80)

Mary Beth.....How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.....

10) You are a VERY witty blog writer.
9) You have the most creative names for your children. (By the way....are you taking my advice and naming the new baby Frodo Gandalf??)
8) You take great big ol' honkin' little trips!
7) You are married to a Greek God.
6) Only YOU could make a Bradley class so fun!
5) You came to see me when I was in California!
4) You have a FAB smile!
3) You love Jesus!
2) You make me laugh!

And the number 1 reason I love you......

Only YOU like my blog enough to ask me to email you the posts because you can't read them on the black background. Is this better? :) It is just for you!

MY HUSBAND, THE MASS MURDERER

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea..." Genesis 1:26a

"The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink..." Exodus 7:18a

I know many of you who read this post will not believe what I am about to tell you. Our newer friends will learn of my husband's past fiendish, obsessive behavior and marvel. Our older friends will not be able to fathom my weakness at allowing this behavior, not only to continue, but to actually encourage it! The spirit is willing....but the flesh is weak.

Our older friends were around for Bert and Ernie I, and Bert and Ernie II. They were also around for Esmeralda, Sonny and Cher, Peter, Paul and Cher, Mushu, and Kung Pao. Some may even remember Mike and Owen. They are all fish from our past. I should say...from my husband's past. Granted, we were all there, but only he continued the genocide! We begged him not to, but he could not resist his urge to "try" to raise more fish.

It started innocently enough. Two little goldfish in a tiny tank for our young daughter, Catey. (Bert and Ernie I) They died a couple of days after we got them. Their tank got all cloudy and they blew up like balloons....balloons that float at the top of water. So, my incensed husband went back to the fish store and complained. The friendly clerk gave us Bert and Ernie II and told us we needed to condition the water....something they failed to mention when we bought B&E I. B&E II actually lived for a few months. Then we moved to Morgan Hill.

Upon setting up the tank in Morgan Hill, we watched, Bert and Ernie in Balloonland, the Sequel. Ernie bit the dust pretty quickly, while Bert hung on with some strange growth on his forehead that kept him rising to the surface. Poor little guy. He would swim down, down, down (think Nemo), but as soon as he would get down there, very against his will, he would begin rising to the surface. After awhile, he could no longer make it down from the surface of the water, and he just swam around the surface with a scared look on his face. Mercifully, he died just a week after Ernie II.

Undaunted, my husband stalked into the nearest pet store and bought a giant goldfish. She was quite pretty, actually. My daughter named her Esmeralda, after the long-haired Disney heroine that she was obsessed with (she never saw the movie and only answered to Esmeralda for 9 months....but that is another post). Poor Esme. She was not a very smart fish. She liked to suck up rocks from the bottom of the tank. Occasionally, her eyes were bigger than her mouth, and she would suck up a rock that was too big and it would get STUCK! Regardless of my husband's fish track record....he does like to help. He would get Esmeralda out of the tank and, with toothpick in hand, he would pry the rock out of her mouth. If only this had occurred but once. But, as I said, Esme was not a very smart fish. After about the third time of getting a rock stuck in her mouth, she began to wriggle when Carl would come at her with the toothpick....and when a fish wriggles while a toothpick is in her mouth...well, their brains aren't very far from their mouth...and it ain't pretty folks. There was, indeed, a minor slip, and Esme had some "issues" after that. Not the least of which was she could not stop getting rocks stuck in her mouth. Anyway, she must have received one poke in the brain too many because she died just a couple of months after we got her.

We went for several months without fish. But, by this time, Carl needed more! And I, sadly, enabled him.

The girls and I bought him a beta. A beautiful, red beta that we named Kung Pao. He lasted two days. So, we went back and got Mushu....a beautiful blue beta. He lasted one day.

To my eternal shame....I went BACK to the pet store and begged the clerk to sell me something "hearty". He turned me on to two guppies. Sonny and Cher. I made sure that they would live. The clerk assured me that they would. The clerk assured me guppies are almost impossible to kill. The clerk assured me they would do great. The clerk lied. Sonny was dead by sunset. My husband took him back to the store and explained it all. The clerk gave him TWO MORE FISH!! Now we had Peter, Paul and Cher. Peter died the first day and Paul only made it two days longer. Cher...being the icon she is....lasted about a month. And in defense of my husband....she died while we were on vacation and our neighbor was caring for her.

At this point, even I began to beg Carl not to get anymore fish. I packed up the bowl and the tank, the rocks, the plants. I hid them all. Then my mom got a "great" idea. She bought us an "Ecosphere". Have you seen them? They are a sealed glass egg with shrimp and seaweed in them. NASA sent shrimp to space in these spheres to see how they would do in space (you know...in case they wanted coconut shrimp for dinner one night on the shuttle!). The shrimp have everything they need to survive. You can't open the sphere and the shrimp that went to space lived for 5 years or more. What could be safer? Mike and Owen lived about 2 months. Finally, my mom bought Carl a fish aquarium night light. No living fish. Just cartoon fish that went round and round a lava lamp.

