YUEN DEN

The Lost of Art of the Family Road Trip

2011-07-27T21:25:00.001-06:00

Generally speaking, it is not a good sign when your house is an hour and a half behind you as you forge ahead with a two day drive ahead of you and from the backseat you hear a voice say, "Are we in Minnesota yet??" This is unfortunate not only because you still have a full two day drive ahead of you, but because you aren't planning on being anywhere NEAR Minnesota!

Call me a romantic, or an optimist...or even crazy, but I believe that the Art of the Family Road Trip is being lost and it makes me sad.

I know not everyone feels this way. Most people would rather be to their destination by any way other than car travel. Most people would love to go to sleep and wake up at their desired location. Most people would rather have a separate room in their car for their kids.

Most people would miss out.

But, the art of the Family Road Trip is not in how you do it. It is in what you come away with. Anybody can play movies from Colorado to Tennessee, but what does anyone come away with (okay, besides a bit more sanity in the short run)? There are so many observations to be made when you are trying to engage your kids and keep them from pulling each others' hair out! The Family Road Trip is the ultimate catalyst for creativity. It forges the strongest ties that bind us together.

And it can be unbelievably eye opening.

Here are my Techniques for Mastering the Art of the Family Road Trip:

*Make sure you drive through Kansas. Yeah, I know what you are thinking, "Kansas? Why on earth? It is flat! It is boring!" Boring you say? I am sorry, but I must beg to differ! Where else in the whole US can you visit Prairie Dog Town? Home to "the Largest Prairie Dog in the world - 800 Pounds!", or see a REAL "5 legged Cow" , or buffalo pheasants (though I am pretty sure that one was just an error in signage)??? Only in a state so boring, it has to rely on freaks of nature to spice it up! Also, while you and I think a state FULL of cornfields is boring...young children are amazed to know that that much of their favorite vegetable is so bountiful in ONE state! And, I realized why some folks refer to Kansas as God's Country. Something about that state increases your prayer life. As I drove through it, I found my prayers to be constant. "Lord THANK YOU for delivering my Lichty people from this land. And God, PLEASE don't ever make me have to come live here!"

*Never underestimate the power of Bribery. My friend, Jen, taught me this one! I always buy a BIG bag of chocolate goodies and keep them on hand. When people start losing it, you would be amazed how fast they can pull it together if there is a promise of caramel and chocolate for being polite for the next 15 minutes! This actually IS a powerful tool. My kids now know they will get MORE treats if I DON'T have to bribe them. The only two times they had treats today was just because they were traveling so well!

*Drive through the MidWest during a summer heat wave. There are several benefits to this lunacy. First is that I don't care how much you dislike your car....if it has air conditioning, you will have a new-found love for it! You will also make great time because just getting out of the car and walking into the convenience store for the restroom will make you feel like (in the words of Gecko) you "are walking right in a fire"...thereby encouraging you to make less stops so that you can stay in the AC comfort of your car! Also...when you DO walk through the fiery heat to the convenience store and find that THEIR AC is NOT working, you will have absolutely NO guilt about having a root beer float after sitting your butt all day in the car!

Guilt Free Floats!

*Stay at an aesthetically challenged hotel. What else makes the Cracker Barrel seem gourmet?

Yes, that is our room number TAPED to our door!

*Talk to the locals. Not only is every state different in geography, but the people in each state have their own unique attributes and wisdom. Such was the case tonight, as our waitress at The Barrel was Renee. She was born in Colorado, now living in Missouri and had some special insight for us regarding Tennessee. According to this food service sage, we might be able to get quite a bit of Christmas shopping taken care of while visiting the Volunteer State. Renee assured us EVERY person in Tennessee has SOMETHING for sale in their front yard. Including and especially El Camino cars! Whew! Cy's Volvo is getting pretty old, so I am thankful that we can do a little yard sale hopping and maybe find him a cherry truck-car.

In other words....things that drive so many people crazy when venturing across country with their kids in their cars are actually the things I think we will laugh about tonight and for a long time to come. We are not staying at the Ritz. We are not eating at swanky resort restaurants. But we are laughing a lot. Come on....AN 800 POUND PRAIRIE DOG? What's not to laugh about?!

So, Missouri or Minnesota, who cares? As long as we are all together.

We are in Missouri, right?

Would You Like a Lemonade with that Road Trip?

2011-06-14T21:41:00.001-06:00

How many of you talked to me before my trip to Virginia for ICC's National Convention? Do you remember how excited I was about our train trip? And if you read my post before this one, you can see that while traveling by train wasn't perfect...it was FUN and it was definitely an ADVENTURE.

Funny, what a difference a week makes.

Thursday night, we returned, exhausted from the Theme Party, to our room. As we got on Facebook, I noticed that Amtrak's page mentioned that some of the trains in the midwest were being cancelled due to flooding on the Great Plains. The California Zephyr, our ride home, was one of the trains. We went to Amtrak's website and confirmed it and began to plan our ~~escape~~ travels home.

Since we had about a thousand pounds of luggage, and also informative boards, chapter boards, and YSG boards, flying was out of the question. What are girls to do?

You guessed it. We rented a car.

Do you know it takes THREE days of CONSTANT driving to get from Virginia Beach, VA to Colorado Springs, CO???

It does.

Here is one thing I will say about Angi and I (and our incredible daughters): I am pretty sure we could sell lemonade anywhere. 'Cuz that is what we do when we get lemons!

We decided not to get bent out of shape. What could we do? We decided to enjoy the ride. And what a fun ride it was!

Here are my observations from the road:

*He who holds the keys...holds the power. I did NOT want to stop at Colonial Williamsburg on the way home because I love history and knew we didn't have time to get out. Unfortunately, I was not driving and found our car hijacked by Angi. Do you know how it KILLS a history lover to DRIVE through Colonial Williamsburg??? Who DRIVES through Williamsburg? Oh yeah....us. Good thing I grabbed the wheel before she could get to Jamestown!!

*There is nothing greener than the Appalachian Mountains....or ALL of West Virginia in general. What beautiful country.

*Where's the Beef? It is in Kentucky where it comes in every form....but try to find a KENTUCKY Fried Chicken ANYWHERE and you will be sadly disappointed!!! Seriously....I think that at the border of KENTUCKY, there should be little white haired men passing out free KENTUCKY Fried Chicken and biscuits!! Know what you get instead? A glimpse of Hell. I hate to belabor a point....but seriously, is a maze and tangle of fire breathing, smoking pipes and tubes really the first impression you want to give people of your state?? (Apparently it is....Kansas had FOUR fiery refineries!)

*Indiana has a lot of wineries and a Wine Trail. Kentucky cuts to the chase, ditching the wine and going straight to the hard stuff with their very own Bourbon Trail!

*Instead of the Bluegrass State, Kentucky should be the We Don't Need No New Fangled Ideas...Like Cities State. Because don't EVER ask someone in Cattletsburg, KY what CITY you are in. I took a 10 minute tongue lashing from a WENDY'S employee about how I was NOT in a city, I was in a TOWN. Well, excuuuuuuuuuuse me!

*Sure the Gateway Arch was impressive....but the best thing about Missouri? TRADER JOE'S!!!!

*Salina, Kansas sounds innocent but it is SCARY. Just one, big truck stop. In effort to make me feel okay about having to stay there (and yes, we HAD to stay there because there is nothing else in Kansas, anywhere.....ever) my husband cited a study he read saying Salina was supposed to be one of the best places to raise kids. Really? I think it depends on what you are raising your kids for. If it is to drive a semi or a tractor....Salina is awesome! All others....move to Colorado.

*Kansas should not be the Sunflower State, as I never saw one. BUT...they have a museum every 5 miles. They should be the Look-at-the-Old-Houses-of-Dead-People-we-have-Here-in-Our-State State.

*Double Shot Espresso - The Patron Saint of all 12 hour day Road Trippers

*Pretty sure Angi and I know every Starbucks from Virginia Beach to Colorado Springs!

*And Kansas has TWO Starbucks. ugh!

*Flat Kansas needs LOTS of Starbucks!

*There are NOTHING like the Rocky Mountains!!

So, all in all.....it was 30 hours of travel by car. We couldn't see out the back window because we were stuffed to the gills with luggage and Informative boards! But, we would do it again in a minute!

Oh wait....I AM doing it again! Next month! Driving to Tennessee!!! I need a Starbucks app!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Long Train Runnin'

2011-06-05T08:59:00.000-06:00

Well, I am on my way to ICC’s National Convention in Virginia Beach, VA….and you know what that means. Fun and adventure on the high rails of Amtrak with Jill!

Some of you may know that I hate to fly. That is a gross understatement. I mean I REALLY hate to fly. So this year, as something “fun”, I decided taking the train would be a better travel choice. I love to travel by train. I have done it several times, including a long trip through Canada. And it has been fun.

Well, if you consider Hell fun, that is.

Oh yes, did you know that is an actual Amtrak stop? It is! I have been there. But perhaps I better back up a bit.

Angi, KK, Joss and I began our adventure back in Denver. Amtrak spares no expense at keeping things rip-roaring from the very beginning.

I have been so excited to travel from the historic Union Station in Denver and became quite disappointed to find out that it is being overhauled and we had to leave from a temporary station.

Which also happens to be invisible.

Yeah, I know….what? But after following direction from both Mapquest, and Angi’s iPhone’s GPS app AND my husband’s surprisingly good sense of direction, we drove all around Coors Field yesterday (or the day before, I don’t remember, it has been a long haul….it was Thursday, if that helps) without being able to find the train station. After wandering aimlessly, we finally happened upon the station. The station with parking for Mini Coopers only.

After 15 minutes of trying to maneuver our Durango into VW Clown Parking Only, we were able to park and get our luggage out and check in just in time to be late! And to find out that the GIGANTIC suitcases we packed for checked baggage, could not be checked!

The fun continued as we had to run, wheeling our GIGANTO-BAGS and lugging ALL of our carry on luggage (which consisted of at least 2 twenty-five pound bags of snacks) ACROSS THE STREET (because what sense does it make to build a temporary train station NEAR the train itself?), up the stairs to the platform and then onto the second story of the train. (I am just saying….workout for the week is done)

As we stowed our luggage and found our seats, we settled in and SAT on the track for an hour. Sure am glad we rushed to get to that train!

Finally we got moving, made some PB&J sandwiches, washed up and went to sleep. Thankfully, we slept through Kansas and awoke to a beautiful sunrise in Nebraska with sights set on getting to Chicago that afternoon where we would endure a FOUR hour lay-over before hopping our next train, the Capitol Limited, to Washington, DC.

Our first night of sleep was a little restless, but we were having fun. REAL fun this time. On the California Zephyr (the first train we were on), the snack bar is run by a phenomenal guy named, Frank! He kept things light and funny. He also used to do hair, and couldn’t keep his hands off Jocelyn’s “GREAT hair cut”. For those of you who know how humongous Jocelyn’s person space is….you can imagine how this was NOT a fun part of the trip for her!

We traveled on, enjoying Frank’s antics and the ride, but slowly, we became acutely aware of “the smell”. Oh yes, it was not pleasant for any of us, but Angi sprayed a whole bottle of Bath and Body Works Sanitizer Spray all over the train car to try to get rid of it. She even threatened to throw up…but I am still not clear if it was because of the putrid bathroom smell, or the overdose of Brown Sugar Vanilla spray she was inundating us with!

No matter, we would be in Chicago soon and onto a different train.

But, see, that is where more Amtrak fun comes in…..

Unbeknownst to us, but apparently known to everyone else, including Amtrak employees, there had been a DERAILMENT involving an Amtrak train in Chicago’s Union Station that morning. This is not fun. Not for the train involved or any other trains trying to get in and out of Chicago that day. The rail authorities were not letting any trains depart of arrive at Union Station. Our Zephyr staff actually suggested we get off BEFORE Chicago since we didn’t know when in the world they would actually let us into the station.

As it turned out, we got right into the station. Union Station in Chicago is actually a stop in Hell. Once you get off your train, you get boxed into a small space between two fire breathing engines and stand. And Stand. AND STAND! Sweating, stinking, parching and STANDING! Hot, sulfurous…I am telling you…dark and steamy….it was HELL! Finally, they let us out and into the Big Mess in the Great Hall of historic Chicago Union Station, where we got some FAB pictures. The Big Mess took a lot of sorting and we stood in line for a long time waiting for boarding instructions. But, Amtrak must have a Disney mindset. You know…make sure your visitors have something fun to watch/do so they won’t notice the wait.

Our in station entertainment included, but was not limited to the following events:

*The Mad Dash – This event consists of Amtrak employees telling you that you have to get out of the boarding area because you will not be boarding for a looooong time. And then waiting for you to hear through the grapevine that, indeed, you now need to be in the boarding area because you will be boarding at any moment. The Mad Dash ensues.

*The Great Wait – This event follows the Mad Dash and is what you do for the next two hours while you wait to board the train.

*The Strip-Tease – This entertainment seemed to be just for the stripper, as I didn’t see anyone else enjoying it, especially the sweet little Amish women who had a front row a seat. The Stripper danced a jaunty jig, while unbuttoning his leopard-print shirt and then REMOVING his pants and slowly (way too slowly for me and the Amish gals) putting on a new pair. He continued with his dancing for the next hour, much to the bonnet clad women’s horror.

*Pot Stumping – During the Great Wait and after the Strip Tease came the Pot Stumping. This involved a very small, little, “different” (think Deliverance) man eyeing our girls up and down and expounding on the benefits of marijuana while showing us the lovely tattoo of the pot leaf on his arm. He freaked us out a bit.

After all the lively entertainment, we finally boarded the train. And this train is GREAT! Lots of leg room…no invasive, offending odors, just a comfy, cozy ride.

And good thing too. It is good to be relaxed when Amtrak tells you that they have brake problems on your train and you will not make your connecting train but will be in Washington DC possibly overnight.

Fun. (still beats driving a roundabout any day!)

Bowling for Tumbleweeds and Other Adventures in and Around Denver International Airport

2011-03-22T17:29:00.001-06:00

I need a massage. I don't mean some-little-back-rub-by-one-of-the-kids massage. I mean Broadmoor or Bust massage!! Oil, soothing music, quiet and relaxing. A real massage.

Why?

I just got back from the airport.

Oh, I know that is a simple feat for some of you out there, but for me it was....well....challenging today!

I hate airports anyway. They involve airplanes. And I REALLY hate airplanes! Well, not to look at. But, if it involves me getting on one...I hate them! Hate, hate, hate them! And most people hate it when I am on one with them. So....there is no love lost between me and DIA in the first place. But, I digress....

If it had just been the airport, that would have been bad enough. But the whole airport escapade just added to it!

Join me, won't you, as I reminisce about my day to and from and at the airport.

The first obstacle this morning to my trip to the airport was my kids. My boys live and breathe for planes, trains and automobiles! I think my husband will not be able to take them when he drops us off at the train station in June when Joss and I leave for Virginia. I predict much wailing and gnashing of teeth as they realize they don't get to get on the train! So, you can imagine how badly they wanted to accompany me to the airport today. Maybe my guilt got regarding the impending train trip without them got the better of me, because I cannot imagine why in the world I agreed to take them with me. Gecko, Carli and Jocelyn were just there last night to pick up Catey. But, here it was a whole 12 hours after Catey had gotten home, I was tired and my guilt was weighing me down so I agreed that Carli, Gecko and Sam could accompany me while I took Catey and Jocelyn to the airport. This agreement, of course, means that I have half an hour less to get ready because that is how much extra time you have to add your schedule when it now includes the catching, hog tying, shoe tying and bottom wiping of two squirrely boys! (okay...only Sam needed the bottom wiping...but it still adds time to the schedule!). But....we made pretty good timing and were able to plop them in the car, buckle up, cram the luggage and take off without forgetting anyone. Whew!

As an added measure of "fun", today we had high wind advisories. And with that, we had an extremely HEAVY migration of....TUMBLEWEEDS! I thought those things were only in Arizona and bad western movies...or on Shannon's dinner plate! I don't know why, when Shannon told me she eats tumbleweed, I thought it was so odd. Once you see them on the highway and hit several dozen of them, they do sort of appear as vegetative roadkill. The way they run across the highway and jump at your windshield, trying wildly to get into your car, really makes them seem as though they are alive.....and as if they are a vicious thing to be hunted! At some points near the airport, where the wind was really kicking up, the herds of tumbleweeds were so thick, I couldn't see the road! There was no swerving.....I just had to run them over and keep going. I hope someone called animal control.

As I neared the exit for the airport, the tumbleweeds, thankfully, dissipated and I had a sense that the worst was over. Alas...I should have known better. How could I think I would have an easy go of things at an airport that looks like a giant circus tent, guarded by a three story, rearing, blue horse with glowing orange eyes? What was I thinking?

Cy had told me this morning that I should park in short term parking. Two dollars more an hour, but you are "right in and right out". At this point in my post, I find the need to write a letter. Bear with me.

Dear City of Denver, and Airport Sign Making and Posting Personnel,
I would like to apply for a job as a sign maker and sign poster for your airport. It is clear you need no college experience, because...well, it is clear you don't need a brain. I certainly am over qualified in that case, as I do have a brain and mine works, but perhaps you will consider me for the job anyway.
Sincerely,
Jill Yuen

If you were putting up a sign for parking, wouldn't you include directions for ALL parking? And if you put up signs for parking, wouldn't you make sure ALL your parking options were listed on signs before a fork in the road? Before you think there is only one parking exit option? I would. I definitely would. I wouldn't make people look at one sign for parking and make the assumption that there is only one parking exit and then list another parking option on another sign way past the first parking exit option. A sign that cannot be seen from the first parking sign that leads them to believe this is the only parking sign and only parking exit option. Nope, I wouldn't do it that way! But DIA apparently does do it that way. But, I didn't know that.....SO....

