guilt inducing, "How could you do this?", then the rational dialogue: "Scissors and bunkbead are dangerous", more guilt, "This is Muffin's doll..." and wrapping up with a "Your hair looks really bad!" Final damage:This was about a four inch long section that went right to the front of her head.

This hair in the back was about 6 inches long. She's back to where she was when she was about 1 1/2 years old. So what do I do? Do I cut it all off? Make her look like a little boy? Chalk it up to experience? And please, someone tell me you had some crazy child like this who grew up to be a productive member of society???

Now You Know the Rest of the Story

2009-03-19T08:00:00.007-04:00

This is Part II of a story about a bunny we found. Click here to read the first part.
As with most stories regarding the rescue of a baby bunny, our bunny story didn't end well. When I got up the next morning, he had died. I had prepared the kids for this possibility but still, the first words out of Muffin's mouth when she got up were, "Is the bunny still alive?" She was very disappointed. They both (Muffin and Doodle) wanted to hold it so I let them. Muffin was pretty upset so I printed out one of the pictures I had taken the day before of her with the bunny for her to take to school with her. I asked her what she liked most about the bunny and she listed a few things. Then she wrote them down on the printout, beside the picture. She proceeded to interview everyone else and write down their answers too.

After school we buried it in a little box by the well. Muffin made a grave stone that I'll post a picture of later (it's rainy today). At the funeral we all talked about what we'll remember about the bunny and then placed flowers on its grave. Things like this soften me as a person and I'm grateful for the chance to share this with the kids.

The Easter Bunny??

2009-03-17T15:23:00.005-04:00

Some days are busy and some days are fun and some days are just nuts. Bring on the squirrels because today was one of the latter!

It started out slow. I was expecting my friend Dina to stop by so that we could attack her son's AWANA car with some power tools. I was also expecting the Fed Ex guy to drop off my new computer. I was just hoping they wouldn't overlap. Now, this seems weird to me but it has happened twice and I DON'T LIKE IT. Our driveway is set up so that it curves up to our attached garage. I often can't see or hear someone coming. Also, I tend to leave the garage door open when I come home (I don't want to wear it out!!!). So the delivery guy, instead of ringing the bell at the front door, walks into my garage and knocks on the kitchen door. Naturally, I didn't hear it but I think that it was pretty irresponsible of him not to walk around on the sidewalk to the front door and ring the bell. But he didn't. So I missed him.

When Dina came, we walked over to my dad's shop so that we could cut some wood off and make it weigh a little less. We also sanded it down again. It is a BEAUTIFUL day here so Doodle and Mator were contentedly playing outside while all this was going on. I was showing Dina around a little when Oreo, one of my mom's cats, comes up with a "prize". Only this time it wasn't a mouse and it was still alive. It was a baby bunny! And I mean BABY. Its eyes weren't even open yet! But it was still alive. So guess who has a newborn bunny to take care of, requiring feedings every couple hours? Man is it cute though. And I've already set Doodle up that it will probably die but we will do everything we can for it. My mom's vet set us up with some puppy milk and told us to mix it with whipping cream and feed it with a syringe.

The first feeding went well, Doodle cuddled the bunny while I tried to feed it. It ate enough that I think it was getting the idea. When Muffin gets home, we'll try for a second feeding. The good news is that it was considerably more active when I got back from the vets about two hours after we last saw it. The vet also recommended filling latex gloves with water and microwaving them to provide heat. We put a thin towel over them and I snuggled him up against the fingers. When I came back, he had climbed on top of the hand part and nuzzled against the side of the box. He is so cute! This will be a great lesson for the kids no matter what but it would be great if it survived!
***************** Update: 8:15 PM****** He's still alive! Had another feeding. Seemed a little less active than earlier though. Hang in there bunny!***********************

All About Elsie

2009-03-12T13:24:00.004-04:00

Last weekend, my Great-Great Aunt Elsie died, 30 days before her 100th birthday. Last fall, some of her things were sold at a local auction place and I wrote about it HERE. The weekend before her death we had a warning that things were winding down for Aunt Elsie. In fact, I wrote about how we went in to say our goodbyes and that was when she woke up and started talking! For a couple days she went down to the dining room and even ate at a table but by Saturday, she was really fading. My mom spent that day with her reading to her from the Bible and just keeping her company even though she wasn't really responding. When my mom went to leave, she said goodbye and suddenly my aunt opened her eyes and smiled. Anyway, I am really thankful for all the chances we had to say goodbye to this neat lady. Not everyone gets the chance to do that with their loved ones but in this case, we did. The pictures of Muffin, Mator and Doodle above were taken last November which was the last time she made it out to my mom and dad's house.

To me, I'll remember my aunt as a great adventurer, someone who loved babies and a woman of great faith. Until her early 90s and well after her husband died, she continued to travel on cruises and group trips around the world. As a child, she would bring me dolls from her visits and so I have quite an extensive and varied collection. As for the babies, even though she never had any of her own, she particularly liked to hold and entertain them. This is good because just from my grandpa (her nephew) she had 3 great nieces, 8 great-great nieces and nephews and 12 great-great-great nieces and nephews. Plus my grandpa had 3 brothers and sisters with all of their families and Elsie had a brother with a family I don't even know!

Her faith was her foundation and she told me so herself the last time I saw her alive. I told her that I had read her old prayer journal and was blessed by her expressions of faith. As evidenced by her faithfulness and the very words in that journal, she desired to serve God every day and show concern for those around her. What more could I aspire to myself?

