We Interrupt This Message for....

A post on the lighter side!  The floor re-finishing project has left the house a wreck for a couple of weeks.  I really struggle sometimes to conquer the "tyranny of the urgent"...the desire to stop everything and battle the current mess, for instance.  I am so tempted to even stop doing schoolwork in order to put the house in order.  I've been trying to resist the temptation, and to remind myself that I want to "make the days count".  So the house is still a mess.  But on Sunday afternoon I played.  I played with the kids, and I played with my camera.  I played "Set" (a card game), jumped on the trampoline, "ooohed" and "aaahed" over frogs and tadpoles caught in the creek, and captured a lot of it on film.  And I can honestly say that the messy house felt a little less...disturbing.  God really does change hearts, and I am overwhelmed at His capacity to do new things in me.  :)

So here's some photographic evidence of the day.  I know, I know;  I'm not in any of the pictures.  Next time I'll turn the camera over to Rebekah while I'm jumping on the trampoline.

 

The "Star" of the show

Sunday evening was the children's Christmas program at our church.  Three of the "youth" (young adults!) at our church planned and directed the whole thing, and did such a great job.  I was really bummed that I didn't get great pictures (I have a new camera lens, was playing around with my camera set on "manual", and basically got a lot of unfocused pictures.  Sigh.)  Anyway, I couldn't resist posting a couple of the less fuzzy pictures.  E was the star of the show.  Literally.  Not "star" as in the main role, but the actual Bethlehem star.  If I can figure out how to download E's Flipcam, I'll definitely post a bit of video soon.  As soon as he stepped out (onto a ledge above the baptismal pool!), I told myself one thing.  Do. Not. Look at him.  I was laughing so much that I was afraid of snorting.  And the rest of the children were doing such a fabulous job, and the whole thing was so sweet, I just didn't want to miss it.  But the star...well, you kind of had to be there.  Nice job, E.  And for Jo March and her team of directors...fabulous.  Thanks.  :)

A Summer Update

Is anyone still out there?  I know I've done an awful job keeping up with this blog.  I went back and counted; only 5 posts since we got back from Ethiopia over four months ago!  I'm planning on stepping things up a bit.  Honestly, it's for my accountability that I want to keep up with this blog.  I want to share all that God does in our family, but also I want to be faithful in what I am doing, and if I'm sharing it publically that just gives me a little more motivation!  We'll see how this goes; I started a new "schedule" this morning which I hope will allow me a little more time, including some time to write on this blog.  But here's the kicker...I have to get up at 5:30 am (which is quite a challenge for me).  My time with God comes first, then time with Jim, then (if there's still time) some time on the computer.  So here I am on day one (glad for coffee).

I'm not going to try to write much about what we've been doing this summer, but I'll post some pictures.  Little Man and Gracie are growing so much, and sometimes I can't believe how far we've come.  Here's a little review of our summer so far:

This technically happened before summer, but a precious friend visited from NC to meet Little Man and Gracie.  We love you, sweet friend!

This was the first day of summer, so of course the Popsicle Tree bloomed.  It always blooms on the first day of summer, and it always seems to happen right after the children go to bed.

Of course, you have to eat the Popsicles right away, in your pajamas.  Do you have a Popsicle Tree?  If not, they're very easy to cultivate.  (But very difficult to explain to a four year old with limited English.  Though to some extent, Popsicles seem to be a universal language.)

Picking peaches.  This is definitely one experience where a picture is worth a thousand words.

A day at Busch Gardens.  None of the children had ever been there, so this was a very fun "first" for everyone.

I'm learning a new skill this summer: 

 

Jim took some vacation time, and we were able to go camping.

Isn't this a funny picture?  I think he messed up her sand castle.  He's saying, "Who, Me?"

Yet another first; the first S'more!  (I think it was a hit.)

This was my favorite "catch"; an enormous bullfrog!

