Fun Meeting

I (Michael) had a unique experience a couple of days ago. I was welcoming a new group of airmen to the base when in the course of the conversations, one said he was from my home town. I asked some more questions. Turns out he went to the very same elementary school that I went to - from 1965-1971. The school only had around 350 students. It is a small world. I asked if Mrs. Finnessey was still teaching first grade. We had some theories about her...

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Slice of Life

Not sure this was such a good day to decide to "show a slice of life!" 

05:00 - 06:30 - time in the Word, prayer, worship

06:30 - 07:00 - time with Zander

07:00 - 08:00 - Posted Region's TnT, checked in with my PWOC gals around the region via facebook, answered regional email, prepared for tomorrow's 07:00 Skype with region's presidents

08:00 - 08:15 - Began Almond Milk yogurt, started dough for sourdough pizza tonight souring/rising, fed starter, took frozen pizza sauce out to thaw, cleaned kids' breakfast mess, started a load of laundry

08:15-08:30 - personal email

08:30 - 09:00 - referee younger two while trying to get on the elliptical

09:00 - 10:20 - work out/shower/my breakfast....kids begin table school... after this I'm usually done with my shower/mourning routine and we do couch school.

10:30 - 1:20 - Errand for Michael

1:30 - 1:45 - ACK missed the time for yogurt while I was out running errand, sinus' head ache killing me; Arielle reads Science and Japanese with younger two so I can grab lunch.

So thankful for Arielle and Nolan's help today. They made a stressful day "workable."  Here she reads a Japanese folktale where a BADGER kills Obasan (Grandmother), cooks her up and puts her in soup. Ojisan (Grandpa) was very sad.  These aren't like Aesop's fables. We aren't finding easy take aways....

1:45 - 2:00 - Family Regrouping

2:00 -   3:30 - Couch school with younger two, older ones had free time

3:30 -   5:00 - Family @ Swan Park - not what we'd planned - but it worked with THIS day. This was a GREAT call. We began talking about the kids wanting to go camping - something we've not found time to do since we've been here.  I agreed to take them camping alone. We can do this. We'll make some plans.

5:00 - 7:00- Add starter to yogurt (will it even work now that timing is off?); make 2 pizzas for the kids (1/2 cheese/1/2 stuff crust turkey pepperoni and 1 turkey pepperoni) and a small veggie for me/ no cheese for me.  Kids set up the tent in the backyard - first step to making a Mom and Kids camping trip work. We have dinner.

 Michael bought this tent and brought it home as a second bag on one of his trips. We've not found time to put it to use - yet.

7:30 - 9:00 - Play games in the tent with kids, watch stars, visit.

Stacia thinks she's NEVER been camping as she's "only been in the trailer."

Michael got home around 8:00 p.m. and had to search for us....fun times....Kids sleep in tent - not us. LOL 

10:00 - um....this is NOT yogurt! YUCK!

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Choosing Joy? Yeah.

This has been a hard day. I slept in (I am ALWAYS up be 4:30 - 5:00).  

Via Google Images

I had to do a fasting lab today - and then when I finally MADE it to base (long story) the lab tech told me I'd been fasting too long...she told me to come back anyway. There was a young tech trying to draw from a gentlemen - unsuccessfully. The lady with me said, "Here, you draw her and I'll take him." UM - WHY DON'T I HAVE A SAY IN THIS????? More blood drawn from the same vein they blew out two days ago....She asked if it hurt. I told her yes. She used it anyway. At least THIS time there was not blood running down my arm. Today they made it TIGHT and FIRM...no extra bleeding.  (I'll spare you the photo. ::snort::)

Stacia, Zander and I went to the library and checked out books from All Through the Ages to use in our study of Japan. I had written the company, told them I had the 2nd edition and was wondering how much had been changed in the 3rd edition. I explained I lived in Japan and was trying to decide if there were enough changes to the Japan offerings to warrant reordering the book and waiting through the APO shipping.   I NEVER expected the author to email me. She thanked me for being a military spouse and sent me a PDF file of the updated pages on books about Japan.  She said I had enough stress in my life that I didn't need to reorder a book for 4 pages. Turns out she was prophetic.

Via Google Images

School with the younger two wasn't great. To be truthful one tried to deceive me by randomly circling answers, one tried, "I'm so cute you can't possibly want me to REMEMBER that sound," and I lost it with them.   I was immediately convicted. As I tried to talk around the lump in my throat Zander looked at me with tears and wailing and said, "You should not be so mean to Stacia. The Bible says to treat others the way you want them to treat you."  {In my defense I was NOT screaming etc. I simply used my firm voice.  They cracked me up as they'd been fighting all morning....}  Ugh. I picked myself off the floor, and talked to them about sin, confession, repentance, forgiveness - you know the GOSPEL. We prayed. We forgave. 