Why I Don't Do Drugs

2009-03-09T15:54:00.005-04:00

No, this is not a parole requirement, this is just me being real with an essay on why I don't do drugs (or smoke cigarettes!!). Well, the cigarette part is very straightforward and if I had enough courage, I could probably make sure my kids didn't smoke them either. My parents were both smokers (at one time or another). When I smell the familiar cigars of my dad, I think back to the years of my childhood when we would be sailing and he would be smoking cigars. I never knew my mom to smoke but apparently she did and she knew enough (even in 1979) to know that she didn't want her kids to smoke. So when I was five years old, she gave me one. Yep. I was standing in the breezeway which also happens to be the living quarters for our pets. At least one of my brothers was there as I carefully held that cigarette between my fingers just as I'd seen them do on TV. Of course, I'd "smoked" CANDY cigarettes many times. Remember those? That awful plastic-y candy stick that, if they were the really cool kind, had a reddish-brown tip to look like it was burning and would expel "smoke" (powdered sugar) if you exhaled through the candy. Ahhhhh, good times! Anyway, there I stood on the steps, probably with braids or ponytails, with a cigarette dangling in my hand. I slowly pulled the it up to my mouth, took a deep drag and.....coughed up a lung. Actually almost threw up right there on the steps. And I NEVER had even the slightest desire to try one again. Now that's good parenting folks!

As for the drugs, there are lots of stories like the one I've experienced today but this one will suffice. Last night, oh some NINETEEN hours ago, I took two Tylenol Cold & Cough Nighttime pills. I took two because that is what they recommended but I should have known better. Nineteen hours later I a still dragging. To be fair, I slept quite well and all my drainage was cleared up enough to crash for the night. But when I shut off my alarm this morning, I knew it would take something like THIS to get me out of bed. I kept trying to devise ways to get out of taking my daughter and my niece and nephew to school, but no realistic solutions surfaced and even though I fell back to sleep, I did get up and (uh-oh) drive them to school. After which I went to the post office and grocery store and the library and still I was dragging. I came home, visited with my mom, took Doodle to school and came back home and was still dragging. So after putting Mator down for her nap, I took one too. And here's where the drug effect really takes over-I have some crazy weird dreams. Suffice to say that all I remember from this one was that I was having a candid discussion with a German cleaning man about whether or not "Handy Manny" was actually a German cartoon. In my dream, Manny actually had a sign posted on his wall that said, "Escuchen Deutsch" which would loosely translate into, "LISTEN GERMAN!". So anyhoo, that, in a nutshell, is why I don't do drugs or smoke cigarettes!

***********This is not something I'm used to writing about but a little request, would you keep my family (especially my mom) in your prayers? My great-great aunt Elsie passed away yesterday. I'm going to try an write some about this neat lady but I wasn't quite ready yet. Thanks! *************************

Weekend Update

2009-03-02T10:36:00.011-05:00

Whew! I'm almost relieved that it's Monday! What a busy weekend, but full of fun too.

Friday we went to get our passports (just in case we get an overseas position next year) which required almost as much effort as a constitutional amendment and surely more effort than getting on the ballot to run for elected office. Well, I may be exaggerating a tad but you try getting Andy and I to be at the same place, at the same time, by 4:00 on a weekday AND have all three kids with us. Then, try to manage those kids in a quiet waiting room while the documents are processed. Then, just add in a 2 1/2 year old who doesn't own an "inside voice" and you'll understand the difficulty. But, it is finished. At least the kids' are submitted. Andy and I are mailing ours in because it is a renewal and it is cheaper to mail it.

The kids got to go with Andy to A-Ha while I went to the grocery store. Then Andy had to work at the station so we had pancakes for dinner complete with strawberries and whipped cream -yeehaw!

Saturday, we got to see my niece Justine play basketball. She's in 5th grade and even though she's tall, she was still a really good dribbler! She is also a very intense defensive player, she was always guarding her man and had her hands out in the defensive stance. Wow!After that we went to the Humane Society to donate the money we made at the lemonade stand / bake sale. Yes, that one. Click here to read about the story but just ignore the fact that it took place six months ago. We made the donation and even added in some extra for the interest they would have made over the last six months!

The kids had a great time petting kitties and then, despite temps in the 40s, we did get to walk some dogs. Ever since Muffin got to do this in August, Doodle has been begging to "walk the dogs". So she chose the first dog and even though he was small, he was fast and tough and the moral of the story is: when a child who has never walked a dog before does it for the first time, make sure it is a relatively calm pup who won't yank the leash out of said child's hand, running off in the mud, causing mom to frantically chase the dog, get muddy and said child to cry. I thought that our day was over but she came around when we got a quieter dog out and gave it another try. Mator is just like her mom and detests the cold so she was done rather quickly. Andy took her to the car while we finished up.

Doodle got the hang of it and tried walking two dogs in the pen!
The Humane Society Agent who accepted our donation.
Mator walked the crazy dog while we were in the pen and he couldn't escape.Muffin giving a kitty some love.

Then we went back to the church where Justine had played basketball so that we could watch our nephews, Will & Ben play. They were awesome! Will is a dribbling fool, driving from one end of the court to the other. Even though the other team was considerably taller, he didn't hesitate to shoot the ball a couple times either! Ben was a defensive machine! He was always in his man's face and never let them get far from him. Plus, despite a lopsided scoring advantage for the other team, they were having a great time.
Ben taking a pass before dribbling down the court.I love how no one in this picture is even looking at Will despite the fact that he dribbled around them all and took a shot!

