Ah Man…..summer begins and all the kids get sick.

Jared and Jamin were sick on Sat-Monday. Everyone was fine on Tuesday.

We decided to spend a couple of hours playing at Adrienne’s and would you believe when we left Arielle was saying her throat was sore….and when we got home Stacia had a 101.4* fever? ARGH. I hate this. . . but even this must be in God’s plan…right? I guess I’m not meant to do this Motherhood study in person…and I’m not meant to go swimming tomorrow….I’ll stay home and get some more “things” done. Poor Arielle is throwing up – the boys didn’t do that. I’m so thankful for the SHS list. I quickly emailed that I needed the weight chart that goes with Tylenol doses and whammo – I’ve got it printed and in my cabinet. I’m blessed.

Jamin made another $60 today. The lawn mower he was using quit…not sure what or why…he has plans to do another lawn tomorrow.

I made some more 7 grain bread and rolls today. I also made some yummy fresh squeezed lemonade.

I had a few children chuckles today. We seem to be having veggie confusion. Jared saw the nectarines and said “Wow – PLUMS” – honestly they are fairly tiny. Then I had the cauliflower out to put some in the salad and Zander said “POPCORN!”

Zander gave me KISSES today and he told me he loved me yesterday. We are having a good week. He is a totally different kid when we get the food thing right…..motivation.

Well, Stacia is sleeping on my lap – so I’ll go put her down and call it a night.

*Gram's Hawaiian Chicken (edited 23 Mar 2011)

Chicken - 4 C cooked
Onion - 1 med/diced
butter - 2 T
*Crushed pineapple - 15 oz can
tomato sauce - 15 oz
ketchup - 1/2 C
celery seed - 1 tsp
*honey 2/3 C (originally called for 2 2/3 C sugar - this is the only ingredient I've changed and it really doesn't taste right...play with sugar)
garlic powder - 1/2 tsp
Chili powder - 1 tsp
mustard 1 Tablespoon
Pepper 1/4 tsp
sea salt - to taste

Assemble all, bring to a boil and simmer 20 min. Stir frequently.

**Originally, grams would layer pasta or rice in a 9 x 13 or 15 x 10 pan. She fried chicken and laid the pieces on top. Simmered the sauce and then poured it all over the top of the chicken and rice and baked....probably 350* for 30 min.

I'm a freezer cook. I find it more convenient to make 6x this recipe. I boil the chicken and shred it. I simmer the sauce and then freeze in Ziploc bags. On the day we're going to eat it.....I begin brown rice in the steamer and pop the frozen sauce in the crock pot. The kids like being able to control the sauce/rice ratio.

This also originally called for 2 2/3 cups of sugar.....play with the amount until you find what you like..... other pineapple can be used but crushed gives the sauce more "body".

I always use way more spices than this calls for - but I'm a "hmmm...that should be right" type of cook so can't tell you how much....do it to your taste.

Local Pool Thoughts

Lake Pool opened the same weekend as the military appreciation thing out there. It is not open today...but China Beach is. We'll be there this afternoon if it isn't storming.

Our base pool pass (for a family - 3 pools) is $50. They had a great chuckle when I said I needed 11 passes and they didn't charge me extra! They said so far that they think we are the biggest family who has bought a pass.

Brown's Pool pass - are you ready???? $130 per PERSON!!!! I can't imagine! We'll stick with the base pool passes.

SWIM SUITS GALORE!

OK - it seems that while I was surfing at Lands End and visiting with Charly on the phone......remember she called when I was in the middle of ordering a suit??.....that I actually did not close out of the site but ORDERED a suit. I'm not 100% thrilled with the suit...because I needed a size 6 top and a size 12 1/2 bottom and got a size 12....but it should work....and really I think I'll keep checking Academy for another top that will go with the short like bottoms....and I'll get that size 6....or I'll have to get pregnant to make the top fit....but then the bottoms wouldn't fit again...there is just no easy way out of this dilema.

Brownies (Our new favorites - even better than Moosewood LOL)

1/2 C butter
1 C sucanat (or rapadura, honey, brown sugar whatever YOU use)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
6 TBSP cocoa powder
1/2 WW pastry flour
1/2 C nuts
Bake @ 350 about 30 min. Makes an 8" square pan.

**For fudgey brownies melt 1/4 chocolate chips w/ 1/2 C butter & add 1/4 sucanat. Then mix this into batter instead of the butter.

*I've only done this *fudgey*. I made this with cashews Monday and they were a hit.

BTW, whole wheat plus nuts = a complete protein.

Tuesday

I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the computer all day. It turns out that Stacia had unplugged the power source. Duh!

We got a lot done today.

We FOUND baby gifts for the shower. We FOUND peanuts in the shell.

We spent 3 hours swimming today. I discovered the secret of pool snacks…feed the kids a meal before you go to the pool. :::snort::: It appears that we’ve always skipped a meal to go swimming. We had a great time at the pool today. I’m still surprised that the pools aren’t more crowded. I remembered to lather sun screen on the kids every hour – during the pool break. Problem is that in all the hubbub I forgot to put ANY on myself. Ouch.

It’s a bit of a challenge to watch Zander and Stacia at the same time in the pool. We manage and we are making memories. We spent about 2 hours in the big pool and spent the last hour in the kiddie pool. Zander played “killer whale” – which resulted in him learning how to swim under water so that he could get rings off the bottom….and oh yes….every once in a while he splashes and flops onto the side of the pool.

Nolan went down the slide without his life jacket. At one point I was worried he was in trouble….and the lifeguard was ½ up and off the platform…..he was so very tired. He needed to quit swimming for a bit…and he did.

I’m not sure why I every worried about bathing suits…goodness the sights you can see at the pool these days.

I made Hawaiian chicken and rice, salad and the brownies for dinner.

I stopped by a party store before going to Bible Study/shower….and picked up decorations. I decorated and then we enjoyed.

All in all a fun day.

Our friend Jill and her family are moving. I hate saying goodbye...but I've talked about that often enough in the past 9 months. {g}

Jill brought over two Coleman Mummy bags. They are great! It looks to me like they will be for Staica and Zander. Here Zander tries the new bags out!

Monday - Memorial Day

I'm really not at all sure what we accomplished yesterday. Jared and Jamin both have some virus...sore throats and low grade fevers. They stayed home and rested.

Josiah and Mike took the trampoline apart. The plan was to take it to John and Cathy's and weld it. When Mike looked it over he was uncomfortable with the young adults in our household jumping on the welded parts. He asked John if he'd be interested in welding it and using it for his children - they are all younger. He is going to take a look at it. He has the equipment to weld it as needed. There is talk of us getting a new trampoline....though there is also talk of getting an above ground 16 foot/4 foot deep pool. We were able to visit our plants when we took the trampoline out. Mike is thrilled to report that his "haystack" watermelon is coming up. There are also potatoes, sweet potatoes, a few cantelope and some squash. The corn is not really germinating as expected. We may need to replant it. Check out the photo below of our babies.


Cathy and I had a good time talking. She has the same dehydrator I do, but she KEPT the box. She told me I can use up to 12 trays on my dryer; I currently have 6. I am making apples all the time for Mike's office. 12 trays may be nice. On the other hand, when we moved the movers cracked the bottom plate of the dehydrator and I've been wondering if I should buy a new one. This works, so I keep using it, but maybe I don't want to add more trays to it. Cathy gave me a recipe for a Hazelnut cheesecake that uses honey and maple syrup as the sweetener. I need to try it.

I heard back from urban homemakers and they DO sell just the lid that will fit on my Whisper Mill grain grinder. It's only $11 - guess that is better than buying a new Nutri Mill grinder. {bg} I love my Whisper Mill, but didn't realize when I upgraded from a Kitchen Aide to a Bosch that the grinder would not grind enough flour for one Bosch batch. LOL

We pulled out the projector and watched some Hogans Heroes last night. Mike was supposed to be TDY this week but called while I was typing to say that he didn't go anywhere and will be home this week. That's a nice added bonus....gotta love the Air Force.

The younger 2 students are done with school - and switching to our summer school schedule. The older 2 have 2 weeks left, and Jared is tying up loose ends. This is so amazing to me as we started over a month late due to new baby, bed rest and the girls leaving home.

I need to run to the store and find twin baby gifts for a shower tonight. I need to be sure my thoughts are together for tonight's Bible Study. This is our last one until summer. I hope to buy some sort of container to store all the organic spices I ordered from co-op. AND we NEED to be at the pool today after lunch...we simply need it. {G}

Ok - vote for the type? Big type? Little type? Which is easier on your eyes?

Weigh In

Yep, it's weigh in day. Why bother? The day after Memorial Day weekend??? Oh well...honesty and all. I didn't loose a pound this week. However, I didn't gain either so really that is good news.

I DID loose another 2.5 inches this week. That's gotta be good...though really ladies you know where you ALWAYS loose it first? I'm doomed.

