STILL SMILIN!!!

“Mom, Stacia’s painting!” are words that struck abject terror into my heart.

Computer ink – everywhere.

First….I should sing the praises of “Bi-O-Cleen Bac-Out Stain & Odor Eliminator with live enzymes” and thank Becky (Our Family Fun) for recommending it to me. OK – she put it on her co-op order and I copied her. :::snort::: That stuff got all the blue ink out of the carpet. I think. We’ve had to use it a couple of times as more ink surfaces.

Second, Stacia was scrubbed and washed and scrubbed some more and she is simply BLUE. She will be for days to come. Her teeth did whiten up. {shew} Her tongue, lips, feet, legs, chest, hands….all blue.

I called the doctor. They called me back an hour later. They suggested that I GOOGLE poison control or computer ink and see what I could find. I found that Dell ink has low toxicity. I found that if you ingest it orally you should wash your mouth out with water and drink milk. (I’d washed her mouth out and brushed her teeth and tongue for a good 30 minutes and she’d had formula). The doc said that if there were no skull or cross bones on the package it should be o.k.

I put disposables on her tonight as I’m expecting blue diapers for a bit of time.

PAPERWORK

I spent 10 hours working on two portfolios. I learned a lot of things. The main lesson I learned is to keep on top of this…..and to print up a list of HOW I WANT THINGS done to stay in each log book. The first child who deviates from my plan next year will be drawn and quartered. It’s been a good life lesson for all involved.

While I worked the younger 4 were angels. I’ve been collecting notebook paper for the base to donate to “Christian In Action’s” back to school drive. Josiah dropped all that off.

That’s the day. I have an incredibly long to do list as our trip approaches.

Tomorrow I have an appointment to see if my hair is healthy enough to be colored.

Genetics:

Grandma hates shoes!

Mommy hates shoes!!

Big Sisters hate shoes and

Stacia Hates her new SHOES!!!!

Success....at last.

Thus went the new shoe experience. Instead Stacia once again sports the "black on the top of your feet look" at the end of chapel.

ANSWER OF THE DAY (rather than question)

No, I am not pregnant! I know that this is great fun to speculate about - but I'm not. I've simply been thinking about it because the last time Mike deployed I WAS pregnant and delivered Nolan shortly after he returned.

I promise if I ever have an announcement like that to make again I will tell family first and then post it here...ok? I won't keep you guessing ....though feel free to keep guessing if you enjoy that sort of thing. ::::snort:::

I DO need to come up with an even better way to announce such a thing to Mike if it ever happens again. These things take planning. Last time I waited until Christmas and gave him a quiver with 9 arrows in it. Each arrow had one of our children's names on it....and there was an extra arrow with a due date on it. It was hilarious. I told him to wait until I had the video so he knew this must be his main gift but you could tell he was thinking "WHY did she get me THIS?" It was great fun to watch as one by one Mike and the kids caught on......

Of course there is an implied question here....if some of you have some great ways your broke this news to friends and family it would be huge fun to read about it.....but still this is an ANSWER OF THE DAY!

SATURDAY
I was tempted to sleep in today…I’m running on empty…BUT today was MELON DAY at the Farmer’s Market…and melons are BIG around this house. I’ve been amused at how fanatic some members of this family are over melons. I’ve got a reputation of being pretty hit and miss in picking out good melons. I announced last night that I was going to the market at 7:30 a.m. in order to find the best TX melon for us to enjoy in the next few days…..Early this a.m. as the little ones began to wake up, I decided to take the “youngers” with me.

We’d go to the market, drop by Adrienne’s and drop off a check and pick up some fruit, then go to breakfast. This would let Mike and the “olders” sleep in. I was SHOCKED when Mike got up and prepared to come with us. The sad truth is that he wanted to be 100% sure we got a good melon. We picked out two – a yellow flesh melon and a big ole baby…..here’s Mike with the yellow flesh melon…the other one was MUCH bigger.

We ran into “our family fun” at the Market.
Isn’t she cute? She’s due in just a few weeks. I got to proof a paper she wrote for an advanced communications class – it was on VBAC and was good. I’ve always wanted a home birth – but that was not meant to be…..so I’m having fun living through friends here who are having home births. OH the picture reminds me – I put on my red shirt today and remembered Grams. I’ve been wanting to name a daughter after my grandmothers for years….but Mabel, Wilda or Kathryn weren’t right. I had a dream in the past week and had a little girl named Maryna (Muh – ryn – a). Now I just need a baby girl….Zander informed me today that “Stacia is ENOUGH baby”. He also got very irate when I told him that he was still my baby and Josiah was still my baby. He bristled and said, “Mom!! Josiah is a MAN and I’m NOT a baby”.

Back at home my wonderful husband told me to take a nap. I took the NARHS handbook and class descriptions to bed and fell asleep in a few quick moments. I do really LIKE this Course Description book – it gives samples of how to write course descriptions that allow a child to explore their interests and still earn high school credit. We are strongly considering letting Jamin choose a science other than chemistry next year. :::gasp::: The book had a long list of “lab sciences” and I was surprised at the concept that a lab science didn’t have to be biology or chemistry. :::snort:::

I slept through this:

After my much needed nap Krista called. We’ll be seeing the girls in just one week! Yippee!!! I can’t tell you how excited I am at the prospect of having all my chicks gathered around for a month or two. I called Mom and enjoyed a good chat. Dad is in rehab again and beginning the long journey back from the second hip/leg surgery. He is still not to put more than 30 lbs of weight on his leg…that is slowing down his desire to walk…all in time. THEN I got to talk to my friend Julie. Julie and her family recently moved from AK to CA. I got a laugh out of the fact that she reports they are most always in fog and that the high has been 72*…..she said it was warmer in AK. We talked homeschool – she has adorable twin boys – 5 years old maybe…I think. She had a homeschool question for me and I had an Academy question for her. She and Paul are both Academy graduates and I wanted to see if Civil Air Patrol would work as well as being an Eagle Scout for Jared’s resume. Paul is a big CAP fan.

Unable to put it off any longer, I made an apple crisp and brownies to take to the chapel potluck tomorrow. I’ll also take a big fruit platter and the yellow fleshed melon. I’ll make some pasta to take and reheat for Zander so that he has something to eat….as a special treat and to keep him away from the chapel lemonade I will most likely let him take a Blue Sky soda. He won’t be able to eat the Apple Crisp as I used the Pampered Chef recipe that calls for a cake mix on top. I’m not fond of this recipe but several in my family LOVE it – so taking it to an outing is safe…they can taste it and I won’t have to have it sitting around here for to long. The brownies are “Zander safe”.

I’m starting to worry about how we’ll handle his eating needs on the road….we went to McDonald’s today and I chose pancakes –which I thought would be safe. I asked and they told me they had whole milk. We got to the table and the syrup was full of artificial stuff – of course it would be but I’d forgotten. The milk was low fat and had BHT…the margarine most likely had yellow dye in it. Mike took the milk back and got us juice. We threw out the syrup but had to use the margarine….ugh. Not sure how to handle this on the trip…..

OH – last night we watched two Netflix movies…*The Minnesota Cuke* and *Best of Mark Lowry and Bill Gaither*….both funny. I had thought it was a Mark Lowry comedy tape but oh well – it was still funny and I’m sure we found parts funny that weren’t meant to be funny. Brownies are done – I’m gone.

A frightening sight to greet a groggy Mom in the a.m. I was so thankful he'd not tried to take her OUT of the crib....