I took the only exit you can see when parking options are listed. (silly me, I didn't know you had to progress to "Arrivals" to see on that sign that there is ANOTHER parking option). I got the little ticket and traveled past the completely packed Economy Lot and began looking for the Short Term Parking that my husband told me to look for and my 11 year old told me was the way I was going. (short note here....in my family, you are either a Lichty or a Yuen. Which gene pool you swim in is determined by your sense of direction. For example, Catey is a Yuen: she could not find her way out of a paper bag. She takes after her dad, WW (Wrong Way) Yuen. Jocelyn could get you from Colorado to California without looking at a map...she is a Lichty. Unfortunately, Carli's gene preference had not been made known to us before today....but let me tell you most assuredly...she is a Yuen!). So, I began to hope against hope that even though ALL the signs for the garage said FULL, there would be someone leaving. I drove and drove and drove. Thousands of cars and NO ONE was leaving! I drove and drove and drove some more. Somehow, I navigated myself out of the garage....but I realized I was going to have to go through the exit and pay to get out of this section of the airport. I called my husband, who told me to just tell the exit operators that I made a mistake and just let me out so I can go to short term parking, which my husband just told me is actually gotten to by taking the "Arrivals" exit. But, I am concentrating so hard on what he is telling me and marveling at the fact that there was another parking option, but it wasn't on the Parking sign that I made a wrong turn and ended up in an "Authorized Vehicle Only" area!! At this point I am stuck behind an automatic gate that only automatically opens if you are authorized, which I am not. Oh yeah, and there is a bus behind me. So, I have to push the red button that matches the shade of my face color on the gate call box and tell them, "Hi. I am applying for a job here at the airport as a sign maker and sign poster and to prove that I have no brain so that I can get said job, I am now stuck where I do not belong with a bus blocking me." After 30 seconds of hysterical laughing between the gate operator and the bus, the bus finally backed up and so did I. I decided my husband's idea of telling the exit gate operators I made a mistake and just needed to get to Short Term parking was my only option. When I got to the gate and told the lady, she told me that was fine, and to take the "Arrivals" exit (seriously....if everyone is willing to tell you to take the Arrivals exit...why don't they write that on the stupid Parking sign????).....and that she had to charge me for my joy ride through the parking garage. I hate the airport.

SO....I paid my money and got back around to approaching the airport. I finally took the "Arrivals" exit and found Short Term Parking very easily. Parked, piled kids and baggage out of the car and proceeded to the terminal.

By this point, I had to use the bathroom so badly, I left the girls to check in on their own. But, nothing about today was easy. Especially because I was at the airport. Of course, the boys had to go to the bathroom, too. Carli and I took them with us. I chose to take Gecko, because usually he is the easier of the two for me to manage and I didn't want to have an accident and wet my pants while dealing with Sam. Gecko, however, had to go as bad as I did....a fact he did not tell me til we were in the bathroom. Excruciating, that's what is was. And that is all I have to say about that.

Once I made it out of the bathroom, the big girls were all checked in and ready to say good-bye and head down to security. We hugged. We kissed. We waved good-bye. And then the three younger kids and I stood upstairs, watching the girls make their way to security. I wanted to keep an eye on them because my younger daughter has no ID and I wanted to make sure it wasn't an issue. She got right through. Ahhhh...at last - something easy. Or so I thought.

After my daughters got halfway undressed and went through the metal detectors, a security guard directed them to an "agent designated special security area" (benches at the end of the security conveyor belts). Oh no. Now what? They were talking to my daughter who does not have ID....the fourteen year old who hates confrontation. The guard seemed nice enough, but it is obvious there is some sort of issue and the girls remained detained. The guard monkeyed around with my kid's stuff some more and then sent them both on their way. The girls turned and waved and blew kisses with giant smiles on their faces. I was yelling, "what happened?" over and over, but they just smiled and waved and disappeared into the train tunnel!

Later the girls called me as they were boarding the plane. They told me they were detained because Jocelyn had an AWANA pocketknife in her bag!!! I think after my foray into the "Authorized Vehicles Only" section of the parking lot and Jocelyn's weapon stash, they heightened the security advisory to Red (SEVERE).

On the way home, matters only got worse. I was in a tumbleweed blizzard!!!! I had tumbleweed stragglers that refused to let go of my car! My kids were hungry, so I stopped in Parker to take them to McDonald's. Anyone know the McDonald's in Parker? Yeah...you know how you get to it? By getting on a ROUNDABOUT!!! That is when I started crying.

Anyway.....I am pretty sure they won't let me back on airport property. Even to pick up my knife-wielding delinquent minor.

So....who wants to pick them up? They will be back next Wednesday and I will be somewhere getting a massage. Just let me know. And remember...

Take the "Arrivals" exit.

I HEART COLIN FIRTH

2011-03-02T20:08:00.001-07:00

I believe I have been grossly misunderstood. I feel like Dave Barry when he had to print an apology and practically a retraction for his statements regarding Neil Diamond's lack of poetic depth.

Let me just say it for the record:

I LOVE COLIN FIRTH!

As a matter of fact, if you Anglophiles go back and read my previous post, you would see, indeed, I said several very complimentary things about Mr. Firth! Is there anything better than a rainy day with five hours to kill watching Pride and Prejudice? NO! There is not.

But....I beg you Redcoat sympathizers to be on alert! He is a tool of a government who wants what they just can't get over losing....US! You are being lulled by his coy smile and his humble conversation...but he is a tyrannical trap!

I am telling you...the only thing you have to gain from falling for this ploy is lower to NO orthodontic costs! It isn't worth it!

Wake up people!! WAKE UP! The British are coming!

BRITISH INVASION

2011-02-28T09:16:00.003-07:00

I certainly don't want to alarm anyone unnecessarily, nor am I a prophet of doom. But I am starting to have grave concerns for our great country. There are some serious issues going on in our nation and no one seems to want to be aware of it. Keeping our heads in the sand like a flock (is it a flock? Gaggle? Murder?) of ostriches is going to bring calamity on our nation! We can't keep pretend it isn't happening....we need to wake up and take our country back!

I, of course, am talking about the plot by the British government to regain "the Colonies". I know I am probably hypersensitive to the issue because we studied the Revolution this year. A war WE WON. After being reminded of the way our patriots overcame every odd and hardship to come back and chase those Redcoats out of our country, I find it despicable that we are turning a blind eye to their subtle infiltration!

Obviously, it started with the dreaded roundabouts! A roundabout is a traffic device that is designed to confuse drivers and pedestrians. It sends them on a journey to nowhere. Round and round and round an round, until by some miracle, the drivers are able to exit...usually in the wrong place, causing them to have to re-enter the traffic circle and pray they can get out at the right spot! If you are not familiar with how the British are using these traffic circuses to overthrow us, you can read about it here and here! The hope of the English is that eventually we will have so many roundabouts that the majority of the American ~~subjects~~ citizens will be stuck on them, thereby making a British Invasion a piece of cake.

I have been aware of the Roundabout Plot since January 2010, but the latest covert action by England took me a little by surprise. I feel it is my duty as an AMERICAN to make my readers sit up and be on guard!

Last night, I watched the Academy Awards. I used to throw very elaborate Academy Award parties, yet I haven't watched the ceremony in years. After you have kids, the only movies one goes and sees are not the ones that are nominated (Toy Story 3 excepted). This year, however, I actually saw some of the movies and wanted to see how they fared at the event.

I was appalled. We had a remake of an American classic up for nomination this year. True Grit was a fabulous movie! I admit, I was skeptical at first. I mean, how could anyone replace John Wayne in his Oscar winning portrayal of Rooster Cogburn?? But, Matt Damon (NO nomination), Hailee Steinfeld (LOST her category) and the exceptional Jeff Bridges (LOST his category) were so good that you never even made a comparison between the two Grits! The movie was beautiful to look at and the acting was superb and it told an AMERICAN tale about the guts and determination of Americans in the American West!! Did it win? NO! Know what did?

yeah....the king's speech. Whoopie.

This was so wrong on so many levels, I hardly know where to start!

But let's start with the fact that the award was given by the American organization, The Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences. Let us also not lose sight that The King's Speech is about a BRITISH monarch! And not just ANY British monarch, but one we never really knew about, or cared about.

King George VI, whom you probably never heard of before this piece of propaganda, was....nobody. Really. His brother, King Edward VIII is much more well known. He abdicated his throne in order to marry divorcee Wallis Simpson. He had to abdicate, because at that time, monarchs could not marry divorcees.....something they seem to have forgotten as they look to their next king, by the way. So, Edward's brother had to ascend the throne, having never been prepared for it. People! This is one of the reasons we don't have a monarchy! Who wants someone completely unprepared for the highest governmental office to actually take that office? Not the Americans! Well, okay....it has happened here...but usually we only have to endure idiocy for 4-8 years. My point is....why did Americans go ga-ga over a film about a nobody in a country we revolted against and a political system we abhor?? I have a friend from Texas...TEXAS!!...who took a group of women to see this movie! Texas thinks it is its own nation! What was my friend, Squirrel, doing at that movie?!!! It's unAmerican, I tell you!

If we HAD to recognize a British king, wouldn't Edward have been the better choice? After all, he married an AMERICAN woman! He stood up, like an American, to his own government and abdicated his throne for love. Though, he had his problems, too....friendly with Hitler, living in France, etc. But even those problems make better film fodder than his brother's....stutter. Really.

One of the other issues I have with the British Invasion at the Academy Awards was when the producers of The King's Speech came on stage. They gave their acceptance speeches (with sly and smug smiles). Do you know who they thanked? The "Best of the British" crew! Their screenwriter thanked the Queen! ON AMERICAN TV!! And we clapped. Ugh!

But perhaps the most disturbing situation of this inconspicuous attack is how and why we accepted this film so easily. Because we are hussies. It is true! If anyone other than the adorable Mr. Darcy (Colin Firth) had played such a bland and boring political "leader", we would have seen right through the guise! But we were blinded by our Austenian delight! The British may be boring....but they have American women's number all right! Have you SEEN the real George?? Only Mr. Darcy could make you forget that face and embrace that man.

In the end...not only did we let the wolf in the fold, but we were dazzled by him!!

Take note American brothers and sisters! They are out to reclaim "the Colonies"! First they are going to confuse us on the roundabouts, and then they are going to distract us with Mr. Darcy!! Wake up! The British are coming! The British are coming!

And don't even get me started on Christian Bale!

AYE MATEY!

2011-02-23T15:36:00.000-07:00

You know you have hit the wall when you tell the four year old, who has been in pajamas for no good reason for FOUR days, to get dressed because company is coming for dinner and you don't care that he shows up like this:

Fortunately, the company that is coming is bringing their grown up swashbucklers who may just appreciate the old days of their pirate lore childhood!

Hopefully.

HAPPILY EVER AFTER?

2011-02-15T11:22:00.004-07:00

Some of you may be aware that I finally joined the 21st Century a few weeks ago and got a Facebook account. It has been a wonderful way to keep up with current friends and reconnect with old friends. But something yesterday on Facebook rocked my world.

I happened to notice a friend of mine's relationship status. She is single. She wasn't single when I knew her. In fact, she and her husband were people we looked up to as a great married couple. They were/are godly people who love Jesus so much and wanted so much to encourage Christ's people. They had been married quite a while and raised some great kids, too. So, HOW did that happen? HOW did the King and Queen of Beautiful Marriage split? I don't know the answer. But I have my suspicions. Kind of like a Grimm Fairy Tale.....

Once upon a time, there was a knight. Not just A knight, but a prince in the making. He met a beautiful damsel and realized immediately, probably even before she did, that she was no ordinary damsel, but a lovely princess. When she met him, she did not need a magic mirror to answer her inquiry, "Who is the fairest of them all?" When she looked into the knight's face, she clearly saw that it was she.

And he proved it. He went to battle for her. He fought the temptations of other damsels. He slayed the dragons that came against his princess and put them to death...or at least to shame. She responded to him by giving him all of her. Her heart, her love, her life. They fell very in love and married and set up kingdom somewhere.

And they lived happily.

The Prince (for that is what her love had made him) slayed less dragons and went off to the corporate world to conquer and provide for his love. The Princess (for his love made her that) stayed home to make his palace a refuge for her Prince when he came home weary.

And they lived happily.

Not very long after their union, they were blessed with darling children. Laughter and sweetness filled their castle. They busied themselves together and became no longer just a Prince and Princess, but a Family.

And they lived happily.

With so many loves in his life, the Prince now found it necessary to conquer more beasts and foes and bring home more plunder to support his bustling household. The Princess was now finding her time going to household management and the raising of children. While the things they did gave them joy, the Prince and the Princess grew tired and weary. When he came home she greeted him as Provider, no longer Prince. And when she looked in the magic mirror of his face, the reflection she saw was Housewife. They loved no professions better, but they could not see the blessing of it at times, in context to their relationship.

And they lived on.

The Prince longed to be a knight again, fighting dragons once more instead of toiling in industry. He became forlorn at times. He yearned for an easier and more fulfilling life. He turned to the Princess for support, but she was so consumed with her role as Housewife, that she could not see herself as a princess anymore.

And they lived complacently ever after.

You know why?

Because God creates wives and husbands to fill specific places in each others' hearts. When they become overwhelmed or complacent, those places gape. It isn't that they don't love each other anymore...it is that they don't feel loved by each other anymore. The only way to close them is by making each other feel special. Like the Prince and Princess that they are. So why don't couples do that? Why don't they just say what they need to feel special?

Because once they have to tell each other what makes them feel special, it is no longer special. Special is when someone does something out of their own heart.....not as something to check off a list. And not just on holidays but all the time. It is something unexpected, thoughtful, loving.

That is why Jesus tells us to think of others before ourselves. It is easy to love the Prince and Princess in your life when they love you first. But, how hard is it to think of the other when your own kingdom duties burden your heart? It is very hard. That is why Jesus has to TELL us to consider others more important than ourselves.

Don't sit in the dungeon of self pity and depression. Storm the castle gates of your love's heart.

And live happily ever after......for each other.

NEVER A DULL MONKEY

2011-02-03T19:18:00.001-07:00

It has finally happened!

I have my last child through the 3's!!! And I am still alive and there are no other potential 3 year olds in sight!

I should probably explain.

In our home, our children never experience the Terrible Two's. Oh, I don't mean that they are angelic children all the time in their toddler years. I just mean that they save all their raucous, rude and defiant behavior for their Thrilling Threes! Even Catey, who hardly did anything wrong in her life was difficult at 3! She used to lay on her back and pound her heels so hard on the ground during her three year old tantrums that I thought she would shatter her ankles! And Jocelyn! Oh my! She would do everything just to spite you. Many times. Many days. In a row. And don't ever say no to a 3 year old Jocelyn....she thought that meant, "do it". Carli did all of those things plus the added excitement of biting. And Gecko....he just beat on his brother and then tried to lie about it!

And then we got to Sam.

Now, Sam had more energy and climbing ability and way less fear than all my other kids....but surprisingly, he was the easiest 3 year old we had! He listened better, cooperated more, thought of others more often and was actually repentant when he did something wrong.

Sam saved all his three year old energy for other things. Like urinating in the sink and toy bins, sticking his head in the mop water, letting other bodily functions have their way in the backyard and....well, you get the picture. Three year old Sam required a different kind of patience.

Anyway....that monkey turned four on Tuesday! Yay!! We made it through the woods.......

Or so I thought.

Yesterday, when Sam was 4 years and ONE day old, he apparently left a gross package in his room. And Gecko informed us.

ALL OF US: Ewwwwww, Sam! Gross!
MOM: Did you clean it up.
SAM: No.
MOM: Why not?!
GECKO: The dog ate it.
MOM: Okay...BARF! Sam....why wasn't it in the potty in the first place?

And my darling FOUR YEAR OLD SON said to me:
"Because I wasn't over the potty when I did it!"

He is nothing if he is not honest....and OBVIOUS! (and, granted, his tummy had been bothering him all day) Pray for his four year old year.....it is off to a messy start.

WEIGHTLIFTING

2011-01-26T09:03:00.000-07:00

It's me, it's me, it's me, Oh Lord,
Standin' in the need of prayer....

Do you know that song? I love that song....most days. But some days, I find more challenging truth in that song than I do in some of my morning Bible readings. One thing I never could understand about that song though is, when the singer is singing about their brokenness, they then sing out "Hallelujah". Seriously, when you are down in the dumps...who shouts that? But I get the rest of the song these days, for sure!

I believe one of my giftings is prayer. I LOVE to pray for people. Usually, I cannot even just say, "I will pray for you", but have to stop right then and there and pray with the person. If I am short on time and do have to say, "I will pray", you can rest assured that I do! LOTS!

I love that God has called us to prayer. I love that He puts lots of people on my heart to pray for all day long, every day. It is one of the ways he grows my faith because I have seen Him answer so many prayers that I have prayed. It is a numbers game. The more people He has me pray for, the more often I see answered prayers! He is faithful.

But...what is up with February? Shannon and Shirin know what I am talking about.

There must be something spiritually powerful that occurs in February in my life. For years now, I feel the impending doom getting closer and closer starting in January. By February 1st, all I ever want to do is disconnect from every single thing going on in my life. I am sure it some kind of spiritual attack, because most things I do are all about Jesus. I wake up and don't want to read my Bible, I want to just teach the basics to my kids and get it over with for the day, I want drop Bible Study and classes and everything else. I don't get it. I just want to find a hole and live there until April. Every little thing seems to form alliances to every other little thing til I feel a huge weight. And my prayers don't seem to be able to lift it. Like Superman around Kryptonite! It literally takes every bit of will I have to do life any other way than popping my head out of the hole and give directions then scurry back down to my hiding place.

So, here is the dumb part. I never ask for prayer through this. I think one time I did. (right Shirin?) I have this thing. I will take any child I love into my home as long as necessary, but I wouldn't want to trouble anyone with my kids (and my kids are good kids!). I want to help all my friends any time they need it, but I hate asking for help. If there is something I can do myself, I never want to burden someone else to help me. Get the picture? It is spelled P-R-I-D-E! Ugh! And I thought I was being helpful....really I am just trying to appear together. (as if!!)