Homeschool Encouragement

I was surfing late at night (because Stacia was AWAKE until 1 a.m.) and decided to check out Jeannie Fulbright's website. She used to be an SHS member and is the author of the Science books that we love. She had some info on her site about "healthy homeschooling". I will need to go back and reread and try to mentally process her thoughts on health and fitness. I'm really, really striving not to get into a system that requires eating only certain foods, measuring and counting etc. I may loose lots of weight fast, but I know from experience that the goal must be "lifestyle change" and not "loosing weight". I don't plan to spend my whole life measuring and weighing food.....so I don't want to use that method to loose weight.....or when I go back to eating "normal", I'll regain the weight. My recent emphasis has been all about health. Seriously. I couldn't hold a pen or Stacia 5 months ago. I have cut some foods out of my diet permanently...but they are not "to loose weight" - with the thought that once I get it under control I'll add them back - they are permanent because of health issues. Anyway - while surfing her site I noticed lots of things I need to go back and research.

BUT I found THIS to be very encouraging to me on my homeschool journey. Isn't it a great reminder?

"I so very much love homeschooling, though non-homeschoolers can't comprehend that sentiment - especially if I were to relate what it is really like. I used to pray for it to be easier. But I've learned that the only way it will be easier is if I change my attitude about it. My present desire is that my heart will change, that I would no longer wish for homeschooling to be quiet and peaceful and smooth sailing, but that I would have a willing heart to embrace and enjoy it the way it is today. For this is the way that the Lord has ordained it, and these little rambunctious boys and girls are my gifts to treasure, train and love. If the day is chaos, I desire that my heart would be submitted to that with joy. If school takes all day, I want to remember that God is in control and He sets my schedule, not I. I want to homeschool as unto the Lord, not unto myself. For if I get irritated and upset because things didn't go as planned, or as easily as I wished, then I'm saying my plan for my day was better than God's. And because God's plan happened, which was out of my control, then I want to be thankful and joyful anyway. "

Another reminder that in so very much in life "it is all about the heart". {G}

There are things I simply love about living in a "small" town. We have 100,000 people here so it is not the smallest town we've lived in - that award would go to Hardin, MT, with 2500 at the time....however this West TX town does have a small town feel, and incredibly friendly people. We woke up this memorial day to find flags up and down our neighborhood. What a nice surprise. BTW our town is the largest town in America that is NOT connected to the interstate. This is an awesome spot to land for an assignment...I'd recommend it on a dream sheet for any Air Force families. {G} OK - pick yourself up - yes, I still dreadfully miss AK but I believe this is my second favorite spot now for family type activities.

Our front

Flags in the neighborhood

Blog Comments:

** is kinda time consuming to do 2 blogs. But I figured only interested parties really wanted to read what I eat and exercise every day LOL...I do copy all recipes to both blogs :)

Kelly - then I'm NOT even attempting two blogs at the time. Those who don't want to read about the mundane issues of my life can simply skip ahead.....{vbg}

**if you ever want some help figuring out layouts and graphics and stuff with your blog I'd be happy to help as much as I can.Jen in az **

Jen in AZ - I'm going to take you up on your offer. I love the "look" you have created. I wish I could just transport it to blog spot. {G} Maybe I'll have more time to learn how to really build a site this summer. {It COULD happen - though I've been saying that for years!}

*You can also try google Image for your book covers. I do that when I want to copy a pic of a book without that extra stuff that amazon throws on.**

Jen in MO - I'm going to give this a try. I'm not sure how but I should be able to figure it out. Thanks for the tip.

*When Heaven Weeps* by Ted Dekker

Where have I been for the past six years? I can’t believe I missed this author, loving suspense and mystery the way I do. I guess I was busy homeschooling and then the three years in Alaska are a blur…but here I am now. {bg}

It took me a bit but I finally caught on to the underlying themes in *Heaven’s Wager*. At first I read simply for pleasure. As Josiah began reading it, I continued to ponder the plot. {G} I figured out the Biblical story that had been placed in a modern setting. I began this book LOOKING for the Biblical story. What a treat. I refuse to give any of this plot away. You simply NEED to read it. For those who’ve read *Heaven’s Wager*, this is the story of Helen’s early years with her soldier. Now I want to go back and reread HW with Helen’s past firmly in mind. {G}I’ve decided NOT to give this book away. It has to stay with my other “keepers”….right beside my Frank Peretti, Rex Stott and Tamar Myers series. In truth, I want to be sure the kids have the time to read this. I’ll probably begin looking for another copy of *Heaven’s Wager* so that Krista and Bre can read it when they are home. Krista has reading tastes very similar to mine. Bre’s tends to gravitate to the older authors…Jane Austen etc. THIS book was a page turner. It’s the first book in a long while that I couldn’t set down. I’m thrilled to have *Thunder of Heaven* here waiting to read. I also was sent *Blessed Child* from Paperback Swap (hmmm…guess the goal there is to SWAP the books LOL). I think I could recommend this book to just about everyone. Do you love suspense/mystery? You’ll like this book. Do you like romance? It’s in here. Are you a Christian? This will touch your heart. Are you a pre-believer? You’ll be intrigued by this book.


From the back cover: “In a small Balkan village near the end of WW II, a band of soldiers play a cruel game of ultimate stakes with a priest and his flock. Jan Jovic reluctantly participates. But he’s prepare for neither the incredible demonstration of love nor the terrible events that follow.

Now, many years later, that same game will spring to life in Jan’s own heart. He will fall madly in love with the wrong woman. Her name is Helen. Now it’s Jan’s turn to play the game. But there is a price.

Dive into a romantic thriller like none you’ve ever read. Drink deeply of a love that will bring a tremor to your bones. Go ahead, it’’s your turn to play the game. But remember…there is a price. And no one could possibly prepare you for that price.”

*Heaven's Wager* is going to my sister-friend Beth in ID.

I did a bit of research on Ted Dekker. I find it ironic that Tamar Myers (a favorite author of mine) and Ted Dekker (a new favorite of mine) are both missionary kids. Ted grew up in the jungles of Indonesia. His parents John and Helen Dekker were missionaries to a canibalistic tribe. In fact their story can be read in *Torches of Joy* by John Dekker. What fun to make the connections. It's mentioned that he graduated from a "multi-cultural" high school....I bet that means "missionary boarding school" or "international school". I've been wracking my aging mind and I don't believe it means Faith Academy because he would have graduated the year before me and I bet even as busy as I've been I would have noticed a new author with a name of a peer from school days. {G}

Jamin dreams of the Alaskan Bush as he toils in the hot TX sun.... (BTW this was a FRIENDS yard he was working on I do NOT follow him around with the camera on a normal basis)

Stacia loves Produce co-op day. Apples are her favorites and we have to watch her closely as she now has TEETH and loves to chew on apples....

SATURDAY

The day began with Mike helping John and Melody with their move. I made some waffles for the kids and then took Josiah to work. Jamin was out doing a lawn. When he returned home I drove him over to Mike and Charly’s to weed their flower bed. He made $100 in the last two days. Yippee…he’s almost earned ½ of his trip. I’m so very proud of the way the boys have tackled this. We really thought we’d end up paying for their missions trip since we don’t have a “church” backing us. Back at home, we tackled a few jobs around here. Jared had been mowing the yard – his first time solo. Mike and he then trimmed some tree branches that were scratching on the roof.

Another mystery book showed up in my mailbox.

I had a host of goals for the kitchen today…didn’t reach them all but did keep busy. I got 4 more “waffle mixes” made for next week. I froze another tray of grapes. Frozen Grapes are an awesome summer treat. They are 100% natural popsicles. I also throw them into smoothies. We got a load of apples drying and threw some kiwis in too. I made 3 kinds of salad dressing and a double batch of granola. Jamin ended up watching over this as I ran to the store. Mike came in and suggested a trip to the pool.

You got it – we bought our family pass and spent a couple of hours at the pool. I thought it would be very crowded but it wasn’t bad at all. In fact during the last hour it was just us and one other family in the pool. {G} We chuckled when one of the female lifeguards said, “Alex, I remember you!” Another pool funny… a little girl who looked to be about 9 years old was fascinated with Stacia. She asked, “Can I touch her?” I figured that would be o.k. Then she said, “Is she real?” after touching her. THEN she asked, “Are you her grandmother?” THIS is why I dye my hair and don’t care if it is blonde. :::snort::: BTW contrary to Adrienne’s dire predictions my hair has not turned green yet…but I’m just waiting for it to do so. LOL

Alex (Zander) had a great day today. He’s been “clean” for 6 days now and has been steadily getting more and more “fun, loving and disciplined”. He began it by climbing into our bed for cuddling. He told us he loved us. When we drove Cy to work he told Cy he loved him. He didn’t have meltdowns. He worked the apple peeler/corer/slicer and was proud of the trays of apples. He patiently waited at the pool for me to show up with the passes. He listened and obeyed well at the pool. He PLAYED WITH a new friend, Lilly, in the kiddie pool. I wish I could capture the day.