But then....something amazing happened. My friend gave us one of those beta vases. You know...with the fish in the vase with a water plant growing out of the vase...? Another friend of mine warned this friend that fish actually evolved and sprouted legs just to run screaming from our house....but still we got the fish. Jocelyn named him Methuselah. And lo and behold.....He lived! And lived and lived and lived! Not 969 years like the real Methuselah, but THREE YEARS....which was DEFINITELY a record in our household!

About a month after Methuselah died, my kids went to a harvest festival where Jocelyn won an ugly feeder fish in the ol' ping pong ball in the cup game. No one even remembers the name of that fish! He lasted a day. But Jocelyn's tears were just the excuse that Carl needed to go buy another fish. Another beta. A lovely, aqua and navy colored fish. Joss decided that since naming our old beta after a long living Bible person seemed to work, she would choose a Bible long-lifer to name this fish after, too. And Noah became a part of the family. He lived with us until we moved to Colorado. At that time, he went to live with my mom. I think he made it another year or so.

So....it was on the tail of these two successes, that I made my BIG decision this Christmas. I popped on Craigslist and found my husband a "real" fish tank and stand. I couldn't bring myself to pay "real" money for it because....well, it's kind of obvious, isn't it??

So.....I learned all I could about tropical fish from our buddies at Petsmart. I bought all the right equipment and plants and conditioners. My kids even bought Carl a cool bubble-blowing Chinese dragon. And Carl organized it all with it's flora, fauna and red rocks and filled it with water and added conditioner. The guy at Petsmart told me to wait 4 days before adding fish....but Carl found some website that said only 24 hours was necessary. So, yesterday, I found myself at Petsmart with my husband scoping out the first victims....uh, I mean.....fish.

We settled on 4 platys. Two of them are really cool. They have Mickey Mouse marks on their tails. Their names are, of course, Mickey and Minnie. The other two are just pretty, yellow platys....Donald and Daisy. Carl really researched how to "introduce" them to their new environment, and he followed all the rules (except the waiting 4 days one). Once the four fish were in the water, things began to look precarious. Mickey, Minnie and Daisy looked pretty good....but Donald went to check out the blue, seaweedy plant in the front corner and got himself stuck in the vines for about 10 minutes. Shades of Esmeralda passed before my eyes. I tried to think of a non-chalant way to excuse myself so I could hide the toothpicks, but before I could....Donald figured it out!!!

The tank started to get a little cloudy yesterday. Oh no! Was it going to be Bert and Ernie I and II all over again? But, Carl went to Petsmart today and they said that is common when new fish are introduced to the tank the first time. (though, if he had waited 4 days, that probably wouldn't have happened.) And today....the tank actually looks less cloudy and....drumroll please....ALL FOUR FISH ARE STILL ALIVE!!! Call me nutty....but I have hope! We are already beating some of our past records!

Keep the Disney fish in your prayers. Goodness knows....they're not out of the woods yet!

ZIPPITY DOO DAH!!!!!!

"Zippity Doo Dah! Zippity Ay! My! OH MY! What a wonderful Day!" Uncle Remus, Song of the South

Wow! As if we hadn't had enough excitement this week with Catey's publication and Jocelyn's harp and Sam's Sunday School Conquest.....Look what is happening for ME!!!!

WOOOHOOOOO!!!

"Blessed is the man who remains steadfast..." James 1:12a

On this day in history (make sure you read to the end)

1790
The first successful cotton mill in the United States began operating at Pawtucket, R.I.

1803
The Louisiana Purchase was completed as the territory was formally transferred from France to the United States during ceremonies in New Orleans.

1864
Confederate forces evacuated Savannah, Ga., as Union Gen. William T. Sherman continued his "March to the Sea."

1879
Thomas Edison privately demonstrated his incandescent light at Menlo Park, N.J.

1946
The Frank Capra film "It's A Wonderful Life" had a preview showing for charity at New York City's Globe Theatre, a day before its official premiere.

1963
The Berlin Wall was opened for the first time to West Berliners, who were allowed one-day visits to relatives in the Eastern sector for the holidays.

And on this day 2008......
Catey received her friend, Lydia's book (Devos 2 Go....check out the book here), and found out that she (Catey) is published in it!!!! She wrote two devotionals for the book. This time...her friend's book....next time.....HER OWN!!!!

Also today.....
Jocelyn played in her first harp recital! Her duet became a solo at the last minute, and she did GREAT!!!