I came to realize this last night when I went to coffee with my daughter (she is just WAY more wise than I!). She is not a prideful person whatsoever, but admits she works at keeping her eyes on Christ. Last night, she discussed all the different ways she is tempted to be prideful. And that is when I realized, many times when I share my burdens with no one but Christ, it is because I want to look strong to others. And because I don't want to trouble them. Of course, I want those things so that they still know I can help them carry their burdens. I have composed two emails this week asking my friends for prayer....but deleted them instead of sending them. What an idiot, huh?! Sometimes I can really be a flapjack (as my friend, Gretchen, would say!)

I have told myself that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, and to take all my troubles to the foot of the cross, to cast all my cares on Him for He cares for me....but I never asked anyone else to help me make it up the hill to the cross. Even though I would not think twice about carrying someone at full speed to lay their burdens down.

So, here I sit. It is almost February. Gray doom marches forward. I pray every morning for everyone else and add a one minute prayer for myself at the end. And God seems to be heaping more and more on me to remind me that He is relational. And that He has called all of us to pray unceasingly and lift each other up continually...even if prayer is not their gifting (seriously? MORE pride?!). How do we do that if we are not honest about our needs? So, honestly, I can say, I have a burden now that I need help carrying. I am having a hard time lifting it. I have so many little burdens right now, that I am overwhelmed by their collective weight. The Lord has brought me to a point where I have to choose either pride or relief. I choose relief and say to Him AND my friends:

It's me, it's me, it's me, Oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer. Not my brother, not my sister, but me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer.

And as the relief of humility and surrender wash over me when I admit my need....I finally understand why the singer says:

HALLELUJAH!

IT'S WORKING!

2011-01-25T15:49:00.000-07:00

Okay....I am over my head in duties right now and can't give my full attention to a post today. BUT...among ALL the other things I am trying to keep up with, the boys are really testing my ability to be patient and shepherd, rather than punish!

They have been arguing and using unkind words with each other for the past week....and having a lot of "couch time". This is always followed up with me telling them that we are family, we love each other and one of the ways we show love in our family is by using kind words and thinking of others before ourselves. They usually answer, "Yes, Mom." before I am even done talking. :/

But, just a moment ago, they were playing on the kitchen floor and Sam's dinosaur was trying to eat another dinosaur. He was growling, "I'M GOING TO EAT YOU! GRRRRRRR! I AM GOING TO EAT YOU! AARRRGGHHH! I AM GOING TO EEEEAAAAATTT YOU!!!", when all of the sudden, Gecko's knight said to the vicious dino, "Now, now. Is that how you show love in your family?"

I laughed so hard, I cried! BUT....the point is, staying consistent works!!!

I HEART CRAIGSLIST!

2011-01-17T20:37:00.000-07:00

So Angi got a brand new house, and all I got was a new habit!

Since my friend, Angi, bought her new house, she is looking for affordable ways to furnish her new footage. She started checking out some blogs on my friend, Alice's site and now she is a Craigslist stalker. She is searching for all kinds of stuff. Beat up. Old. Even ugly.

And then.....

She is refinishing them! She has done an awesome dresser and is looking for more goodies.

Well, I started looking at those blogs, too. I was very inspired! But I don't need anything new. I have been looking for a sideboard for over a year, but haven't found a nice one that is in the price range I am willing to shell out. This trash to treasure mentality has opened up new horizons though! I still haven't found a sideboard I want to pay for, but I know that the possibilities are far more vast than I first thought.

So.....what is a woman to do when she wants to paint something REALLY BAD? She raids her daughter's (the one that is out of town) bedroom and practices on her bedside table! Yep.....I ripped off Catey's table and painted it. I had to start over again, because I didn't listen to Angi (yes, Ang, you were right, I was wrong) and use primer first. If this one turns out, I am going to refinish Catey's dresser, too. Just don't tell her.

Jocelyn got in on the act and is practicing on a very rickety, woogedy-woogedy, old table. She has painted it and is planning on all kinds of cool stuff to do to it. Then, I told her, she could do her own dresser.

So, now what do I do at night and early in the morning?

Cruise Craigslist.

And how do I spend my weekends?

Sanding furniture with my friends!

I even found an inexpensive armoire on Craigslist that is exactly what we have been looking for for a year and a half! And I LOVE it! I am ready to take my relationship with Craig to the next level....I am going to sell my old entertainment unit on there!!!! Somebody stop me....I am Craigslist crazy!

And look what else I made!!!!! It has nothing to do with Craigslist but it is my favorite thing in the whole wide world that I have ever made!!!!! I put it in a rustic, barn wood frame and now it matches the armoire!!!!

See ya on Craigslist!

DON'T MENTION IT

2010-12-28T14:49:00.000-07:00

Okay....I am just going to say it....I hate underwear shopping. There. Enough said. If you do not want to join in on the discussion of the undignified and extremely frustrating act of shopping for unmentionables, now is your chance to run, screaming from my blog! Be advised.

I have spent more time shopping for underwear in the past two weeks than I ever care to do again in my life! There is not a worse experience than that kind of buying. Unless it includes listening to your 17 year old complain the whole time she is with you about how people are looking at her!

If you were able to catch the gist of my last post, you caught on to the indignity end of shopping for lingerie. First, I had to suffer through the trying on of items. WHEN did my 25 year old body become 42??? I used to be able to shop for whatever I liked not for....what?....function! But, I will say, that Vickie is a really good picker-upper (if you know what I am saying) and has lovely, functional undies suited to a 42 year old mom. I also LOVE the sales girls at Vickie's! Because there is NOTHING worse than shopping for ladieswear at Penney's and finding that everything you just brought into the dressing room is the wrong size, style or cut! That means, you have to get the new stuff off and get completely dressed again and go out and hope you get it right this time around, or else you will be doing the whole on/off deal again! At Vickie's the girls keep popping outside your room offering to get you whatever you need. I never had to leave my dressing room! That alone, is worth the price of their goodies!

I am convinced that if you are the worst sales girl in any given store - Penney's, Vickie's, Soma or otherwise - your punishment is working in the bra department. I need a drink after spending 10 minutes in there! Honestly, there HAS to be a better way to display unmentionables with STRAPS than hanging them all crowded up together on hangers!!!!! This is especially an embarrassing incident in Vickie's because no matter how much I appreciate their wares, I do NOT want to call attention to myself in that place. BUT...that is next to impossible in any intimate apparel department or store! No matter how delicately I try to rummage - yes! RUMMAGE! - through the racks and hangers, I end up with ten tangled bras around my head trying to find a sales girl to help me escape. I mean, you need to be Harry Houdini to shop for those things!!!!! The only thing I can see through the mess is my sales girl, Kylie, coming over, WITH HELP, stifling a laugh and untying me like a rodeo champ!

What I hate about Vickie's though, is the porn all over the place!!!! I think some men go in there because they don't have internet access! They just wander around. They aren't shopping with wives or girlfriends...they are just there for the peep show framed on the walls. And I can't decide if that is worse, or the fact that just when I felt halfway decent about myself in the dressing room, once I set foot back in the store, I have to compete with Sleezy Girl posters all over the joint!

It is a humbling experience. And infuriating on so many levels! (body image, tangles, competition) I am beginning to think that the only decent idea coming out of the 60's was going au natural. I know, it isn't a pretty thought....but it would save me from being hogtied in a lingerie store somewhere!

CATCHING UP WITH OLD FRIENDS

2010-12-20T19:18:00.001-07:00

I have this friend, Vickie. We used to hang out together a lot. Back in the days before I had kids. She is single and kind of a hot mama and I didn't fit very well into her life after I had kids. I missed her, but I know how life goes.

While I still liked Vickie, I started making other friends who understood my family committments. Vickie liked Carl, but didn't really have a place for my kids to hang out. It's not that she didn't like my kids, she just didn't understand them very well. They didn't really belong in her world. So, I started hanging out with another friend, Penney. Penney was always welcoming to me and my kids! She is a fine hostess who makes time to have just what the kids and I need at any given time. She even includes Carl in her hospitality.

Penney and I have grown old together. We are familiar. But, as I get older, Penney is sometimes unable to keep up. She is growing older, too, and sometimes I just need someone who can make me feel good about myself, like I did when I was 20. As much as I love Penney, she just isn't like Vickie.

So, after trying for a year to make do with what Penney could offer, I finally realized, I should get back in touch with Vickie. So, I left Penney's abode today, and went to visit Vickie. It has been about 17 years since I have seen her, but she was awesome! One thing I will say for Vickie....she makes me feel good about myself, AND...

She knows how to keep a Secret!!

STILL THE REASON FOR THE SEASON

2010-12-20T10:23:00.003-07:00

*****Click on the video title for best viewing.*****

IT'S ROCKET SCIENCE, I TELL YOU!

2010-12-16T16:11:00.000-07:00

My grandmother was born in 1913. She died just a couple of years ago. In her lifetime, she saw many, many advancements in technology. Later in her life, someone asked her, "Of all the things you have seen in your lifetime, what has been the best advancement?"

My grandmother looked them square in the eye and didn't even have to think about her answer. She said, "Easy. When they put pumpkin in the can."

I always thought she was being funny. Now, I think maybe not. Because I have seen a lot of progress over my 40 some odd years, too, but the greatest invention of my time?

Yep, the gift bag. If I never wrap another present, it will be too soon!

Do you remember when department stores had a whole department dedicated to wrapping gifts? Those ladies (they were always anal-retentive, over achieving, older matrons) not only made the presents look beautiful, but every seam matched flawlessly and the bows were things to drool over. There is no way to match that. Trust me....I have been trying for the past month. My poor family is getting gifts in paper that matches the Tree of Sheba, but looks like the dog wrapped them.

Next year....gift bags!

What? My Gramma's pumpkin pie always tasted good!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM US TO YOU

2010-12-12T17:00:00.003-07:00

Have I mentioned I have a very talented photographer in the family? She set up and took most of these shots. Merry Christmas!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

TIDINGS OF COMFORT AND TRUTH

2010-12-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

"Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, 'Go, inquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.'" 2 Kings 1:2

A little background here for those of you who don't know Ahaziah's lineage (as I didn't before reading 1 Kings). Ahaziah was the son of Ahab and Jezebel. If you know nothing else, you know his mom was a terrible woman! She really, REALLY was. She brought her false religion and priests to the palace in Israel and she persecuted and slaughtered hundreds of Hebrew prophets. It was during Ahaziah's parents' reign that Elijah was prophet. He called fire down from Heaven in the name and power of Yahweh, the one, true God, several times. And God showed up in all His burning glory. Ahaziah would have seen the fulfillment of several of Elijah's prophecies. So, when Ahaziah lay dying, wondering what his fate might be, what did he do? Did he call on the Proven Prophet of God? Oh no, he made inquiries of a false god. WHY???

I believe the reason Ahaziah sought out Baalzebub (other than the fact that he needed a good laugh at a funny name) was because he wasn't really interested in truth. He was dying. He just wanted comfort. He sought out a false god because he knew his servants would bring back comforting words of longevity. I think Ahaziah died in turmoil because he never sought truth, so he did not gain comfort. And before we get all disgusted with Ahaziah, I think it is a good thing to take a truthful look at ourselves.

I will start.

This summer, one of my children walked through a difficult season. It was difficult for me, too. At first, it looked like one thing was occurring, but it turned out it was something totally different. It was so sad to me. Seeking comfort for me and my child, I filled in a friend of mine and asked her to pray for us, which she did. But, she also spoke truth to me. Things she had observed and how she thought that might have compounded the situation with my child. At first, I had no interest in hearing that. I wanted her to just lift us up and send a long-distance hug and move on. But, when it comes to my kids, I want to make sure I am doing right by them (and I know my friend loves us all), so I re-read the words she had written and really prayed over them. In the end, I did not agree with everything she felt, but I did see eye to eye with her on some other things and made appropriate changes in my awareness. The changes that I made, made such a great difference! Some of the changes were very difficult for me and effected other relationships in my life, but as I saw the results in my child, I was comforted. If I had hardened my heart to the truth, I would never have made the changes that brought comfort to me and my child.

Recently, I walked through another stressful circumstance. I was struggling to even know what truth was in this situation, let alone seek it. When I prayed, the verses that came to mind did not support what I wanted in this case. I shared a small amount of my burden with a very good friend. I just wanted to get some things off my chest so I felt better. So I would feel comfort. But, I didn't feel any of that, I was just sad. Then my friend put her arms around me and prayed for me. In her prayer she prayed for the things I then knew I should be seeking. Truth. She didn't pray about my hurt, but about what was truth so the Lord to help me overcome the shadow of hurt. I had only been concerned with whether I was right, so that I could be justified in my hurt and anger, but while my friend prayed truth over me, I God's truth is...reconciliation and love.

I was not completely wrong in either of these circumstances. But, I wanted the other people to be completely wrong. I did not want to look at the hard stuff. I did not want to see my own faults. I did not want truth because I thought it meant I was not right. And that, my friends, is pride and it is the biggest stumbling block to every blessing of comfort God has for us. So, I wanted comfort and I wanted to be right, but I did not want to be truthful with myself. Do you think I received comfort? You know I did not.

In Hebrews, Paul tells us one of the ways we draw close to God is by having a clear conscience. If we have pride and distortion in our hearts, how can we be close to God. We are turning away from what He calls us to and building a wall between He and ourselves. We are trying to convince ourselves that God doesn't know best.

I appreciate, so much, those friends who took the time to speak loving truth into my life, so that I could unburden my heart and gain comfort. Proverbs 27:6 says, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy." I am not interested in a friend who wants to try to "help" me by telling me what I want to hear. I want those faithful friends who want to see me restored to God above all else and also to those around me. Let me also say that I believe that God has set certain relationships in our lives as the light of truth. While we should be able to speak the truth in love, not all of us can. Our big, fat, truthful, tactless egos can get in the way. BUT....a friend with whom you have shared your heart with and who has shared her heart with you....a friend whom you have a very special God-given bond with....those friends we need to listen to. They have a special way of speaking to your heart the truth you need to hear. They usually have our best interest at heart.

God had spoken truth to His people for thousands of years while they sought comfort. They turned away at every chance. Even after God parted the Red Sea before them, they turned to the golden calf when they wanted comfort while they waited for Moses to return from the mountain. Kings of Israel (God's chosen people) continually turned to false gods to give them comfort, rather than doing hard things and ruling in God's truth. For hundreds of years God was silent, and the people were VERY uncomfortable. And finally, He sent a Voice in the Desert, speaking truth and baptizing in repentance. The people who heard the truth and took it to heart, and cleared their conscience and believed, were given the greatest comfort in the salvation of Jesus Christ. What if John had never confronted people with the truth? Comfort does not come without truth.

If my friends had not been faithful and truthful with me, I would still be trying to be right, and I would never have found comfort. So, I encourage you, if you are struggling, seek out that friend that you know will speak truth to you and not just whatever you want to hear. Do not complain to her, but show her your burden. She will help you carry it to the foot of the cross. And there, you will find....

Tidings of Comfort and Joy.

IT'S COMING! IT'S COMING!!!!!!

2010-12-09T14:20:00.002-07:00

AND I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

PLAY-DOH TO PLATO

2010-12-05T10:08:00.006-07:00

I put a lot of work into planning my elementary school co-op. Many times I have to make up the activities because I can't find or don't like what is out there. I also know what it is like to teach preschool, elementary school, jr. high school and high school ALL IN ONE YEAR! I hope to boost others on the walk and share ideas.

Check it out! I will list activities we do with instruction on how to do it, observations from the homeschool frontier and encouragement for those walking the path. I hope it blesses you.

Play-Doh to Plato

MY APOLOGIES AUNTIE

2010-12-02T06:55:00.001-07:00

Apologies to my wonderful Aunt Mickey.

Who lives, and loves living in Nevada.

Perhaps those little mountains are pretty, once they have snow on them, as she says. Maybe the sky really IS blue in the tiny corner of the state where she lives. I suppose there is something nice about Nevada.

Surely. Maybe. Perhaps.

Nah.

Love you, Auntie!

THE WINTER OF MY DISCONTENT

2010-11-30T08:01:00.001-07:00

"These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the at land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. but as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one." Hebrews 11:13-16a

Having traveled by car back to California twice in the past two years, I have had opportunity to observe many of the western states. Anyone who has followed my blog during those sojourns knows how I feel about those states. Seriously, between California and Colorado, is there ANYTHING beautiful?! I believe God put that vast wasteland that we euphemize as the "Great West" just to remind us that Hell is real!

The first year that we drove out to California, I was struck by the absolute ugliness of the washed-out stone formations in the Utah desert. It was hot and white. We have rock formations in Colorado, but they are red and interspersed with beautiful green trees, covered by the bluest sky you have ever witnessed. They are spectacular to behold. But Utah's rocks....so close, but so far from the beauty I get to experience living here in Colorado. Since that trip, I have been able to appreciate some of Utah. I have to get pretty far into the state though, and more importantly, I have to stop comparing it to Colorado.

As ugly as I believed Utah to be, nothing, I mean NOTHING, not one state I have been in is more desolate and hideous in so many ways than Nevada. Flat. Colorless. Las Vegas. (need I say more?).

And Nevada is where I think I should move.

WHAT? Seems wrong doesn't it?

I think it is no secret that I LOVE living in Colorado. I grew up my whole life in California. That state has some very beautiful parts to it. And one of my favorite places in the world is there....Yosemite. BUT....California is also extremely crowded, very expensive, taxes are through the roof and the political system is a mess. After living there for 38 years, I was discontent and I longed to be somewhere else. I wanted to raise my kids in a place of beauty that would also allow us to have a life and some breathing room. Colorado has been a perfect fit. We love the fabulous Rocky Mountains (which, this morning, are covered with pristine snow), we love the red rock formations, the gorgeous rivers. Colorado has tremendous wildlife, fishing and wide, open spaces. I live in my dream house, surrounded by amazing friends with a great church and lots of people who are like minded. There is great opportunity for fellowship and spiritual growth and I am pretty convinced that Colorado is the "whole package". Everything I ever wanted. God has blessed us richly in bringing us here.

So, why, why, WHY would I want to move to Nevada?

Because I am content. That is a blessing....and a curse. I have so much going on in my life, that I only have so much brainpower to pour into things outside schooling my kids. But, as I was reading through Hebrews, I was struck by the verse at the top of this post.