 Unfortunately, our camping trip was cut short by 6 hours of torrential rain. Still, all in all I think the trip was a success.  Even the rain didn't dampen everyone's spirits.

Hard to believe it's not even August yet!  Who knows what adventures may be waiting for us before the end of summer.  By the way, does anyone have any fun ideas about what might bloom on a "First Day of Fall" tree?  Pumpkin pie, maybe? 

By the way, I really did start this post at 6:15 this morning.  But I just had to come and finish it up at 10:00.  I'm glad I have a few weeks before school starts to hammer out this new schedule.  But I'm also glad it's July and that it's a slow, rainy Monday morning.  :)

Snow Day!!!

It's now 4:30 pm on Saturday, and it's been snowing pretty steadily for 24 hours. I am almost speechless. It's been at least 15 years since I've seen this much snow. The kids have been in a cycle all day; play outside, come in and drink hot chocolate while we dry their coats and mittens, then back outside again. What fun! I couldn't help taking lots of pictures, knowing that it could be a long time before we see this kind of snow again. Here's an overview of our day:
This was the view from our deck when we woke up this morning. (See Sunshine above, gazing out the window in her pajamas.)

Jim playing in the snow.


Sunshine's first steps into our "winter wonderland."

Sweet Pea dives in.


Tiger and Samson "snow wrestling."


Boo and Sunshine headed out again (they've switched snowsuits now!)















Look closely at the driveway; a tree has fallen into it! Several trees are broken or down in the backyard as well.



We capped off the day with a night-time walk in the snow (looking for Christmas lights in our neighborhood).


Boo makes a snow angel (yes, right in the middle of the street!)


Home again...and Jim tackles Tiger over the top of a snowdrift.


Good night!

Pie for Breakfast

No, this isn't the "big news," (you'll still have to wait a couple of days for that), but I couldn't resist sharing. Sweet Pea and I are lovers of all things pumpkin. At the first hint of fall, we start planning all of the pumpkin recipes we can't wait to try out. (Of course, the rest of the clan are perfectly happy to help out as taste testers). This year we found a new one called Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal, which surpisingly Sweet Pea doesn't like, but is a big hit with everyone else. No matter how many pumpkin recipes we try, though, there is just no match for plain old pumpkin pie...for breakfast, of course. Last night I got the urge, so we whipped up the pie before bed, and we all went to sleep anticipating our favorite breakfast.

Okay, okay, for all of you health nuts out there, let's review the ingredients in pumpkin pie. Pumpkin. A veggie for breakfast; what could be better? Or is it a fruit? Those seed always throw me. Milk (need I say more?). Eggs (obviously right for breakfast). Cinnamon (a super food; great for everything from blood sugar to balding). And, okay, there's some sugar (no more than you would eat in a bowl of boxed cereal, I'll bet).

Go ahead and try it; there are only a few weeks left of pumpkin season, and then there will be no more pie for breakfast 'til next year. Oh, well I guess there's always apple. And blueberry. Oh, and there's peach...

Friday Favorites

On a much lighter note (than my recent posts), I'm so glad it's Friday, and here a just a few highlights (favorites!) from this week:

Three painted lady butterflies emerged from the chrysalides today, and so far we haven't killed any of them (even though I traumatized everyone by dropping one while its wings were still wet). The last time we had more than one (a few years ago), they quickly laid more eggs and we were able to observe the complete metamorphosis. Anyone know how you tell the gender of a butterfly?



Hilarious Friday lunch. Okay, it's not exactly gourmet, but the kids thought it hilarious when I put these on their plates. It actually took them a little while to figure out how I got the spaghetti through the turkey kielbasa. And they all gobbled it up!



This isn't really just a Friday favorite, but something that has delighted me since we started this school year. I'm so glad that these two are best friends. They couldn't be more different, but enjoy each other so much.



They have less schoolwork to do than Sweet Pea and Tiger, so they have plenty of time for fun.



Can you tell which one can be a bit ornery?


Happy Friday!