TGIF

I woke up at 4 a.m. (yes I went to bed at midnight) and I cleaned the oven, started a load of diapers, did some study and then crashed! {G}

I finally got some progress made on the boys’ portfolios. They’ve pulled it all together and I simply need to make sure everything is there and award grades and write a few notes for NARHS. I’m hopeful that I can get this done before we head for WA.

We went to the pool this afternoon with Tricia and one of her daughters. While there Stacia ate BIRD POOP! ARGH!!!! She was gagging and spitting and it was gross. :::Gag::: ::::gasp::: Zander was not ready to get out of the pool when the whistle blew….sigh….but other than that it was a great day of visiting around the pool…very few people there once again. The lifeguards are almost fun when no one else is around.

I tried to make pan pizza tonight. YUCK. Well it was good – but it wasn’t pizza. I made 7 grain dough and kneaded in oregano, marjoram, sage, basil, garlic and parsley….yum. I used the asiago cheese sauce I had left over from dinner earlier in the week. I put left over chicken and some spinach and cheese on it…it tasted good but I used way to much dough….. Ah….*Veggie Tales: The Minnesota Cuke* is on….gotta run. I can tell I’m going to like this movie…..I just heard a classic line “remember with GREAT chocolate comes GREAT responsibility”. :::snort::::

Mike is home and exhausted – and Sunday will be a busy one as he’s the only protestant chaplain on duty….and it’s 5th Sunday potluck Sunday x 2 or 3….LOL but he’s home and survived the training (not everyone can say that). I think we’ll relax tomorrow…maybe.

I Was Wrong....

In an earlier post I note that I said there were only "8 mentions of rod in the Bible" - I meant to say that I'd found 8 mentions of rod in PROVERBS! Big difference.

I'm still checking the comments on "Teachable Moments"/22 July; "Discipline Thoughts"/26 July and "Request"/26 July....just in case you think it's to late to leave your comments. Basically I'm asking in Discipline for a list of the attributes that describe the character of God/Jesus to you....and in Request I am asking for Scripture references that sanction the use of the rod for child rearing. I'm aware of the Proverbs passages. Are their others that I should be aware of?

Don't forget to leave Dinner Time ideas for me (26 July) - I'm still checking those too.....and really I don't care if you leave summer ideas of winter ideas.....but summer ideas are great since it is certainly HOT around here.

Still burning CD's of photos.....I'm up to June 06....I'm almost done....

UPDATE
Jamin’s dinner was wonderful. I’m telling you some sweetie some day is going to THANK ME for raising this boy! I’m gonna be an awesome MIL….:::snort::: He even made the pie crust out of 7 grains – I’m going to need to make some more of that mix “right shortly”.

Jared got info today on Civil Air Patrol. He’s very interested and the base has a chapter that meets on Monday nights. He also wants to do House of Faith – a local ministry. Now that he’s determined to enter the Air Force Academy in 6 years…..he reminds me that he NEEDS to do extra-curricular activities. I only wish he could drive.

Four folks in Mike’s ongoing training “fell out” with heat exhaustion today. One was bad enough that an ambulance was called to take her to the hospital. This is all teaching them how to survive in full battle gear in the desert. I will be glad when it is over – tomorrow.

After dinner the kids and I went for a run/bike ride to the park nearby. It’s sad that there is no grass left at this park – weeds and cockleburs….it looks like it must have been a nice park at one time. I discovered the way to up a workout on a bike ride is to pull a trailer with a 4 yo in it.

Zander got in trouble today for doing something I didn’t know he could do. The lifeguard said that he preformed a “perfect dive” – into the 3 feet. I watched later on – when there weren’t many folks there and so the guards were relaxed….he did a dive…complete with bounce and arms – head first right into the 5 feet…..which is also against the rules. THEN he showed me how to tread water. I had a blast throwing him up and into the water. Mike asked if he could go in the deep end. He’d have to pass a swim test and I’m sure they don’t expect 4 yo’s to attempt the test…but he seems to have been watching the older kids pass it and taking notes. OH - I think I forgot to mention that Arielle and Nolan passed the big ole swim test and can now go in the “deep end”. One last little swimming trick of Zander’s….he kept coming out the slide on his tummy. This is evidently a big no-no. Near the end of the day he looked at the guard and said, “I start on my bottom but the slide switches me”. ::::rolling eyes:::::

Now all little ones are asleep and all bigger ones are home from work…I’m outta here. When will I learn to go to sleep while the older ones are out?????

We began the day by heading to the park. Today was the first meeting for planning graduation. Yikes – hard to believe that number 3 will be graduating this year. We’ll have a 1/3 of our children through high school. The younger kids got to play with their friends and the meeting seemed to be productive.

I came home from the park, got lunch, ordered food for Sunday’s chapel potluck, picked up Jamin from his job and then headed to the pool.

We spent several hours at the pool and came home about 4:30. Jamin had made dinner. Now THAT is how I need to handle this. He made it all from scratch (including grinding the flour) and has two chicken pot pies, a huge salad and watermelon. I can’t wait. He also did a lawn while we were swimming.

I’ve been burning CD’s all day….trying to back up all our photos…then I guess my journal and some women’s ministry files…maybe my teaching notes from past workshops and retreats…..then if the computer dies…I can live.

Due to the fire safety things that we’ve been hearing I think we need to buy a fire proof box to keep the CDs of photos in…that way no one needs to run in for the photos…though the scrapbooks…ARGH….what do you all think you’d do with scrapbooks? I could NEVER carry them all out in a fire…and frankly getting all the children out would certainly be the first priority. I’ve learned that there are so many toxic things in our homes these days that toxic gasses are a real problem and you should GET OUT and not worry about taking things or calling 911 from inside the home…..so do you all keep your fancy scrapbooks in a fireproof box…or next to an escape route????

FIRE SAFETY PART TWO
The man was supposed to arrive at 7 p.m. He didn’t. We got a call and another man was coming instead. Mike had spent over 8 hours in full battle gear lying in the dirt in 100* weather – he wasn’t in a great mood. The man arrived at our home shortly after 8 p.m. – more than an hour late.

He did talk with the kids about some fire safety things (scared them but I’ll work on that). He gave us a sheet of things to do for a fire drill etc. He walked through the house with us to determine what we needed. He gave us a figure of $4800+ to buy smoke/fire detectors and heat detectors. WHEW.

We DID learn a lot of valuable information. It did bring home that we need to make a plan with the kids…we did a drill after the neighbor’s fire in AK but that won’t help us much down here. {sigh}

Mike was ticked that they build up a huge case of guilt in the men ….you love your family, you want the best for them, how much would you say their lives are worth???? and then they obviously have a giant mark up on their products…..I see his point.

They say the smoke alarms you buy around town are less than 50% functional. This IS the base for the fire school. Mike plans to talk with the Fire Chief and Deputy Fire chief and/or I’ll talk with my friend and her dh and we’ll find out what they recommend and what they have in their homes. We think we can buy commercial grade detectors and put them in all the bedrooms, living room, garage and attic for less than $5,000.00.

Meanwhile we DID learn some great things and we’ll take those steps now…off to the store tomorrow.

FIRE SAFETY

Last night we went to a workshop where an ex-fireman gave a wonderful talk on fire safety. He was informative, funny and very low pressure. He mentioned the name of the company whose things he sold. We then had a free dinner (Lin's for those of you local).

He'll be coming to our home tonight. We realized we could do a lot more in this realm and he's going to help us formulate a plan, try to sell us smoke, carbon and fire alarms (theirs are much different than the ones at Wal-mart). I hadn't realized how many really unsafe fire hazards we have around here.