I love waking up in the beautiful trees. I love spying Pike's Peak when I drive to the store. I love getting together with my friends once a week to school our kids in a house that is big enough to hold us all. I love the SNOW! I just love this state and everything/everyone in it! I NEVER think about leaving it.

Living in Colorado makes it hard to long for heaven. And, I admit, I do not turn my brain there often. Not often enough anyway.

I know it is a blessing that the Lord has bestowed on my family....this home, this state, these friends. But, I have found that if I am not intentional about realizing every day that this is NOT my home, I am happy to play in the puddles making mudpies instead of taking up the option of a holiday at the sea, as Lewis would say. I am easily distracted by the beauty of Colorado and my home here. I am thankful....and pacified. I feel like a Coloradoan.

But, what I really want to be is an exile on Earth. I don't want to fit in. I don't want to be completely satisfied. You understand, I love the blessings the Lord has given me. I am so thankful to sojourn here....I just don't want to be so comfortable that I forget that this is a temporary stopover. I want a little discontent in my life to remind me that this is not my home. Not really.

And that is why I think I should move to Nevada. That whole state is one big wasteland! If you can be content there, NOTHING will make you long for heaven!

TEEN PROOF!

2010-11-29T08:48:00.001-07:00

My girls are older now and don't have set bedtimes and wake up times. This has been a very good switch for us this year. Since they are wired to stay up later and sleep in later, I find that when they follow this natural rhythm, they are FAR more productive in their waking hours.

There is one down side, however. Sometimes they go to bed really late, and I need them up earlier. It can get ugly. They look like little moles coming out of their holes.

BUT....this morning, I found a foolproof, TEENproof way of getting them happily out of bed early. I didn't have to do anything but cook it...and out they came bright eyed and bushy tailed! Better than any alarm clock!

THE JILL WHO BLACKED FRIDAY

2010-11-26T18:58:00.001-07:00

The Goofs up in Denver liked Black Friday a LOT,
But the Jill, who lived just south of Denver, did NOT!

The Jill hated Black Friday...the whole Black Friday season!
No need to ask why, I will tell you the reason.

It could be that the merchants' advertised sales
were nothing but fiction, and myths and tall tales.

It could be that the supposed "season's best",
Were nothing but summer clothes whose prices were lessed.

But, I think that the most likely reason of all,
Was because the Jill was stuck in the overcrowded mall!

"These people," sneered the Jill, "are driving me crazy!"
"These people's manners," said the Jill, "are seeming quite hazy."

"They push and they shove and they cut in the line."
"And someone grabbed a gift that I had claimed as mine!"

As the Jill sat watching a clerk curl her kids' hair,
All she could do was sit with a catatonic stare.

"Why?" whined the Jill, "did I say I would come?"
"My Amazon shopping cart would surely have done!"

But, the Jill was quite stuck, right smack in the mall,
And then came the very worst part of all.

The hair-curling girly started to cry!
She asked us why we wouldn't buy the $200.00 iron...WHY?!

And THEN, the hair-curling girly feeling a sales loss,
offered us a GREAT discount (to 130) from her Italian Boss!

And so it went all over the place.
Til Angi wanted to smack the Jill right in the face!

But Angi and the girls restrained themselves strongly.
And the Jill...she began to see what went so wrongly.

It wasn't worth coupons, the sales, the pass.
It wasn't worth the drive, the crowd or the gas.

Black Friday, it seems, wasn't worth anything at all.
Just a big excuse for jamming the mall!

And then the Jill got an idea.
The Jill got a wonderful, Jilly IDEA!

"Next year," exclaimed the Jill, "I will listen to Sherri!"
"I won't listen to Angi and my Friday will be merry...VERY!"

"I will stay home on Black Friday, like a petri amoeba,
And I will decorate the great Tree of Sheba!"

And what happened then, after the Black Friday Flap?
The Jill, she herself, took a Black Friday Nap!!!

NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER AGAIN WILL I SHOP ON BLACK FRIDAY!!!!

BRING ON THE ZAMBONI!

2010-11-16T09:25:00.004-07:00

When the World Series ended, it left a GIANT (pardon the pun!) sports void in our home. We had spent three intense weeks glued to our TV screen (something that Yuens NEVER do) and watched the Giants defeat the Rangers in grand style.

The reason it left a vacuum is because we love hockey. More importantly.....we love the San Jose Sharks! Unfortunately, the rest of the state of Colorado does not share our affection for Los Tiburones, making it very hard to catch their games. When we lived in California, we had season tickets to the Sharks games. I knew all the players and their stats. I knew coaches, reporters and broadcasters. Then we moved to Colorado and gave up satellite TV.

Now we are out of Baseball Season.....and can't get the Sharks on regular TV. What is a Sharks' Hockey Family to do?

I tell you what I won't do! I won't resign a contract for satellite TV and then pay extortion prices for their Center Ice package. Not only will I not pay the money....but, if I get satellite TV....I will watch satellite TV. And I DON'T need that.

Queue Heavenly Choir: HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH!

My amazing husband found NHL Game Center, which is an internet service you can get and watch all kinds of hockey games. But even better.....IT'S CHEAP! We just pick our game, plug our computer into our TV and voila! We watch the Sharks spank the Kings! It is that simple!!!!!

So, of course, my main goal is to get some more friends on board so we can watch games together. Because watching sports is a more the merrier sort of activity! So, we invite our good friends (who shall remain nameless) over to watch the game. They sleep through the whole thing. They aren't hockey fans and don't have an interest. Which was fine....

Until last night, when they got free tickets to go to an Avalanche game. After one game, they are now DIE HARD Av fans. WHATEVER! Two days ago, they didn't even like hockey....now they can't root for the Sharks to save their lives. I bet they don't even know what the National Hockey Championship trophy is called. (don't Google it....you know who you are). I know they don't know who the Great One is! (seriously, if you know....I will know you Googled)

SO......I am now accepting new hockey friends! The only stipulation is you must root for the Sharks! And seriously, if you can tell me who this Hockey God is....you are in!

But if you need more of an excuse to get on the Hockey Bandwagon, let me give you 10 reasons to watch!

1. It is really TWO sports for the price of ONE! Hockey AND Boxing!!
2. There are really only two rules to know: Watch your stick and Don't Touch the Goalie.
3. I don't care who you are....you are already better looking than almost all the guys on the ice.
4. If you don't know who Drew Remenda is....you are missing a big slice of life.
5. Appeals to eclectic musical tastes....going between Heavy Metal in the face off circle to Organ music to rally the crowd.
6. When the players are naughty, they get put in the time-out box....reinforcing cause and effect disciplinary actions to your kids.
7. It is charitable. The league supports the vision impaired, by giving them jobs....as referees.
8. It is the only team sport that hires some guys solely for their ability to fight and not their actual expertise at playing the sport.
9. The players have really cool nicknames (usually because you can't pronounce their real names!).
10. It is just one more thing we took from Canada and made better. It is about World Domination, people!

The best definition I have found of Hockey, comes from Adam Young, of Owl City. While explaining what the sport is about to his grandmother he said,

"Hockey is the game used to interrupt ice rink fights."

That really sums up the game.

So, Wednesday night, Sharks vs. the Avs.....who's in?

Fear the Fin!

GOTTA LOVE AUBREY

2010-11-02T19:08:00.005-06:00

The Giants' Secret Weapon (click here for the WHOLE story!)

Seriously.....I can't decide whose "rally" would be worse: Pablo "Kung Fu Panda" Sandoval or Tim "The Freak" (or worse..."Tiny Tim") Lincecum!

BATS, BEARDS AND BUSTERS

2010-11-02T09:28:00.001-06:00

"Ahhhhhhh...FREAK OUT!" Chic: le Freak

What a game! Did you see it?! Oh man....it was a thing of beauty! Not just because there were amazing pitching duels and tons of drama, but because the San Francisco Giants won the World Series against all odds. They won it against a team who looked way better on paper, and they did it without guys named Mays, Bonds and Clark.

Since I stopped watching baseball 15 years ago because of the whiny egos running rampant in the sport, it was the MOST refreshing thing to see the "castoffs, misfits and ragtags"....the no-names....win the series so decidedly. Just a bunch of guys playing. And playing GREAT!

What a great thing to see Aubrey Huff make the first sacrifice bunt of his 10 year career! Taking it for the team! And Pat Burrel, who did much to bring the Giants to the Series in the first place, couldn't hit a ball to save his life during the Series. Instead, it was an "old guy" who made the difference......Edgar Renteria redeemed his 2004 Series losing out, by hitting a three run, game-clinching homer last night to help win the 2010 World Series! And what about watching Cody Ross race home on Renteria's homer? Ross, who was cut by Florida earlier in the season proved to be one of the most integral parts of the Giants' winning team! Freddy Sanchez became one of my favorite players to watch....not a home run king....but a solid double hitter guy. Every single guy made a difference....with little or no hoopla about them coming up to the start of the World Series. Overlooked, unappreciated, and unknown. I love it!!!!

But the guy who is the Poster Child for skinny geeks everywhere, should have the biggest smile this morning. King of Overlooked, Tim Lincecum, the right-handed sensation who looks like a 16 year old 90 pound weakling gave everyone something to think about. Even Lincecum's dad put all his efforts into his older, bigger brother. Lincecum was 4'11" and 85 pounds when he was a freshman in high school. He shot 12 inches by his junior year, when he made the varsity team. Even though he consistently made all-star teams, he often played the spectator, as no one believed he was the real deal because he was so scrawny. Even when he started proving his consistent pitching success, no one trusted what they saw. The first year he was eligible for the MLB draft, he was chosen in the 48th round....he went to college instead, where he kicked baseball butt. Even so, the next time he was eligible for the draft, he was selected in the 41st round....he stayed in school. It wasn't until a couple of years later that the Giants took a chance on "Tiny Tim" and signed him, sending him through their farm system. He has astounded would-be hitters ever since! Who can believe it? He is freakishly little for a major league golden arm....but he doesn't seem to care. It is a good thing for the Giants, he never saw himself the way everyone else did.

I like Lincecum. He reinforces the idea that no matter what you look like, it is your heart that counts. He gives incentive to shake off what others say we can't do. He reminds me that after a lifetime of avoiding exercise, 40 year olds can still overcome the couch-potato syndrome and run 5K's!!!! What is it that Junior Asparagus says? "Little Guys Can Do BIG Things, Too"!!! Yeah, Lincecum proves that, too!

I am so excited for the whole San Francisco team this morning. I'm sold. I am a fan.

I am Freakin' Out!!!!

CREEPY CRAWLERS

2010-10-30T17:55:00.001-06:00

Today, Jen, Angi and I formed the Butterfly Brigade and ran the Tri Lakes YMCA's Creepy Crawl 5K!

And if anyone ever notices me thinking that taking a two week vacation in CA and only running twice and coming home and only running twice is a good idea....remind me this is what I will look like when I am running.......

Now, I am back in the saddle again. I have been running steady for two weeks now, and I do NOT intend to take a lot of time off EVER AGAIN! Because today....I got my butt kicked by a SEVEN YEAR OLD!!

Good job, Nat!!!! 30:28!! I wanna be like you when I grow up!!!

THEY SAID IT COULD NEVER LAST

2010-10-29T09:58:00.003-06:00

"Looks like we made it!" Barry Mannilow

Anyone who has been around me for any length of time knows that I love my husband! I really, really love my husband. He is my knight in shining armor and I feel so blessed in my marriage to him. I know he got the short end of the stick, but I try to make it up to him.

Cy and I have been together for 23 years! I was a BABY when I met him (and he was fond of telling me that ALL the time when we first dated, as he is four years my senior...though now that I am just over 40 and he is pushing 50, that doesn't seem to be the razz it once was!). I have been with him over half my life and I am so thankful.

I didn't always make great choices in the man department before Cy and that is why I not only love him but appreciate the amazing guy he is. Right from the beginning of our relationship, I knew what a great thing I had! And believe me, though he is embarrassed to hear talk about it, I made a lot of enemies when we started dating. A LOT of girls we worked with really, really liked him, too. But....I won!

So, after knowing how I feel about him, it might surprise you to know that lots of our friends had serious doubts about whether we would make it. Several people expressed their concern before our wedding. After our engagement, I think that many people counselled Carl to think twice about going through with the wedding.

I know what you are asking.....WHY?

Well, for all our good points, Cy and I had one major, MAJOR thing working against us. And back in our early 20's it was a really big obstacle to overcome. Our friends said it could never be done. In fact, they had never known any couple to overcome it. They felt that no matter how much we loved each other, we could never love each other enough to get through something this immense.

In the end, we got married. And we made it because of one single event.

The Major League Baseball strike of 1994-95.

You see, and if you are a baseball fan of any kind this will make complete sense to you.....Cy loves baseball. I used to (before the strike). Cy is a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan. Oh yeah, you guessed it. I used to bleed Dodger Blue. Never was a more imperfect match made. During our dating days, the Dodgers spent a lot of time making mincemeat of the Giants. Those were cold, dark nights. The Dodgers even beat Cy's second favorite team (the Oakland A's....he is a Bay Area boy, after all) in the World Series. It could get pretty chilly during baseball season in our house.....and that was BEFORE we ever made it to Candlestick to watch a game!

And then.....it happened.

Super-rich team owners and Overpaid baseball players started arguing over how much money they DIDN'T have! Nothing gets me more than REALLY, REALLY wealthy people complaining about how much more money they should have for playing and providing a GAME for a living! It was more than I could handle and I BLEW. I went on a baseball strike, too. (I might also add at this time, that the Dodgers had the second highest payroll in baseball, and was having a tough time clawing even to the playoffs....AND they wanted more money!!!!).

I quit. Cold Turkey. I was OUTTA THERE!

Cy held out. He held on, still rooting for the Giants. I did a lot of reading during baseball season.

But, God is good. REALLY good if you ask Cy. In ways he never imagined. God worked a true miracle.

Last week, during the last game of the NL playoffs, I actually got excited about the game! It was a GREAT game! I even got excited about (WARNING: Dodger fans may want to stop reading now) the GIANTS!

But the deal sealer came as we went into Game 1 of the series. My wonderful friend, Angi is "from" Texas. She is a "big" Rangers fan (just don't ask her who Nolan Ryan is! Even I know who he is and I have NEVER liked the Rangers!), and "loves" baseball (just don't expect her to know the difference between a double and a double play, a starter, a reliever or a closer or the National or American League for that matter). She started trash talking on Tuesday. Demanding her burgers and such. Bringing her Rangers pennant over and hanging it in OUR house. At one point during the day, I was forwarding dueling texts between my hubby and my buddy! She threatened not to share her homemade apple pie, Cy sent a picture of her with her mouth stuffed with pie.....and on and on it goes.

Now....say what you want about the Giants....but trash talking my husband? Uh-uh! Nothing made me a Giants fan faster!

So, we have been having a blast watching the series. Watching Angi try to say that Game 1 was a warm up for the Rangers (so....what was last night's SHUT OUT, Ang???). Watching her leave the house with her tail between her legs before the game was even over! Oh! And don't forget how she reminds us that God is a Rangers fan because Josh Hamilton is a believer. Time will tell....or not.

But the best part of the series has been that Cy and I are FINALLY on the same side! Wow! I don't know if I am ready to say I bleed Giants Orange (?), but me rooting for them........well.....they said it would never happen. Just goes to show ya....Yogi Berra was a genius when he said...

"It ain't over, til it's over". I hope Cy thinks it was worth the wait!

LIZARD TONGUE

2010-10-25T19:57:00.004-06:00

Okay.....you ever have a kid that just gets on a roll of funny stuff?

Gecko is on that roll in our house right now. Since he has learned to read, he seems to have a new confidence in conversing. His understanding, however, is not keeping up with his tongue. This makes for funny conversation.

Such as.....

*Gecko: Mom, did we finish reading The Dangerous Journey today?
*Me: Yes.
*Gecko: I am gonna look at it, okay?
*Me: Okay....but take really good care of that book. I want it around to read to YOUR little boys. Then I can tell them, "I used to read that book to your daddy!"
*Gecko: You read that book to Daddy when HE was little?????

Lately, we have been enjoying old sitcoms. One of our favorites was sent to Joss by Shirin when Joss had surgery during the summer. I Love Lucy.......or as Gecko likes to call it: I Love Sally. (who??)

Since we enjoyed I Love Lucy/Sally so much, I thought my girls would really enjoy Laverne and Shirley. And they do. Gecko thinks it is hilarious! He also thinks it is called Laverne and Lucy. (well, at least she got another gig after Ricky dumped her for Sally!).

*Carli: I think those two guys are so funny!
*Gecko: You mean Lenny and SQUEEGIE? (WHO???)

And another Squeegie conversation:
*Carli: That guy has a high, squeaky voice.
*Gecko: Who? Squeegie? He likes Shirley. (this next part he says in a deadpan Squiggy voice and it is HILARIOUS!) 'Hey Shirl, want me to take you on a pic-a-nic?

And in some ways, his conversation is progressing amazingly! Such as.....
Driving home from Denver with Angi...
*Angi: Now, you guys feel free to take a rest on the way home.
*Gecko: Don't tempt me, I might just do that! (reminder...the kid is FIVE!)

Or how about this one...
*Gecko: Know what's impressive Mom?
*Me: What?!
*Gecko: I built my train track from just looking at the picture!
*Carli: Know what is really impressive Mom? A five year old that uses the word impressive correctly!

We may be the only ones who find it funny....but hey, it's my blog after all! What do your kids say that make YOU laugh?

READING LIZARD!

2010-10-20T14:55:00.001-06:00

I think the proudest day of most homeschool moms' lives is the day their child learns to read. Because of them. Or, in the case of at least one of my children, in spite of them!

I didn't get to teach Catey. Joss learned after much fear and trepidation...and didn't love it til many years later. Carli was so defiant that after spending a year TRYING to teach her, I quit....and she taught herself! And now...today!

The day the Gecko learned to read!!!! AWESOMESAUCE, buddy!!

WHO'S ON FIRST?

2010-10-20T09:35:00.001-06:00

I was a rebellious kid before I met the Lord. I tried to do as my parents told me and expected of me, but some temptations were far too great for me to overcome. My mother was strict and had some rules that I was terrified to break. I was threatened within an inch of my life and I believed my mother capable of wringing my neck if I overstepped her boundaries.