After the game, the girls went to Grandma Sue's while Andy and I went out to a late lunch and shopping spree. Old Navy had all their jeans for $19 and I really needed a pair. I almost never buy myself clothes, (I hate spending the money) but Andy insisted (could it be the tears in the bottom of the jeans I wear all the time?). I picked up a couple shirts too and I had to laugh as I considered a t-shirt that was strictly for layering purposes (very skimpy). I thought, "Hmmm-$5. Do I really need this?" Then I realized, if I had seen a cute shirt for the girls on clearance that was $4, I wouldn't hesistate to buy it and here I was debating the validity of spending $5 on three times as much material!

Saturday night we had a movie night at our house after we picked up the kids. We got to see the much anticipated "Barbie Mariposa".

Sunday, we had week two of our parenting Sunday School Class. We are basing this study of a book called "Shepherding a Child's Heart" by Tedd Tripp. This is a great book for all parents but especially those with children 5 and under since it is talking foundational issues. This week's class went very well with a lot of input from the others.

After church, Muffin was going to go to a friend's house for the afternoon but just before heading out the door my mom called and said that my 99 year old great aunt Elsie was probably in her last moments. This was pretty shocking although when you're 99, a trip to death's doorstep is probably not all that unusual. Only this time, she was only knocking, not going through. She had fooled even the hospice nurse because by the time I got there (with Muffin and Doodle) to say our goodbyes, she was awake and asking to EAT!!! When my mom asked her if she knew that she had been there for hours talking to her she said, "Yes, I could hear you but you were far away. I was way up in the clouds and I didn't want to come back." Wow. This is a woman who knows Jesus, knows where she's going and knows a lot of people who are already there. I can see why she wouldn't want to come back, but she did. And selfishly, I (and the kiddos) am hoping she hangs on until April and her 100th birthday.

Speaking of birthdays, we celebrated my mom's last night at LaCascada. We go there often as a family, all 16 of us. Not because the food is so great (it's not) but because it used to be a Chi-Chis and when we go there, we take over the whole closed off section that used to be a bar and let the kids run wild. Well, it's the truth. There aren't too many restaurants THAT kid friendly so if you serve beer and your food is OK to pretty good, the Fosters will be there (that's my maiden name for those of you wondering who the Fosters are!).

One last thing that was cool. The TVs in the bar area were tuned to the Indoor Track and Field Championships when we sat down. Andy noticed that a local guy, Rob Myers , was running the 1500. We watched as he pulled out a great win. What a weekend for him, and what a weekend for us. I'm tired just writing about it!!

Can Your Life Change in 20 Minutes?

2009-02-20T17:07:00.010-05:00

An Open Letter To Samuel Haftom

Dear Samuel,

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Janis and I met you today for the first time, although I kind of hope that you forget that part since it involved a lot of flashbulbs going off in your face. But let me start over with the introductions. My husband works with your dad at the radio station. And I got to meet you for the first time today. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I was the first of many American friends that you saw here! And it may have only been 20 minutes of your life, but you have already changed mine!

The day you arrived here was a cold one, 25 degrees, but wonderfully sunny. The details are forever etched in my memory and I want you to know what kind of impact you have had on the world already. Let me back up...

I saw your mom the day after she learned you might be her son. She explained how she got a call from the agency and expected them to tell her it would be a long time until they placed a child with her family. She described the shock and excitement to hear that they had a son for her right now. I heard your family talk about the preparations they were making for your arrival. How they anticipated what your needs would be and how they wanted everything to be so right for you. But it wasn't just those five people who were anticipating and wanting things to be right for you...

On the day you arrived, I had some things to get done but everything I did was wrapped around the thought that I needed to be at the airport at 2:00 to meet Samuel. My sister-in-law worked in the morning instead of the afternoon so that she could watch my child so that I could meet you. Your sister's teacher, Mrs. Agosta, made a giant poster which Sydney's classmates signed, all to welcome you. As I walked around Fairfield Christian Academy that day, every mention of your name brought a joyous smile to the faces that heard it. They were all anticipating your arrival. My friends who knew my plans to meet you but may not ever meet you themselves, were anticipating your arrival.

When I got to the airport, it seemed as though everyone there was a character in the drama that was unfolding-a child coming from so far away to meet his family for the first time was about to come down the hallway. Some of those people were aware that something wonderful was happening. I watched people reading the sign "Welcome Home Samuel Haftom" and wondered what they thought. Perhaps they expected a grown man, in his military fatigues to saunter down those escalator steps and be welcomed home from battle. Perhaps they wondered if a daddy was coming home to his family after a long trip. Or maybe, just maybe they knew the truth. A little boy had traveled half way around the world to finally be home. A family had so desired to stay in the will of God that they put any other fleshly desires aside to follow His call. A call that meant going 7418 miles (one way), a week away from their daughters, time off from their jobs and a lifetime commitment to a child they had not even met face to face. Wow.

And I could see in your face that you were worth every one of those sacrifices and more. I could see that your parents knew it when I saw their laughing faces as they walked through the security gate proudly carrying their son. I saw that it was worth it to your sisters as they tried to look into your eyes and know you. And I think even those strangers who were observing this meeting would bear witness to the fact that you are already a much loved part of this family.

Today, it snowed for the first time in a couple weeks. And I thought, "I wonder what Samuel will think of the snow?" You have already changed my view of the world, I can only imagine the impact you will have in the days to come. Thanks for letting me be a part of this day!

It Can Only Get Better, Right?

