Sunday

Sunday was a bit different today. We DID have Sunday School. We did attend the Traditional Service. We DID eat at Burger King (ugh). And then the day diverged from the normal plan.

The boys had a paintballing engagement (read below). This meant that I had the little ones. Zander was having a bad day - an OCD/ODD type day. We decided Sunday School and one service was all we could expect....

Mike went to the Gospel service and I took the little ones home. Oh, first we stopped by recycling.

At home we cleaned and did laundry.

Mike got home and we cleared a spot for the freezer. We are also working to get all my files off the "boys" computer and on to the laptop. At this point 90% of the Word files and ebooks have been transferred, Money and files are transferred, and outlook is configured on the laptop. The problem being that photos are still everywhere (the goal is to put them on discs and get them off the computer) and my outlook files and emails etc from co-ops and what not are on the boys computer - but I'm trying to begin using this laptop for all. Mike will then get my computer, which crashed when he was deployed, resurrected and they'll have three computers once again. I will be able to get all my files off THAT computer and put them on the laptop too. I'm not sure what the big overall plan is - I think a server...but this is the first step.

We finished off my birthday cake! I guess the birthday has to end.

I worry about Josiah working 40 hours a week, going to school etc. I know we did it when we were that age. I just worry when I see him fall asleep at Double Dave's. ::snort:: For the very first time tonight.....he had a paper sneak up on him. Oops - it's due tomorrow. Mike jokes that *HE* never forgot a paper until the night before it was due. ::snort:: Yeah, OK - early dementia setting in?

I'll bring the day to a close with this last photo. We have back to back laptops here at the table...but mine's about to be shut off for the night. LOL

My Birthday Week Continues

Wonderful handmade cards, a new freezer, dinner out -how could it get better?

It seems that Josiah and Jamin had purchased a gift before hearing about the joint freezer thing.

Tonight after they got back from paintballing (a team building thing Cy organized for work).....

 

I was told to shut my eyes. Do you like the wrapping? They get that anti-wrapping gene from me! (There's been an ongoing discussion around here about genetics and what they may catch from me and Mike based on our family histories. LOL)

 

Stacia watched me struggle with the packing tape and styrofoam and said, "Wet me help!" She proceeded to open the gift the gift.

 

Jamin and Jared had bought the 6 pc starter set of the Willow Creek Nativity for me at Christmas. I always leave one set out year round....because we celebrate Him all year...and this one has been out.....but now....Josiah and Jamin bought me the Wisemen too!

WOOT! My Birthday Present!

Mike and the kids have been asking me for weeks what I wanted for my birthday. I really had nothing pressing on my mind. I even suggested we wait until March to do gifts.

We've been saving for a new freezer. We gave our big chest freezer away when we moved. We bought a used 14 cu ft freezer when we got here. I discovered I liked an upright freezer, but 14 cu feet is not big enough. I also discovered I like a frost free freezer, as this one isn't. If you store anything in the door, you have to put a 5 gal jug of water in front of it to keep it closed. ::snort:: The freezer I settled on was $749.00. We've been saving....I figured I could get our 1/2 a cow in our current freezer and nothing else. I do have two fridges with freezer compartments, so we were planning to hunker down.
A local friend, Kim, called to tell me that she'd found the same freezer that I had my eye on at Lowe's for $578.00. I began to think that if Mike and the kids just gave me money I'd be able to add other birthday checks to it and be about 1/2 way there. Then Mike suggested we call the company with his backordered Christmas gift and tell them to cancel. He said to put the $ for that on the freezer. I didn't like that idea. I told him it was my tool and I'd be using it most. We realized HE'LL be eating more of the cow stored in the freezer, than I will. ::snort::

We were discussing this when Kim called back and Sears was having a one day sale on the freezer - 20% off/free delivery. We got it for $599; that's a lot cheaper than $749. It's a top pick for it's size from Consumer Reports. It's 20.3 cu ft; NOT as big as our old chest freezers but I think it will work well. It's frost free. We've been planning on this purchase and working towards it for over a year....I have a couple ready to take the old one. They've just adopted sweet Julia and could use more freezer space. I will not have to do headstands to dig things out of this one; though I may need a step stool to reach the top shelves. ::snort::

Here it is: Mike's Christmas Gift, De'Ettas birthday gift, Our Anniversary gift....


We ran into Kim and Brian at Sears - they bought one too and we had some fun fellowship there in the aisle.

We also went to a Victory Rally for Operation Christmas Child today. Mike was on the program.

Gotta get to bed...church tomorrow.