We rounded out the evening by watching “March of the Penguins” which we got from Netflix. We tried to watch it last night but it kept stopping. Mike discovered it worked fine on our $30 player and so he brought that out and hooked it up to the projector so we could watch the movie. We are really enjoying being able to order movies from Netflix. Last week we watched “Newsies” – a wonderful movie. We have quite few movies in our que.

The Pool is Open!

Base pools opened yesterday! This signals the true beginning of summer. There are two pools on base and one out at the rec camp on the lake. We chose the lake. This pool has a small kiddie pool that is 1 ½ feet deep…..then it has a big pool that starts at 3 feet and goes to 8 or 10 feet. There are two slides in the big pool for the kids to play on. The best part is that the seating area and the kiddie pool is under a car-port type shade. Yesterday was also the last day of school so the pool was fairly quiet. It was a good day to go and let the lifeguards get reacquainted with us. I’m praying we can make it through the year without getting kicked out. Of course, that only happened once last year and I suspect that that female will no longer be working….we’ll see.

The a.m. was produce co-op. For some reason we ate less fruit and veggies the last couple of weeks. I’m not sure why. I’ve had several days of eating nothing but fruits and veggies’; I would think our consumption would be up. I ordered a bit less this week. As soon as we were done with co-op I raced to Academy to find suits for Zander, Jared and myself. Charly, a local friend, had called Thursday while I was online ordering from Lands End. She told me that Academy had sports tank top things and tennis skorts that worked well for a suit…and cheaper too. We had about 3o minutes to find the suits we needed. Some of you will remember my swim suit lament from a few months back so I won’t repeat it…..I’ll just say that when I did the Land’s End measurements I needed a size 6 top and a size 12 bottom and frankly I couldn’t quite figure out which size to order…either size could cause problems. :::snort::: The size 14 I bought a few months ago still has TAGS but it is NOT going to work. Mike told me yesterday that it was far too big and saggy (not his words) on top. If anyone wants a modest, 2 -piece, size 14…black with pink piping, swim suit…let me know. OH – the same day that Charly called, Adrienne & Porshe (her daughter) dropped by. Porshe had some racing suits for me to try that no longer fit her. I was sure they wouldn’t fit…but they did. They are a bit “sleeker” in the tush area than I wanted so I needed to either find the suit that Charly was talking about at Academy or a pair of shorts. With 30 minutes ticking down the pressure was on. I wasn’t sure I was finding the tops that Charly was talking about…not sure that anything I was seeing would work. Jared found a suit. Jamin found a suit for Zander and we were down to 10 minutes. I took the tennis skort that I had found in and decided if it worked I’d buy it to wear over the racing suits and I’d try to find another 2-piece type thing later. The shorts I took in to try on were too big. The skort looked cute…until I twirled and bent and realized it was NOT a skort and did not have built in shorts with it….oops. I grabbed a smaller size of shorts on the way to the checkstand and we were out of there, home and on the way to the pool in no time.

It was a fun day at the pool. Kelly, Heather and Adrienne were there with their children. Mike was helping John and Melody move. Yippee – they are getting a 4 bedroom home. I realized I’m going to need much more in the way of pool snacks this summer. We almost downed a 5 lb bag of peanuts in the shells. I have the shelled – no salted kind but at that price I don’t plan to go through 5 lbs of them at the pool. I tried to find more in the shell at Sam’s last night and they were out. Carrots work well for the pool too – they stay crisp. We also had cheddar bunnies and banana chips…..anyway it was a fun day. I was able to get in the water and make some memories with the little ones. We were able to visit and the children played. While I was in the pool I noticed and always pad in the filter. I wasn’t sure of what I’d seen so called Heather over to look. She went and told the lifeguard and the poor young man had to clear the pool and remove said trash. Then we all had to sit for 30 minutes…I think next time I see something like that I’ll wait for the scheduled pool break to say anything. {G} The summer season is off and running.

Jamin has earned $50 mowing yards this a.m. I need to get going and take him to another friends house. He’s going to weed a flower bed for her. Jared is going to help him. Josiah is at work – until 10:30 tonight – another 10 hour work day. Mike is helping out with the move some more today…..

That’s our day so far.

A Retraction of Sorts....

Previously, I mentioned that I was totally frustrated with the tortured interpretations of two studies in which I was participating. First - I want to say, as I mentioned last week, that both studies DO have good points. Both studies HAVE encouraged me to walk closer to Jesus.

Now - here's the retraction. In my entry I may have given you the impression that I think that we can't "know" what is doctrinally correct. That was NOT my intention. I believe there are things we can KNOW. I also believe that it is possible for us to THINK we know more than we do. {g}

ALL Scripture is inspired by God. What bothers me is when we so desperately want things in neat little boxes that we are willing to overlook the Scriptures that weaken our stance or that explain why others have a different stance. As I've learned to study the Word inductively, there have been several areas where I've had to say, "Hmm.....there are solid arguments on both side of this fence". At that piont, I think we need to hold these things in balance and let God reveal to us in His time how it fits....and those are the things that I think we may not understand until we get HIS perspective on how all the pieces of the puzzle fit.

I do believe we can know truth. I do believe that there are rights and wrongs. I just am heart broken because I know so many who have been totally turned off and pushed away from CHRIST because Christians had made their CONVICTIONS more a litmus for fellowship than a belief in Christ. I know folks who were pushed away from God because Christians communicate "if you want to be a Christian you'll have to do x, y, z" (vote a certain way, educate a certain way, treat animals a certain way, parent a certain way, eat a certain way, dress a certain way, wear your hair a certain way, have a certain number of children.....and the list goes on and on). I've had friends say "If I have to do x, y or z to be a Christian - I don't want to be a Christian". This saddens me. Jesus ate with sinners. Jesus partied with sinners. Jesus loved sinners. Jesus condemned the pharisees and partied with the sinners. We condemn the sinners and party with the pharisees. Yes...Jesus spoke truth but He did it with grace. We give the impression that a person must get all gussied up before they can attempt to know Christ....and that saddens me greatly.

I have STRONGLY held CONVICTIONS. I share them when asked. My life speaks of my convictions without me ever opening my mouth. I simply don't want my convictions to make others think they have to look just like me to be a Christian....because looking like me was NOT the goal of Christ coming to earth as a man and giving His life for my salvation.

Hope that helps to clear up any misconceptions.

Golden Guides - Birds

We ordered several of these little guides, published by St. Martins Press, last week from Home Science Tools/Home Training Tools. I am so pleased with them.

They are smaller than Audubon. However - they have been perfect for our limited use. They have bright pictures, maps and a bit of a blurb to go with each picture.

So far we've identified not only the Red Cardinal, Doves and Grackles....but an Eastern Bluebird, a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, and a Northern Mockingbird in our yard. The maps are showing us that birds from most any region tend to end up in this part of TX during some part of the year. We also are in the "overlapping section" of the Western/Eastern birds...no wonder the air is ALIVE with bird calls around here.

We also got these guides for insects, moths/butterflies, and wildflowers. Though these guides are not as thorough as Audabon they are perfect for lower grammar students....and really we find we are ALL grabbing them first.

*8 Minutes in the Morning* by Jorge Cruise

I first heard about this book on SHS - and I was skeptical. {g} I tend to avoid "fad diets", "fad workout programs" (and "fad curriculums", "fad parenting books" for that matter).

I kept hearing about the book and so I put it on my PaperBack Swap wish list. I got it months ago and Jamin read it. {bg} I finally read it a few weeks ago.

The basic premise of the book is that the most effecitve way to lose weight is to add some strength training to your routine. This builds muscle. Muscle burns energy and speeds up your metablolism. Jorge gives you two moves to do for 6 mornings of the week. The warm up, moves and then warm downs take 8 minutes. He insists you do it in the a.m. as the "evidence" shows that this sort of weight thing will raise your metabolism for 15 hours...you get the benefit throughout the day. Each day has you working on 2 different body parts. I like having different moves the same area...in other words there are 3 or 4 moves for abdominals and not JUST CRUNCHES. I can't remember if I shared Tuesday's revelation. When told to lift until my shoulder blades were off the floor,I decided my problem is NOT weak abs but abnormally long shoulder blades. That's the gist of the weight things. He does have a section on power walking but I've not done that because I'm riding my bike instead.

There is also a section on food. He had a lot of good information on Omegas. He tells you to eat the Omega oils (Olive, flax, safflower) with each meal....We did add that because we read that info elsewhere too. He says to eat only ONE fruit a day - I think that's hoey. He says you must eat three meals a day - I also think that is hoey. He allows for a lot of foods that we no longer eat (pork, crab, shrimp). Really, I decided that my focus is on health and that I like the changes we made in our diet. I also decided there was no reason to throw out my thin within principles...so I didn't. I didn't follow the food portion of the program.