But, still, there was that one line I was dying to cross! It beckoned to me every day. Every. Single. Day.

It started innocently enough. Usually in summer. You know how it was. I was a latchkey kid; home alone all day long in the summer. By myself. Left to my own devices. A child giving into that one big temptation. I didn't mean for it to happen. There were those "gateway" sins that came first.

Like.....the Monkees. They were on at noon every day. And I watched. No harm, no foul. Later, in the day when I was older, I watched All My Children. Still no issue. Yet, I was flirting closer and closer to disaster every day I turned on the TV. Each day, turning on the set a little earlier. Each day dancing closer to the line of no return. And then....one day....I did it. I turned on the TV at 10 in the morning and watched....

THE BRADY BUNCH!!!

The Bradys were contraband in my house. My mother had no issue with Gilligan, the Monkees, Bewitched and the rest of the re-run crowd....but the Bradys were completely off limits! And I have to admit....they never helped my cause. My mother hated the way Mike and Carol never had to actually discipline the kids. (Secretly, I think it had nothing to do with the kids, I think my mom was jealous that Carol had a full time housekeeper). I hated how the kids totally repented and obeyed after one small reprimand of, "Now Marsha." "Now Greg." But, still....it was just a TV show. When I started watching what had always been restricted to me, I began to see that the Brady Bunch was really no big deal. It actually wasn't even that great of a show. And I began to wonder about all those other shows that were forbidden to me.

There was actually a whole slew of entertainment that I was not allowed to watch. My mother HATES The Wizard of Oz, but my father could not wait to share with me and is now one of my favorite movies. When I was a kid, the Wizard was only on TV once a year during Spring Break. I was always thankful for the times when it was my Dad's turn to have me during that holiday, so I could watch Dorothy and her friends get over on that icky, green witch. Something my mom would never allow.

Don't get me wrong though. My Mom loves movies. Albeit, not the ones I would have liked as a child. My mom was so excited to share her favorite movie with me when I was six. My first movie with an intermission! Just like in the fancy movies!!! You know why movies have intermissions? Because they keep you from breaking out in hysterics from boredom. The movie my mom took me to? Gone with the Wind. Which I now can appreciate as 3 hours of cinematic masterpiece....but at six years old, was the most terrible form of torture I could imagine. I didn't even get popcorn!!!!! I was hardly old enough to know what Viet Nam was, let alone a war that occurred over a hundred years before!!! Watching this movie, by the way, subjected me to more cruel and unusual punishment, like Joan Baez music. For days after we saw Gone with the Wind, my mother would play The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down on her Joan Baez album over and over and over and over again...ad nauseum. I still break out in a cold sweat when I hear that song.

So, as you can see, I was quite ~~neglected~~ limited in what I was allowed for my viewing pleasure. While other little girls were curling their hair in sponge rollers and entering Shirley Temple look-alike contests (which, by the way, Cindy Brady did in an episode of the Brady Bunch), I was reenacting Scarlett's big scene before the much needed intermission...."As God as my witness, I will never be hungry again!" (complete with realistic retching sounds). While other girls were auditioning in their drama classes with Somewhere Over the Rainbow, I was stuck leading Joan Baez sing-alongs!

And then something happened that amazed me. My Mom became a Grammy. When my three girls were 3, 6 and 9, do you know what my mother brought to them because "every little girl should have these"? THREE, not one, but THREE Shirley Temple movies!!! Are you kidding me? If a Shirley Temple commercial was even on in my house, my mother was yelling at me to turn the channel! NOW...after years of humiliation and missed dance classes, NOW, my mother thinks she is great?! I believe she has actually been present when the kids watched the Wizard of Oz, too. As Bill Cosby would say,"That is not the woman I grew up with! That is an old woman trying to buy her way into Heaven!"

Anyway....having been greatly limited in what was allowed to be on TV in my house, I now have a great appreciation for some of those shows that I WAS allowed to watch. Lately, I have been excited to share I Love Lucy and Laverne and Shirley with my girls! They really enjoy those comedic ladies.

But, last night, I shared one of my very favorite movies of all time. A classic like no other. And the reason I know it so well, was because of that Shirley Temple ban. The first thing I was allowed to watch on Sunday was the weekly, noontime showing of whatever Abbott and Costello were meeting that week. Sometimes I would even risk my mother's dismay by turning on the TV and hearing the last of the Shirley Temple credits, as her movie ended at 11:59, just so I wouldn't miss one comical moment of Lou and Bud.

Last night, we did Abbott and Costello Meets Netflix Instantplay.......and my kids LOVED it!

Thanks, Mom!!!!

YOU HAVE MY ATTENTION

2010-10-14T06:52:00.000-06:00

"I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we can confidently say, 'the LORD is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?" Hebrews
13:5b-6

Do you ever feel all alone? Trapped? Does your life feel as though it is cut off from everyone else's? Like you are buried with no hope of escape? Do you wonder WHY this has to happen to YOU?

Do you wonder where God is in your affliction?

Let me encourage you.

I can think of 33 men who felt LITERALLY the same way. Buried, trapped, forgotten. But when they came to the surface yesterday in AMAZING rescue, many of them hit the ground on their knees in prayers of thanksgiving to their Lord and Savior. Several of these men had girlfriends they had lived with for many years. Some of them had children with these women they never married. Some had hit a complacent, comfortable place in their marriage that thrilled no one in it.

But several of those miners made proposals of marriage to the women they loved. (one's fiancee even proposed to HIM while he was underground). One of the couples who had slipped into a 25 year marriage quietly could not wait to renew vows. The thing they all had in common? They all wanted to exchange their vows in a CHURCH. Clearly, they want to honor the God who saved them.....and wrestled with their souls.

Sometimes when we feel all alone in our predicaments, we forget two things.

1) Satan can't wait to take advantage or our hopeless state.
2)GOD WILL NEVER LEAVE OR FORSAKE US.

Those men were in Hell, itself. But, God met them there. The miners' spokesman and cameraman, Mario Sepulveda said this....

"I was with God and I was with the Devil, they fought me but God won. He took me by my best hand, the hand of God and I held on to him," Sepulveda said in an interview just one hour after he was extracted from the mine.

"I never thought for one minute that God wouldn't get me out of there," he added.

Think of the worst possible darkness you have been trapped in. Was/Is it like being trapped in an oppressive, humid, hot hole, 2300 feet below the surface of the earth?

Then reach out....God is waiting to take you by "your best hand" and get you out of there! It may take some time, but the blessing that is coming will be life changing.

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

GOTCHA, BABY!

2010-10-11T09:12:00.001-06:00

"...and she called his name Samuel, for she said, 'I have asked for him from the LORD.'" 1 Samuel 1:20b

About three and half years ago, a wonderful woman named Debbie sent me this picture.

It is of a tentative young man, who seems unsure of what is going on. And why not? He had been born, whisked across an ocean to Seoul, poked and prodded by doctors and nurses in a nursery for 4 weeks and then given to a mother other than the one he was born to. And little did he know.....THAT woman was not his forever mom either!

Three months after I received this picture, I was wandering around Seoul, South Korea with my husband. We were TRYING to tour a palace there. But, our minds were severely preoccupied. We knew that in three short hours, our son, Sam, would be placed in our arms forever and that the plan God made before the foundations of the earth would be full circle. Those three hours were the hardest labor of my life!!

God worked miracles to bring Sam to us. It was a crazy journey, with God constantly confirming that Sam was the son God was giving us. Miracles like....

*We were supposed to be waiting 11 months for a referral and we got ours in 2.5 months!
*He had a medical condition that didn't even phase us because God had "blessed" one of our other children with the same condition years before so that we had no fear of it.
*Three other families passed him up!
*His birth father's last name is the same as ours!
*FREE tickets to Seoul!
*Room for us to stay at Eastern's guest house.
*Our whole process to bring Sam home took 7 months.....it "should" have taken at LEAST 14 months!!!
*He even has two cowlicks like several of my other kiddos!

God left nothing out! Including bonding our hearts across the ocean before we even met. How else could our son greet two people he never knew like this??

I prayed harder for Sam than any of my other children. That is why his name is Samuel....for this child I prayed and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to Him. I guess, I felt that there were more unknowns with him than my other kids. Truth is, there are unknowns with every baby. As my friend said, "none of them are born with halos". There are no guarantees about what you are thinking. There is only trust that God has led you here because He loves you and your child. I can hardly remember that Sam hasn't been with us since the beginning. In fact, I sometimes freak out because I cannot recall my labor and delivery with him! (Well, I remember A labor and A delivery...but not from my own body). He is a perfect fit.

Just as God planned.

SIX KIDS....NO GERMAN SHEPHERD

2010-10-07T07:13:00.002-06:00

Anyone who knows me....actually anyone who has ever MET me knows that I love people. I like everyone! Strangers are just friends I haven't met yet! This week, we had the opportunity to spend time with friends from out of state.

Seth has been a friend of Catey's for about a year, but the rest of us just got to know him a little better a few months ago through our ICC happenings. Good thing for us, Seth is like me! He doesn't just enjoy the party...He IS the party! His dad was along with him and now my sons want to go home to Georgia with them. After all, where Seth is the party, Scott is the magic show! Kinda. Well, he was good enough to fool my boys with glowing fingers, repaired dollar bills and disappearing (?) napkins that reappeared from Seth's nose. Don't ask. Suffice it to say, we are not as much fun as our Georgia counterparts so I had to email their mom/wife and ~~warn~~ let her know about these two souvenirs who want to stow away in her son's and husband's luggage. I told her I just want them back after they graduate college.

Anyway...we got to walk around Glen Eyrie for a short while yesterday before meeting Carl for dinner. Now, Lisa just needs to work on introducing her family as, EIGHT kids and a German Shepherd!

The Guys and their Souvenirs

PILGRIMS' PROGRESS

2010-10-03T17:34:00.001-06:00

WANTED: Several stout-hearted, resourceful, courageous and inquisitive people, who love the Lord and are frustrated with their earthly sovereign to start colony. Duties include, but are not limited to, making friends with the neighbors, farming, hunting, fishing, building, and other miscellaneous activities. Must have strong desire to survive.

I have said it before, and I will say it again. In my house....if it isn't fun, it isn't school! Lots of people do school at home, but NOT ME! I love to play as much as possible during the early years, and focus on heart issues. If I do it right, my kids will never even notice they are learning!! So far, so good. My kids dig it! And this week, I think my friends' kids had a good time, too!

Since my second year of homeschooling (WAY back when), I have always been a part of a co-op. Usually just a few family friends. This year is no exception. There are 6 families and we are doing history together this year!!!! I LOVE HISTORY! And to make matters better....we are doing AMERICAN HISTORY...which I also love. And I get to teach every single week!!!!!

This past Friday was our first co-op of the year. We did a whole Colonial Day! The girls made mob caps, the boys made WIGS. We prepared Queen Cakes (complete with homemade rose water!) and had a tea. We also made floating candles in sea shells like the Plymouth Colonists made. What a blast!

We have two more weeks of learning what it was like to be a colonist in the New World and then we will start progressing to REVOLUTION! Here are our Colonial Kids!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

HERE'S TO YOU, DAVE BONILLA

2010-09-09T11:09:00.002-06:00

Fallacy: "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."

I know this is a fallacy because I have been there. On the road to Hell, that is. And there were NO good intentions. Which is odd because we were sent there by a "friend" of Joe's. "Dave", Joe's buddy sent us on this road to get some "good" fishing in. By "good" I mean, "lousy".

We are in California visiting our good friends, the CA Schnuens. They are like family and so it is always good to get some serious visitation in with them. And this year, all of our kids are older and more mature, so we were able to get a "grown-ups only" excursion in. Though, what really happened was nowhere near an excursion. Here is Dictionary.com's definition....see if you agree.

ex·cur·sion
a short trip or outing to some place, usually for a special purpose and with the intention of a prompt return: a pleasure excursion; a scientific excursion.

I know it wasn't an excursion because it wasn't a short trip, nor was their a prompt return involved AND the word "pleasure" (except for the company) could hardly be used in the same sentence with our outing! I am pretty sure, however, that it was a scientific trip. I think Joe's "friend" was trying to see how long 4 "citified-folk" could survive in the wilds of Iron Lakes....which is where Dave "the Jokester" Bonilla sent us, with promises of good fishing, I might add!

It all started with an innocent phone call. Joe "Don't Make ME Make a Decision" Schnuen decided to call his "buddy", Dave "Can't You Take a Hint? I Don't Like You" Bonilla to see where HE would suggest we go for good fishing. Dave's intentions (obviously NOT good) were two fold. The first was to get us lost in the backwoods of Yosemite country and the other was to starve us once we got there~

This was quite calculating, as Dave "See Ya Later Blockheads" Bonilla had to count on the following things:

*That Joe "Everybody is my Buddy" Schnuen would actually trust him.

*That Joe "Who Needs Pavement" Schnuen would really drive on a "road" (and by "road", I mean path of DEATH which make Roundabouts look like a piece of cake!) that even Indiana Jones would have run screaming from just because his "buddy" said he could.

*That Shirin "You are Lucky I Have Three Children with You" Schnuen would not wring Joe's neck before we got to the "Starving Time".

*And that Carl and Jill "I Don't Think Dave Likes You" Schnuen would also not wring Joe's neck.

Needless to say Dave "You Idiots" Bonilla's dastardly plan worked flawlessly. And by "flawlessly", I mean FLAWLESSLY!

We set out around 10am in the Suburban. We had sandwiches and snacks, water and other assorted beverages. All our bait was ready to go. We had an ice chest for ALL those fish we were going to grill for dinner and chairs for all of us. We drove on a very windy road that took us up, up, up into the mountains (by "up, up, up" I mean half of the elevation we live in in CO). Soon, the road became full of potholes, with half of the pavement missing. There was loose gravel and big rocks and something no one should ever have to encounter deep in the heart of the woods.......FOREST COWS! These beasts inhabit the forest and stand menacingly in wooded pastures and by the sides of roads. We got dangerously close to one, but only because they can't charge if they are facing away from you. We probably should have turned back then. But we didn't.

Got Milk?

On and on we drove. Until the road no longer was missing half it's pavement. IT WAS MISSING ALL OF IT'S PAVEMENT!

Now, I know that a Suburban has four-wheel drive...but it is not really an off-road vehicle. Fortunately, there was at least a dirt road...but not for long.

Somewhere around 11:30am, the road completely disappeared. I mean it was GONE, baby! There was still dirt, but now there were trees surrounding us, with BIG stones, rocks and boulders in the way. And yet, Joe "Who Cares if we Live" Schnuen kept driving. Sometimes we cleared trees on the sides of the car by 1/4 of an inch! We bounced all over.

In the end, Shirin "I am Begging for my Life, Here" Schnuen talked Joe "If I Only Had a Jeep" into parking the Burb and walking the rest of the way. We were in agreement, so we won! We unpacked some of the stuff (taking everything was no longer an option, as we still had to hike to the lake....which we were far enough away from that we couldn't see it), and headed off on the trail (and by "trail" I mean...."we are TOTALLY guessing where to go from here").

After a short jaunt, downhill on slippery gravel, we arrived at Iron Lakes. It was breathtaking (probably because we were breathing so hard from the long, and treacherous hike in). Really, it was quite lovely. We set up camp and threw our lines in. Within 5 minutes, I caught a fish!!

False Sense of Security

At this point, we made the near-fatal mistake of actually believing Dave "Call Me When You Get Back So I Know You Are Still Alive and I Can Start Planning My Alibi" Bonilla really had sent us to the prime fishing spot and only sent us on the Death Trail because it is the only way to the Fishing Jackpot! And we were still holding on to that belief when an hour and a half later, Carl caught the second (and by "second", I mean "last") fish of the day. From there on out, we moved all over the lake, hoping for the fishing bonanza. It was then that we realized Dave "Losers!" Bonilla had no intention of seeing us again.

By 4pm, we packed up the stuff and headed up the trail. This must have been Dave "Ever Heard of the Donner Party?" Bonilla's last ditch effort to kill us off. The trail, which was easily taken down because gravity had you in a death grip, was not so easily ascended. BUT.....somehow we did it. Half the battle was down. The next half was driving the car BACK to our home. That half of the ride was worse because it was DOWNHILL!

Anyway, I am proud to say, we made it back in one piece, no help from Dave "You're Back?!" Bonilla. And when we got back, we ate the two fish as an appetizer with a stiff drink and toasted Dave "We Gonna Get You, Sucka" Bonilla.

For your consideration, I submit the following evidence:

ROAD TRIP!

2010-09-04T20:58:00.000-06:00

"Honey, Ahmuna tike you to the Barrel. They treat you raht at the Barrel." Tim Hawkins: I'm No Rockstar

Well, here it is. The first post from the road trip to California. Musings and observations from St. George, Utah.

We made excellent timing today! We left the house at 4:03am...just three minutes after estimated departure time...pretty good for 5 kids, 2 parents, 4 suitcases, one ice chest and 5 million pieces of candy, also known as "bribes" (yes, on a 20 hour car trip through 4 states, I have NO, NO, NO problem with a little bribery!). We didn't stop for breakfast until we hit the booming metropolis of Rifle, Colorado at 8:15am. There was a high possibility that we could still be there, as we encountered a roundabout there! YIKES! And me, without Karri! Carl actually had to go on it twice because we were so discombobulated from our roundabout dizziness that we missed the McDonald's on the first go. So, while I hyperventilated into a bag, the rest of the crew maintained watch to point out 5 different exit strategies so that they could get their McMuffins! Whew! Thank goodness, my husband is MUCH better at navigating those stinkin' things than I am. After breakfast, we made a quick run to Starbucks because we were getting really close to Utah. And,as any of you coffee experts know, once you are in Utah, a good cup of coffee can be as hard to find as a stiff drink! So we made our last Starbucks run until Nevada.

We continued on remarkably well. Praise God! The girls were awake for about an hour of the 11 hour drive today, with Gecko being awake for about three. That leaves.....Sam.