Family Night

It has been rare since the week of Thanksgiving to have all of us home on a Friday night. The boys have been picking up lots of hours at Chick Fil A. However, THIS night all are home.

I fixed a yummy dinner....2 baked chickens, baked potatoes/sweet potatoes, steamed cauliflower, carrots, and green beans and garlic bread.

Nolan proves to the inquisitor that he has eaten all his carrot sticks


Jamin has a writer's conference coming up next week. He will have 3 meetings with publishing houses. Here he practices giving his proposal.


Josiah went out to rent *The Gameplan*. They were OUT everywhere. They had even sold out in some stores....he did find a copy and purchased it for us. ::snort:: What a fun movie.

We topped the night off with an episode of *Hogan's Heroes*.

2008 Christmas Quiz
How well do you know us?

Some of you may not have received this yet, but I'm hearing from others who have and I'd like to post the answers so they can find them the first time they check the blog. - To check your answers click on the Answer key/giveaway link.

1. Since the newsletter 5 years ago
a. BreAnne, Krista & Josiah gradated and moved out of our home
b. We’ve moved from beautiful Alaska to sunny West Texas
c. Mike promoted to Maj and serves as the Sr. Prot Chaplain at Goodfellow AFB
d. All of the above

2. Which is not one of our favorite leisure time activities?
a. Coaxing a garden from W TX soil
b. Paint balling, Geocaching, hiking & camping
c. Family read alouds
d. Keeping in touch with friends and family via blogs, facebook, telephone conversations and visits

3. Where have we recently traveled?
a. Josiah and Bre traveled to Boston, Philadelphia and Washington D.C.
b. Krista traveled to Trinidad, West Indies
c. Mike traveled to Kuwait (he’s home)
d. The family traveled to WA, AK, CO and various TX spots
e. All of the above

4. Jamin, our budding author
a. Paid for Mike and him to attend the CWG Writing for the Soul Conference in CO Springs, CO
b. Finished his second novel
c. Published articles in online and print magazines
d. Become a writer for our local newspaper
e. All of the above

5. In which activity has Jared NOT participated?
a. Volunteering weekly with House of Faith, a ministry to inner-city kids
b. Ran for city council
c. Played competitively on a local basketball team.
d. Promoted to SMSgt and awarded Cadet of the Year in Civil Air Patrol

6. Which is NOT true of Arielle?
a. Excels in piano lessons
b. Reads an average of 4 books a week
c. Took a solo parachute jump for her birthday in May
d. Began wearing glasses

7. De’Etta keeps busy by
a. Running produce and natural foods co-ops
b. Homeschooling
c. Teaching local Bible Studies and serving on the Central Region PWOC board
d. Participating in online forums
e. All of the above

8. Which of our children takes piano lessons and recently danced in San Angelo Civic Ballet’s production of the Nutcracker?
a. Nolan
b. Zander
c. Arielle
d. None of the above

9. What has kept Zander (Alexander) busy in 2008?
a. Began school, but is easily bored unless the topics are dinosaurs, whales,or knights
b. Favorite pastime (which he earns monthly) is Play Station
c. Has responded well to a diet with no dyes, artificial flavors or preservatives
d. All of the above

10. Our family vacation included alpine hiking, cave explorations, a castle tour, visits with family and fellow Air Force families. Where did we vacation?
a. London, England
b. Westcliffe, Colorado
c. Trier, Germany
d. Asheville, North Carolina

11. Which has Stacia NOT done?
a. Painted the walls with Sharpies
b. Pushed the Christmas tree over
c. Severely cut her hair
d. Brought zest and adventure to our family

12. Which of the following is NOT correct?
a. Mike and De’Etta will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary on Valentine’s Day
b. Jamin will graduate May 23, 2009
c. De’Etta is pregnant with our 10th child
d. The nucleus of our family (Mike, De’Etta, and at least five children) will move in Summer 2009

13. Where can you find the answer key for this quiz?
a. Phone us deleted
b. Request from deleted
c. Write & request at deleted
d. Visit not2many.blogspot.com; click the Christmas Quiz link for key and to enter a New Year’s Giveaway of a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate

Love, Mike, De’Etta, Bre , Krista, Cy, Jamin , Jared, Arielle, Nolan , Zander & Stacia

©2008 D.R.G.

2008 Christmas Quiz Answer Key & Giveaway

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and check your answers to our 2008 Christmas Quiz. Below are the answers.

