ROCKETS

We've been running most the day. The highlight of the day, by a long shot, was watching Jared stretch as a leader. Jared, our 14 yo, has been working hard on a CAP project for the past few weeks. The local squadron had a rocket demonstration at a school around the block from us. The cadets earn rocketry badges by taking tests, building rockets and such. Today the plan was to demonstrate their models and to provide material for others to make paper rockets. They expected 20 - 30 people.

That all changed when Jamin advertised it in the paper. What a blast when they had over 100 people show up. They were busy all day showing kids how to make paper rockets.

Jared helps Zander and Nolan make a rocket.

Cody helps the boys attach fins


Then it was time to launch! I had been thinking we could make paper rockets at home and have a great time with this. No motors are needed to launch these....but this air tank and pipe contraption was a bit more involved than I had imagined. I'm not sure how to make one. I'll have to search the internet.


A cool thing happened because of the notice in the paper. A gentlemen from the National Association of Rocketry showed up. What a fun man. He gave the squadron one rocket kit. He asked to meet Jared (as he was the organizer) and gave him a rocket kit too. BUT they were nothing like THIS rocket. Can you believe this thing? It's TALLLLLLL.....and has a huge parachute that comes out of it.

This was the start of our busy day. I must go to bed now and try to post more photos tomorrow.....
©2008 D.R.G.

Love As A Way of Life Winner

Kristine from NE is the winner of this copy. For more on this book click here. \

Super Size Saturday

Cool Treats for *H*O*T* Days

I thought I'd take a break from "preaching" on Saturdays and share a practical tip. Hot summer days are amazingly wonderful......but they are H*O*T* if you live in the south!

Here are some of our favorite cool treats for summertime.

Fresh Fruit and Veggies: Obviously these make great snacks. Storing celery and carrot sticks in the fridge in water even makes them "cool"....but around here we need COLD snacks too.

Frozen Fruit: grapes, bananas, peaches, strawberries et al. We like to pop them in our mouth fresh from the freezer, occassionally I coat the bananas in chocolate and nuts.

Smoothies: We eat these year round but they are especially nice on a hot day. Honestly, they are nearly as good as ice cream AND they count as a serving or two of fruit. I use my frozen fruit in my smoothies to make the smoothie THICK like icecream. If you don't have frozen fruit, throw some ice cubes in.

My General Smoothie Recipe:1 large orange (or a couple of smaller ones) peeled and thrown in blender; 1/2 - 1 C yogurt (flavor your choice); 1 or 2 bananas; 1 - 2 C of other fruit - I usually use blueberries or strawberries, T of flaxseed oil, almond or vanilla extract. This makes a quart. If you find this too tart (we don't) add a T or 2 of honey or agave nectar.

Smoothie Pops: Freeze the smoothies in popsickle makers. Again a serving of fruit, cool and refreshing. I've also frozen them in ice cube trays. These can be eaten (a bit messy) or thrown in to the blender when making other smoothies.

Slushies: Deja got us started on these. We haven't been buying jucie but I have started buying a couple of types of no-color-no-preservatives-all-fruit juices.....NEWMAN O IS NOT HEALTHY but is yummy. We'll be switching to Minute Maid lemonade and pineapple/orangey that Deja likes. LOL I actually may try this with fresh squeezed orange juice and pineapple. Hmmm...

This is all you need

Pour juice in blender & add ice (I always have to add more juice)

Mmmm....Straw is essential around here

Enjoy

I did measure to make a personal 8 oz slushie: 1/2 C lemonaide, ice - 1 point (50 cal) I'd still rather have ice cream - but I like the cool treat without "spending" a lot of my daily calorie/point total. ::snort:: Deja has a cool blender with a spigot to make these and I'm thinking it would be so nice to have one that "pours easily" but it's a luxury at this point.

Click to read more Super Sized Saturday posts.

©2008 D.R.G.

Friday -

I didn't take a single photo.

Produce co-op filled the first 1/2 of the day.

I took Jamin to the library and stopped by the gym on my way home! YES - got those 5 negative points for the day. ::Snort:: I knew I'd need them because I had a Girls' Night Out coming. I know I have banked/bonus points but I wanted to stay within the days points. I did. Shew...and I ATE a full meal and a dessert at Peasant Village.

Morphed right into the evening here.....I went out with the Chaplain's wives for a girl's night out. It was a great time for all to meet Tammy (our new wife) and to visit with Mandy (dh is deployed). Martha, Tammy and I walked over to catch the water lilies but it was still to early to see the spectacular blooms.