You are guaranteed to loose 2 lbs a week if you follow the program. I only added the moves in and kept eating the way I do and fasting the way I do (totally seperate from weight loss but connected with eating patterns). The only big change I see is the moves. I lost 3 lbs the first week. I lost 1 lb last week. Today I tried to order a swim suit from Lands End (another story) and so had to measure myself. I remembered that I was supposed to be measuring and weighing each week and hadn't. I compared.... Here's my stats...and the men can just skip right on to the next entry. BTW I've considered starting another blog for posts on healthy eating and weight/exercise like Kelly and Jen...but shoot...I don't think I have time. There's are SOOOO cute...I'm tempted. I decided for the time being ya'all can just delete entries on organic food, exercise etc if you don't want to read them. LOL

2 weeks:

down 4 lbs, lost .5" in bust (NOT needed nor tried for LOL); lost 1.25 in wasit; lost .5 in thing, lost .25 in calf and lost TWO inches in the hips.....it's a start.

Arielle's Mr Gatti Party

Ater re-scheduling three times we finally had a party! {G} It really did turn out to be a blessing that it was in the evening. It was much more fun to have entire families attend. Unfortunately, there was also a daycare and several baseball teams celebrating at Mr. Gatti's last night - so it was busy! Very busy! I get overwhelmed with the noise and such in the game room.

The party was all that Arielle had hoped for. Below are a few pictures.

It's hard to believe that Arielle is 9 years old. Life has sure changed for us a LOT since her birth. I was pregnant with her when Mike went into the Air Force chaplaincy. Since then we moved from a small town in Montana to Great Falls, MT, San Antonio, TX, Anchorage, AK, and now back in TX. My dear Uncle died on the day that Arielle was born. That always leads to thoughts of Uncle Bill and Grams on her birthday. Those thoughts are becoming sweeter with each year and less of the bitter/sweet thing.

The Queen

Cy & Stacia

Finally - Bumper Cars!

Some Pictures from Arielle's home party.....

Yes, the pig hat is still doing it's duty. It is getting a bit worn. I need to start looking for a new one.


Mike and I gave Arielle a card that said "Good for lunch and your choice of a bike or sewing machine". The problem is that I wrote in cursive and she couldn't make it all out. We waited as she worked it all through...."good for a bike or a swing machine?" She is still deciding which she wants. We'll see. I bet lunch will be Burger King fries or Mr. Gatti's pizza.

Zander passed out gifts all night. He did well at staying out of her gifts - though the excitement of giving her the "dinosaur game" nearly killed him. Finally he nabbed the hat...

QUICK A.M. thoughts...

Pictures from Arielle's party are uploading to the hard drive now. I'll try to find time today to put some here.

Jen - We bought her Zoo Tycoon - complete edition. It has the original Zoo tycoon and dinosaur digs and marine mania add ons. I think they are really going to like it. When Stacia was born "she" gave Jared "Roller Coaster Tycoon" and they really like that one.

I came to the horrific realization that Jamin and Mike almost RUN as fast as I bike ride. ARGH. Of course...my goal here is distance and not speed as I'm trying to get to 500 miles and earn my elliptical machine...but I'm trying to figure out how to pick up speed and keep the distance.

Yesterday is a blur. It began when Mike woke up and realized he couldn't find his wallet. This meant a couple of unplanned trips to base for me. The wallet is safe and sound. We did get quite a bit of school done. We are valiantly trying to finish up TOG this week (3 weeks ahead of schedule) so that we can go to summer schedule with everyone else.

Arielle's party was a lot of fun. Since it was moved to the dinner hour we ended up with whole families attending (Dads and all) and so it was a great time of fellowship for our entire family.

Late last night I booked the tickets for our sons and Porshe to fly to Anchorage for the missions trip with Elmendorf's Club Beyond. They are very excited. We ended up using our free miles for one ticket. We bought one ticket and had a $50 companion ticket that we used to buy the 3rd ticket. This means that instead of $3K for all three tickets it cost $960. Porshe and Jamin will split the cost of the tickets we bought bringing the amount they need for airfare to $480 each instead of $1K each. Jamin continues to mow lawns like a maniac and is so realieved that now he needs to make $900 instead of $1500. Josiah was relieved that his entire car fund hasn't been wiped out. {G} You know, typing this out makes me realize that the boys should probably SPLIT the cost of that one ticket instead of Cy getting a free ticket while Jamin pays for the other ticket.....Jamin is about to get even happier. He has two more jobs lined up and he hits the pavement every afternoon looking for more. I think folks feel so bad for the poor young man with the camelback of water, pushing a mower in 100* heat...that they say "Ok - MOW my yard!" {G}

Today will be full....we must keep pushing if we hope to finish TOG this week. We have speech and probably an hour at the park with "our other brothers".

I woke up with this song running through my mind. I love this group. To hear this song and more from MercyMe, click here. "If" you ever need a song for my celebration memorial service this is the one. No - I don't have any premonitions...I grew up hearing my Mom say she wanted "Our Father" sung at her funeral and she's still alive and well. {G}

I Can Only Imagine

"I can only imagine what it will be like, when I walk by Your side...
I can only imagine, what my eyes will see, when Your Face is before me!
I can only imagine. I can only imagine.

Surrounded by Your Glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing 'Hallelujah!'? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine! I can only imagine!

I can only imagine, when that day comes, when I find myself standing in the Son!
I can only imagine, when all I will do, is forever, forever worship You!
I can only imagine! I can only imagine!

Surrounded by Your Glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing 'Hallelujah!'? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine! Yeah! I can only imagine!

Surrounded by Your Glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing 'Hallelujah!'? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine! Yeah! I can only imagine!

I can only imagine! Yeah! I can only imagine!!
Only imagine!!!I can only imagine.
I can only imagine, when all I do is forever, forever worship You!
I can only imagine."

Organic Thoughts

O.K. here’s some thoughts and I know that many of you who read this will have some ideas…..Jodi, Jen, Becky, Heather, Rebecca, Melody et al

What do YOU think about this?
We should avoid all chemicals, pesticides and etc that we can.
We eat a lot of fresh produce - $100 - $150 every 2 weeks. It’s not organic.

So…is it better to eat FRESH produce that isn’t organic….or frozen Organic? I can’t afford fresh organic – and there isn’t much of a selection around here. First I thought “we eat to much fresh produce to be able to afford organic”. Then I thought “if we eat so much produce wouldn’t it be important to get organic?”. Then I considered the frozen organic from Shop Natural…but still it’s FROZEN and you loose nutrition.

At this point I continue to buy fresh and to rinse it all well…but I keep wondering…what would be better frozen organic or fresh non-organic.

Jen and Jodi: we’ve not split junk yet at our co-op. I wonder if folks WOULD split a case of those cloud 9 candy bars…they ARE good and the list of ingredients isn’t terrible…especially when you realize that my children aren’t eating the snacks at church or such…this IS their junk food. We take these snacks to church or parishioner’s homes who want to give the kids treats. We can’t allow Zander to have treats that are going to set him off for 3 days. Hmmm….I’ll have to float a split of Cloud 9 candy bars or Little Panda Licorice and see…..we mostly split seeds, nuts and grains…which are helpful. OH – this time Melody wanted to split sodas and so we did split those. 12 cans of soda don’t make for a huge indulgence in a family our size. LOL So far we like the Blue Sky Root Beer Encore. We don’t like the Blue Sky Ginger Ale at all. We haven’t tried the Lemon Lime stuff.

Here’s a cool tidbit…my sister in law is meeting with the man who WROTE the organic certification law that is now being threatened by congress and big companies who want to be able to sell “organic” while using synthetic preservatives. I know someone who knows someone….{bg}

Arielle turned 9 today. It was anti-climatic without a party…but we’ll have a party tomorrow – with bumper cars. {G} She did enjoy the gifts that the boys picked out for her. Josiah took the day off work. He suggested we all go to see “Over the Hedge”, which we did. It was a cute movie (though I fell asleep for part of it). :::snort:::

Today was the dreaded “crunch” day in *8 Minutes* and I realized that my problem is NOT weak abs but I have abnormally long shoulder blades…I’m sure that is why I can’t get my shoulder blades off the floor…but with time, I should be able to do this…at least once.

The girls called about 10 p.m. to wish Arielle a happy birthday. Bre called first and I woke her up. She was cuddled up with her picture of them and was totally disoriented when I tried to get her to talk. While I was still talking to Bre, Krista beeped in…..so I had them both on the line at the same time…I suppose that’s a bit like having the whole family in one spot????

I started taking flax oil today. I read up on the benefits of Omega oils again. I came up with all sorts of new questions about this new healthy lifestyle. LOL I’ll save them for another post.

It’s late – I want to try to SLEEP…..

Arielle, Zander and Nolan enjoy our pool....not a TX sized pool (and certainly not an ALASKAN sized pool - it IS the biggest state in the union you know - but who NEEDS a pool in AK)...more like a Rhode Island sized pool.