Also - he was showing how they don't recommend you put your face to the ground anymore because there are so many toxic things in our home....carpet pad being one and that it releases a leathal gas when it burns....well that was the ONLY thing I knew about fire safety and it was out the window. {sigh}

Mike wants me to try to find out how much they are asking for their products. I found their website www.masterguard.com but I can't find a listing of prices anywhere (bad sign). Has anyone ever bought any of these products? Do you have a clue as to price?

REQUEST

I've mentioned that I'm currently in the midst of redoing a parenting study. I know what we do and why we do it - but I want to have all my thoughts in one spot. I also want to have all the reasons WHY we do what we do documented! {g} I think I will pass this on to my children if they like the way they turned out. :::snort::: Nah - I have no clue why I'm doing this except I'm repeatedly asked if I do x, y or z in parenting and then questioned as to why I don't do x,y, and z.... I've even been told I'm a liberal because I DON'T do x,y, and z. I'm sort of amused that folks want children like ours but they don't like my answers when I tell them how we parent. First person that asks me after I'm done will get a 438 page book of notes dropped on them. :::snort:::: I am DELIBERATELY not reading parenting books. Several have told me there are wonderful new books out there that say "what you do"....but I want to go back to the Word and have the confidence that I'm saying what the WORD says before I read any of the new authors being recommended to me. And BTW....we have made some changes in the past month due to this study.....I am certainly NOT saying *I have all the answers*.

I've reached a part in my study where I'm ready to branch out. I've mentioned the heart thing and the character of God and so you sort of know that direction. The thing is that I know where we part company with many Christians is in the use of the rod. There is no sense running from the Word if you think it doesn't agree with what you want to do. Run TO the Word...check it out and if you find it says something other than you are doing - change. That's where you'll find freedom and confidence. I'll never forget how freeing it was to do a word study on "meek" - I realized that *I* am meek - even more meek than many who fit the definition of what society/church tells us is meek. LOL Sermon over.

I have been studying the rod. I began by looking up every word that is translated as rod that I could find - both in the Old Testament and New Testament. I'm now ready to take the definition back to the context of the Scriptures where it is found. I've been very careful not to let the works of others (sermons, friends, commentaries, books) influence my word study. I want to be sure I study all the Scriptures that are most often quoted to define the use of the rod in child rearing. Surprisingly, I've come up with only 4 in Proverbs. Please share with me any and all Scriptures that you believe define the use of the rod in child raising. I ask not to be argumentative. I want to accurately handle the Word of Truth on this subject. I want to be thorough. I want to be sure what I do lines up with the Word. At this point I'm reaching some conclusions and I want to be sure that I've examined all the verses that others may think are important on this aspect of the study.

I will not argue with you at all - in fact I really am not asking for opinions at this point....I'm asking for references that you would consider important for someone studing the rod to examine.

Thanks.

Study thoughts and a REQUEST (ok request seperate)

When I say I'm studying something folks often don't know what I mean. For those who don't know me well - here is a stack of the books I had out just this a.m. as I work through my Parenting study. It is going to be so NICE to have all these random thoughts of mine in one spot again...and maybe this time I'll put the thoughts on the computer so that I don't loose all the study again.....but as of now they are in a little composition notebook.

Here are the tools I had out this a.m.

Tools I use most often in THIS phase of a study:

Bible (KJV, NASB, LB, NIV etc)

OT Complete Word Study Dictionary

OT Complete Word Study Bible

NT Word Study Dictionary

NT Complete Word study Bible

Vines

Theological Wordbook of the OT - (vol 1 -2)

Strongs Concordance and dictionary

Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew/English Lexicon

Kittles - lots and lots of books on NT word usage

Websters - NOTE this is only to clarify meanings of ENGLISH words and not to look on Bible Words - for that you use a BIBLE DICTIONARY!!!!!! {smiles for all who've taken a study skills workshop with me! I miss you!}

Yesterday, the boys had their friends Mikey and Stephen over for another seige of Axis and Allies.....

Here are a few of the pictures promised of Stacia dancing. Josiah put on KJ52. Josiah loves this artist and the tunes often play during clean up. He trained Stacia since birth to break dance to this music.....but Monday when he put it on....Stacia surprised us!

Stacia RISES

Stacia dances...to bad this isn't video and you can't see the legs moving and the tush shaking...

Dance session ends with a bit of sisterly fun...

I'm a softie for sales folks of all kinds. Mike has taught me to say "no thank you; we're not interested" as soon as the telephone spiel begins. I hate to think how many great deals I've missed this way.....{sigh}. I still am not very good at dealing with the folks at my door! This man showed up on Monday with his older wife - both with arthritis - and wanted to paint my address on the curb. This reminds me I should check and see what they did out there. OK I'm not going to feel to bad about not turning away people at my door - because come to think of it Mike bought a nice candle from the TLC cheerleaders not to long ago. :::snort:::

DINNER ROLL CALL

OK - help me out here. I've gotten into a rut. I would love it if lots of you would simply post a week of dinners and/or lunches from your house. OK - if you are also in a rut and don't want to admit what you've had for dinner in the past week...how about you make up a DREAM week and I won't even make you title it "dinners for a week - in my dreams"! :::snort:::

Don't worry about your dinners fitting our eating style...I have learned to adapt most recipes to our new lifestyle....unless of course it has pork or deep feeding fish or shrimp.....

OK I'll get you started....Dinners we've had in the past week or month or maybe even year {g}

Manicotti
Baked Chicken
Lasagna
Pasta with Asiago cheese/chicken breast
Grilled burgers/steaks

I'd love to hear from Jodi - my vegan friend...and Adrienne and Heather my healthy friends...and Becky my healthy friend with young kids who EAT Quizno sandwhiches without picking out the tomatoes and lettuce......

Oops - time to run Jamin to work....

Discipline Thoughts:

OK - I'll share snippets as I go along on my personal study. Has anyone commented on the teachable moment question down below? Someone better do that. {g}

I'd like your input on this. I've spent considerable amount of time praying and thinking about this. It's been fun.

"How does God discipline His children?" - I want to discipline as God disciplines. Therefore my discipline must glorify God. To glorify is to give a "correct representation". This means that my parenting must be an accurate reflection of God's nature and character. I'm not talking about my children's behavior here but about MY actions and MY heart. MY actions in parenting must reflect God's character. I began to list all I know about God's character...and it's been one of those "ah" and "freeing" moments in parenting. Brainstorm with me? I'll share my list later...but I'd love to have some of you think with me....describe the character and nature of God.....

A conclusion I've reached is: my parenting and discipline must BEGIN in the heart and character of God.

fill in the blank.....God is:

BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH

I woke up this a.m. with a blue screen on my computer. It says it is "beginning dump of physical memory" - that's o.k. This day FEELS like a day devoid of physical memory. {G} I'm on the boys' computer....that will work...though it's not as convenient for doing my "things"....

The past two days have been full. We've done a bit of speech and school, cleaned, bowled, ordered diapers from a very hard to reach lady in AK, had friends over for another rip-roaring round of *Axis and Allies*, worked hard, baked bread, baked cookies, run to Sam's TWO times....attended a fire safety workshop followed by a free meal at a local Chinese Buffet....Mike is going in at 5 a.m. all week for PT. He's doing training for his deployment. We updated our will.

That's life the past few days. OH yes...and Stacia has not learned to stand and walk but she stands and DANCES all by herself. Josiah took a bunch of pictures....I'll get them uploaded when my computer finds it's memory. UGH...I really do NEED to back up my journal and our photos.

DAD UPDATE

My dad is having a rough time recuperating from this second surgery.

He was given 2 pints of blood yesterday afternoon and that is helping. He is in lots of pain and having trouble with the pain medication. They took out all the hardware and metal they had installed in his bone so now his bone is very frail and the risk of reinjury is greater.