2009-02-17T12:33:00.005-05:00

When your day starts out like this....

it can only go up right? Yes, folks, that is my deep fryer spread eagle on the floor of my kitchen surrounded by the vegetable oil that used to be contained inside it. I store it in the cardboard box in which it came and apparently, the grease not only weakens my resolve (I just see that thing and think of donuts) but it also weakens cardboard. Thus, as I lifted the box, the fryer exited out the bottom and onto the floor.

1. Thank you Lord that I wasn't on the carpet!
2. God, is this your way of saying, "Girl, this thing isn't good for your heart or your hips, put it away!"
3. No, I'm thinking the message from the Lord was more along the lines of, "You really need to clean that kitchen floor. I mean CLEAN it. And what about that crud that is under your oven? While you're down there, do something about THAT too!"

Thankfully, Mator and Doodle were able to occupy themselves with this while I was cleaning:

Bringing Their Son from Ethiopia

2009-02-15T14:08:00.003-05:00

Our good friends, Steve and Stacie Rauch are in Ethiopia as.we.speak meeting their son, Samuel Haftom for the first time. He is a 3 1/2 year old living doll (at least he looks like it in the pictures) who apparently has a mischievous side that will make him a perfect match for his father. You can read about their experience on their blog: Click here

Theirs is a great story, one that I'm kind of partial to-they have three beautiful daughters! Their youngest is in third grade and their family is adopting this child. I say family because it is clear that Samuel's sisters are as excited about this as their parents and God has blessed them all with a love for a child they are yet to meet. And while they never asked me to do this (and I hope they don't mind) they are accepting donations right now to help defray the cost on this adoption (to the tune of $24,000). Now through April 1 all donations up to $2500 will be matched by an adoption charity. Go visit their blog, read their story (specifically, look at why they chose international instead of domestic adoption) and if God so leads, please consider blessing them with a donation. And consider this, perhaps you are not able to adopt a child at this point in your life. Maybe God can use you to help the Rauch's bring home their son. Thanks!

Sometimes God Whispers, Sometimes He Yells

2009-02-12T15:46:00.005-05:00

"He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses." Psalm 135:7

Last night, around 9:45 PM, our electricity (along with that of about 10,000 of our closest friends) went off. Not a big deal. I had filled the bathtub with water in case we would need to flush the toilets (if you don't have a well, that doesn't make any sense so ask a friend who has a well). I had even managed to squeeze out a few "important" emails and shut down the computer. I did forget to wash my face and brush my teeth which is also more difficult without running water but not a huge deal (can be accomplished with a water bottle).

Things got a little more difficult as I tried to settle in to bed in the deafening silence of a home that is un-electrified (Merriam Webster take note-I made up that word!). Mator is used to a fan in her room and woke immediately after the power shut off. She went back to sleep remarkably easy. I however, at 35 years old now, have more years of habit behind me. It is VERY hard for me to sleep without my white noise machine (note to self-buy a battery operated backup-duh). Plus, there is the "back of your mind" question- are these 60 MPH gusts going to rip the shingles off my house or the whole roof? And if the whole roof goes, will my children be sucked out of their beds? What about all the pictures I've been meaning to scrapbook that are sitting on the counter in the other room? Do I have digital backups in case those are sucked into the vortex? Oh, and should we be down in the basement? This is what kept me up until after midnight. Then, Doodle woke up and let out an ear piercing scream so I "gently" carried her to our room to sleep off the terrifying dream she must have had. At 5:30 I started waking every 30 minutes: Andy's alarm, Muffin's terrified cry, Andy calling to let me know he was on a 2 hour delay, my alarm, etc. So when I finally got up, still no electricity, I thought, "How is God going to use me getting maybe 4 hours of sleep to glorify Him-this ought to be good." In other words, what was the point of this major wind storm anyway?? Want to know?

Well, I got Muffin ready for school, packed up my toiletries and after dropping her off an hour late, I went of to my in-laws to take a shower. When I arrived I found that their good friend Mary had also sought refuge at their "electrified" house. I was talking to Mary when suddenly my mother in law called for help from the next room. She was in a desperate situation and the truth is, if we had not been there, she could have been in an even worse situation quickly. We were trying to help when the phone rang. Normally, I wouldn't answer their phone but I saw that it was my father in law. See, he was supposed to be 1 1/2 hours into a trip to Michigan but his boss was late to arrive at work and so he was still in town. Guess why his boss was late? And do you know why my father in law was calling? Just to check in with his wife. Wow. God is so good! He was at the house in five minutes and resolved the situation. If not for that windstorm knocking out our power, my mother in law would have been all alone in a time of need. Isn't God so grand?

So, sometimes God whispers and we are left to wonder what was His will in a situation? There are certainly times when we will have to be satisfied to wait until our glorious meeting in heaven to say, "Hey, by the way, what was THAT all about?" Then there are times when God is a roaring windstorm who practically shouts, "I am in this. I created this, and I created you. And sister, you need to sit back and relax and remember who is in charge!"

By the way, our power came back on about 15 minutes after I got back home today. Thank you Lord!

When are you leaving?

2009-02-05T19:40:00.003-05:00

One post I've been meaning to do for a very long time is an update on our search for an overseas teaching placement, so here goes...

1. The beginning: About 1 year ago Andy came home from work and let me know that an economics teacher at an international school in Beijing, China was transferring and what did I think about moving to China for a teaching job? My initial response, "Um, well, I'm kind of busy with all this laundry and stuff, can you ask me about it in, say, 20 years or so?" But in a very short period of time I went from there to, "When can we go?". That's God. If you know me, I really like things that happen in "due" time and especially if they follow a pattern. And I really like where we are right now. Things are pretty good (thanks be to God). So changing my heart to a place where I was excited about taking my family half way around the world for a year (or more) was completely God.