We'd like to start the New Year off with a Giveaway of a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com. To be eligible you only need to read the quiz BEFORE you read the answers (it doesn't matter if you received the quiz through the mail or read it on the blog), check in here and leave a comment with your score and any other memory or comment you'd care to share. Be sure that we know how to contact you. Every member in your family, who is old enough to take the quiz and comment on their own, may leave a comment and enter once. We'll pick a random winner on my birthday - 24 Jan. That should give everyone plenty of time to do this after the busy Christmas season.

1. D – All of the above. We left Anchorage in June of 2005. Since that time Mike has served as the Sr. Protestant Chaplain at Goodfellow AFB, TX.

The girls have been living in Spokane, WA the past 3 ½ years. They originally went to Spokane to participate in Master’s Commission (MC). BreAnne currently serves as the Executive Administrator for Spokane MC. She plans this to be her last year with SMC. Krista served on staff the past year with MC and is now working and saving for her next grand adventure – a mission’s trip overseas.

Josiah graduated in May of 2007. He is currently ½ way through his second year at Angelo State University. He is also a manager for Chick-fil-A and has the goal of owning one of these businesses in the future.

2. A – our gardening attempts went nowhere. In fact, the timbers to build garden boxes are still sitting on the patio. ::snort::

3. E - The girls have traveled to various church-related conferences, Microsoft conferences and camps all over America. Krista was part of a missions trip/scouting mission for MC in Trinidad. Josiah met up with Bre for a trip through our Nation’s historic locations. At each spot they were taught about the Christian history of our country.

4. E – All of the above. Jamin’s passion is writing fiction. He is perplexed that he’s only published non-fiction. Maybe he’ll find a publisher for one of his novels in 2009.

5. B – We’ve allowed Jared to break the “one outside activity” rule the last couple of years. He has some GREAT opportunities here with the community and homeschool support group.

Jared would like to enter politics. We aren’t sure where to go with that ambition. Does anyone know of a community that needs organized?

6. C – you knew that right? Josiah IS planning to learn how to sky dive with a friend of his. This info may be helpful for the 2009 Christmas Quiz.

7. E – There’s always more to do than there are hours in the day. De’Etta has learned to order her priorities daily: God, family ministry, outside ministry.

PWOC = Protestant Women of the Chapel. This is an international military ministry to women.

8. A- This was an amazing experience for Nolan. Not only did it give him opportunities to continue working on his eye hand/sequencing challenges, but it allowed him to conquer his fear of being in front of audiences. This is a BIG production here in town. The estimate I heard was 2500 people total forl 3 shows. I’m still shaking my head at the audacity of him participating.

9. D – All of the above. We are amazed at how our “alphabet boy” is coping.

10. B – this was an amazing vacation! Mike, I and the five younger children hooked up the Caboose (trailer) and headed for CO. A few days later the girls arrived from WA and Josiah and Jamin arrived from TX. We cherished each moment of our FAMILY vacation.

11. B – yet.

12. C – yet.

13. D – We’ve sent a hard copy of the answers to those whom we know do not have Internet access. Any of the options will work to receive answers – free question!

What your results may mean:

0 -3 correct: Who are you anyway and why are you reading our Christmas letter?

4 – 6 Correct: You just haven’t been paying attention, have you?

7 – 10 Correct: You must be one of our closest friends.

11 – 13 Correct: Are you a stalker or a faith ful blog reader?

©2008 D.R.G.

The Picture says it All!

 

If you have been a blog reader for any amount of time you KNOW what that hat means. If you're a new blog reader you'll be very familar with our party animal by the end of FEBRUARY. ::snort::

Yes, today is my 44th birthday. I hadn't mentioned it because it didn't seem important to me this year. ::snort:: I even suggested we wait and do my birthday in March or April and ease up on the birthday stress.

I had a PAC meeting. I drove the boys to HoF. I got home and they called. Due to weather (cold and wet, starting to freeze)they had cancelled the club at their school. I drove back to HoF and picked them up.

Bre has always been our "birthday decorator". She makes banners and signs and "does it up big". I didn't expect a thing. I got home from the PAC meeting and Arielle had made signs, a banner, a card, and motivated her brothers to help her hang crepe paper. I was surprised.

I spent the rest of the day on the phone. I talked to Bre, Mom, Kim, Krista, Charly....a good day! Thanks to all who remembered and sent emails, cards, and even GIFTS at Bible study. I am surprised anyone remembered without my daily reminders and ticker countdown. ::snort::

I chose to go to Double Dave's for dinner. This is not really a low-cholesterol spot...but you gotta celebrate. I did choose chicken and whole wheat crust. ::snort::

"self portrait"

Mike had made one of his famous ice cream cakes for me....he even made the ice cream from scratch. What a man! We'll do gifts on Sunday or something - no one has had time to shop. ::snort::