Please continue to pray for him.

Also, my Aunt Gin, his sister, is going in this week (possibly tomorrow?) for more treatment of her cancer. Please keep both in your prayers.

SUNDAY
Mike is spending the day at the office/chapel….we’ll join him tonight for our service. The kids and I have run around town getting various things we needed to buy.

I bought a big dry erase board for the calendar as we are really liking the way our calendar is working…but it keeps falling off the wall and doesn’t erase very easily. I also stocked up on folders, crayons and such for the upcoming school year. YES – I got 6 different colors of everything. :::snort:::

We tried to buy more fish only to find that the fish have some worm and can’t be sold – aHA that may explain our bad luck with the fish we purchased from Petco. The kids have decided they need a new furry animal. I said NO RATS or MICE or HAMSTERS or anything similar…still having nightmares from the last experience. They are looking at ferrets and rabbits…and cats…but I’m quite sure Mike won’t allow a cat. {sigh – really his only glaring fault!}

I took Arielle out to find some new shorts and shirts. She is TERRIBLE to shop for. She picked some out, got home and decided that she didn’t like them. ARGH. I can’t wait until Bre gets home – SHE will take this job over for me. She has EARNED it as she is the same way. :::snort:::

Anyway – we spent the afternoon shopping and the evening at chapel.

SATURDAY
Mike and Jamin began the day with a jog. I began the day with Stacia. {G} For the life of me, I cannot remember what we did in the a.m. or afternoon – it seemed that we were busy.

We went to the Bowling ally at 5p.m. and enjoyed a free game. We also sampled the food…not to bad. They make a much better salad than anywhere else on base. I forgot Stacia’s sling and no one will allow that to happen EVER again. In fact, the sling is now in the van and STAYS there. LOL After bowling we went to the base theater and watched CARS. This theater rarely has family movies and when they do they most often schedule them for Thursday night. I was amazed at the turn out last night. The place was FULL – maybe they will continue to do this. I know they had another G movie a couple of weeks ago and had a good showing then too.

STACIA SNIPPETS

Eleven months old. I know Stacia is not unique. Tricia’s daughter is two days older than Stacia and doing the same things…but we take such delight in watching Stacia grow. This really is a huge blessing as 11 months ago I was NOT SURE I neither wanted nor could handle another child.

In the last few weeks she has discovered TOYS and real PLAYING. Any item can be a toy…even others’ body parts in a bath tub :::snort:::

She loves to try all sorts of food….for instance last night at dinner she had a few bites of pizza, a slice of nectarine, a teething biscuit, lots of grapes, a couple of artichoke leaves and the crust from a piece of bread.

She has begun to say a few things….a few days ago she picked up the phone and said “Hello”. THAT is her first word other than “mama” and “dad”. Last night I was changing her dirty diaper and she said “thank you” - everyone heard her and we got a big laugh out of it.

I’ve recently switched to cloth diapers. I bought a lot of diapers and wraps from eBay cheap so that I could try various ones. WELLL….the one she had on last night does not have leg gathers…it gapped. Zander came running and said, “Stacia is making a mess in the bathroom”. I ran. Do NOT read further if you have a low capacity for gross. Poop had fallen out of her diaper. She had it smeared around the bathroom, on her legs and around her MOUTH. GAG!!!!!! She ATE some. Oh man. I cleaned her up – squirted Tom’s toothpaste in her mouth and sat her in the tub. Zander joined her. She began to play and he indignantly remarked “Stacia, that is very, very rude”. I have some more tub stories but Mike has told me they would hate it if I put the stories on the blog in later years. I tend to think most boys don’t care and think those stories are funny….but maybe.

She is thinking about walking. She seems to consciously think “I could take a step – nah crawling will get me there faster” and plops down and takes off….but she has a ½ crawls/ ½ creep/walk type thing these days. She doesn’t want her knees on the ground…..so she plants her feet on the ground and creeps.

Teachable Moments

I had an early morning discussion with one of my young men. He asked a good question. I thought I’d pass it on and hear what you all think.

“Why would God ask you to give up something good? How do you know God is asking you to do that?”

We discussed that when I was growing up Christians thought (or my generation someone caught the idea) that if it was something you really liked or really wanted to do it wasn’t God’s will. :::snort::: I shared that I’ve since studied verses like Ps 37:4 that lead me to believe that God PLACES those desires in our heart and that we get into a “self-denial” kick and sometimes walk away from the delightful will of God that He has planned for us. I’ve seen folks who tried to deny their God-given gifts or talents because if it was something they enjoyed it must not be God. I think my young man is in this camp – thinking that God must require something really HARD for us to somehow show our devotion to Him. Grace can be so hard to simply accept.

We also discussed that often GOOD things can become idols. They take the focus and affection that only God and the cross should have in our life. Sometimes God asks us to give something up for a time so that He can refocus our attention. Sometimes He gives it back when our focus is changed and its control in our lives is broken. Examples of this would be Wayne Barber and his bass fishing, my ministry {g}, pleasure reading, chocolate…..all things (except the fishing) that I’ve been led to give up for a time. We discussed how even things like “family time” can become an idol. Maybe my young man is in this camp.

We discussed balance between living an aesthetic lifestyle and serving God joyfully, while thanking Him for the blessings in our life. He does tend to aesthetisism….I could see him sitting on a pole in a desert if he thought God required it of him.

Anyway – how would you respond? What would you add? I don’t think the discussion is over. Can you think of other reasons that God would ask you to give up something GOOD? Do you have any tips you would give as to HOW to know that God is asking and that you aren’t just trying to “do something” to earn grace? Though we are supposed to respond to grace….see how tricky this question can be? Do you love these sorts of questions? I suspect that this is something many of us wonder regardless of our age.

BTW this is not a moral issue at all. My son LOVES to write and from time to time has felt that he needs to give it up. I can’t quite see WHY that would be – because God has given him a talent for this - but neither do I want to say it ISN’T God – because it may be….. You know, I really do enjoy this age too….Hmmm are one year olds, pre-schoolers or young adults my favorite? I think all. {G}

Friday Ends

Shew – Mike and Jared emerged from the attic soaking wet. It must have been 150* up there….it wasn’t much less down here yesterday. :::snort::: Mike lost 5 lbs yesterday….I wonder if I can bill work around here as a guaranteed weight loss plan….I could market this and get others to pay ME to do the work.

Adrienne called and wondered if we could meet her family at the bowling ally. Mike thought that sounded fun….so we headed over for a free game of bowling. Another friend, Trish, and her daughters met us there. I only regret that I forgot to call her to tell her we were coming or she would have brought her older son Andrew too. Jamin was with us this time. Kwame was even there and my young boys were totally awed to see Kobe and Caeden’s dad in uniform…with a GUN…..One commented, “I didn’t know he was a policeman I thought he was just a chaplain”. ::::snort:::: Poor chaplains – maybe they need to start carrying guns.

We got home minutes before our pizza (ordered online) arrived. An encouraging side note is that the old favorite “Canadian Bacon and Pineapple” didn’t fare well in the competition to see which kind we need more of. I think we are down to ½ and ½ now….

Jamin had asked if I could get *Aladdin and the King of Thieves* for movie night from Netflix. He had seen it before but none of the little ones or Mike and I had. Have any of you noticed that in the last couple of year’s Disney is making less overtly sorcery type movies…..Madagascar, over the hedge, cars, emperor’s new groove….???? Is this a trend or am I simply unaware of the other movies that have come out. We had a good talk where we listed all the Disney with the witch/sorcerer theme……and most before the last few years would qualify. We haven’t bought Disney in years so hadn’t noticed a change in their offerings…..