2. The middle: We have looked into finding a job my ourselves (not easy), have applied with the Department of Defense (involves waiting until at least March and probably later), attending a job fair for international jobs (would be next January in Iowa) and finding a placement in a Christian school (that would require us to raise significant support).

Andy has applied for jobs with the Department of Defense. There are several "1 year" commitment schools of which we would consider the following countries: Italy, Korea, Japan, Turkey and the coast of Portugal. Other schools that we wouldn't accept include: Cuba, Bahrain and I think Vietnam. Now we are just waiting to hear when jobs open up for next year. That could be as early as March and as late as June.

If that doesn't work out for next year, we are looking at attending an international job fair that is held in Iowa each year. Those jobs generally require a two year commitment which would be a stretch for us. They are also with international schools just about anywhere in the world. They provide almost total cultural immersion (as opposed to a DOD school that would be on a military base).

If we go next year, we assume that Andy would teach full time and I might tutor or do some part-time administrative work. Next year Muffin will be in third grade, Doodle in K and Mator will be 3. If we go somewhere the following year, Mator would be old enough for preschool and I would consider teaching too.

3. The end - Well, we aren't sure when we are going to get any answers, but we believe God has placed this desire in our hearts. There is no other way to explain why we would be willing to give up all of this:
Living next door to my parents and one brother
Living within 20 minutes of all my children's cousins, grandparents and great-grandparents
Andy's Department Head position at the high school (he could get a year leave of absence and get a job back, there is just no guarantee what or where it would be)
A great Christian school
Teaching opportunities for me at OU-L
Our wonderful church family
Our friends

So we wait and know that God will move things in His time and provide a way for us to survive without all of those things listed above (that right now I can't imagine living without). Your prayers are appreciated, and thanks for asking about updates!

Kids Draw the Funniest Things

2009-01-31T16:30:00.000-05:00

I saw a very funny picture done by a second grader on another blog (Stretch Marks-Click here to see the picture) and was inspired to look through the file I kept from my teacher days. I taught both first and second grade for seven years (until my second daughter was born) and over the years I heard and saw some funny things. My brother (who never reads my blog!!!) once told me I should write a book. Isn't it weird how when you are in the middle of something it doesn't seem so unusual (or you might fail to see how someday you will want to remember it)? At the time I thought, "Every teacher has a million of these stories, no one would care about my stories." Every teacher does have a lot of these stories but they are still funny. When I saw the picture on the other blog the first thing I thought of was this from a card one of my precious second graders made...
I was job sharing with Donna Hoffman which meant she taught in the morning and I taught in the afternoon. Donna had some eye surgery and was out for a couple days so our students made her some cards. When you read the top of the card (pictured below) you begin to understand that the picture above actually shows green glasses and eyes and NOT a bikini and well...
I hope this makes you smile like it does me!

Philosophy of a Snow Day

2009-01-29T10:24:00.000-05:00

************Added video today at the bottom of the entry********1-30-09*****************

Ahhhh, the irony of a snow day. Or three snow days in a row. Or three snow days this week that followed 1 snow day last week. You'd think I'd have time to write blog post after blog post. But alas, this is my first since last Sunday. Why is that? Well, I think I've developed a theory so sit back and enjoy the ride...

Have you ever found yourself saying something like, "If only there were twelve more hours in a day!" I think that a snow day is God's way of giving you those twelve extra hours. Now stay with me here, I realize that this only applies to people who have a vocation that allows for snow days too (teachers, stay at home moms) but it works for us. Here is a day when all of your plans are changed. No one expects you to make it to a meeting, club or practice on a snow day so suddenly, your schedule is cleared (and you didn't have to do anything drastic like go to the ER). All of those things you have been putting off (catching up on 3 years of scrapbooking, cleaning under the stove, writing Christmas thank you notes) can be accomplished! Oh but wait! Why is it that after two consecutive such days, not one thing has been done, and your house is actually messier than before the snow days? Where did all those hours go?

In my case, I did spend the hours doing something I wouldn't normally have done. I spent hours playing with my children, hanging out with my familyand staying up until midnight watching "Office" reruns with my husband. And really, what good is an updated scrapbook if you don't have things like these to put in them:Above: Doodle as a walrus

Doodle insisted on pulling Mator in a sled to Grammy's.
That's a lot of ice.
Here's a video that I finally got to work from out new video camera! Yeh!

All Bundled Up

2009-01-25T14:20:00.000-05:00

Debi, over at "Who says 8 is Enough" has a fun challenge for Sundays called Baby Picture Sundays and this week's theme is "Bundled Up". I really was excited about this theme because well, basically I can use it to irritate my spouse. See we get some cold weather around these parts and a snowsuit for babies is a must. Also, I am a cheapskate and rely on the kindness of family members to give us lots of wonderful hand-me-downs. Every once in a while there is something that, how should I say this, isn't quite my taste. But the practical side of me usually wins out. Especially when it comes to a snowsuit that will be worn for a total of less than 12 hours before you pass it on to someone else. So while this snowsuit is perfectly wonderful at keeping my children warm, Andy has resisted its use for every one of my children claiming it is more of a punishment than life enhancing device. Too bad! All three have worn it and not one of them complained-here is Muffin in 2002:
Here is Doodle is December of 2007 with one of my favorite hats on her head:
And here is Mator (from last week) in another adorable snowsuit that unfortunately makes her look like the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man but again, she's warm!
And this is one of my favorite winter pictures ever-Mator was about 7 months old and we had an impromptu winter party at our pond with sledding and skating. Here she is in the backpack watching everyone else:

So there they all are - All bundled up!