This is the type of day you only have on Monday….and it was the type of Monday you hope to have only once a year! {G}

I DID get to ride the bike today. My legs are finally loosening up after Thursday’s 8 minutes of torture. I’m hoping I didn’t gain weight this week since I wasn’t able to move on Friday and missed 3 days of both the 8 Minute moves and the bike riding. I’ll be much more careful not to push it from now on – yeah SURE. I have that sort of “gut it out” personality.

The day began with me trying to get my computer to print a brochure that I’d made for SAGE (our co-op). It wouldn’t work and took forever to figure out what to do. I finally saved it to a memory card and plunked it into the computer that is a foot away from my computer…but it took me about 2 hours to come up with a solution. In fact, I tried to email it to one of the other computer’s first and the computer is STILL trying to send it…..15 hours later. {g} I copied the brochure and quickly noted three changes that need to be made right off the bat. Since this IS a family service project I let my youngest two sons (4 and 7) fold them. Nolan has some motor coordination issues and needs to do lots of eye hand things…but maybe folding brochures was a bit of a leap. Ah well….Zander and Nolan had fun folding them and all our really organized types can refold theirs like I did. :::snort:::: I got some good natured teasing from Adrienne and Becky about a line I added. Tell me does this sound like a hammer “Failure to promptly pay for your order will result in your SAGE membership being terminated”. Now I’m worried that someone who forgets to pick up their order will think I’m going to TP their house or something dire like that. Heather, our produce co-op organized, is so nice. I guess I’m going to be the “mean co-op organizer”. Heather, do you still read the blog? Should we work out a good cop/bad cop routine? :::snort:::

I got some laundry done.

I made a couple of PWOC calls that I needed to make.

I took the youngest 3 out to buy a cake and presents for Arielle’s birthday – tomorrow. Zander was sure that Arielle wanted a TRAIN!!!!! He finally settled on a zoo computer game….obviously planning to use it.

We dropped by the house of a friend who had packers at her home today. We took her a couple dozen cookies. Her packers had JUST arrived! Good grief it was about 1:00 p.m.

I had to cancel PWOC Traveling Training due to lack of interest. I was looking forward to it. I was planning on going to Fall Focus in October and now Mike will be away from home. I don’t think I can leave the kids alone for 3 nights and I’m not sure I’ll want to leave them anyway since they’ll be just adjusting to him being gone.

When I got home, Mr Gatti’s (sort of like Chuck E Cheese) had called. I called the manager to be told “we’ll have 500 kids from the schools here during your party – will that be a problem?” Hmmm….let me see one small game room, one buffet line and *500* kids…..yep – a problem. They said they’ll only have 219 students on Wed. I rescheduled for Wed at 1:00 and then realized Mike has meetings he can’t miss. Then I rescheduled for 5 p.m. and most are going to be able to make it – but now I remember that the new chaplains’ wife is going to be in town and we were going to go out for dinner with her. I guess she may enjoy a birthday party or we’ll meet her Thursday.

The older boys went out to shop for Arielle and the younger ones enjoyed the pool that I bought at Wal-Mart…also bought some gifts and some more weights.

Took Josiah to work.

Met the truck. They had a new driver and things took much longer. I was 20 minutes late getting home. Our “worker bees” were already waiting at the house when we arrived. We managed to get it all inventoried, sorted and divided.

Now we’re watching the Mavericks/Spurs match up score on the computer….wish we had a TV that showed Spurs…or we could stream the game. LOL

Becky showed up for co-op with their “spare mower” in the back of her van. Jamin is in heaven (not what I would call mowing lawns in W TX in 100* heat. Adrienne is going to call Town and Country about letting the kids pump gas and do windows for donations for their missions’ trip. Jamin will probably not want to play tomorrow – he’ll want to mow more lawns and dream of the AK missions’ trip.

Stacia is still grumpy.

Bre called and “needed to talk to Mom” and I keep missing her. I cried when picking out a “sister” card for Stacia to give Arielle…we miss Bre and Krista.

I love co-op night and visiting with everyone. There were a few men tonight so Mike even had someone to talk with.

I can’t remember what else happened today but it was an incredibly long day and Nolan, Arielle and I didn’t even start school.

I need to figure out what we’re doing tomorrow. Our homeschool support group is having a swim party….we have speech and Bible Study and its Arielle’s birthday….what to do….score is 111/108 Mavericks are winning…..overtime….

Jamin was pleased with the organic “Cloud Nine” candy I bought. He says its “pretty close” to Snickers. We can survive organic. {G} Of course we aren’t fooling ourselves that it is HEALTHY but if you want a treat it is sure better to grab an organic candy bar made with rice syrup and such than a Snickers. Right?

Score is now Mav 117 and Spurs 111…20 seconds left…I think it is over…

Wow – what a busy Sunday! Today was the day that Mike spoke in all three services about the upcoming changes. My first glimmer of things to come was a group of Catholic women outside the chapel crying when we arrived. Father Jim was doing the same at all the masses today. It was a hard day. Change is always frightening and I think even more so when there have been so many changes made so quickly that are totally out of local control. As expected several are not happy. The Protestant side of the chapel lost a total of 3 contracts when AETC cut appropriated funds. For those non-military types….in the chapel it’s usually been expected that the military would pay for the “chapel service” and the tithing funds were used for extras to run those programs. Musicians, Religious Education Coordinators, Parish coordinators etc were paid by the government. This funding ended quite suddenly for our maj com. Tithing must now cover it all – and frankly – in the military many, many continue to tithe to their “home church” because they see the chapel as a “employment bennie”. {G}

We were so impressed with the growth in the contemporary service (student service) in the last few months. Both their chaplains will be leaving in the next month or so. In addition to all the new manning changes the normal PCS season will bring changes to the chapel as well.

I’ve been asking people to let me know when their churches had a service of just worship. I have so missed contemporary worship…who would have believed that this was available all the time at our very own chapel. The service began with *Jesus Freaks* and those kids can rock. Then we went into about 30 minutes of really wonderful worship. Mike preached and he loved the feed back from the students. They closed the service and then they stay and worship AFTER church too! Very fun. After service we went out to eat with another family. Mike was about to order a Chicken BLT for us to split when I told him that I didn’t feel like eating the devil’s meat. :::snort::: We split a chicken salad wrap and it was very good.

Stacia is incredibly stuffed up. I have thrown together a SAGE (co-op) brochure and am now going to go to bed.

MILITARY APPRECIATION DAY

A nap is NOT going to happen but here are some pictures from the day. We all passed up the Sam's Club cookies when I suggested we have home-made ice cream at home instead. I'm always so pleasantly surprised when Zander passes up a former favorite for a healthy treat without a fuss. He is even starting to accept the answer "that food makes it hard for you to be good" and he told me the other day "oh - it makes me feel sick" so I think he's starting to make connections himself. If we can only keep him from the cookie dough....an overdose of sugar (even honey) would not be good for any of us. LOL

Our older children kept commenting that they didn't remember other communities doing this...and we've been where they have but this was by far the most impressive...though Great Falls, MT came close. We discussed it and noted that the smaller cities seem to put on the bigger celebrations. {G}

Nolan's 2nd time on a pony

Arielle dreams of owning a horse...wish we could make it happen for her...but for now...pony rides are great fun!

Jamin on the rock climbing wallJared on the wall"I can do ANYTHING the boys can do"Nolan on the wallAnd of course if the BIG boys do it....Zander convinced the lady he was big enough...he was by far the youngest on the wall while we were there

This is hard to explain. A Bungiey cord is hooked to a harness that they wear. They race up to grab a baton and then the cord pulls them back. It was hilarious to watch. Again...Zander had to give it a shot. We have some great shots of him with the helmet 1/2 off and such. He finally got it...but the lady really was rooting for him {wink}.

Jared at the bungie race- look at that determined expression

Thoughts that have made me go HMMMM……

Here’s something I’ve been thinking about. WHY do wonderful Bible teachers sometimes feel the need to take Scriptures out of context to prove a “point”? I’ve run into this three times this week and frankly it is discouraging. I’m doing two studies and both very Godly women have done this. I went to read the study notes in my Bible on one of the passages and found that the commentator had done the SAME thing!

It takes more than doing a word study to “accurately handle the Word of Truth”. You MUST look at context. You must consider what the whole Word of God has to say about the topic. You must admit if something is used literally or figuratively. You must not torture Scripture. All Scripture must agree. Scripture does not contradict Scripture. I’m sad to run into this THREE times this week from trusted teachers/leaders.

I actually agree with most the points being made by the authors – I think – but they really begin to cloud the issue for me when they begin to fling Scriptures at me without considering context. I have a hard time hearing the message or wanting to even continue the study when a teacher does this. The Word does say that teacher’s will receive a stricter judgment…..it’s not a good idea to try to strengthen an argument with less than accurate handling of the Word. I suppose it’s my ministry within a chapel setting that has led me to present both sides of an argument as fairly as possible and trust the Holy Spirit to apply the Word exactly as needed. I don’t know.