Oh, Krista called during the movie and we got to have a nice visit with her. She’ll be spending next week at a high school camp. She’s the only girl on the team going because they needed someone small enough to play Isaac in a skit. LOL She’s taken up Tae Kwon Do and plans to show us some moves when she is home. She can take it free at a church in Spokane….I wonder if that is an option down here anywhere. Bre will be going to another camp – I think another kids camp next week. Please pray for the girls as they make lots of decisions about next year and their futures.

BUSY MORNING

Jamin headed over to help John and Cathy with their barn again this a.m. I was to pick him up at noon.

Mike has the day off and is working through his home repair check list before he leaves on his all-expenses paid trip. He has Josiah and JARED helping him. Jared a LOT. Josiah has to work this evening so Mike seems to be going easy on him. {g}

I decided this would be a good day to take the 4 little ones to go see the Water Lily collection. They liked it. It was VERY hot. They did notice a small turtle in the ponds that I’d not noticed. I discovered it was hard to take pictures with Stacia in the sling.

We had 40 minutes when we were done at the lilies and I didn’t want to run home for that little time. We went to the main library. My plan was to find the DMV (which I was told was in this building) and pick up a driver’s manual for Jamin. They had an ELEVATOR – my littlest ones thought this was cool. BTW there are NO escalators in our town. We were directed to the “dmv”. You walk in one door and they herd you through the room until you are out the other door. Zander said, “Wow! That is cool!” I’m thinking about designing a kitchen around this model {G} Anyway, they did NOT have driver’s manuals and told me I need to go to the DPH or some such thing to get one…..guess I’ll be looking into that soon.

On the way back down I thought Zander would get a kick out of pushing the buttons. I dimly remember our older ones thinking that was fun at this stage. Of course….Zander has not been ON many elevators. I said, “Push the button” and he did. ::::snort:::: The big red button…and we began to ring and clang…. Of course, a child would go for the most obvious button. I told him from now on to push a button with a number if someone tells him to push the button in an elevator. We nonchalantly exited the elevator and entered the library. We picked up a bunch more really wonderful books on math concepts….I’ll have to let you know what we think after we read a few of them. The kids played on the computers for 10 minutes and then we picked up Jamin.

Back home we discovered our men covered in insulation and climbing up and down to the attic from the big boys’ room.

I desperately need to go get some whole milk for Zander today. We thought he could survive some BHT laden milk for just “one night” but it’s obvious that he can’t. Mike looked at me a few minutes ago and said “This is Alex without Feingold” and I realized…he’s right. He’s had over a month of no meltdowns so we are getting there…He even had ice cream at Baker’s street on Sunday and didn’t seem to react….but he’s been chug-a-lugging this milk all night and morning….I think I should buy a cow….the neighbors may frown on this plan but then I’m sure Mike would let us drink th raw milk and we wouldn’t have this homogenized/BHT problem…..LOL

Ah….Zander is at the bottom of the ladder saying over and over “Dad, do you need some help?” “Dad, do you need me to come up there?” “Dad, do you need me?” He aims to please….

Four youngest at the Water Lily Collection
Even the bees like the lilies

Long Day....

Showing off her teeth

BIKE RIDING

YES! Mike put my back tire back on this a.m. Then he ran and I rode. It was wonderful to be back on the bike again. I did choose a route with very little traffic…though in the last three weeks a major portion of “my field” has been cleared for houses. I’m telling you this area is starting to look like a scene right out of “Over the Hedge”.

Mike even replaced my kickstand…..I will not make the 500 mile goal by the end of July. I’d like to think I’ll make it by the end of August – but with our upcoming leave…..whooBOY – I’ve got some serious riding cut out for me.

DAD UPDATE

Thanks for the prayers for my father. He had surgery this afternoon. It took 3 hours and 20 minutes...but they did not have to do the bone graft. They installed a "bone stimulator" - "like a pace maker"...got me! I haven't a clue. He was still very drugged and I've not talked with him. Please pray for them as the begin the long road to rehab - AGAIN.

Woo HOO – it’s DENTIST DAY AGAIN!!!! YIPEEE!!!

Don’t you wish that was the attitude of children? Ah well. I took the younger five to the dentist while the boys were in Alaska. Today was THEIR turn. Stacia continued to charm everyone in the office. The men get a kick out of Zander….The boys liked the new dentist AND the new dentist said that they have beautiful teeth…no problems at all. Beats the other one who thought we needed extractions, root canals and braces 8 months ago. We’re happy.

While the boys’ teeth were cleaned, I took the younger four to HEB. I’m really missing not having our co-op food. Ugh. I still can’t figure what happened to the order. They suggested that I put “please confirm order” in the comment line from now on and they’ll zip me a confirmation when they receive the order. ANYWAY – I realized that we’ve gotten very use to an alternate eating style. I found myself saying, “Where’s the flax oil?” “Don’t you have Almond Butter?” “Where are your bulk nuts?” The produce guys are getting to know us. They had some “new fruits” for us to try. We tried Dragon Fruit – like big flavorless kiwi fruit….but impressive looking. We also tried lychee. Now this was not new to ME. This was “fresh from Taiwan” but we ate this all the time in the Philippines. Stacia LOVED them. I ended up buying 10 lychee and a dragon fruit for the others to try at home.

On the way home we stopped at the library. Zander has a difficult time when it is time to leave ANYWHERE but he was having a really good time at the library. He began to show signs of an impending meltdown when he realized it was time to go. I asked Jamin to check us out and got down at his level. I said, “it is hard for you when it’s time to leave isn’t it?” He agreed. I told him that we needed to leave and if he got mad when it was time to leave that I would not bring him back the next time I brought Arielle and Nolan to the library. He looked at me and got up. We got outside of the library and he said, “Mom, I am so, so , SO good.” I agreed that he had made a very good choice. Jamin, Josiah and I had a good laugh over his feeling of being so good after being disciplined. I told them I think I would have said he was “so, so, SO good!” if he hadn’t needed the discussion in the first place. {g}

We had hoped to go play this afternoon, but my responsible young men reminded me that we needed to work on their portfolios. We did that.

Josiah and Mike were BOTH home for dinner tonight! This is rare. I made manicotti. I’m STILL trying to find whole wheat manicotti or large shells…anyone have a clue???? I made a big salad, apple crisp, bread and artichokes to go along with the manicotti. Mike ran back to base for a worship team practice…Jamin planned his work day for tomorrow (lawns, John’s barn and something else)…..we all met back in the living room to play with blocks and listen to another chapter out of *The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe*. Jared took a lot of photos…I’ll sort through them in the morning and post some. I’m calling it a full day and heading to bed while Stacia is still sleeping….oh she is getting a rash…YIKES…I want to keep her in cloth nappies.

WHERE’S THE GRACE????

Yes, I continue to work through a Bible study that is giving me lots to think about. There are many things that I AGREE with and many things I DISAGREE with in the study. I’m determined to finish it. I don’t think it is wise to only do studies written by our “favorite” authors – so I’ve deliberately chosen to read some books and do some studies from those who are in other camps than I (theologically, philosophically etc).

