Family Olympics

Unbeknownst to the world at large, and mothers in general, yesterday was the big, fantastic, humongous Family Olympics. It took place in our backyard, house, and front yard during produce co-op.

The results: The girls win at fence jumping - The boys win at jump roping....

Thanks to Deja for grabbing photos while I peddled produce ::snort:: and for allowing her children to make guest appearances on the blog.

Yep - that's us - breaking all stereotypes!











Eric was the all time jump roping champ!

NOTE for the GIRLS & Grandparents

There's been some discussion that Arielle looks like Bre in a few photos. I'm here to tell you that while all have commented on how tall the boys are growing and changing voices - you are going to be shocked at Arielle. She's hitting 5 feet....I'm telling you she's going to pass the girls and I up in a year or so. LOL

You'll be shocked - and she's looking forward to your shock with glee. She spends HOURS reading these days....she's gone through all the Nancy Drew, all the Little House, all the Boxcars, all the Mandies and she read Hittite Warrior and Mara, Daughter of the Nile this week. I'm telling you - she's GROWING UP!

Be prepared....and yet she still has the photos of when you all shared a room all over.

Parenting is HARD

Today we had one of those "ARGH - this is tough" parenting moments.

If you've read the blog for a bit of time you know that we have a few challenges in parenting. ::snort:: It's OK - God is on the move and God created these children with their personalities because they will NEED these personalities to fulfill His call in their lives.

We went to a football game today. It was the game of Caleb and Andrew - sons of one of our deployed chaplains. It was perfect weather for a game. Both boys made touch downs - Hoot! Hoot! Mike took zillions of cool photos to send to their dad. I'll print a disc and give them. All good.....

However, AFTER the game I was told this by Nolan: There were two boys that were calling Zander dirty names. They were rude. They were pushing him. Zander walked away and they followed and continued. Nolan asked them what Zander had done to make them so mad. They were Nolan's age - 3 to 4 years older than Zander. They said, "Nothing. It's just fun to make him mad." WELL - THAT would have been a good time for Nolan to have come and told me. Evidently this went on for a good part of the game...and we were totally unaware. ::sigh::

At the very moment I was being told this, Mike was being told on the other side of the field that Zander was "very rude" and told "everyone to shut up" and "pushed a boy". Obviously not behavior we condone.

Mike found me. We compared notes and had the full story. Ugh. I wish he'd told me earlier. We dealt with Zander's rudeness. He said they were not leaving him alone, they kept taking things, pushing him etc....Nolan and Arielle confirmed this....so I see WHY he finally had had enough and pushed them and yelled at them all to shut up and leave him alone...but that is not acceptable either.

Parenting doesn't always have cut and dried answers. We talked about how to continue to act like Jesus when others are being mean to you. Zander informed me that Jesus doesn't want them to be bullies...all true...all true.... ::sigh::

Mike is back at work....and I need to go set up for co-op tomorrow and find some cuddle time with the kids.... I don't feel like a great, on top of it, aware of their circumstances type mom tonight.

Our Stick Family
I'm so VERY excited about this. I've been wanting to get these little decals for a lonnnnnggg time. About this time last year I saw a car with one in front of me, I followed her and asked where she'd ordered them because I liked them so much better than others I'd seen. Yes, I stalked the woman in the sport black SUV. ::snort::


We couldn't agree on a style that we all liked. Then I was pregnant. I put it on the back burner. Today I saw Cindy's stick family. We just love them. The younger ones and I decided to burn some time making our family. Mike saw it and liked it - so it's ordered. I'm so excited. We had to leave pets off....it was getting far to cluttered....and we had to add Stacia separately as they only had space for 10 members. They told us they would graft her on. They also promised that Krista's HEAD will not be at her feet in the final product. Here's Stacia. You can have fun with the stick figure here.

Thanksgiving! Only 30 days away! Hmmm...29 - I forgot to post this last night. ::snort:: {simply no TELLING what I have in draft}


Years ago I became bothered by the rush THROUGH Thanksgiving and decided to slow down and focus on being Thankful and the THANKSGIVING holiday.

We begin in October. Our Thanksgiving tree just arrived - and I'll share that later....but for NOW - look what I found. You can read more about this here. This graphic and "challenge" is hosted by Two Little Vikings. I am so excited to find a great graphic to help slow the focus of the holidays.


Here's an excerpt from the blog: This challenge is not meant to be difficult or complicated. Simply make a list (written or mental) of thirty people in your life that make your daily walk easier: friends, family, those that have made you smile when your day is somewhat blue.


Then, resolve that every day from today until (Thanksgiving) Day you will send a note (either snail mail, hand-delivered, or electronically) to one of those folks.


I love the simplicity and focus of this challenge. Often the "leaves" on our Thankful Tree are people - and I like the reminder to TELL them that we are thankful for their presence in our life.

The Potluck Club by Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson

I have mixed feelings on this new series. I do like it well enough to plan a trip to the library to pick up book 2.

It seems to me that another publisher/author team is trying to mimic the success of the Yada Yada series. This is another series centering on a church circle of friendship. This series is set in a small town in Colorado. The characters are older. I had a hard time feeling like they even LIKED each other and that this was more than a gossip circle (it's supposed to be a prayer circle). BUT I liked the recipes. I like Deputy Donna's character. I need something besides mystery to read and I'm all caught up in Yada Yada series. I don't like reading sappy romance stories and so this series fits the bill. LOL

I think the differences in the series are that Yada Yada is a diverse group of women, set in a big city and dealing with many of the church issues that I have dealt with in the Air Force. I like the characters. I can put myself and my friends into the characters of the books. This series reminds me of small town church life - and it 's also realistic....I can think back to our time in a small town at a small church and remember those escapades....and this series is also accurate. I just don't find myself wrestling with the issues in this series and often in Yada Yada I DID find the group wrestling with issues with which I myself have had to or am currently wrestling.

I guess I like both series well enough....but I really like Terri Blackstock and Tamar Myer's Penn Dutch much better. LOL

A plus for this series is their online resources. You can go here and find photos of Fresco, CO, recipes, etc.

Another one on the fall reading list.

Trial by Fire and Line of Duty by Terri Blackstock

Evidently, I've finished this series. I really enjoyed it. I'm not sure which Blackstock series I will try next. I'll have to see what the library has.

This series centers around the lives of First Responders (firemen, sheriff, paramedics). Mystery, suspense, romance...it's all here.

My only beef was an inconsistency in the character of Issie. In book 3 I KNOW we were told that her mother died when she was 8. In book 4 we are told that her mother died 2 years earlier and was a negligent bar hop/maid.....those sorts of things really bother me in a series.....but I CONTINUED to reading anyway as I really enjoyed this series.

These were on my fall reading list.