It’s ironic that one of the studies had these quotes in it – great quotes – right before she went on to present one side of an argument. Is it deceptive for a teacher who knows both sides of an argument to only argue her side strongly and not present the verses that would weaken her argument? Oh well – I ran into this with this author with some of the more Calvinistic doctrines. It’s really OK not to agree with everything an “expert” teaches…maybe some days “my eyes will be open” and I’ll agree with her…..maybe some day her eyes will be opened…and most likely all of our attempts to “get theology” right are amiss…God has all the pieces of the puzzle and knows exactly how they fit together…we’ll probably get a good chuckle or a sob when we see how all these “hard doctrines” mesh in heaven….I’m betting that NO camp has it all sewn up. It just bothered me to read strong comments without any balance in the study, go to my Bible and find that the commentator there had done the SAME thing on the OPPOSITE side of the issue…and combined with the other study that is throwing verses totally out of context to support a viewpoint….it really was to much this a.m.

Here’s the challenge – a great challenge: “Where does your theology come from? Do you believe because of men’s teachings and experiences or because you have dug out truth from God’s Word yourself, precept upon precept? {snort – hint hint} We forget that no one person has a corner on all the truth. Therefore, we need to be like the Bereans who, after the apostle Paul taught, searched the Scriptures to see whether or not what he taught was in keeping with the Word”.

We simply MUST be women of the Word.

Ah – it all throws me back at His feet. It all causes me to abide in Him and to allow His words to abide in me.

As for teaching…well often if one articulate person voices her opinion strongly it will drive those who think differently to remain silent. I’m blessed that in my classes ladies will speak up and disagree with the author and challenge each other to consider all sides. Really – this is better. I’d rather have the questions out in the open than buried…so I’ll consider to point out questions if no one else has the nerve to voice their opposition…and the Holy Spirit is so faithful to guide us each to truth.

I had begun to feel that my reading this year has been “light” and I needed to add some “meat”….now I’m not sure WHY I thought that because life is “heavy” enough and I’ve been doing several studies at a time all year so really light reading is my relaxation. We don’t do TV and Mike’s been working late hours….but anyway….after reading *Captivating* and *What the Bible Has to Say about Healthy Living*, I decided to reward myself with some light reading.

Play it Again Spam ~ Tamar Myers

I was a bit leery of Magdalena after *Between a Wok and a Hard place* but I’m firmly back on her side with this book. {G}

The idea of including so many spam recipes had me laughing and reminiscing all through the book. I can remember the packages from “home” when we were on the mission field - with SPAM in them….I guess folks figured we didn’t have meat in Africa or the Philippines. I suspect that Tamar must be reliving some of her missionary kids days in writing this book. {g}

Of course, nothing is as funny as my grams landing overseas with a frozen turkey in her suitcase…and we didn’t get turkey overseas so it was a treat!

I love reading these Penn Dutch Inn books. Somehow a Mennonite Inn Keeper in an Amish community who solves mysteries seems very believable to me. Just in case you’re not interested in mysteries maybe the recipes will tempt you to pick up this book: Spam Jambalaya, Spam Western Bean Soup, Hearty Spam Breakfast Skillet, Spam Stuffed Potatoes Florentine, Sinapore Spam Salad, and Ragin Cajun Spam Party Salad. Come to think of it this book would have been welcome back in the days when we had cases of Spam in the house. {vbg} I can post any recipe that catches your fancy. :::snort:::

The Hand that Rocks the Ladle ~Tamar Myers

I simply couldn’t resist picking up another one of these. I love the fact that my kids bought me this series for Christmas. It’s the gift that keeps thrilling all through the year.

Ah…Little Jonathan, Little Mose and Little Freni make their debut here. Magdalena manages to solve a mystery, begin a new romance and run an inn single handedly in this book.

Heaven’s Wager by Ted Dekker

Thanks to Jen from MO for sending this book my way. I’ve not read the Christian Suspense genre in years and so am getting my feet wet again. In fact this is my second one this year. I knew I was in for something good when I saw this comment by Frank Peretti on the cover, “A fiction writer with a rare knack for a compelling story…a provocative read.”

I DID find this to be a provocative read. I don’t want to give away a plot line so really can’t say much but it kept me turning the pages. The author gives us a glimpse into what may be going on “behind the scenes” in various situations. This reads like a modern day Job story. I liked it so well that Josiah decided to read it and is just finishing it up. In fact – it was so great that we checked to see if the library had the other two books in the series. They didn’t. I waited for Paperback Swap to come up with them and they haven’t – so I ordered the next two books so that we can read them. {G} Though….I was sent another Ted Dekker book. Yippee.

An Offer: This is a book crossing book. That means that Jen would like to trace where the book goes. I plan to go journal and will see if Josiah could journal too….then we’d like to send the book along to someone else. If you would like to read this book, please email me or comment below and I’ll get it to you. I only ask that you go to bookcrossing.com and enter the fact that you read the book and where you sent it off to next. It’s really easy. Directions are included in the book and at the site.

A Question for those who’ve read the series: There is a new book out called “The Martyr’s Song”. It is the most recent book. It seems to just retell the story of the soldiers in Bosnia. I’ve heard that that is basically what the book does…a story which is told well in book 2 of the series I hear. The publisher says that all the books stand alone…but to read *The Martyrs Song* first….but on book lists I’m hearing that TMS is a let down. That the story is more powerful in *When Heaven Weeps*…care to opine?

Saturday – 20 May 2006

I really need to go take a nap (as I’m still not getting much sleep at night) but I’ll blog first and sleep later. Surely Stacia will sleep a bit longer. ONE of her teeth is through.

My day began this a.m. with our DOG bringing me a dead bird. I’ve always thought she had quite a bit of bird dog in her – she points – but this was ridiculous. She just did it again. YUCK. We’ve tried for YEARS to teach her tricks, to get her to fetch etc and nothing…now in her dotage she’s fetching birds.

Today our community hosted the first annual “military appreciation day”. It was awesome. It was held out at the lake. They did a fabulous job. They had those jumpy things, pony rides, balloons, tattoos, boat rides, food, rock climbing and more. I’ll try to upload some pictures later. It was a very fun day. Today is supposed to be over 101* - and I believe it made it – so we went early so that we’d not have to be out in the heat of the day.

After leaving the lake we dropped Jamin off to do another yard. He’s determined. He’ll be calling Town and Country’s offices on Monday to get permission for the three kids to pump gas and wash windows for donations towards their mission trip. The mower broke three times on Jamin. Poor kid. He did get one yard done and he “sorted glass” for another lady. UGH. She has no grass but lots of rocks and glass and wanted it sorted…took much longer than a yard to do and she paid much less. She said she’ll call him again. He plans to tell her an hourly rate or no.

While Jamin toiled in the sun…and Josiah toiled at Chick-fil-A, the rest of us went to check out a campground we’d heard of. We decided it wasn’t very promising. On the way back home we stopped and looked at trailers. We’re dreaming. We did find one that would sleep ALL of us….It’s the 31RQS here scroll to the bottom of the page for the floor plan. It has an outside kitchen, tons of storage ….lots and lots of storage…a room in the back with 4 bunks, a loveseat that will make into a bed, a dinette that makes into a bed and a double bed “suite”. It also has a TOILET! It’s only $15K over our budget – it will be a while before we purchase it…but now we know that trailer exist that can sleep all of us. As we were getting ready to leave we noticed that Zander disappeared. We thought he had run ahead to the van. We reached the van and he was not with the kids. Mike began searching. They finally found him. He’d locked himself in a trailer. The trailer hadn’t even been open so no one knows HOW he got in there. He was hot when he was found…..he said, “I know where I am”….He’s discovered hiding this week and this is the second time we’ve thought he was really, really gone and he was hiding. All of our kids seem to go through this “hiding” phase.

Mike will be explaining the changes coming to the chapel in June at all three services tomorrow. He’s preaching in two of the services, so he’s at the office “marinating” and preparing.

Blog Comment Response - Our Family Fun

**Micaela has informed me that Zander is her favorite boy now and he would make a great daddy, except she had to keep telling him not to run with the baby. **

:::snort::: You don't know how thrilled this makes me. Ladies, before Zander had left the impression that he was a "rude boy".....and he CAN be. Arielle is always trying to get him to leave her dolls alone. This is a good night to read a comment about Zander that is positive. LOL

We did enjoy your little ones. Arielle enjoyed a little girl around. {G}

It's been a very long week. I'm hoping for a good night of sleep tonight but doubting it will happen.