As I worked through the study today we began to hit “child training and discipline”. Please note that I am currently doing a personal study on this issue to write out in ONE PLACE all the precepts that God has taught us about child rearing over the years (children now range from 1 – 21). My thoughts and comments stem from far more than one simple chapter in the study I’m trying to complete. {g} I’ve not read a lot of parenting books (until recently) and never have a good answer when someone says “HOW do you raise children like yours”? I want to be able to say “here are the principles that guided us”. LOL

A few thoughts I’ll share at this point. Many Christians would NOT train their puppies with the harshness that these authors tell us are “God’s ways and God’s methods”. BTW I’ve not read Ezzo so he is not the only one out there professing to have “God’s way” down to a science. Here’s a comment that leapt at me “It is wise to have a rod especially for discipline. Your hands should be kept for loving and caressing.” Hmmm….well I’m studying the ROD and I can tell you right now that the things I am finding are SAID in the Word are not at all how these verses are quoted and applied in many circles. I can also tell you that I’ve not found a verse yet that says the above. This jumped at me because I thought “hmm…..I consider discipline to BE love”. I do not separate the two. If discipline isn’t love – what is it? Shouldn’t my child be able to tell that my discipline is another method of loving him/her? If I fear that my child will think I HATE him then I better evaluate what I’m doing and whether I use a “rod” or my hand will make little difference.

Through all my reading, studying, and discussions a question has begun to ring: WHERE’S THE GRACE? I’m led to believe that if I simply use these God-ordained methods my children will inevitably turn out to be Christian. They will behave. They will love the Lord. They will be righteous. If my child seems to be rebellious or not responding to God I simply need to step up the discipline……My children are reduced to little more than robots. They become Christians because I have TRAINED them to be Christians. Really, they are Christians because they were born into a Christian family. Honestly….is this what we believe? Is my child’s future relationship with God determined by how well I apply the rod (or other training practice)? If they are Christians simply because they were TRAINED to be Christians, aren’t we vulnerable to the claims that we do in fact homeschool to brain wash our children? What happens when they leave home and enter college and are TRAINED to be something other than Christians? Are we really doing nothing more than becoming behavior modification specialists?????

On the other hand, do I simply ignore child training? Do I say that in the end God is sovereign and He will do what He will in my child’s life?

I believe my children are born with a sin nature. They are also born with a free will. They will make choices. They will not “be righteous” solely because of my child training. They will not be “righteous” unless God does a redeeming, marvelous work of grace in their lives. *I* don’t produce righteousness in my child. *I* don’t produce sin in my children. (Get off the couch it wasn't your mom :::snort:::). I partner with God to cultivate the ground of my children's heart. I plant seeds. I pray. I watch. I partner with God to mentor and disciple my children….but in all I know that it will be a work of GRACE that draws them to His side….not my sterling parenting style. He will create Godly character in my children, not I (though I HAVE been accused of creating characters).

Above all I speak to their hearts. Yes, I’d like their behavior to be exemplary…but more than anything I desire for them to love the LORD with all their heart, mind, soul and strength. I desire them to love US as they love themselves. I desire for their lives to show forth God’s character. I desire for them to have integrity and TRUTH in their innermost parts. So…yes….I’d like to focus on behavior….frankly that is easier. BUT I am mindful that when I am gone they must have internalized the principles we’ve taught them. If they haven’t…then all my focus on behavior without heart training/change has led them to be Pharisees. They must know HOW to choose right from wrong and that will only happen as I allow them to make choices. We don’t give a lot of rules around here. We do teach principles. In all our discipline we try to go behind the action/behavior to the principle and then to the character of God.

God’s character will never change. As they love HIM with all their hearts…..they’ll seek to please Him and His character will be their guide far into the years when I’m no longer able to keep a physical eye on them 24/7…..His character will guide them when they run into something that we’ve not specifically addressed…they will know to look for the principle in the Word and to look at God’s character to be their guide. An easy example to illustrate would be a child who tells a lie. I would not simply make a rule…I’d teach them the principle from the word that lying is a sin and that God hates lying lips. Then I’d look to the character of God “God is truth – therefore we don’t lie”. Unkindness – “God is love therefore we show love”. Abortion – “God is life”. Angry harsh words – “God is love, God is life therefore we don’t murder with our tongues”. Premarital sex, “God is holy – therefore we are holy”.

No, I don’t have all the answers. No, our parenting has not been perfect or without sin. However, I KNOW the One who has the answers. I’m not comfortable with formulas that tell me I WILL get x, y and z…if I do a, b and c. These sorts of formulas seem to leave the will of the child and the grace of God out of the equation. One last comforting thought – it’s the GRACE of God that has covered the mistakes in our parenting. We joy in our young adults who love God wholeheartedly – but we know that God has done an awesome work of grace in their hearts. . . it wasn’t simply how we trained them as toddlers. If their future character was based solely on how good we did the parenting thing – it would break my heart. I fail.

There you go – simply one aspect of the question ringing in my spirit over this whole child raising thing…Where's The GRACE?

Some articles for your reading enjoyment if you so desire. {g}

Interesting article that reaches the same conclusions I’ve reached in the past 6 months of eating whole foods. I can feed my family organic, whole foods for the same amount I was spending on SAD (Standard American Diet). The author compares shopping lists, prices etc.

This article from the same author shows How to Cook Whole Foods from Scratch and Keep Your Day Job. This has been a concern of mine as we’ve transitioned to a new eating style. I am always looking for short cuts to save time. The basic premis here is one I’m very familiar with “cook big/freeze small”. {G}

Note that I don’t buy all of Dr. Mercola’s advice….I’m not into the metabolic type school of thought and I also don’t believe that whole grain bread made from freshly milled organic grains is going to harm my family. I am, however, having fun searching for new tips…..and I still evaluate every purchase by the three principles in What the Bible Says about Healthy Living: eat foods God created for food, eat foods in as close to natural state as possible, make no food an idol.

FYI – I am very conscious of not making eating styles, homeschooling, parenting methods or cloth diapers my “single issue” (as discussed earlier). I don’t volunteer info unless asked in real life…but I figure if you choose to read this blog it is because you want to know what I think and what I’m doing. LOL

RISING STAR!!!

Hey, hey, hey!!!! I’m a rising star with ebay. I’ve now earned 11 positive comments so I get a yellow star by my name. See????? Good things DO COME from buying used cloth diapers! {g} Now if I could reach the lady in AK who is clearancing her Indisposables…so far those are my favorites…thicker….

PRAYER REQUEST

Many of you remember that my father fell 10 weeks ago and had surgery. He’s been doing well. He’s out of rehab and walking with a cane at home.

Yesterday a.m. I woke up dreaming of Mom and Dad and felt a need to pray – which I did all day. I also meant to call but the day got away from me. I started today with the goal of calling but the day got away again and I planned to call this evening.

I got a call from my sister in law. I just got off the phone with my Mom. They are at the doctor’s. Evidently, the screw that was put into the ball joint of dad’s hip has worked its way completely through the joint and into the socket. He’s in lots of pain. They plan to do surgery tonight or tomorrow and will take out all the metal they placed 10 weeks ago. They will need to do a bone graft and attempt the surgery again. Needless to say this is a concern. Dad and Mom are discouraged…..it’s been 10 weeks of HARD PT to get him to the point he’s at and now it starts again. Please pray for them. Pray for Dad’s leg to quickly heal, for rehab, for their continued financial well-being, for Dad’s spirit and determination.

PIGGING OUT!!

Goodness – I just pigged out royally.

On Chocolate?
No.
Brownies?
No.
Cheesecake?
No.
Whole grain organic bread?
No.

Are you sitting down, Mom? ARTICHOKES! I just ate three of those puppies all by myself. I did save the heart of one for Mike.

Eleven Months old - this girl LOVES her sling...

It would appear that the Air Force gives and the Air Force takes away. LOL

Months ago we were told that our chapel staff would be cut by 30-40%. We were also told that we had lost all appropriated funding to run chapel programs. This meant that we went from a staff of 5 chaplains to 3. We’ve begun to feel the cuts as one chaplain moved and was not replaced.