Jared spent the afternoon with Josiah. Josiah came over for the evening. Jamin was off. They had pizza and were watching an old Don Knotts movie when I got home. We finished out the rest of Family Friday Night. I love watching Stacia demonstrate her love for her big brothers. When Jared left to spend the afternoon with Josiah and later when Josiah left to go home she had to walk out to the car and told them she loved them and promised she'd see them again. I've decided to follow her lead with friends and family. I may not tell my friends I love them each time they leave my home....but I could follow them out to the car and let them know that even the small leave takings are important to me. LOL

A well-rounded day.

©2008 D.R.G.

Agape Love

I've spent the week studying Agape love. Love that acts and isn't just an emotion. Love motivated by need of the loved rather than my desire or the desire of others.....and that seeks the highest and best for that person. Love that sacrifices. Love that is demonstrated. Paul defines Agape for us well in I Cor 13. We can't Agape on our own. It's only as we surrender to the empowerment and temperment of the Holy Spirit that God's Agape flows from us to others. It's tough to love this way. Tough.

I've spent my tryst times all week on this word. Would you believe today I had a couple of chances to put it all into practice?

Someone who hurt me zipped into my life for a minute (technology is great LOL). I instantly tensed....I began to rehearse the past wrongs...and then I decided to let it go. Love doesn't keep an account of wrongs. I believe boundaries can remain, but I can authentically agape this sister in Christ.

This next is cool. We have a fellow chaplain with which we've kept in touch. Sporadically. Basically whenever one of us thinks "it's time". Well, for the past week I've been thinking "get in touch with Karen". I've not heard from her since Christmas. I couldn't find the email address. I've had her on the to do list all week....I began praying mightily for her last week.

I got an email from her today. Evidently, she assumed we'd been getting other emails. They are moving (which IS a surprise) to ENGLAND (which means we won't be) but the truck their things were in caught FIRE. All their belongings....a nightmare really. Karen shared meeting her dh at the truck and looking things over. They won't really see all the damage until it all arrives in England. I believe the company is salvaging what they can to repack and send on. THEN she shared her son (13/14) has an eye infection that has turned very serious. He may lose his cornea....please pray for Andrew. Specifically pray that the infection doesn't bore a hole in his cornea....I thought it so cool that God had laid her on my heart and that I now know WHY I was burdened to pray. I thought they were frozen in NM for another year. I hadn't a clue.

The thing is, and I blush to share this, I was jealous that they got orders when we were told all are frozen AND they got our dreamsheet orders. Isn't that ugly? Ugh. Immediately, I was taken back to this a.m. "Agape is not envious". Father, forgive me!!! How could I?

Don't you love how the Word convicts? I love it when He asks me to do something I can't do on my own - something as simple as love my friends can trip me up. He calls me to love my enemies. The only way it will happen is as I walk close beside Him and allow that Agape to flow through me to others.

Please do pray for Karen and her family. It appears that she will be staying with Andrew until they resolve his eye issues. Bryan and the other kids will be on their way to England. Thaks for your prayers for Ellie - she was here today and looked well.

©2008 D.R.G.

Ellie Update

The upper GI tests showed nothing dire. She's home now with a rx for liquid zantac.

In the last 18 hours Ellie has kept three meals down. Please continue to pray for her healing - and for DEJA who I'm sure is tired.

©2008 D.R.G.

PAID Author in the House

About a week ago the wife of Jamin's boss gave him the phone number of the editor of the local paper. She is big time into civic events and knows everyone. She told him not to tell Tim O - the boss - that she'd given him the number but she knew he was serious about writing. LOL Jamin called the editor and the editor passed his name to the city editor.

Jamin interviewed today and will be writing on community and church events. He'll have a blurb in the paper tomorrow and then an article on Sunday. He pitched the idea of covering the CAP rocketry event on Saturday. (Um.... JARED is organizing that. ::snort::) They'll pay him $35 a story at this point. They told him that would go up as his work needs less editing. He plans to juggle his SR year, college courses from Taylor University (great writing program), Chick Fil A, and this new job. Yes, he's the one that wanted to do 28 credits last year. BUT we've all learned to sit back and see how it goes....we can flex.

I told Jamin to wait until I got inside so I could take a photo of him telling Mike the news.

Unstaged

Staged

Jamin writes his first PAID blurb for the newspaper as others "hover".

We're proud of Jamin. I'm thrilled and amused at how it all worked out for him. The boys REALLY didn't want to do fast food when they began to look for work. We counseled them that a first job would teach them valuable skills (beyond grilling chicken) and that they'd be able to use the recommendation for future opportunities. Josiah confirmed he's a business owner at heart....Jamin was given a lead through a relationship built over a year that turned into a concrete writing lead.

Motto of the story: Don't thumb your nose at a Chick Fil A job! ::snort:: No, seriously...God knows our hearts and directs our paths.

©2008 D.R.G.