Not only is Stacia teething but Zander has almost certainly gotten into something....he hasn't slept in 3 nights. This is night 4. Mike says he's better tonight...I guess. I think I've been too close to the situation today to notice if things are improving. At times I wonder if I'm "excusing" bad behavior....but he's held accountable for his actions. We simply are doing all we can to make it easier for him to be obedient. Really, I consider his diet to be part of "discipline" for him. I often think of the verse "Train up a child in the way he should go...." and when you study that out it means "train up a child according to his natural bent"...certainly that would include his personality, spiritual gifts, life dreams...but I think for Zander this food sensitivitiy is part of his natural bent.....training that does train him..... The last few days are more than "bad behavior". He's like Jekyl and Hyde. His personality changes dramatically. We were at the lake with friends and he was totally apart from everyone for several hours. Totally anti-social. Yes, there's the melt downs when you try to discuss ANYTHING with him. He begins to say agressive things. He can't look you in the eye. He doesn't want to wear clothes. He doesn't sleep.....it's really much more than "bad behavior" that a child could/should control. The frustrating thing is that we can't think of ANYTHING different that he has eaten. The only thing I can think of is that I make fresh cookies for him.....this time I froze a lot of dough. He loves the dough. He'll eat 2 or 3 cookies and leave them alone....but I've found him several times this week eating lots of cookie dough...it's now all gone. I don't know WHY it would affect him in the dough form and not baked....but I'm wondering if it's a huge over dose of sucanat this week. I just don't know...but I know a God who loves this little one even more than we do.

Stacia is all stuffed up. We used the blue sucky monster to try to clear her nose. One tooth is really going to be through "soon"....gum is splitting.

I literally slept an hour last night...so why am I writing? It relaxes me. {G}

Other than the nature center we had speech today and then I had a big meeting at the base chapel. This was a meeting with both the Catholics and Protestant lay leader teams for Fr. Jim and Mike to explain the changes the Air Force has recently made. We're loosing 30% of our chaplains/enlisted staff. Our maj com has also decided to cut out ALL approrpiated funds for the chapels in AETC...this means all contracts for things like musicians and sunday school directors is gone. It was a sober meeting...but I also sensed a determination to "make it work".

I came home and went on a walk with Arielle, Nolan, Zander and Jamin. Jamin has been doing lawns to earn money for the AK missions trip. I'm so proud of the boys...they are going to try to earn the $900 for their fare up and the $400 for the trip....they have a couple of fund raising ideas.

I'm very sore. The 8 minute moves this a.m. consisted of 48 lunges per leg and some sort of lift that I thought was supposed to work on the back of my thighs but seems to have worked on the tush...because I can barely move. I don't even know if I can ride the bike in the a.m.

OK I'm relaxed and it's time to get a nap in before Stacia wakes up and can't breath or Zander needs some cuddling....he gets bad dreams when he's off the diet. I really need to quit disbelieving that this food thing is so important to him...it is.

NATURE CENTER

I have not been able to access the newsletter of my homeschooling support group for a couple of months. Basically, this means that we'v enot done field trips etc. That's o.k. We've been able to "focus". I see this month's field trip coordiantor at speech. She mentioned that today they were going to the Nature Center. I was so glad to hear about this as we are studying insects right now. I bet you thought "Zoology - flying creatures" would only be about birds. {G} Here are a few pictures. I did not show the grossest ones. There are none of Arielle because she was doing good to ATTEND and stand next to me.....I couldn't get her to pet or hold a critter. (Sorry fo the double pictures....it won't let me delete one). The center is really cool and the tour guide did a wonderful job. We had the whole center to ourselves.

Nolan holds a scorpian

Nolan and Jared with a hedgehog

Jared with the bearded dragon

Jared with a corn snake

*OUCH*

Poor Stacia developed a terrible diaper rash last night. Bleeding even. I'm trying to figure out what she ate that was new yesterday. The only thing I can think of is that she loved a 1/2 a pancake. It was a 7 grain pancake. I had a bit of peanut butter and maple syrup on it. I'm wondering....is it the peanuts or maybe the high gluten content from the fresh ground grain? Everything else she ate was stuff she'd had before. I learend not to let her have smoothies though she loves them - she got real red but not this bad.

I've got her back on brown cow yogurt and rice today - her favorites anyway.

Our MAD Scientist - Jamin experimented with various plants and vinegar to see what colors he would get. He began to brainstorm about how we could use the "all natural" dyes in our "color-free" lifestyle.

I ordered a disection kit today from Home Science Tools - formerly Home Training Tools. I took advantage of "being there" to order some "Golden/Audobon" Field Guides. Moving as often as we do, it seems that we are forever needing to learn the names of new birds, insects and wildflowers. I'm hoping this will help. They already emailed and said the order is on it's way.

Alright already get off my case! {vbg}

I find the time to blog because it's for my girls and family who are far away. Whenever I begin to miss the girls I sit down and type out a quick update! Hmmm....wonder what that means when I don't send any blurbs in for days on end....

Yes....I proudly claim the title of "most prolific blogger on the internet". :::snort:::

Quick Early Evening Update!

We had a blast with Our Family Fun's children.

The day was beautiful and so we did our "couch" school out front on my new rocking chair....well OK *I* was in the new rocking chair and the children spread below me at my feet as it should be...no that's not right either...they were on the plastic lawn chairs and the 5 gal bucket of bird feed.

Natalie, Nolan's speech therapist, apologized for missing the ARP meeting. She said that next Thursday will be his last speech day for the year.

I finished Bible Study prep and think I'm ready. We're eating leftovers tonight - we need one of those every so often.

Not sure if I mentioned this yet (and I don't have time to back track and read to find out) but Josiah and Jamin are looking to go on a mission trip to AK this summer. They called and talked to Dayton, their old youth leader today. They loved talking with Dayton and we are going to do all we can to make sure they can make it. The chapel in AK will pay a portion for both of them. That leaves $400 each and a plane ticket each....yikes.....it's expensive to fly to AK in the middle of tourist season.

Better make sure I look presentable and then vamose.

I lightened the picture but then it wouldn't upload. Here's one of my Mother's Day gifts. I coudln't figure out what Mike was so intent on doing out in the garage in the middle of the day. {G} I've been wanting to get rocking chairs for the front since we moved in. I'm thrilled with this.

The kids got me *House* and *Monster* by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker. (That reminds me I am behind on book reviews. {G}).

What a bonus I received from the Father this a.m.

I need to finalize thoughts for Bible Study tonight. I have three littles ones showing up this a.m.

In order to get my crew fed, clothed, house picked up and some school done I would need to skip working out this a.m. BUT we were out of eggs. I rode my bike up to the store and back - 4 miles...putting me just barely into the 300's. Then I weighed and I've lost 3 lbs this week.

I'm thinking I'll need to go ahead and find some lighter weights for the *8 Minute* stuff because my wrists are beginning to twinge and I don't want to get to the place where I can't hold Stacia or a pen again.

That's all I have time for now.

Saturday we took advanatage of the generousity of John and his family and went out to plant a garden on their land. We have a postage stamp lot and there is simply no where to plant a garden. We miss having a garden...though Mike loves to point out that we harvested our last garden with a lawn mower. Here is the start of this year's garden!

Jared and Jamin measuring off garden rows. They strung the string to make sure the rows were straight. *I'M* notorious for wild looking gardens - used to drive my Uncle Bill crazy - but this one will be very well laid out indeed.

John and Mike "play" with the tubing that will drip water to the garden...

Arielle and Nolan begin to plant corn. I'm wondering if this will still be a huge family adventure by the harvest season. {G}

Ariell was invited to a tea party on Saturday afternoon. This was a celebration for Reagan's birthday. Charly (Reagan's mom) did a wonderful job. Everything was very pretty and elegant and the girls had great fun. I got to sit with Stacia and visit with moms and drink homemade lemonaide. {G}

Arielle with Stacia (ready to attend her first tea)

Stacia is still trying to cut those top front teeth and makes the funniest faces!

Here the girls model the hats they decorated. Regan is front and center. Arielle is the blonde in the back.

Friday night - Zander (as you can see still working off the effects of the BHT - no clothes) and Nolan had been waiting for Mike to help them put togehter a little wood semi-truck. They were so excited to have it done.

Monday –

A long day that began early and looks like it will end late.

I finally got Stacia back into bed at 5:30 a.m. I jumped into bed for an hour and then rode 5.25 miles on my bike. It was cool this morning. Saturday it was 110*. It didn’t feel that hot to me but several people have said it was that hot. Today was a welcome respite. No rain but sort of cloudy and much cooler.

In the wee a.m. hours I spent some time researching cellulous and calcium carbonate. This was the result of a conversation at the tea party I attended with Arielle. I came to the conclusion that organic or non, I’m better off buying my cheese and blocks and shredding it myself, thank you very much. I also discovered that one of the ingredients in many ice creams is also an ingredient in anti-freeze. I’m armed with research the next time THIS comes up in polite conversation.:::snort::::

Nolan’s ARP appointment was hilarious. The Special Ed District superintendent was there, the school’s speech therapist was there and NOLAN’S speech therapist forgot. Oops. They talked with her on the phone and she said that he has met all the goals we had for him this year. Yippee! The goal for next year is understandability in conversation. I thought that WAS the goal all along but I guess we were working on specific sounds and now he has them all. He will not attend therapy over the summer. She will give me work to do at home with him. I hope to see a huge improvement over the summer. We’ll begin again in the fall but he will be reduced to ONE time a week. We’re excited about this improvement.