THEN we heard a rumor that the generals had told the powers that cut “don’t cut our chaplains”. The rumor continued that it had been decided that the chaplaincy would only be cut by 10% - the overages. We had no overages at our base. We began to hope that we would soon be back at 5 chaplains……this week we heard that we are getting someone to replace the chaplain who left….so it’s true….the Air Force took and now the Air Force is giving. We are all excited to have the extra man power coming back because the mission of this base with students and parish was to big for 3 chaplains to handle (especially when at least one is sure to be deployed these days).

The big event at our home Tuesday was a rip-roaring game of Axis and Allies. It appears that this is the first time the boys have EVER finished the game. Their games usually last 8 hours and longer. This game “only” took 4 ½ hours. And yes…the Allies won again.

We had the time for a long leisurely game because we were watching Steven and Mikey as their father had surgery. We love this family. They are the only other family in the chapel right now with young men. We are waiting to see who the PCS season brings in.

For dinner I headed everyone over to Mr. Gatti’s…..all you can eat and games and bumper cars to use up excess energy.

It’s been HOT here…like 103* hot….to hot to do much of anything….

Though Jamin mowed a lawn yesterday…..and today left at 6:25 a.m. to go help John repair his barn.

For those who have prayed for my friend Adrienne’s 2 yo and her broken leg: she now sports a hot pink cast – so things should get easier any time.

The Co-OP FIASCO DIET – guaranteed to loose 2 lbs a week…..or your money back?

Monday – some days are just MONDAYS. {G}

Somehow Tucson Cooperative/Shop Natural lost our order. I send it online. It was ONLINE last week. I thought I was loosing my mind but two other members remember it being there too. When I didn’t get a call this weekend about what time to expect the truck tonight – I began to worry. I checked online and our order was no longer there. I called Shop Natural and they said they didn’t have any record of any order…..meanwhile I HAVE the invoices!!!! So at one time they must have had it…..but somewhere there obviously was a computer glitch. They told me that they could get our things on a truck tomorrow to Fort Stockton…but I would need to drive 150 miles to pick it up…and I don’t have the time to do this…nor the $$$ for gas. LOL This is a bummer. I personally had purchased things for the trip to make traveling with Zander easier. I guess we’ll simply have to find health food stores between here and Spokane…but really I think the farther west you go the bigger the organic market is.

I spent a good part of the day calling everyone to tell them not to come here tonight to get food.

I tried to wash diapers and the machine wouldn’t work….Josiah finally got it working. He also fixed my dishwasher but we discovered at dinner that it isn’t working right either.

Jamin is working for the folks that are housing our garden. Unfortunately, for us all, they are moving to Dallas in about 3 weeks. They have a lovely home and I’d love to buy out there…but no matter how I try to envision working it – we wouldn’t fit…unless we built an apartment in their barn…..but since we only plan to be here two more years it isn’t realistic to even attempt to buy it. LOL Jamin is helping them paint and repair the barn as the house is going on the market.

I guess I’m going to have to go buy organic at the big box stores this month. Ugh.

That’s that – my day so far. The kids are waiting for me to read Narnia to them. OH – Becky and her kidlets came over to escape the drilling at their house…so that was a bright spot in the strange day. LOL

Some shots from Praise Craze...no particular order....and there are 147 pictures...there were bands of all varieties....but here are a few of "our" bands.....

Our Gospel Band

Two from 180 - our Student band

Jamin - home safe and sound

Josiah - boys are not liking the heat down here!

Shades of Crimson

180 again...

Myself, Stacia and Verinis

PRAISE CRAZE!

The day at the lake turned into a very fun day. It began HOT. I mean REALLY hot! And not enjoyable at all….. somewhere in the middle of the day I took the little ones over to the pool They cooled off in the pool When we got back to the concert there was a cloud covering and a nice breeze. The bands were all very good. All in all it was a successful event. Mike and Kelly have already come up with several things they will do differently next year. However, something of this magnitude coming out of a chapel our size was a HUGE accomplishment. Kelly has been a blessing to our chapel program. There were 500 people there all told yesterday and I’m sure it will much bigger next year.

Church tonight was fun as always. It was sad that two of our lead singers are moving on. They’ve only been here since Feb – but this is the way of a student base. They are on their way to their “real careers” in the air force now that all their training is completed.

After church we headed over to Baker Street for a farewell fellowship. Debby and her family came along as well and the boys had fun catching up on the past two weeks and playing games. I had a gigantic “old fashioned ice cream soda” and will NOT do that again. I asked Debby to remind me in case I forget by next time.

Only picture from yesterday - your's truly caught in the act of blogging by ONE of several local mad photographers! {vbg} Disclaimer: the granny glasses are used ONLY for reading and computer work!



Zander, seated to my right, is informing me that Elephant one is not happy...guess he doesn't like a whale tank with an arctic birch tree for a habitat. :::snort::::

PRAISE CRAZE

For those in the local area be sure to come out to the Lake today between 1:45 – 7:45 for Praise Craze! There will be about 7 local bands playing. There will be food booths from various base organizations, if you choose to buy something. The Red Cross will be out there if you want to give blood. There will be crafts and bouncy thing for children. There is also the pool and playgrounds. It will be a great family day.

The bands will showcase a variety of music genres. The 180 (our student contemporary band) is Christian alternative, there will be Gospel, Tejana, Rap – a little bit for everyone. Proceeds from the booths will benefit various base organizations, a love offering will benefit the base chapel.

This should be a fun family day for those with families and a great day for the students of the base as well. Event brought to you by – yep – your local Air Force Chapel.

We plan to bring a cooler of foods that are “mom approved”. We plan to play, veg, and swim alternately throughout the afternoon. Hope to see some of you there.

The Boys are HOME! They had a great time. We haven’t gotten to talk much as they got home late – but we stayed up for about an hour and chatted. It was fun to hear of the friends they saw etc. Thanks to all who made their trip enjoyable…especially Dayton.

It seems that Jamin came in 3rd in a “July 2nd/4th” race in Hoonah. It was funny to hear the boys talk about it. The announcer was saying “In first, here comes Cooper; in 2nd Cooper’s father; and I don’t know whose in 3rd”. The only disappointment to ME on this trip is that they did not go Halibut fishing and thus my stock of Halibut is down to 3 measly packages. The chapel Halibut fishing trip is *TODAY*. {sigh}

While we waited for the boys to get home last night we watched a couple of ORIGINAL *Star Trek* episodes, *Chicken Little* and a few *Hogan’s Heroes* episodes. Poor Arielle, Stacia and Zander fell asleep and have not seen the boys yet.

Kwame has gone to pick up the :”boys” – young men! Well, OK, so he’s going to get PORSHE but he’ll pick up Josiah and Jamin too. {g} We are VERY excited. I teared up this morning when Jared and I were talking and realized the girls will be home in about 3 weeks…that means for a bit of time we’ll have EVERYONE home again! Yippee!!!!

Mike is home – his boss told him to “go home”. I love it when Father Jim does that.

More later.

Forgot to mention that all but one of the photos on today's blog were taking by Jared....he's becoming quite the photographer. In fact I had no clue what we'd done today until I saw his pictures. LOL

Thursday...

The biggest happening of my day was finding a tube of tooth paste in the washing machine. The pictures Jared took of Zander below may validate my suspicions as to how this happened.