Doodle-isms Part II

2009-01-23T13:15:00.000-05:00

Doodle, who will be 5 in April, is at a wonderfully blessed age. She is learning new things every day and connecting those things to what she already knows and sometimes, that collision of ideas creates some pretty cute thoughts.

Here's a link to something I wrote earlier about cute things that she says-click here.

Last Saturday she had a couple new moments of brilliance:

1) We were having a sleepover in my room which means that Doodle and Muffin get to sleep in our room for the night. The fun usually involves a fight over who gets to sleep on the couch versus who has to sleep on the mattress on the floor. I try to go to bed at the same time so that I can be in on the "sleepover" fun.
We usually play a game we call the "color game". This involves one of us asking another questions like, "What color is Uncle Todd's car?" or "What color were the plates at the restaurant?" and the legendary, oft repeated, "What color is Grammy's toilet?". We vary the level of difficulty depending on the player and level of sleepiness. Doodle will always ask someone, "What color is the earth?" (By the way, the correct answer is - "Green for the plants, blue for the water, brown for the desert and white for the snow.")

This particular night we were all pretty tired when Doodle announced,
"I want to play a NEW game and make one up."
Her sweet, supportive older sister immediately announced, "I'm not playing, I'm too tired." PAUSE.
Doodle's sweet, hopeful voice, "Mommy, are you going to play?"
"Of course honey, I'm tired too but I REALLY want to play."
At this point Doodle begins to explain the rules which sound like a mix between American Idol and kick the can-not exactly the "wind down for bed" kind of games that we usually play.
PAUSE
"Mommy, are you SURE you want to play?"
"Yes honey, I'm really going to try."
"Well, feel free to say no."
At which point I burst out laughing and tell her how much I appreciate her kindness and I will take her up on that one!

2) As we were getting ready to go to her cousin Annabelle's 6th birthday party I could see that Doodle's gears were turning.
"Mommy, I don't get it. How old is Elle going to be?"

Me- "6"

"But I don't understand."

Me-"Well, she was 5 on her last birthday so she will be 6 on this birthday."

"Wait, I think I understand! So, each year, you are one year more!"

Me- stunned silence as I imagine the years of therapy that might be required if the word on the tip of my tongue actually exits my mouth -"DUH!" Thankfully, that money can be invested into college fund because I did manage to keep it in.

Isn't four just a great age?

This picture of Doodle at Epcot a few weeks ago may explain a few things...

Just kidding! This is really my dad's beer and Doodle was quite impressed with the size of the mug!

Wordle- a new toy!

2009-01-22T11:47:00.000-05:00

Another blogger that I read ( Who says 8 is Enough?) had this link on her blog and I thought it was neat. Look mom, see what I (well, the computer randomly generating things) made!

"> my creation

go to www. wordle.net to make your own!

Winter Magic at Buckeye Lake

2009-01-19T17:06:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, we got to spend the afternoon outside celebrating my niece's 6th birthday at Buckeye Lake. Usually we enjoy swimming and going on boat rides when we are at Buckeye Lake but winter time fun can be quite different! The Lake was (mostly) frozen except where it wasn't. Yeh, I can't explain all of it either except to say that I was really only nervous once- when one of the four wheelers appeared to be sinking into the mushy part of the ice and my brother had to lasso it and pull it to a stronger part of the ice. Anyhoo, not to worry grandparents, we were very safe!!

**** To see the whole album of pictures, even the stinky ones I didn't delete, go to the end of this post******

We arrived at the party with about 30 of my brother and sister-in-laws friends and everyone brought a little something to do-there were four wheelers racing around the ice (and some of them were towing sleds full of kiddos), a couple ice boats, ice skates and there was one snow mobile but I'm not really sure if they were with us or not. The kids were outside about 2 1/2 hours and Muffin and Doodle never complained once. It was about 20 degrees though and that was a heat wave compared to the -14 degrees it hit on Thursday or Friday.

Annabelle is my brother Frank's oldest daughter and she is so much fun to be around. She is happy doing just about anything as long as she has company. Here she is in all her glory celebrating her 6th birthday with Doritos and loving every minute!!I only realized as I typed this that Doodle took off her mittens to drink her hot chocolate and eat her Doritos. That didn't last long though because anything exposed quickly became painful.

Doodle was very excited to try skating for the first time with skates that I used as a child. Muffin had to use my skates (size 10 thank you very much) because we couldn't find hers (that's what happens when ice skates become a summer time toy-you can't find them in the winter) and she actually did pretty well too. Here she is just helping Doodle:
Mator spent a very small amount of time out in the cold. She hung out a lot in our van watching Nemo. She's like her mommy, she doesn't like to be uncomfortable for long. Here she is admiring her snowy mittens:
Here she is riding the four wheeler with Andy. I liked this shot because she is actually smiling (not grimacing as the weather might suggest).
Here is Doodle digging in the bank of the lake. The kids had a ball digging around and Muffin even unearthed an entire seagull carcas. Yeh!
Here is Annabelle's little sister, Wilson. She is 3 1/2 and cute as a button. She didn't last too long either though and went back to her cozy house with her Mimi.
I think that this is Andrea's brother Tyler with his son (I think Mitch because Scott was on Erin's lap) pulling another boy on the tube. This was the best shot I got to show how that worked:
What an awesome time followed by wonderful food and fun times at Annabelle's house that evening. Yes, I was very careful on the ice with my healing knee which incidentally, is healing great! Thank you Lord!