And....drumroll please.....
Sam stayed in his Sunday School class for the whole service!!! You cannot imagine how I was feeling thinking of another Christmas service running around chasing him in the lobby and missing the service! Now, we are praying he continues to like his class. The cookies are pretty convincing!!!


None of these things have been easy for my kids. Jocelyn loves harp, but playing in front of a big group of people at the public library is not her idea of fun! Sam has never been able to make it through the service, though we have tried many times. And Catey has entered so many contests, etc. All her hard work has finally paid off!!!

Praise God for His encouragement to my/His children!!!

PS - B's....do you think there is some sort of sign or something in the fact that all these great things happened on the same day that It's A Wonderful Life debuted???? :)

LET ME SNORE, LET ME SNORE, LET ME SNORE...

"Oh, sleeping is quite delightful. Cuz' my exhaustion's completely frightful. Can't wait for the vacation in store....then I can snore, I can snore, I can snore!" To the tune of Let It Snow

I have to say that this year has been beyond BUSY! I am teaching four classes in co-op and still schooling my kids at home as well. Carl and I are leading the homeschool support group at church, and, while that has been an enormous blessing, it takes a LOT of time. We are blessed to have homeschooling moms here once a month for a meal and fellowship, and this month, we had whole families for a wonderful Christmas party.....five days after we hosted Thanksgiving. I am NOT complaining. We LOVE having people in our home and being so involved in our kids' learning. BUT....add one climbing spider-child and a puppy, CFC, harp lessons and dog training classes....and....well....well.....

What I am trying to say is.....for the first time in YEARS, we are not sending out Christmas cards. Jill has officially hit her energy quota for 2008. Perhaps I will start 2009 with a New Year's letter. Then again, maybe not!

Anyway....I just want everyone to know that no one is in the dog house and off our Christmas card list.....I am just.........

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

UNTO US A CHILD IS GIVEN....

"For unto us a child is born, to us a child is given..." Isaiah 9:6a

I was thinking yesterday after I posted about Chris and Kelly. I was remembering back to our own adoption process and experience and then further to our own biological children's births.

Our adoption of Sam was nothing short of miraculous! We felt God's hand on
our whole process. Everything was so easy and glided smoothly along. Until, the very end. Then we hit a paperwork snag and had to resubmit some forms and we hit every possible Korean and US holiday, so we were further delayed! It was agonizing! We were so close, yet so far! It pushed our travel call out by a month. For those of you who have adopted, I am quite sure you can imagine my state of mind. I was emotional and crying and it was ALL I could talk about.

I didn't think there was anything harder than that wait. Then I remembered trying to get pregnant with Catey. I have great sympathy for my dear friends and family who have been down the infertility road. I know that I cannot begin to imagine what it is like.....but I know that those months and months of negative pregnancy tests were horrendous. At the time, there was nothing harder than that wait.

Then came Jocelyn's birth. I was so ramped up on pitocin that every time I had a contraction Joss' heart rate would dip WAY down. They had to put the little head monitor on her scalp and I was given oxygen. At that time, the wait to find out if she was okay was the hardest wait.

Carli was no easy deal either. I had bleeding. That had never happened before. Waiting to get into the doctor, then waiting for the ultrasound to make sure she was okay was so HARD!

My pregnancy with Gecko was awesome! Until I hit the 28 week mark and started pre-term labor! I was on bedrest and medication and STILL would have contractions! The hardest part was laying around not doing anything.....and praying that my baby would WAIT!

And yet...every one of my children are happy and healthy today. All the concerns that I had way back when, are just memories that I hardly think of today. Now, I am just in the midst of raising them.

So, is it any wonder that God calls us his "children"? I believe it is not just for our inexperience and ignorance that he calls us that. I think it is so we know how loved we are! When you are waiting on those babies, no matter how they come, you are consumed with compassion, desire, anticipation and most of all, LOVE! Have you ever loved anyone as much as those babies when they are first given unto you?

I believe this is also one of the reasons why God sent his Son as a baby. So that we could understand that it was no small feat for Him to make this sacrifice. Could you send your baby into a hostile world? Even if meant saving that world? Without you being in that world? I couldn't even handle being separated from my baby for an extra month! Would I have gone for more months for other people? What about for God's glory?

How could I not? For God so loved the world that He sent His ONLY Son! And then He waited 33 YEARS for him to return! Now THAT is compassion, desire, anticipation and LOVE.

KELLY, ME AND TWIX!!!

"Twix, glorious, Twix!" Charles Dickens: revised

This really isn't about Twix at all. Well, okay....with me everything is about Twix. If you don't understand, you need to read my homeschool blog.