If you followed our California trip two years ago, you may remember me being a blithering idiot by the time I returned home. That was because Sam was 1.5 and had only been home for 9 months and he CRIED all the way to and from California!

Sam was awake for about TEN of the 11 hour car trip today. And he was phenomenal! He did not cry once! As a matter of fact, only one person cried today, and it wasn't ME! 6.5 hours into the drive I finally broke out the Rolo's from the Bag O'Bribery....but only to reward everyone for doing so awesome! I only had to dip into the Bag of Bribedom one other time today, and that was only to keep two of my children from sniping at each other (and they weren't the 3 and 5 year olds) and to keep a certain lizard, who shall remain nameless, from crying for the last 5 minutes into St. George, where we are staying. That, in my book, is a STUPENDOUS trip!

Sam, the Trooper

And it just keeps getting better! We checked into the Holiday Inn here and it looks like we are in the Honeymoon Suite....economy edition, of course, and with 5 extra people. But....this room is bigger than my first apartment! No exaggeration! And, Gecko was thrilled because the beds are Murphy Beds that pull down from the wall....JUST LIKE AT THE FIRE STATION! Wow! The day doesn't end any better for a 5 year old boy than that!

After a quick dip in the pool, everyone showered and we were off to dinner at a fine dining establishment here in St. George. That being....Cracker Barrel.

The Barrel

I love Cracker Barrel. Their food is decent....but my favorite thing about "The Barrel" is that no matter how gross I feel from sitting on my butt for 11 hours eating junk/fast food...I always feel better about myself when I go there. Any self-image struggles I had before walking in there, are gone the minute I sit down. Let's face it, even with their down-home comfort goodies, they are still the WalMart of restaurants.

And tonight, I felt downright frumpy. All messy-haired, make-up drained, stinky-breathed and stretchy clothes. (Angi...it is a good thing I didn't wear the capri sweats! I would have fit in all too well!). But, as I watched the hostess seat the other guests (Man, as I watched the HOSTESS), I began to feel as hot as any Hollywood starlet around today! I mean, at least I have all my teeth!

And then it happened. I sat there feeling all smug. I felt confident in my intellect. How could I not? I was surrounded by bumpkins. And not just one or two. WHOLE BUMPKIN FAMILIES! Not only was I HOT...I was a GENIUS compared to the company surrounding me! And so to try to douse my prideful attitude, I picked up that little golf tee game thingy that they have at every table.

Not only could I NOT win that game...I became consumed by it! I almost didn't eat for want of proving myself better than The Barrel Tee Game! Jump, jump, jump, FOUR left! Jump, jump, jump, THREE left! Jump, jump, jump....aaaaackkkk! Curse you Golf Tee Game!

But the worst part was....as I looked around at all the toothless, hairless (or hairy, depending on which cousin married which) folks around me, I noticed one thing all of them had in common. They continually played the Golf Tee Game of Death, too. But, while I took 10 minutes to finish a round, they casually completed theirs in a minute or two. And. They. All. Had.

ONE.

Tee. left in the board!

Today, at The Barrel, I had a life changing experience. Yeah, yeah..".don't judge a book by it's cover." "Grace, grace." "It's what's on the inside that counts." yada yada. I learned that ~~junk~~ lesson, too. But more importantly, I learned that perhaps healthy eating and good dental care are overrated. That hair, whether on your head or only under your arms, is of minimal consequence to your reasoning ability. That cousins may just make GREAT spouses.

I have one I plan on looking up once we get to California!

JUST FOR YOU (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE)

2010-09-02T18:00:00.003-06:00

There is nothing I wouldn't do for you...

I would climb a mountain or a hill,
I would listen til you'd said your fill,
I would love your children as my own,
I would love you as you are grown,
I would pucker up and kiss a frog,

and as you can see....

I would even change my blog!

SETTLIN' IN

2010-09-01T16:39:00.001-06:00

"And John Smith sojourned many days in the land of Powhatan and his tribes." Genesis 21:34 revised

I sure had a crazy idea of homeschooling when I first looked into it. I thought homeschooling was a mom and her kids sitting at a table re-enacting school at home. I thought it was not only insane, but boring. My friend, Shannon even ratted me out at Catey's homeschool graduation this past June by telling everyone how I said all homeschoolers were crazy. And that was less than a year before I started to homeschool!

Catey went to Kindergarten and first grade at the public school near our house. That was so long ago that I can't imagine life if it had carried on in that educational path. It was like putting her in a box and poking holes in it and showing her pictures of the real world. THAT was boring and insane.

We started school last week, as you may know if you read the post. It was hard for me, as I have never started school before Labor Day in 11 years of homeschooling. Another prerogative of homeschooling. Last week was just getting back into the swing of school. But, this week, I was reminded why I love, love, love educating my kids at home. Intentional, serious, FUN!

My older girls are GONE. Yep. On a major field trip to Utah to help teach a mini communications conference. How many schools start the year off with an overnighter where the STUDENTS do the teaching? I never got to do that. The second week of high school was always the "real" start of school. Homework, projects and late night studying. For a grade. My girls aren't doing this for a grade....they are doing it for their life!

Meanwhile, my younger kids are learning American History this year! WOOHOOOOO! I am so, so, so excited! I LOVE history (a great gift from my mother) and am currently trying to figure out how to fit it all in! We aren't meeting for co-op until October, but our family is having a lot of fun starting at the beginning of America's great past. Well, okay, not the beginning. My older girls, with eyes rolling, will tell you that to start at the beginning for American history, I must start at the fall of Rome. So, I have compromised for the sake of my young charges and started with the English Reformation. At this point, my co-op partners are very glad NOT to be learning with me until we reach the Massachusetts Bay Colony in October.

Say what they will.....my kids are having a blast!

Gecko is doing math, phonics, history and Bible with us. Carli is doing math, history, Bible, science and writing. I am reading to them both.....and Sam when he listens. Lots of fun books about Roanoke, Jamestown, John Smith, and Pocahontas. That is all fine and well, but I like FUN! School is not HOMEschool to me unless we are having a blast! Anyone can do school at home, it takes a REAL nutcase to break the mold and do something else!

So, here was today's assignment. After the boring stuff (reading, writing, math), I gave the boys a choice of being one of Powhatan's Indian braves, or being one of John Smith's explorers/interpreters. Guess what the boys chose.....

They played outside for three hours as explorers! Listening to them hunt, track and fight, I could tell that they learned a lot from our studies. Who needs a test when you can hear your little soldiers tracking game and bartering with Indians along the James River?

I did learn that I need to go over some more Godly Character training with Gecko, though. Through our study on the early settlers, we are focusing on Courage and Inquisitiveness. Today, when I asked Gecko what every explorer needed, he did not answer "bravery" or "curiosity". He didn't even answer "guns". He said, "Mom, all explorers have to have.....

CURLY MUSTACHES!"

Well, okay, then.

WHO'S IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT?

2010-08-26T08:58:00.002-06:00

"Be strong and courageous, do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord, your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

To be a homeschooler takes a certain amount of courage. It can be hard to swim against the tide. Even to CONSIDER swimming against the tide can be paramount to any other decision you may have ever made.

I think many of us who considered schooling our kids at home asked several of the same questions...

WHO am I to teach my kids when people go to school for years to teach kids?

WHAT is my family going to say?

WHEN am I going to fit ALL that teaching into my day?

WHERE is my head?!

WHY not send them off to school?

HOW am I going to do this??!!

But, the Lord is faithful to provide answers, and more importantly, peace, if He has called you to teaching your children at home. I know that is how it was with us.

I found that when I stepped out in courage, God gifted me with faith to trust in this calling. I learned that teaching my kids at home was AWESOME! Such a gift!! God was good to constantly encourage me on the path and give me creativity to keep things fun and interesting. He even began to open new opportunities. I led support groups, organized co-ops, held workshops and hosted all kinds of functions. It is true, the Lord has richly blessed me on our homeschool walk and equipped me for everything.....

Except ONE thing.

Driver's Ed. There is NO amount of bravery that can prepare me to get into a car with my daughter.

Yes, it is true. I need my 17 year old to get moving on getting her permit so that she can get her license! I am way too busy to be in 5 places at once. I need her to drive! As soon as possible.

It is also true that Driver's Education is the easy part. She is 17, so she only needs to study the Drivers Ed manual and pass the test. It is the Driver's Training that I don't think I will ever be able to handle! Sitting in a moving car, while my kid drives sends shivers down my spine and makes me break out in a cold sweat. I know tons of kids do it all the time. Actually do it well. But, I have just a little bit (okay a LOT) of nervousness in training my kid to drive. She is super smart, but lately, she has said a few things that make me wonder if I will ever get in a car with her!

Things like (and as Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up!):

"Okay, but Mom, what do I REALLY have to study in the book?" (uh...ALL of it!)

"Seriously? I mean, I don't want to waste my time...I just want to learn what is going to be on the test." (WHAT? NEVER in my life have I schooled my children to think this way!)

"My strong point is not common sense." (!!!!!)

"I think it is stupid that pedestrians always have the right of way." (to which my husband wisely advised me not to go running when she is driving!)

"Whoever wrote the driver's manual wasn't very educated. It is FULL of grammatical errors!" (yes, but did you pay attention what it SAYS anyway?????)

I am sure you can see why I am dreading the day that she gets her permit. But....I will say that I have bode my time wisely. I have taught every class, every workshop, every event that I never wanted to. I took on every responsibility, willingly, in our homeschool that my husband wanted no part of . I have been storing up for years for this grand moment. The moment when I could turn to my husband and say,

"Your turn."

BITIN' THE PROVERBIAL BULLET

2010-08-19T11:06:00.000-06:00

"Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching....whenever she decides to teach again!" Proverbs 1:8 revised

Here is something that you will hopefully never hear out of my mouth again. It is August....and we are starting school.

For those of you who know me, you know that something must be desperately wrong if I am starting school in the SUMMER!! Never, in 11 years of homeschooling, not EVER, have I started school before Labor Day! Never, never ever! It goes against every fiber in my being.

But God gave me a very fun season of playing this year. He blessed me with so much fun that I can hardly complain about having to start school now. He crammed THREE summers into 6+ months. Here are the blessings.....
*New Mexico homeschool conference with my buds
*Including Mr. Demme as one of my buds at the NM conference!
*Watching Mr. Demme talk to my daughter on the phone at the NM conference
*Imagining Joss on the other end of the phone....plotting my demise.
*Graduation of our oldest daughter and survival of making her Memory Board O' Death.
*A wonderful week's visit with my folks.
*Shorter visits with many, many out of state friends.
*Day trips to Helen Hunt Falls, Patsy's Candies, and Fox Run with old friends.
*Getting to adopt two FABULOUS boys for a couple of weeks at a time.
*Breakfast at Cracker Barrel with Ethan.
*One big play date from January to August with the Yuenkowskis.
*Texting my daughter daily for three weeks. (I never thought we would be apart so long this early in her life).
*ICC National Convention! Hanging out with Karri, Twyla, Eunice and other fab folks!
*Seeing our nation's capitol
*Impersonating Mrs. Moon in FRONT of Mrs. Moon!
*Dinners with the Webers.
*ROCK HOUSE ICE CREAM
*SIX birthday celebrations!
*LOTS of parties: Graduation, blessing, birthday, YSG
*New dog!
*One surgery....Okay, that doesn't fit the "play" model...but it did result in many hours of I Love Lucy!
*A fun trip to Squeak with friends to make our own sodas.
*FINALLY a time to hang out with the Frames.
*Multiple Toy Story 3 dates.
*Three different camp experiences.
*Just hangin' out doin' nuthin'

So, as you can see, I really can't complain. It is time to say good-bye to my great summer vacation (and then some), bite the bullet, and start school.

After all, I go on vacation in two weeks!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

DON'T MESS WITH ME....

2010-08-09T09:19:00.000-06:00

Or I might start blogging.
You know who you are.
Be afraid.....be VERY afraid.

WAITING TO EXHALE

2010-08-04T09:07:00.001-06:00

I thought I was doing such a good job. I texted with Catey every day that she was gone. Most days, we got to talk on the phone. Towards the end of her trip, our conversations stretched to an hour or longer. I actually got used to her being gone. I was not just holding up....I was doing fine.

Then, on Monday, she came home.

As soon as I saw her....this daughter whom I was doing fine with being gone....I left my four younger children standing at baggage claim and RAN to her, with tears streaming down my face! I bawled like a baby and realized that even though I had been fine, I had been holding my breath the whole time she was gone.

Now, she was home and I exhaled one long breath, completely racked with sobs.

All is right with the world and I am breathing normally again, now that all my kiddos are together under one roof....something that hasn't happened much this summer.

And I didn't even need CPR.

WISH YOU WERE HERE

2010-07-19T09:00:00.003-06:00

wish you were here..
Originally uploaded by ~ A d i ♥ ~

"Since you been gone...since you been gone....I'm outta my head, can't take it. Whooooaooaa. Whoooooaoooaa. Whooooaoooa. Since you been gone." Since You Been Gone: Rainbow

Maybe it is because I am a homeschooler. It is unusual when my children are not with me for long periods of time. I have never been a parent chomping at the bit to end summer so I could send my kids back to school (even when my daughter was IN school). Everything seems right in the world when we are all together.

But, if you read my previous post, you know we are in a season of "letting go" with Catey. She and Joss left for camp on July 11th. That was fine. Jocelyn was home in 4 days and Catey was off to her next stop. It is so fun to hear how much joy she is getting from cooking and cleaning in Tennessee heat! We have all been enjoying her updates and learning what she is learning.

Until yesterday.

Yesterday, I sent a couple of care packages to her. One, was a necessity. She had her suitcase so jam packed, because she is going to be gone so stinkin' long, that it ripped and the zipper split. I sent her a new one. But, her Auntie and I also found a perfect gift reminiscent of the last visit we all had together before she left so we sent that, too. And I found a couple of fun things for her to share and sent that on as well. When someone is on an extended stay away from you, it makes you feel closer when you send things hand-picked just for them.

Usually....

Yesterday, I was trying to make sure her stuff would have enough time to get to her. That is when I realized...she is gone for TWO MORE WEEKS!!! I must have sent her a million texts last night for lack of being able to actually talk to her. I sent her a ton of pictures of things we are doing while she is gone. And all that made me do is miss her more because she hasn't been on these adventures with us. Instead, she is off having her own adventure. Without us.

When Jocelyn was gone this long last year, she only had a few more days until she returned. This year, it was the same when Carli was gone. But, the thought of my kid being gone two more weeks is driving me batty! AND.....she says she misses us....but she says it right after she says things like, "it is just amazing here!" "everyone is incredible!" "I love being this part of the team!" And how about this one (right after she said she missed us...ahem) "I could do this FOREVER!" Mind you....what she is doing is cooking, cleaning, budgeting and planning. I can let her do that HERE! (you can see how much she misses us here)

Anyway....currently, one of the major prerequisites my husband has for our children getting married is...they have to be able to support themselves. "No living in our basement." is his motto.

After these 8 days, though....I am not so sure. I am convinced our basement would be a nice first apartment.

So much for letting go gracefully.

DEVOTION IN MOTION - SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE

2010-07-13T09:45:00.000-06:00

"A friend loves at all times." Proverbs 7:17a

Some of you may know that I started running about a year and a half ago after I bought a treadmill. I intended to WALK on the treadmill and try to get a healthier lifestyle going. It was never my intention to run. I hated running. When I say hated, I mean HATED running! But my iPod and Steve Perry had different ideas (see that post here), and today I am actually a runner. And I love it!

When I could not contain myself anymore inside, I moved outside. I love running outside. The scenery is a great distraction. Because, while I love running....it is by no means easy for me. There is something about being outside that is invigorating and beautiful.

Once outside, I was not content to just jog along. I started to push myself a little to see what my body could do. I was amazed at how much faster and longer I could run outside. It was very different than running inside. I kept pushing myself and pushing myself. It is exciting to see what the body-machine that God made for you can do....especially when I let mine sit dormant for so long. I especially loved to see how fast my breathing could return to normal when I stopped after running at 7400 feet! It was a great feeling and soon, I wanted to feel that way all the time. I ran more often and longer and faster! I loved it. Until......

Shin splints.

If you have never had them, consider yourself very blessed! My ankles and shins hurt so bad. I was in pain from the time I got up until I went to bed. It was almost the worst. The actual worst was finding out what the "cure" for shin splints is. No running. Not even a little by the time I got to the point I was at. I was devastated. I know.....it is only running. To you. But to me, it had become my escape, my victory, my energy booster, my distraction, my self esteem. Now, I wasn't even allowed to run at ALL! I had to take THREE months off from running, during which my only exercise was an elliptical (and if you REALLY want to know what I think of that, check this post!). I hated the elliptical! It was not at all enjoyable to me. All it did was help me bide my time until I could run again.

And run, I did! So hard, so fast, so long.....that I ended up in pain AGAIN! That sidelined me for 2 months. Terrible. But it taught me something.

All that dedication and drive got me nowhere.....fast. As a matter of fact, after the initial high of the fast and furious and victorious....it completely incapacitated me. I was useless. Not only for running, but even for other necessary things....like WALKING! I needed to resolve to take it slower and shorter at first. To get back to the reason I was running in the first place. Not so that I could win the psychological battle every day....but so that I was healthy. I wanted to enjoy running again, not play mind games with my body. I wanted to just hit my groove and stay consistent and healthy.

That is how it can be with friendship, too. Sometimes, we meet amazing people and we connect right away and it feels great! We find ourselves thinking about this new friend and we get excited when time works out to get together. We may even push other things in our life so that there is MORE time with this person. All the while building this person up in our mind. We don't know the person well yet, so our mental image of them becomes fact in our heart. Without realizing, we push harder and harder and build those mental images into unplanned expectations on our new friend. Then, one of two things happens....either, they let us down because they are not really the person we imagined them to be, or we scare them away with our unfair expectations. Either one of those things can sideline our new friendship. If both occur, we may never run again.

Then we are back to the elliptical of life. Mourning what could have been and what we had. Sad, and discouraged. But....if we stay on the mundane elliptical and concentrate on our true Best Friend and what he has for us, he ministers to us. And gently, the Holy Spirit is faithful to convict our hearts of our mistakes.