Why my house is never clean

2009-01-17T13:20:00.000-05:00

I decided to send my darling husband a text message to encourage him today since he has undertaken a herculean task. He is single-handedly announcing four consecutive basketball games on live radio. Not just any four games, but the intense action of 7th and 8th grade boys and girls basketball. I just heard the score of the seventh grade boys game and at the end of the first quarter the score was 2-0. I am not making this up.

I read once about how women use about 20,000 words in one day and men use about 7,000. I'm guessing that Andy has used about 4 days worth of words today so we probably won't have a conversation until next Tuesday!

Anyway, in the less than five minutes it took for me to type said text message, the girls worked together to make this fort:
Six blankets, two chairs and I'm guessing there are piles of toys under there. Now, I am thrilled that they can work together to create things and aren't just tearing each other down, but why does creativity have to make such a mess!

New Blog

2009-01-17T13:13:00.000-05:00

I've added two new blogs to my list that I like to read. One is called "Stretch Marks" by a really funny woman who is also very real. I also came across "Homes of Love" on another blogger's site and love to read this one too. This is written by a woman who runs three homes for children in Bolivia. I did have to take my friend Vanessa's blog off my list because she started writing all kinds of cuss words-just kidding!! She made her blog private so you poor souls will just miss out on all the amazing things she writes about from the Arctic Circle!

Gross picture alert!

2009-01-15T16:04:00.000-05:00

Thank you to all who have asked about my surgery Monday. I had arthroscopic surgery to remove some torn meniscus and scrape away some arthritis. It went very well and the worst pain so far has been the back of my throat. There are two abrasions in the back of my mouth that were (I assume) caused by something the anesthesiologist did and mostly that is worse than the knee pain. After I exercised and having walked around yesterday, there is some more soreness and stiffness but really much better than I expected.

The girls are very excited when I use my crutches which I find useful when I need to move quickly or am unsure about the surface I will be walking on. We got about 5 inches of snow yesterday and that made for slippery floors at church and sidewalks so I was glad to have them but I don't use them around home. I'm off to class, did I mention that this is the second week of the quarter and I am teaching at the univesity again? I guess that should be another post...

Surgery Today

2009-01-12T10:01:00.000-05:00

I'm having my knee scoped today at 1:30. Prayers for a good response to the anesthesia would be appreciated! Thanks!

Things we did right at Disney

2009-01-10T16:40:00.000-05:00

Before I get to the tips, here's a little about the girls...
When asked about her favorite part of the trip, Muffin would respond, "Everything!" so I get more specific and she would probably say the ride "Soarin'" and EPCOT. She rode it four times but you can't take pictures of that. Her next two faves are Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain at Magic Kingdom. So I just put the obligatory castle picture to represent Magic Kingdom for her.
The Coke Store at EPCOT offers free samples of pop from around the world (see fountain display behind the girls). There was soda from Israel, Japan, Mozambique, China, Italy and others. Doodle, the girl who discovered Sprite this summer was in heaven here!
Mator loved almost everything. But her sheer joy was obvious to all at this water feature in the Pooh play area at Magic Kingdom. I saw many parents freaking out about their kids getting wet and looking at me like I was crazy but if you read tip # 8, you'll know why I was totally relaxed and loved watching Mator enjoy herself.

God, in His marvelous Providence, allowed us to take a trip to Disney with our three lovely daughters and my two marvelous parents. And, knowing that we are planners, provided me with a friend who has been to Disney about 16 times (including once this fall) and another who went just this past summer. Their help was immeasurable and I thought I'd share a few things that helped. Remember, underlined things are links to more information so if you click on them, you can find out more...

1. We read Birnbaums's book about Disney. We read a lot of it before the trip and then the night before we went to a park, we skimmed over that park's section again.

2. We brought our own stroller. These things are necessary in a stroller: Reclining seat, basket under the seat, removable tray and an awning thing that protects from the sun (why can't I think of that word???). The park strollers don't recline, require waiting in line to rent and are hard as rocks. Also, about 50% of the people have them so it makes finding yours after a ride rather difficult. Actually, finding ours wasn't easy either until I realized that setting our bright purple backpack on the seat made it much easier.

3. Use the fast pass system. Really, it is free and so easy and the only people who have an excuse for not using it are people that come from another country who don't speak very good english and haven't done any research. I even helped a few of them understand it. Get your fast passes and save them for busy times of the day. Only wait in a line if it doesn't have a fast pass.

4. Bring your own food and water bottles. We ate breakfast at our condo (about $3-4 a day for our ENTIRE FAMILY OF FIVE) then packed the same lunch everyday- PB& J sandwiches (special treat for my kids-I even cut their crusts off), fresh fruit, some kind of chips. Everyone gobbles it up because they are hungry. Not one complaint. We also packed granola bars, extra fruit and fish crackers for snacks. When it was time to eat we didn't have to wait in a long line, decide what our kids would eat and then pay a ridiculous amount of money all while waiting hungrily. We just found a quiet bench (or Tom Sawyers Island if at Magic Kingdom) and ate up.

5. Eat out 1 meal a day. Now, my parents and my husband like their food. I, on the other hand, sometimes think that if I could get maximum nutrition and be full after eating a pill, I would do it but those others are foodies. So we ate out once a day and since we had only spent about $4 on breakfast and maybe $12 on lunch for our entire family, we could afford to have a nice meal at dinner time.