 I'm re-calibrating. The stress was MY doing....I failed to plan to miss a whole day of school yesterday, I woke up late today and we didn't get a good start on school due to the trip to the lab, I realized we have MOPS tomorrow (only once a month) but it will not be a good school day again... I don't regret going to the beach instead of doing school yesterday....but I am going to have to plan ahead better for these out of the ordinary days.  Zander really struggles with grace....and I believe working through all of our failures transparently may have helped him grasp the idea. 

Via Worship Images

The kids are outside enjoying some time with friends. I'm going to go make muffins for MOPS and then figure something out for dinner. I'm going to bed at a decent time tonight...even if Michael is working late...and I'm going to wake up in a much better frame of mind tomorrow.

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Stacia Writes Two More Letters

Stacia has finished her letters to all her siblings....and Daddy.  She wrote to Nolan yesterday.  

Hi Nolan , 

I love you. You just are so fun with me. You play with me every single day. I like to play candyland the best. 

Love Stacia

She and I had an interesting talk about WHY she said he NEVER played with her in the first letter. Lots of learning coming from this handwriting assignment...and she's learned she LIKES to write letters. 

Today she wrote a letter for Michael....and she's already dictated a letter to copy for one of her friends tomorrow. 

Hey Daddy, 

I love you so much. You are a great father to me. I like to roller blade with you. 

Love Stacia

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Coconut Granola (Sonya's)

Sonya brought me some of this and it is AMAZINGLY wonderful. Keep in mind I've not had added sugar (natural or not) for over 6 weeks. LOL  I found it SWEET and CRUNCHY...and I made some tonight...  I KNOW I have about six "fantastic" granola recipes but this one is my newest favoritest. LOL 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 

Mix together in a large bowl.
2 C Oats
3/4 C Shredded Sweetened Coconut
1/2 C Chopped Almonds
1/3 C Pumpkin Seeds (I used Sunflower)
2 T Brown Sugar (I used Rapadura)
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Sea Salt

Whisk together in a small bowl. 
1/2 C Coconut Oil (melted)
1/2 C Pure Maple syrup
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1/4 tsp Coconut Extract

Pour wet over dry and mix together. 

Pour onto baking sheet. Bake for 30 min, stir every 10 min. 

Cool completely.

Store in an air-tight container for up to 1 month. 

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Peacocks and Beaches

We didn't do much school at all today. Tuesdays are PWOC days. Arielle has been volunteering for years in PWOC.  Today the boys joined me and we took a shot at the newly created PCOC Pre-school room.  I was EXHAUSTED at the end of the 2.75 hours....but I had a great time. It was a lot of fun to simply play with kids....and remind them Jesus is their Good shepherd.... We've been looking for a service opportunity for the boys and they were a great help in the room today. This may be a great fit. In any event we've volunteered to be in there through this study session and recalibrate as needed at that point in time. The chapel IS advertising for a Children's Ministry Coordinator and sub-contract....so hopefully she'll show up soon. 

We got home about 2:00 p.m. and I DID insist the younger set both read to me...then...since it was still a "nice" day - we went to the beach! LOL We simply can't resist....the rain and snow may come to stay at any minute....winters are LONG... we love the beach....the beach may not open before we have to PCS (move). 

There are WAY more live clams in the little cove now....and sizable fish which jump out of the water while the kids play. LOL 

Tomorrow we'll all double up in school. In the future we'll double 1/2 our assignments on Monday and the other 1/2 on Wednesday and we'll be fine.  The past few weeks the girls and I came home and we got school done in the afternoon...but those lil' darlins take it out of a "woman of my age". LOL 

The kids are in bed, Michael is at work, I'm heading to bed....it's been a tiring day....but a great day. 

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Another Day In Paradise!

We're really doing it - making this schedule work. 

My morning routine went as planned - with the addition of our new little neighbor walking in my patio door at 07:15. ::snort:: I'm training her to check the sign on the door. 

We got a full day of school done. We even walked down to see the neighborhood pony after studying about ungulates in Science. 

I got some regional ministry done. 

We spent an hour or two at the beach. We are officially the die hards of Misawa...not one other person in the ocean! This may be our last chance so though it was a bit chilly - we went. 

The fortress still stands....

We made it home in time to take Mackenzie and the kids to PYOC (youth).

 I worked on PCOC (Protestant Children of the Chapel) stuff while the kids were at youth. I'm going to be in the pre-school room until either 1. January or 2. they hire a Children's Ministry Coordinator. I think my ducks are in a fairly good row. ::snort:: 

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...