And you know what I find in the Holy Spirit's coaching. Almost all the time, he says, "slow and steady wins the race." He spurs us on to run the race for God's glory. We realize, if we listen to our coaching, that the best friendships are Christ centered. They are focused on the ultimate goal....not just our own. They grow over time through maturity in the Word and in spirit.

When I started back running, I just enjoyed it and put away my GPS watch. I stopped paying attention to all that I COULD be doing with my speed and distance and just enjoyed the run. I focused on the most important goal....health. After awhile, I noticed that my worship, my praise, my prayer and my mental time were abundant! I was running slower....but I was running consistently and joyfully.

In my friendships, I have found the same aspect. If I throw myself into a friendship because I love how I feel when I am with someone, I am in it for me only. For what I get out of the friendship. The goal is mine alone. True, many times, that person is running the mad dash with me. But, it seems that in almost all cases (save one I can think of) both of us tucker out before the finish line and learn hard and difficult things about ourselves while being stuck on the elliptical of reflection.

But, when Jesus is at the center of my friendships.....when I make him my Best Friend and desire him more than my earthly friends, he is always, always faithful to bring like-hearted friends into my circle. Doesn't mean that there aren't some really fun sprinters in my life, too. But, usually, the marathoners are the ones I have known for awhile and have no expectations on. I am just jogging along enjoying the run and when I look around I notice gone are the sprinters.....

But, WOW!, look at the marathoners that I didn't even realize were running slow and steady with me all along! We have been running half the race at the same time, and then the Lord puts on the same path to finish together at the finish line.

Then I know that no matter how slow I go, no matter how many hills I have to climb, no matter how bad the terrain gets, my fellow marathoners will be there running with me until we cross the finish line together....

Slow and steady.

DEVOTION IN MOTION - TEAM EFFORT

2010-07-12T13:03:00.001-06:00

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 2 Timothy 4:7

"We get by with a little help from our friends." Ringo Starr: Beatle

You can tell I am back to consistent running right now after a VERY busy season! You can tell because I have a million blogs running through my mind. If you have read my blog for any amount of time, you know that when I run, God talks. Actually, I think God is always talking....but when I run....I LISTEN!

Before I start this blog, there is one bit of running advice I feel the need to give. I LOVE the song, Come Sail Away. It is a GREAT song! I love the story. Anyway....I USED to love that song. Advice: If you are on mile 2.75 and promise yourself you will run through the next song.....you better make sure the next song isn't Come Sail Away....or that you are running really, really slow!

Onto the devo.....

If you read my previous post, you know that I have been immensely blessed by Lisa Welchel's book, Friendship for Grown Ups. She uses a lot of metaphors for friendships, obstacles, and soul friends. Things like velcro, bricks, walls and Emmitts. I like those Lisa Welchel metaphors, but I am a runner and I think in terms of tennies, sweat, and races.

Friendship really is like running to me. Everyone can do it, but not everyone is good at it. Some people hate it. Others are addicted to it. Or maybe it is just that we hate working at it....but the pay off is so good!

There are lots of different kinds of runners. Take my husband. He can smoke my bootie in a sprint, leaving me panting in the dust. But, get us on a 4 mile trail and it is a different story. Then there is my friend, Emily, who runs marathons. In any case, I think in friendships, we are all part of a running team no matter what our ability.

I have lots of friends that I run sprints with. These are my friends that I really like and have wonderful relationships with. We enjoy each other immensely, but we don't always get together. We really like each other, but regular get togethers aren't always possible. We spend little bits of time together when we can and we enjoy each other's victories and triumphs and encourage one another through the tougher races that we run together. It is fast and furious and sweet for a short time.....until the next time the baton comes my way.

I like sprints. They are often too short....but refreshing. In my case, they aren't that common, so I appreciate them all the more when I get to run them. But truth be told, I am more of a distance runner. Not a marathoner by any means! But, I enjoy running slower for longer. It takes more time and effort to run a race of this sort. I have friends that are faithful to run these distances with me. These friends are the ones who have committed to the race with you. They will run with you as long as they can or as long as you can. My distance friends have endurance. We have run farther than I have with lots of my other friends and have seen me sweat more and pant harder than other people in my circle of friends. These are the people that I know I can count on. If the race is rough, they are not the ones who tell me to slow down. They are the ones on my team who urge me to go on. Even if they choose to slow down behind me, they are cheering me on. And if I am lagging behind, they reach back to bring me forward. Either way, we see each other in celebration at the finish line. It is a smaller circle of friends on this team, but there is deeper relationship.

The greatest runners in my circle though, are like Jim Redmond, who Lisa Welchel does talk about in her book. Jim ran the race of a lifetime with his team mate. Jim's son, Derek was trained, prepared and running to win gold for Great Britain in the 400 meter at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Derek took off after the gun went off and started well....but he pulled his hamstring and went falling to the ground. He got up and hopped along to finish the race. Up with the spectators, a man pushed his way through, and threw off the holds of the security guards and ran out to help Derek up....and to help him cross the finish line. That man was Jim Redmond, Derek's father. Not content to watch his son hobble on his own to the finish line, he lifted Derek and helped him finish well. I have only a few friends like this. The ones that I can let see that I am injured and hobbling and know that they won't just sit there and watch me try to finish the race by my pathetic self, but jump the bleachers to run onto the track and help me finish the race. These are the ones that run the HILLS of life with me....not just the level, cushy track. These are my marathon teammates!

Somewhere along the line, we seemed to have gotten the impression that only the marathon teammates count. That our 5K friends are not as important. And forget about those fair weather sprinters! Nothing could be further from the truth. I like how Lisa Welchel reminds me in her book that Jesus cared for everyone during his earthly ministry. He made lots of friends all over. But he chose 12 to be closer. 12 to walk the day to day life with. And of those 12....there were only 3 he invited into his inner circle. To see his deepest pains and struggles and greatest joys. Were Peter, John and James more important than the others? No...those other men were near and dear to Jesus. Hanging out with everyone at the wedding in Cana was fun! Good fun for everyone! But the Last Supper was special for a unique few. And the Garden of Gethsemane was intimate. All of those people were important to Jesus. He needed all of them to demonstrate good relationships.....but he also needed them for different relationships.

I am so thankful to run the sprints with those fun friends of mine. And so privileged to run alongside my 5K friends for longer distances and tougher terrain. And I am blessed by the people who carry me through my marathons in life. My life would be less if any one of them weren't part of my life. Know why? Because we all have the same coach. He is the only one with us from the starting line to the glorious finish line...and he designed the teams and the teammates. He knew what each runner would need...not to finish first...but to finish well...

With a little help from our friends.

THE FACTS OF FRIENDSHIP

2010-07-11T16:55:00.000-06:00

I never thought I would recommend a book by Lisa Welchel. I don't know why. Maybe it is the Blair factor.

Lisa Welchel played conceited, shallow, love-to-hate-her Blair on the TV series that we all grew up with, The Facts of Life. Turns out Lisa was never like Blair and is actually quite a wise woman in the Lord.

And real.

And that is what her book is all about! Authentic friendships and how to do them right.

I got the book this morning....I am up for air right now....and I will finish tonight. It is that good.

If you are a woman and you want good friends in your life....OR....if you are a woman and you need good friends in your life, I cannot recommend this book enough. Godly, good and encouraging.

LETTING GO

2010-07-08T21:39:00.003-06:00

My friend Shirin is a wise woman. She thinks I am sometimes wise myself. She recently said that she knew when her kids were born that the rest of their life was about letting them go. Wise. She felt I knew that, too. Not wise.

The fact is, I wasn't walking very closely with the Lord when the first of my children was born. The good thing is, that really doesn't matter to God. My oldest knew the Lord more intimately than I did when she was younger! So, I really didn't get that I was supposed to be preparing her for the world. To be in it and not of it.

Somewhere along the line, the Lord showed me that my oldest is HIS child. I just get to raise her. And raise her for His glory. And I did my best in my broken way. But, it wasn't until last year that I really realized that I was preparing her to be gone. She had done everything I had ever asked of her.....and more importantly she had done all God had asked of her. It wasn't about her part anymore, but mine. And my part was letting go.

And I sit here the day after her 17th birthday,getting ready to say good-bye to her for over THREE weeks, wondering how in the world I got here. Any woman who loves her child can tell you, no matter how convicted she is that she needs to let go, her instinct is to hold on. To be selfish. To keep that treasure to herself a while longer. But that is why my letting go is a great testimony!

Don't believe the lie that all teenagers are trouble and difficult. Don't buy into the myth that teenage girls are good for nothing but drama. Don't listen to what society says about girls in their teens. I am here to tell you that those words are not true of all girls. I have LOVED Catey's teen years. I feel closer to her than ever before. I love traveling, talking, laughing, teaching and hanging out with her. It is only by God's grace that I can look at her and let go. Everything in me wants to hold on tighter. To add more time to savor.

But everything God is saying is that it is time to hold that treasure open-handed (to use a phrase from another very wise and loving Auntie).

God has said in His Word, “An unmarried woman is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit.” 1 Corinthians 7:34b It is not my time to be selfish, but to be supportive, not just of my daughter, but of what the Lord is doing in my daughter and asking of my daughter. He promises “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with My eye.” Psalm 32:8. It is time that my instruction becomes less and trust in the Lord's instruction becomes more. He is the only one who knows His plan for her. She is ready to trust that plan....I need to as well. He is guiding her to use her gifts, which He has freely bestowed on her. In Ephesians 4:12, we are told that the gifts we have been given are “to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.” As an unmarried woman it is time now for her to use those gifts and be concerned only with the Lord’s affairs and to be devoted to Him in body and spirit. Who am I to ask the Lord to let me hold her longer in my hand instead of answering His call? Who am I to think that my continued instruction would be better for her than leaning more greatly on God's instruction? Who am I to ask that the Lord let her use her gifts only where I would have her be (close to me)?

Who am I to ask that this treasure be mine alone?

I may not be the wisest of women, but I do know that the Lord has done a mighty work in me. And that He is in control. And that He loves my daughter even more than I do. And that His grace is sufficient for me.

And it is that grace that allows me to pray for my daughter, my treasure, that when the Lord does call her, I can let go and pray that she will say,

"Here am I! Send me!"

And I will stand close behind her, with my hands open wide....

letting go.

LET FREEDOM RING

2010-07-04T20:36:00.001-06:00

"The Revolution was effected before the War commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations ... This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people, was the real American Revolution." - President John Adams

"No Man has a more perfect reliance on the all-wise and powerful dispensations of the Supreme Being than I have, nor thinks his aid more necessary...The man must be bad indeed who can look upon the events of the American Revolution without feeling the warmest gratitude towards the great Author of the Universe whose divine interposition was so frequently manifested in our behalf....In war He directed the sword, and in peace, He has ruled in our councils."
— George Washington

"There! His Majesty can now read my name without glasses. And he can double the reward on my head!"
— John Hancock

"The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I Am Not A Virginian, But An American!"
— Patrick Henry

"Yonder are the Hessians. They were bought for seven pounds and tenpence a man. Are you worth more? Prove it. Tonight the American flag floats from yonder hill or Molly Stark sleeps a widow!"
— John Stark

"They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Ben Franklin, 1759

"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value."
Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, No. 1, December 19, 1776

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and pursuit of Happiness: that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Declaration of Independence

"Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
— Patrick Henry

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

2010-06-25T05:28:00.002-06:00

Last night, as we had dinner, the ICC Tournament staff announced the results of the tournament we held on Monday and Tuesday. First, let me say that I love the way ICC does this. The sole purpose of having a tournament is so that our students can practice, practice, practice their speeches to take out into the community, and get feedback on how to make them more meaningful for their audiences. ICC believes (and if you are a parent, you KNOW it is true), that kids really get things done when they are on a deadline. The kid who takes a month to clean their room can have an interpretation of literature done and polished in 5 days if there is a deadline looming. One minute you have to constantly remind them to clean the bathroom, but give them an opportunity to travel and see friends and get feedback from nationally recognized speakers.....well THAT will light a fire under them!

So.....while ICC values the tournament as an incentive....it is never made a big deal of. Like I said, they announced the results during a regular dinner. Our banquet was the night before. This was just.....dinner. Definitely, we were all proud of the participants. ALL the participants, regardless of their standing at dessert. (HEY! We didn't get dessert....AGAIN!)

The other thing I like about liking the tournament, but not being focused on it, is how relaxed the kids are. Now, keep in mind this is a Christian organization, based on doing your excellent best for the Lord, with students who are driven. But no one was chewing nails since the tournament ended. No one was trash talking their opponents to anyone. We actually had a FAB dinner last night. We got to hear some interns share what it meant to be a cultural communicator and how they found an authentic way to communicate the hope they have. We heard from a young woman in law school, as she told us about the amazing ways God has communicated with her and how she has communicated him to a very specialized and needful community. We got to see some of the kids do a HILARIOUS skit (who knew my kid was funny?!). And we had a meaningful, beautiful time of worship.

However, none of us as parents or students thinks competition is a bad thing. Obviously. So,after dinner and worship, it was exciting last night to hear the results.

There are so many reasons the results were a big deal to some of us. But not many of it was about winning the tournament. For some, it was overcoming hard, hard, HARD walks of life to commit to the Lord and glorify him through their speech for his wondrous works (and He blessed that), for some it was overcoming a fear of speaking in general. Others were blessed because they learned to be sincerely thrilled for those who took home trophies last night even though they knew they did their best, too.

In any case, I know my friends and family were praying for our girls, so I will let you know how they did. But, let me first say....if they had not made past round one....they have been so blessed by what they have learned and by the ICC vision and investment. They have made wonderful friends and met adults who want to help them grow....as followers of Christ. They learned more and more what it means to be the hands, the feet, and the voice of Jesus to those around them.

First we opened with worship by Adam.

If anyone has ever been to a tournament, you may know that there is a LOT of paperwork involved. ICC desires to uphold the highest levels of integrity....that means script submissions, copyright page copies, word count, etc. It can be quite daunting for the student who just wants to give their speech, but realizes that they can't if that paperwork is not in absolute compliance! Catey and some other friends of hers did a very funny skit regarding this.

Then the results....

Jocelyn and Catey placed fourth with their duo of Oh, The Places You'll Go by, Dr. Suess. The first place team did a great interp of Sword in the Stone....very funny!

Catey and Weston took second place for their duo impromptu. While our friends from Chapter SEEK, Madison and Laura placed 3rd. This event was open only to kids who are student leaders in their chapters. Weston is the chair of his chapter in Denver. This was a very fun event for the kids!

There was another student leader only event called Radio Broadcast. Madison placed second in this.

Catey placed third in Thematic Religious Reading, while her dear and close friends, Laura and Madison, from chapter also placed. Madison claimed first spot in this event with a Thematic that STILL makes me cry every time I see it. This is the flagship event for ICC, so it was exciting to see that our girls enjoyed it so much and conveyed it well to their audiences.

Madison also placed first in informative with a great speech about Jack Prelutsky.

Last, but not least.....Catey and Madison won Public Forum debate. They went into the final round against friends of theirs, who are both on the incoming intern team and extremely, VERY extremely competent. Both teams did amazingly, arguing the resolution....Resolved: There should a ban on offshore drilling. I could not tell at the end of the debate which team came out ahead. I am SO glad I was not a judge for that!

So.....I don't know if you caught that....Madison had an amazing night! She is diligent in her work and in her heart to reach people. In tournaments, there is a Sweepstakes award for the speaker who placed most successfully throughout the tournament. Kind of the overall tournament winner. Think Ulrich vonLichtenstein before he only competed in jousting. Madison won that last night. And Catey placed third.

Those are all great things. But, here is what made me proudest this week....

Watching my kid, all dressed for competition, happily taking out the trash.

Getting to see the excitement on the kids faces, when they brought needed items to the adults in the coaching track.

Understanding that our kids were not always waiting for direction. but taking initiative to help wherever it was needed.

Watching opposing participants pray in sincerity with each other before competing.

Seeing the older kids GLADLY mentor the younger kids.

Having multiple conversations with students who are bright and Christ centered.

Watching the elite interns....take out trash.

Being blessed by the humility of a group of people that the world would tell us are more difficult and selfish than any other.

On their tournament certificates is Philippians 2:3....."Do nothing from selfish or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves."

Truly, this was modeled and embraced by kids less than half my age this week.

I am so proud.

As a side note......There is just something about an Au! They are FAB!

MARYLAND MAYHEM

2010-06-23T22:40:00.003-06:00

I have been in Maryland for five days now at ICC's National Convention. I always learn so much when I travel and I learn a lot at ICC events, too. Let me share with you the things I have learned this time on my journey.

*The reason that Maryland wants to "benefit" all their citizens with roundabouts is because they neglected, when building their roadways, to "benefit" their citizens with left turn lanes. The result is many a U-Turn (which, by the way, is quite the impressive to watch Karri do in her gigantic Excursion) if no roundabout is present. I say, if they would have just built the roads correctly in the first place, there would be no need for the evil roundabout.

*The reason that the Maryland government is clueless when it comes to civil engineering is because their brains have melted. The humidity is something to behold here....actually it is something to DRINK here! Okay....their brains didn't melt....they probably DROWNED!

*If you even think you REMOTELY might have to go to the bathroom before Adam Hardy and Wendell Moon get up to do a The Matic Duo Impromptu, you better do it! I almost had a MAJOR accident tonight!

*If you want to know how to make napalm....ask Devin Moon.

*If you think it is nerve wracking watching your kid in a final debate round....wait til you watch it with your friend, whose kid is also debating......on the OTHER team!!

*There are a LOT....I mean a LOT....of teenagers at this conference that are WAY smarter than I am!

*All redheads are not created equal.

*A little Kays is good red head potential!

*It isn't just the kids who make friends that they will miss upon leaving.

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NATIONAL TREASURE AT THE MUSEUM, PART 3

2010-06-20T21:39:00.002-06:00

Here we are in the Nation's capital! To say that I was excited to visit Washington, DC yesterday would be a great understatement. It is really captivating and I was overwhelmed more than once.