Back at home I decided it would be a wise thing to rearrange the living room furniture! So I did.

Jared and I lugged things up to the attic; loaded the back of a van for a Goodwill run and Josiah drove it all to Goodwill. I finally remembered to get a receipt for taxes next year.

I prepared a nice dinner for all. Mike made a special effort to be home for it. He had to go out for a run so I went along on my bike and got another 4.7 miles in.

When I got home one of my sister friends, Beth from college called. Always fun to hear from her. I miss her and Julie. I hope to see Beth this summer when we drive out for the girl’s graduation.

I did not get all my Tuesday night Bible Study notes typed up. I think I’ll work on them early in the a.m. when Stacia wakes me up.

I have been having a lot of thoughts about the difference between allegiance and submission and doing a few word studies…but really I’m too tired to share that now.

I’ve also been thinking about the difference of loving our children and loving motherhood and that we need to cultivate a love for mothering to bless and compliment our love of our children…but that’s also to much to share…..

So there you have it…my day.

OH Becky, a local friend, made Arielle’s day when she called to see if Arielle could baby-sit for her three little ones. I told her that it would be great to bring them here and Arielle and I will do it together. Then I told her that Arielle will turn 9 next week. She thought Arielle was 14. Do you remember when you thought it was cool for people to think you were older than you were? :::snort::::

“You sure have your hands full…”

When I was a young mother with lots of little ones (say under the age of 4) I would often hear the above comment. It used to cause offense in my heart. I understood the comment to mean, “your children are out of control”, “why would anyone choose to have so many little ones”, “my children are never out of control because I was sane enough to stop at 2” and more. As I began to converse with more Quiverful families I learned that I was not alone in my dislike of the phrase. I also learned that other homeschooling Christians can be every bit as critical of others as the world is of us. I’ve received numerous comments from those who use a different curriculum, have a different educational philosophy, have a different parenting philosophy, discipline differently…why we insist that God wants us all to be “cookie cutter Christians”. Hmm….thoughts for a different post. :::snort:::

BUT OVER TIME – I realized that most who make the above comment are NOT trying to communicate disdain or judgment. They may be hoping to begin a conversation and lead into asking for some tips on parenting…they may want to encourage…they may want to applaud for attempting to “handle” so many children…they may just be trying to be friendly…..Over the years I’ve learned that if I’m quick to be offended I need to examine MY heart. The Word says “the steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trust in You. Trust in the Lord Forever, For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.” Isaiah 26:3-4. It’s when my mind is not stayed on God that I begin to be intimidated by well meaning comments and begin to become easily offended.

Seriously, my hands WERE full then and they are full now. If someone observes that, they aren’t necessarily criticizing me. Of course, the phrase is most appreciated followed by a concrete offer of help, or a paid meal, or an offer of childcare…all of which I’ve experienced.{G}

What brought all this to mind? This morning, while out biking, I came upon a woman and her three dogs. She was “walking the dogs”, though truthfully it looked like they were walking her. It was quite funny and I couldn’t help a big smile. They were all pulling at different angles…but they were generally going in the same westward direction. As I passed her I smiled and said, “It looks like you have your hands full”.

Then it all came rushing back. I’m suspecting that many days my crew looks a lot like those frisky dogs.

Hmmm…the days are blurring together.

Friday: Mike had the afternoon off (it was his day off). I think I already blogged about that day.

Saturday: I spent the majority of the a.m. working on “my” co-op order. I have to order on Monday. “MY” order came to $497.99 and so I had to do some rethinking and tweaking of said order.

Arielle had a birthday tea party. (Pictures to follow). While she, Stacia and I went to the tea party the boys and Mike went Mother’s Day shopping. It turned out that they were all starving so they went out to eat instead. They went to Chick-Fil-A and bothered Josiah. The big joke of the day is that Josiah asked for (and received) Mike’s ID. Oh yes…and Josiah got a big kick out of some “looser” stealing the flowers off the table to give his mother on Mother’s Day.

A local friend – John and family – plowed up 2 acres of his property. He had invited us to come plant a garden. We went out Sat. evening with corn, watermelon, red potatoes, cantaloupe and carrot seed. The guys strung out very straight rows (my gardens are always more free-spirited but I guess this looks nice). They then laid out and installed drip tape. John has a well and this will drip water to all the hungry seeds. After they got it all laid out John went in to dinner. We planted. We ended up with 8 rows of corn. John commented to me, “De’Etta – after this all produces someone has to EAT it all”. I don’t think he has a clue how much young men eat…and I currently have 3 of them. We ended up with 3 rows of cantaloupe, squash and watermelon, 8 rows of corn, 2 rows of red potatoes and 2 rows of russets….John has some cooler stuff planted closer to his house and plans to plant carrots and such closer to the home. I finally assured John and Mike that if we couldn’t eat it all we could either 1. visit the farmer’s market, 2. give it away at chapel, 3. open a stand or 4. contact Heather (produce co-op organizer) and offer it free to the produce co-op.

I lost “my” co-op order 3 times. ARGH. I finally got my order down to $700. Hmmm…that seems to have been going the wrong way. I finally realized that I had about $250.00 of splits on my order. I still haven’t downloaded group orders because I know one lady was putting in an order but it doesn’t show up on the web. I’ll have to call her this a.m. and see what she wants and then put together the group order early this a.m. That is not the way I plan to do this – but it’s the way it will work this time. {G} I plan to have our order done on the weekend before it is due.

Sunday: I spent most the day on the phone it seems. Nah, we had church. We had lunch. THEN I spent the day on the phone (my dad, my mom, Mike’s sister Rebecca, Bre, Krista and Mike’s mom – though by the time Mike reached her I was comatose and didn’t talk). We watched Chicken Little – I discovered that we’d eaten nearly 5#’s of popcorn and I need to add that to my co-op order. I was thinking about getting the 25# bag but for $ reasons will get the 5# bag again. Mother’s Day pictures to follow. I finished up Bible Study for the week. Now I need time to compose notes and thoughts for Tuesday night.

It’s now 4:30 a.m. on Monday. I finally got Stacia back down and I’m going to see if I can catch a couple of hours of sleep before I try to get a bike ride in. I have a ton of random thoughts I’d like to develop and share…but I think I’d better get some sleep. This many sleepless nights in a row tend to lead me to migraines.

Today at 1:30 I have a meeting with the school district about future care for Nolan. Pray that it all goes well. I’d love to hear that we need no more therapy but I suspect we’ll need more. I’m not sure if I want him to continue through the summer or take the time off…please pray that whatever is best for him is accomplished at the meeting.

Really quick because it’s Friday Family Fun night….

Today was produce co-op and that is always great. I was a grouch – but once the work was over I was ready to play. Heather told me I wasn’t too grouchy….maybe she’s just gracious. :::snort:::

We went to Mr. Gatti’s for lunch/dinner. Mike has had a horrendous week and wanted to do that as a treat. Today was his day off but he worked until 1:00 p.m. At Gatti’s the manager asked what the special occasion was to bring us all together and Mike told her we were “celebrating family”. I loved that. Josiah had to leave before the rest of us for work…but it was fun.

We tried to watch the *Private Army of Sgt O’Farrell* tonight but the DVD is skipping and such. This was our first disillusionment with netflix. They’ll send us another one right away…so next week.

Mike heard the commissary was having a case lot sale. We went but only bought toilet paper and paper towels…they really didn’t have anything else. I did use the chance to buy meat. I find with the produce co-op and the “natural” co-op that I only hit the commissary about once a month now. I did buy some of the no-hormone/anti-biotic hamburger. I was surprised that they had a new brand of sausage that’s also “hormone/antibiotic/nitrite/nitrate free”…they had chicken/apple sausage and hot dogs….not sure if we got any to try. I did buy meat and so we are set for real food again. {G}

Zander had been begging to put a model truck together all week. Mike the younger ones did that while the rest of us got things ready for movies…..in our house that means pulling out a screen, pulling out a player and projector and hooking it all up…we make it difficult on purpose. {bg}

*Road to Rio* is on and I’m going to go join everyone but wanted to check in as SEVERAL of you emailed that Mike is not the only one who wonders what is up if I don’t post in a day…usually I’m simply busy.

Oh yes, Arielle has opted NOT to have a tea party and wants to do Bumper Cars at Mr Gatti’s…in other words a Mr. Gatti’s party…so I booked that and picked up invites for it today as well. Shoot…her birthday is 10 days away…that ALMOST snuck up on me!