I received our first box of cloth diapers today…and two proraps. I’ve been researching diaper pails and laundering methods this evening. One suggestion had me totally perplexed. They said to fill your washing machine ¼ full, and put soiled diapers in it. On the 3rd day you are supposed to add detergent and wash. Now if you have dirty diapers in your washing machine HOW ARE YOU GOING TO WASH YOUR CLOTHES?????? Mike solved this for me by reminding me that most families don’t do 3 – 4 loads of laundry every day. Ah….mystery solved. {bg}

Jared has decided this week that he is interested in attending the Air Force Academy. He has spent lots of time researching the requirements to be accepted. This led to him deciding he’d like to attend a science workshop this week. He also requested information on the Civil Air Patrol and has told me we need to do lots of English, Match and Science in the next six years. Ya’all KNOW that Math and Science are my forte! Expect lots of exploding eggs in the next six years. Anyway, today was the first day of the science workshop. The goal of the workshop is to help the kids come up with an idea for a science fair project. Any great ideas out there? He wants to do some experiment on the human body….and the teacher said we’d have to find a real scientist to o.k. the project or they won’t allow it at district competition. I had no clue we were considering district competitions…..I think Jared has drug us into a whole new world of learning!

While Jared and his friend Cian were at the library, I took off on a mission to find Wholesome Foods. This is the only organic whole foods store in the Concho valley. I had been told that several items were cheaper than what we paid through Shop Natural. I went armed with a clipboard and my last order (4 pages long). I didn’t get through the list and may well be doing this during the remaining workshop days. We had a blast in the store. Stacia has come alive in the last two weeks. She played with clerks and grannies in the store. So far most the groceries are cheaper through Shop Natural. I found our sprouted bagels are cheaper at WF…..and the Organic Valley ricotta cheese is a bit cheaper but many things were a LOT more money. I was a bit sad. They seem like they want to work with me….we’ll see. At least I know that they are in town for times like today when I was out of the live culture yogurt we buy from Shop Natural…we picked up a quart in town. I also picked up some wonderful chocolate covered almonds….only to discover that NO ONE would eat them with me except Cian. Hmmm…..maybe that was always my subconscious plan.

My bike tire is fixed. I doubt I’ll reach my goal of 500 miles by the end of July….but I should begin moving that ticker again soon.

The boys will be home tomorrow night! We are excited. Please continue to pray for my friend Adrienne’s little daughter. Her leg has got to be bothering her and she is supposed to be “immobile” – come to think of it pray for Adrienne too….I can’t imagine trying to keep a 2 ½ year old immobile for a week. They’ll be casting it on Monday…maybe hot pin k or tie dye…..

OK it’s late and I’m rambling because I’m totally EXHUASTED!

Stacia has discovered Bre and Krista's old school desk (which sits in our living room as an end table these days).

Look what I found INSIDE the desk!

Ah....climbing on TOP is even more fun!

"Rrrrr" - Stacia's pirate look

I'm gonna JUMP!

What do you find in your laundry hamper?

I bought Zander and Nolan a set of blocks as a reward for keeping their room clean for the past six weeks. Zander immediately turned them in to zoo pens. This is his latest passion. He makes pens for all the animals with videos, blocks, trucks.....and he loves ZOO Tycoon! In the middle of the day I heard him yelling "The buffalo had a baby!!!" - turned out it was a rhinocerous but hey...he's only 4.

*House* by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker

This book is written by two of my favorite Christian authors. I was sure I would love it.

After I began the book I was no longer sure I would love it. I didn’t appreciate the stereotypes written about AL – this in deference to my friend Chris. Once I got through that or over that I began to enjoy the book. Then I found myself wondering if I was “getting it”. I really like to have my reading enjoyment be pure enjoyment but I found myself worrying most of the way through this book that I may not be “getting” the deep implications intended by the authors. Finally, I decided to just READ the book and see where it took me. Yikes. This book had some interesting twists and turns. At alternate spots I was surprised, convicted, sickened, riveted….I would love to discuss this book further with any who have read it.

For instance – where do you think the authors switched places and who do you think wrote which part? I have my thoughts. They each wrote one part of the book. What deep implications did you take from the book? Did the darkness of the book bother you? Is there a place for such darkness in the Christian forum? What ages would you recommend this book for or be comfortable sharing it with? Around here I am not sure about my 12 yo – I think the older ones would be fine. The 12 yo may be fine…not sure…what do you all think? Is the 3 series by Dekker similar in tone to this one? What about Monster by Peretti?

This was a thoughtful mother’s day gift from my boys…..and I did end up liking the book. It will not find its way to Paperback Swap “just yet”. {G}

BTW finding an image of this book using “house” at google.com didn’t work very well….LOL

The kids wanted to play with the playdough. I didn't have any and didn't feel like making playdough with fresh ground wheat and sea salt......

I WAS baking bread today so I made two loaves in the Pampered Chef pans and then gave them the rest of the dough. They made great shaped buns for us. I like this...they got to play and I got fresh rolls. {G}

Our Touch of Monet

Here are a few pictures of the Water Lily Collection. I did take quite a few more pictures, but the battery on the camera died and so I didn't get as many as I wanted. We were blessed when the owner of the collection and several of his crew showed up to work....they told us the best time to visit is 10 a.m. because you'll see BOTH the morning and evening blooms. I can't imagine this place in a month. I plan to take the kids to see them soon (we studied Monet this year) and then go back when the girls get here. Hopefully they'll be in full bloom and not done by then.....

TUESDAY

I honestly cannot even remember all that I did yesterday. I know that the day was full with online responsibilities, friend responsibilities, chapel responsibilities and family responsibilities. Ever have a day like that? {G}

I know how the day ended. PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel – catchy title huh?) went to view the International Water Lilly Collection. This was beautiful. They say that all the lilies will be in full bloom in about a month. We talked about going back in a month. I’ll upload some pictures. After a bit of an adventure involving 3 cars and a caravan we ended up at Cheddars for dessert. It was a great night of getting to know each other, laughing, enjoying nature, good food and each other. I have been fairly strict in adhering to our new eating regime but I had the most decadent dessert I’ve had since Feb. It was a giant chocolate chip cookie baked in a little cast iron skillet. It was topped with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, whip cream and a cherry. I COULD make this organic and it would be great…but I’m certain this one was full of processed wheat, sugar and artificial chocolate, flavorings etc….but FREEDOM IN CHRIST is a lovely thing. I WAS hungry and I stopped when I was satisfied. I certainly won’t do this every day or every week…but it was a nice shot in the arm.

I AM thinking of making this with whole ingredients…..I have home-made ice cream, a great recipe for chocolate chip cookies using all natural stuff, a recipe for hot fudge sauce…and I could whip cream…..it could work….who cares about the silly cherry on top. I can think of no way to make red dye filled maraschino cherries fit our plan…but a bing cherry on type might work. LOL My favorite was a brownie covered like this but with a rum sauce……that was served in a restaurant in San Antonio – it’s been 4 years since I had one of those…..

*Thanks to Liz for sending me the words to this song...the song has been going through my head since Sunday and now I can use the right words. LOL This was the calmest song we've sung in a month in the service.....I'd like to do it more. I must find some Charlie Hall CD's.

Give Us Clean Hands
Words and Music by Charlie Hall

We bow our hearts,
we bend our knees
O Spirit come make us humble
We turn our eyes from evil things
O Lord we cast down our idols

Give us clean hands, give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
Give us clean hands, give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another

O God let us be a generation that seeks
That seeks your face O God of Jacob
O God let us be a generation that seeks
That seeks your face O God of Jacob

Give us clean hands, give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
Give us clean hands, give us pure heartsLet us not lift our souls to another
©1997 Generation Music

TEETHING - Mom's should works well too!

Shake it, Shake it, Stacia!

I see YOU, Mom!