My students decided to rally to the Twix Call (known affectionately by them as the Twix Bribe) by bringing AND mailing me LOTS of Twix. Normally, this would be a delightful thing....but for the past several weeks, unbeknownst to my students, I have been on a Twix fast.

Our friends, Chris and Kelly, hit MAJOR paperwork issues with their adoption process a few months ago. Nobody knows why, even now. They had a picture of their daughter, video of their daughter, information about their daughter...but, alas, Briar was tied up in red tape, so to speak. On the adoption bulletin board that Kelly and I frequent, someone suggested fasting something while we awaited good news regarding Briar's green light for travel. Folks gave up chocolate, coffee, ice cream and the like. I gave up Twix!

Yesterday, Chris and Kelly got "The Call". Briar had her visa, and all paperwork was good to go. Carl and I met them at Dairy Queen for ice cream and a Twix celebration. They are kind enough to take a package for Sam's foster family to Korea with them.

All kidding about my Twix aside, I have to say, I admire the faith of these two so much. There were a couple of times where I know they were absolutely stretched to the limits of their faith, but they never lost sight of God's will. Any parent out there knows that when you are dealing with your children, you are at your most vulnerable....but Chris and Kelly hung on and prayed their way through it all.

I know the Lord has a special blessing for their precious family as he prepares all of their hearts to come together forever. And I am thankful for the blessing of witnessing such strong faith.

I am so glad that Briar is coming home! And I am so thankful that Chris and Kelly were able to go to Korea to bring her home!

And I am overjoyed that my Twix fast is over....for so many reasons!!!!

REVENGE OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT....

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!....It was Drew's idea!" Jen W., ratting out her friend!

Ah.....Yes, Proverbs 17:17...."A friend loves at all times". I think Solomon forgot the rest of that wise instruction......"A friend loves at all times. Even through paper chains, Amish "Friendship" Bread, and White Elephant parties!

I don't know when it happened. At first, I had friends that would take a dog or four children on a moment's notice for days at a time. I had friends that would call me and tell me how much I had encouraged them. I had friends that brought me dinners when we first came home from Korea. I had friends that would call me for prayer when they were facing Giants. But now....well....those days are gone.

My husband and I JOYFULLY lead a homeschool support group out of our church. Last week, we had a White Elephant Party for the group. I GRACIOUSLY opened my house to 50 people. We had a GREAT time! Two of my "friends" even came knowing there would be a great many people, as they are afraid of large crowds....but, "did it for Jill". They did it alright!

You know how a White Elephant party works, right? You give a gift that you no longer have a use for and people can steal it from you, etc. Surely, you have all played this game. I was not aware that there was a variation on this theme. In our house, we now refer to it as the White Elephant Scavenger Hunt.

Here is how you play.......

You put your baby down for a nap in his room. You put your pre-schooler down for a nap in his special sleeping bag in the living room and quietly go about your business. But wait! What is that noise you keep hearing???? You get up and look. Your pre-schooler is rolling around in his sleeping bag, making a ruckus. You turn him over, only to find out your son is....A PIG! That is, he is wearing the pig mask that your friend received as a White Elephant Gift at the wonderful party your threw last week, when you opened your home to FIFTY people. You ask your sweet little boy where he got the mask and he sends you on a scavenger hunt. Some things are obvious.....like the Holly Jolly Soap Dispenser your friend's husband left in your bathroom, or the Comet Cleanser under your sink. But some things are much sneakier! They are all CRAMMED under your couch. And what sort of treasures do you find? Oh let me tell you! Half of a Victorian Cradle Kit (no fabric or all wood pieces), Colgate Toothpaste, Movin' and Groovin' Kids (the kids workout DVD, you, yourself have been trying to get rid of for TWO years!), the ever-swiney pig mask and my personal fave....the detestable grape cluster CANDLE! As a special bonus...you also find your baby's week old milk cup (with milk...nay....cottage cheese...still in it!).

Ah! What love! What friendship!

Ah...what sweet revenge it will be!

Revenge....Thy name is Amish Bread Starter!!!!!

THUMPITY, THUMP, THUMP, THUMPITY, THUMP, THUMP...

LOOK AT OLIVE GO!

Most of you know that Jocelyn is the proud owner of the Best Dog in the World! Olive comes to us by way of divine accident.

My sister, Pam, has a female Beagle, Ainsley. She also has a female black lab, Guinness. Pam and Dirk (my brother-in-law) bought a male Beagle, Owen, to breed with Ainsley. Well, apparently Guinness took a shine to him first....and we now own one of the Beagledor puppies. Our dearest Olive. (btw - the Beagles finally figured everything out and had their own brood.)

Olive is an amazing dog. Just 6 months old and flying through Intermediate Training, quiet and smart. Well....she also has another talent. Sled-dogging!

Check it out!