6. Research the rides ahead of time. My friend Dawn was incredibly helpful here, in addition to Birnbaum's book. You can find out which rides are worth your time (for the maximum enjoyment of you and your kids) and which aren't. You should find out which lines move slow and which are Line Busters (my friend Dawn coined this term, I think, to mean a ride that you can do when the other lines are long).

7. Don't go to Magic Kingdom on New Year's Eve unless your only goal is to watch fireworks. This park was beyond crowded and miserable except for those who were parked in front of the castle all day waiting to watch the fireworks. If you came to have a complete Disney experience, you will be highly disappointed on this day.

8. Bring a change of clothes for each child in a 2 gallon ziploc each day. Suck the air out of the bag and stick it in your backpack. Bring ponchos too in case you don't want to get wet but want to ride the water rides.
That does it for tips for now!

Wrap up

2009-01-07T14:44:00.000-05:00

OK, it has been a while since I posted and I've missed writing, but I'm torn between a lengthy, self-serving post about our awesome trip to Florida and moving on to what is up now. So, here is the short version, later Florida posts will involve more description but be labeled so that they can be skipped by those who don't want to hear it! :-)

December 26 - Left our house at 7:30 AM with Andy, 3 kids and my parents packed comfortably into my dad's Navigator. 11:00 AM - I throw up on the exit ramp in West Virginia (this is only the 2nd time EVER that I have thrown up from car sickness-I sat in the front seat the rest of the trip). We arrived in Savannah, Georgia around 7 or 8 PM and stay at a Homewood Suites. The kids did great!

Dec. 27 - We left around 9 or 10 and arrived in Orlando at 4:00. The traffic was ridiculous but it was hard to complain when it was 70 degrees!! After settling into our condos, we went over to Downtown Disney for dinner at Bongos (cuban cafe) which was great. I couldn't believe that I was wearing a short sleeved shirt with jeans and no jacket-at night!

Dec. 28 (Sunday) - My dad came with us to EPCOT and my mom stayed at the condo to visit with some Florida friends. I wore shorts and a t-shirt because it was 80 degrees-no humidity and sunshine (is this heaven?) We were there from about 11-8. We got to meet Mickey, Minnie and Goofy at the Disney rewards Visa character greet. Only waited about 20 minutes to see all three and it was magical.

Dec. 29 (Monday) - We went to Magic Kingdom with both of my parents. This place is crowded but since my new best friend is "Fast Pass", we did pretty well. Another beautiful day.

Dec. 30 - We took a day off and spent some time at the condo's pool. We had dinner at a seafood place in a nearby town called Celebration.

Dec. 31 (Weds.) - Back to Magic Kingdom. My mom stayed home with food poisoning from the clams she ate the night before. OK folks, I knew that this is the busiest time of the year to visit Disney, it was our only option. But seriously, this was ridiculous. They stopped letting people in at 11 AM because they were at capacity. Some fool started passing out New Year's Eve noisemakers around 4 PM-Who was the genius who thought giving those things to teenage boys 8 hours before they were needed was a good idea? 3 PM - Sewage leak in Frontierland. Seriously, raw sewage bubbling up into the now closed streets of Disney World. In an effort to keep our sense of humor (especially since about 1/3 of the restrooms were also closed meaning that waiting in line for the bathroom was sometimes longer than waiting for an attraction) we came up with a few funnies, but this was my favorite, "We were all over Magic Kingdom today and couldn't find Tigger, but we did see a lot of poo!!" We left at 8:30

Jan.1 - Animal Kingdom for a very nice, much less crowded, day. It was great except when Muffin (age 8) wanted to go on the Mt. Everest roller coaster - until half way through when she began clutching my arm screaming, "I don't want to ride it anymore!! I want to get off now!!" Sobbing as we excited the ride, I felt like the world's worst mom.

Jan. 2- We were back at EPCOT for a wonderful day. We had breakfast at Norway with the Princesess and got to meet Belle, Jasmine, Snow White, Mulan and Aurora. We stayed for the fireworks and got home about 10, totally exhausted which is always great the night before you have to be in car for 13 hours.

Jan 3 - Left Orlando at 9:00, arrived in Wytheville, VA at a fantastic Comfort Suites at 10:00 PM. It was the nicest hotel under $100 that I've ever stayed in.

Jan. 4 (Sunday) - Left Wytheville around 10 and got home around 4. Whew! Back to school for everyone tomorrow!

*************************
Okay, two things I loved about this trip:
1- I don't think I've ever been on a vacation with my parents and not my brothers. It was pretty cool. They joked about being our other two kids that we had to look out for but really it was so great to have extra adults and finally outnumber the kids!

2- Spending time with my kids and husband that I just don't normally do. We were together almost every waking and sleeping moment. Those hours we spent walking or waiting in line were opportunities for interaction and cuddling and laughing and no everything wasn't perfect. But it was Awesome and a super blessing.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T11:49:00.000-05:00

I don't know how to do any fancy banners or anything flashy yet, but from our family to yours, Merry Christmas. May the blessing of Christ touch our hearts all year long!

This is our Christmas Eve picture when we got home from church.

January Specials

2008-12-24T22:04:00.001-05:00

Have I mentioned that I love to take pictures of children and families and seniors? Did I mention that my business partner and I have been blessed to open a studio in Baltimore? Did I mention that we are giving away FREE 16x20s in January? Click here to go over to our website and check it out...

Here are the wonderful Smeltzer grandchildren - all 6 of them- aren't they sweet? I did the Foster 8 last year and will try again this winter. And, because I teased him earlier this year on this very same blog, here is a great picture of my brother in law and his handsome sons.