A few of my favorite American Moments from our trip yesterday:

*Going to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum for the express purpose of finding a McDonald's that had air conditioning so we could have lunch. (I HATE the humidity here!....can we move the capital to say.....Colorado Springs where it is DRY?) We saw about 5 minutes worth of the museum....but I can tell you that they have about the biggest McDonald's I have ever seen! And The Spirit of St. Louis.

*Touching the Washington Monument! AMAZING!

*Actually running into someone we knew at the Washington Monument! And, I might add, that it was our friend Twyla, from TN....who is hysterical. So it was good for a laugh to add a light mood to our disgusting melting sensation.

*Pretending like I actually understood the art at the Art Museum garden. They had a giant nut, which I liked because it made me think of my friend, Squirrel. And there was one sculpture that reminded me of my youth. They were lawn ornaments that looked like Weebles. Do you remember Weebles? Weebles wobble but they don't fall down! Yeah....well, now they are "art".

*Catching my first GLIMPSE of the White House. That is all I got. A glimpse. One. Stinkin'. Glimpse. Because my travelling companions refused to walk a couple of blocks up the road to REALLY see it up close and personal. They all wanted Dove Bars from the ice cream vendor instead. 'Cuz, you know, you can see the White House any time....how often can you buy ice cream?!

*Sitting down and putting our feet in the cool, cool water of the World War II Memorial. That memorial was absolutely beautiful and honors so many people. It was a very lovely place to reflect on our nation at one of it's darkest, yet finest, hours.

*Meeting two sisters at the Viet Nam Memorial Wall who stood by their father's name and talked to anyone about his service and their loss in a very touching way. They were strong and sad at the same time. They talked with us for awhile about their dad and it made every other name on that wall that much more real.

*And the Lincoln Memorial! I have no words. I kinda thought it would be fun seeing "Abe" and recollecting his antics in Night at the Museum 2....but truly he is enshrined in a temple for good reason. He was our greatest president.....doing what many a man in similar positions have not been able to accomplish. Restore unity. I was overwhelmed at the African Americans that stood by his statue and also by his second inaugural address.

*Riding the Metro home and watching Karri reach out (literally) in a complete act of heroism. As her son stood on the Metro platform as the doors were closing us in the train. She reached through the almost all the way closed doors and pulled him through in the nick of time! He, of course, was disappointed.

*Facing my first roundabout!! After dinner! And I didn't throw up!

Today, we went to Covenant Life Church where we heard a great sermon. Later, we went on to check-in at the ICC convention. It looks like a busy week....but not too busy for hijinks! Keep checking back!

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A ROCK HOUSE, A BASEBALL TEAM AND ICE CREAM!

2010-06-11T11:38:00.000-06:00

Have you ever had a day that was the stuff of movies? I don't mean a day that was really fun. I am talking about the kind of day that is like Kirk Gibson's clutch home run in the 1988 World Series. Unreal. SURreal. Like you are watching it unfold on a big screen because it is just too perfect to not have been set up by an Academy Award winning Director??

That was yesterday.

Magic. That was yesterday.

And not for any particularly extraordinary reason. Definitely, there was no limping ball player coming to bat against a hall of fame pitcher, with the only hope of winning being a home run out of the park so that he had time to make it around the bases. There were no movie stars. No big dance numbers. No hilarious comedian.

There was just Palmer Lake.

Palmer Lake is a tiny town next to ours. You have to drive 30 mph going through town. A train runs through it. All the buildings are old. Their library is in a little Victorian house. And they have a really cool ice cream place that is only open in the summer.

Rock House Ice Cream was the perfect ending to our day yesterday. We had spent all day at Helen Hunt Falls and then came home and ate dinner. After that, we piled into THREE cars (did I mention that I have 10 kids in my house most days right now?!) and headed to Palmer Lake to get some ice cream at Rock House. The ice cream was a great treat since yesterday was hot and we had been out and about all day. But, the simple pleasures that came from being there, right on the two lane highway that runs through the middle of town are almost indescribable.

The little kids found little benches to eat their little half scoops of ice cream, while the older kids took up temporary residence on the wall that surrounds Rock House's patio. As the older kids finished, they began waving to all the passing cars. (guess who started that? If you have been ANYWHERE with my #3 daughter, you know she is an ambassador in the making!) At first, some cars would pass and ignore the kids, but still the greeters waved and yelled. Soon, passengers in cars started waving back. And some honked! When the cars honked, all the kids would clap and yell! The more cars that came, the more they honked and the more the kids went wild. Even the little kids came over to get into the act.

When the kids had done this for about half an hour, a little league team showed up for a little after-game celebration. While their coaches and parents went inside to order ice cream, the team also clambered up on the wall and began waving wildly! By now, semi-trucks were blowing big air horns, motorcyclists were revving their engines and yelling, "YOU ROCK!" to the kids and other cars were still driving by with hands waving out the windows and horns honking.

Then.....The Dictator showed up. This kid was on the baseball team and joined up after several of his teammates had already been sitting on the wall, waving with our kids. He began to "correct" everything. "You are doing it wrong!" "Don't wave......show them you want them to honk, like this (pushing his hand in front of him on an invisible steering wheel.)" "Not like that....like this (pulling an imaginary semi-truck air horn)". But the rest of the team kept on with our kids. Just waving and laughing with each other. It was dusk and everyone was making friends.....and even the Little League coach was telling them all to keep an eye out for police officers and fire engines....because they might turn on their lights! Everyone was cooling off and letting their satisfied tummies bring joy to their activities.

It was hard to tell who was receiving more joy. The kids or the people driving by. It is one thing to see a bunch of kids sitting on a wall smiling, licking ice cream, waving and yelling and having an obvious blast. It is another to see unaware people in the midst of their boring commute come upon the Rock House Gang waving at them! It was like they woke up from boring dream. The drivers would see the kids and break out with great, big grins. They would laugh as they waved back to the kids. Some were truly overjoyed to honk their horns and hear the kids yell and hoot! I think several drivers passed more than once just to share in all the fun!

We found that, generally speaking, older women just don't get it, young women are very apt to wave, young men are the honkers and motorcyclists and semi drivers get the most out of bringing so much excitement to the kids...smiling and laughing almost as much as the kids themselves! After we had waved and yelled for over an hour, the baseball team left and we got ready to go, too. It felt like all of Palmer Lake had been in on the fun. Truly, none of our kids (even the older ones) have had such a good time! Six year old Madison kept saying, "I LOVE doing this! I could do it ALL NIGHT!". My own 5 year old Gecko really struggled, saying, "I had a good time when I went to the pool with Aunt Angi. It was really fun. I really had a good time at the pool. But tonight....(sigh)....tonight...(sigh).....I think tonight was more fun than.....ANYTHING!". Gecko also remarked, "My ice cream was really good, but waving and yelling was more fun!" Our older kids just glowed as the climbed off the wall and into cars!

The whole evening was FREE (except for a couple of bucks for cones). And it will remain priceless in my memory! The setting sun, the cooling off, the community interaction, making new friends, laughing and waving. What a wonder.

As a matter of fact, maybe the whole thing wasn't like a movie after all. It was more like my favorite book, The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs. Finding a treasure in an ordinary little town where nothing ever changes, but where everyone has a story. Even the ice cream parlor.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

TOP DOG

2010-06-09T09:09:00.000-06:00

"Don't dis my dog, man." Jill

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a dog who loves her girl is to be praised." Proverbs 31:30 revised

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes." 1 Peter 3:3

"Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." 1 Peter 3:4

"He has made everything beautiful in its time." Ecclesiastes 3:11a

"Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. Mark 14:6

"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" Romans 10:15b

I am just saying that God has a lot to say about beauty....and not much of it has to do with how we look. It is how we love and serve and obey. My dog is beautiful.....Shirin!

LOOK! UP IN THE SKY! IT'S A BIRD! IT'S A PLANE! IT'S SUPER YSG SPEAKERS!

2010-06-07T10:33:00.003-06:00

"but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.....and a cape." 1Peter 3:15 revised

In a few short days, Joss, Catey and I will be heading out for Olney, Maryland to attend ICC's National Convention!!! I can't wait because when ICC people get together....BIG things happen! To say I am excited to attend is a gross understatement.

I cannot say enough good things about ICC. For those of you who live under a rock or in a cave and have not heard me gush over this organization, let me just say that if a conference comes ANYWHERE near you....you and your kids should attend! ICC trains Christian students how to be authentic cultural communicators with character and competence. The students in chapters around the world serve and encourage their global communities through engaging and communicating with those people around them. Only 5% of the American population prefers public speaking over DEATH! ICC's vision is to make sure they "flood the five" percent with confident and caring Chrisitan speakers.

One of the beautiful things about ICC Chapters is that they work through a three part curriculum. ICC speakers' goal is to be in the community as much as possible speaking and serving. The curriculum they work through teaches them about caring for the people they speak to and not just speaking to talk. The YSG curriculum requires the students to search the Bible and formulate ideas about putting their audience first. It really grounds the speakers and helps them make sure they are speaking for the right reasons and not just to glorify themselves.

Our chapter, Chapter SEEK, had 5 students graduate from YSG 1. Our chapter sponsor (whom you know well, if you have read any of my blogs), Karri, is amazing. She is super organized and keeps us rolling. She has vision and focus. My job as her assistant is to make her laugh! Seriously. On the plane to NC in January, she looked at me and said (with lightbulb going off over her head), "I know what YOU can do! You can throw the YSG graduation party!" Ah, yes....don't trust me with the real stuff....just make me the party organizer! Does Karri know me or WHAT?!

So! I organized a Super YSG Speaker party! All the kids (and moms!) came in Super Hero costumes. The looks on their faces were priceless when I told them that we were doing a Super Hero Training at WalMart. This entailed a Scavenger Hunt and community interaction. Because, after all....we are community speakers!
(click here for a list of Super Tasks that the Speakers had to accomplish)
So fun!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And now a word from our President....

WHAT ABOUT ME?

2010-05-30T19:07:00.000-06:00

When I look at a lot of my friends, I see Jesus. They care. They love. They understand. They pray. They teach. Jesus did all those things.

But....do you think Jesus was fun? Can you picture it?

Do you think he ever wore a wig and funny glasses? Or offered to start a karaoke party ("Come...Kumbayah everybody!")? Or got his head stuck in a bowling pin setting machine?

Yeah.....me neither

SADDLE UP YOUR HORSES!

2010-05-29T11:16:00.002-06:00

⁴"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. ⁵You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ⁷⁽ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Back when Catey was in second grade, and we were "prepared" to fulfill our homeschool calling, the last thing on my mind was her high school graduation. Good grief....I was just hoping that I didn't ruin her education while she was still in second grade! High School was a lifetime away. I was committed for the long haul, but I couldn't picture it at all. "One day at a time" was the motto I lived by for the first 2 years of homeschooling.

Then something happened along the way. Catey grew up. And became a high school senior, which meant she was ready for graduation.

And graduate she did. May 21, 2010.

When Catey started homeschooling, it was obvious that she was bright. She understood and applied every concept we taught her....sometimes before WE understood it! She could explain air flight to any bystander when she was seven.....and dressed up as an atom to explain electricity to our co-op MOMS just this year! She has always aced tests, completed assignments, and continues to do well on her college CLEP exams. But the part of her education I am proudest of is the fact that she did all these things because she learned to THINK. Starting when Catey was 7, I stopped answering questions. I left her to herself to figure it out. I never wanted her to listen to the best presented argument and just regurgitate information. I wanted her to research it so she would completely own her opinion and base it on more than persuasion. (Unfortunately for Joss, this meant I stopped answering her questions at 4, and poor Carli - she has never had me answer questions! ) The reason teaching my kids to think was so important was not because I wanted them to all be geniuses and graduate at 16, but because I wanted them to always know what they believe and why. Because there will be many well presented cases in their lives.....if they listened to whatever sounded best....well, I didn't like the implications that would have on their faith.

Which leads me to my greatest gratitude in Catey's homeschool career. I am so thankful that every day revolved around God. I am so thankful how He introduced us to on-fire Christians in our first support group that left us longing for a REAL relationship with Him. I am thankful for His faithfulness to indwell in us and our children.....to the point that whatever lies ahead for Catey, I do not fear for her faith. I thank Him daily for choosing us and calling us to Him and His good purposes and then growing us all through the blessing of homeschooling! It is clear that from day one of homeschooling.....He had WAY more in mind that the academic livelihood of our daughter and other children. He called us to know Him and love Him with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength! And we have imparted that to our kids every step of the way.

So.....now Catey is done with homeschooling. She is a junior in college and will graduate next summer when she turns 17 with a BA in Communications. But more than that....she is a mighty woman of God, who lives to serve and love her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. No GPA could be better than that!

A couple of days after Catey graduated, many women assembled at our home to bless her. They brought items of hope for her as a woman to put and keep in her new Hope Chest. All their blessings were written out to encourage her for a lifetime. I pray she would grow on the love and wisdom that each woman bestowed so graciously on her and that she would continue to grow as a woman of God.

I know great adventures lie ahead for Catey. God has had a hold of her since she was tiny. She has always lived for Him while she has been at home devoted to our family. But Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 7:34, that unmarried women are to be devoted to the things of the Lord (caring for the poor, for widows and orphans, taking the gospel into all the world, etc). A day may be coming soon, where her adventure will lead her out of our home to act on all the things the Lord has taught her.

Saddle up your horses, Kiddo, you got a trail to blaze!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

T MINUS 1

2010-05-20T08:47:00.001-06:00

WHOA! Did anyone realize I mis-counted my T-Minuses?????? I am glad that I have everything pretty much nailed down, otherwise I would be freaking out. Oh, yeah, I AM freaking out!

I am just kidding! I am staying pretty calm. My folks got in last night and we are having a good visit. Lady slept with Carli last night and both dogs continue their cycle of play, play, play...CRASH. Carl's mom and sister are on their way and we are praying the CA Schnuens escape the clutches of anymore flat tires!

Keep praying! I am feeling every one of the petitions you are lifting on my behalf! Thank you so much!

T MINUS 3

2010-05-19T11:22:00.002-06:00

331/365 - CLEAN HOUSE!
Originally uploaded by SarahJeanPhoto

A MAJOR accomplishment today........

No, I don't mean the vacuumed floors.

Or dusted furniture.

Or the sparkling bathrooms.

Or the clean AND folded laundry.

Or the clean kids' rooms.

Or the marinating chicken.

Or the beautiful fridge.

I am talking about the MIRACLE that occurred in our house at 11am today!!!!

BOTH dogs are finally asleep after playing every waking second together yesterday and this morning!!!!!!

DON'T RING THE DOORBELL NOW!

CUZ THE RIDE ISN'T WILD ENOUGH YET!

2010-05-18T20:29:00.001-06:00

"Being crazy isn't enough." Dr. Suess

Yep. Got a dog. I know.....what was I thinking? (as my friend Angelia was quick to point out this morning.)

But, there is something about Lady. She is cute. Sweet. And makes my 10 year old happy.

And me, too.

Just look at them. Awwwwwwwww..........

T MINUS 4

2010-05-18T08:46:00.003-06:00

Okay........I am still alive and SOMEWHAT sane! That in itself is a major feat today!!

I am so blessed to have such amazing friends! Some of whom are on their way here as I post!

The CA Schnuens are on their way in their Long, Long Trailer! They should be here by Thursday! The Frame boys are on their way here in 45 minutes to practice worship (guess I should get dressed!). My folks fly in tomorrow afternoon! Carl's family gets in on Thursday! Also, our other great CA friends, the Fios will be here on Thursday (though we don't get to see them until Friday). Ro is in on Friday. And Angi comes today for awhile after her run.

Of course, all this means one thing: HOUSE CLEANING LIKE A MADWOMAN!!!!!

Angi is coming to help....but we are tired from a long ICC day yesterday, so I am actually thinking of making the following sign and hanging it on my front door instead of cleaning.

Okay.....not really.
Gotta run.....the fridge beckons!

HOLD ON TIGHT....IT'S GONNA BE A WILD RIDE!

2010-05-16T08:17:00.002-06:00

Roller Coaster - Definitely Not A Good Idea
Originally uploaded by D. Alan Harris Photography

Today officially starts "Graduation Week". We start with a celebration at church for our high school seniors (mine included) where the Memory Board of Death will make its debut. We have the slide show and music loaded on the digital frame. Trophies and trinkets ready to go. Tonight, we figure out (HOPEFULLY) what in the world we can say to our graduate at her graduation without completely losing it! I still have to write the blessing I will bestow on my daughter on Sunday. There are floors to be vacuumed, furniture to be dusted, refrigerators to be cleaned, guest rooms to be made ready, towels to be washed, laundry to be done, grocery shopping to fit in, Costco runs to be made, people to pick up at airports, baseboards to be painted (okay, that one might not get done!).....and somewhere in there....I am supposed to sleep.

SO....

I am asking for forgiveness already if I....

Don't answer the phone.

Don't answer your email.

Don't return your call promptly OR at all!

Am screaming when I DO answer your call.

Forget your birthday, anniversary, insert any holiday/event here.

Totally lose my mind!

A week from tomorrow, I promise I will be back to semi-normal!

HOW MANY HOMESCHOOLERS DOES IT TAKE.......

2010-05-12T16:32:00.003-06:00

......to create ONE memory board for graduation?????

Confession.....I have NEVER taught my children art. Instead, I have relied on my wonderful friend, Jen to do THAT job. I teach other stuff. Primarily....history with assorted other subjects mixed in.

My children can tell you all about American History, starting with Henry VIII (how many of you knew it went back that far?!). They can inform you of the major New World explorers, starting with Marco Polo. They can explain the Bernoulli Principle to you (do you even KNOW what that is? I didn't). They can label every part of various insects, sheep, and horses. I even have a 16 year old that will graduate COLLEGE with a FOUR YEAR degree next year!

There is a reason I never taught art. I stink at it!

Today..........

It took FIVE of us FOUR hours to do one "simple" art project. A memory board for Catey's graduation.

Or as we shall ever refer to it.....

The Memory Board of DEATH! WHERE is Jen Weber when you need her?!

PARTING IS SUCH SWEET SORROW

2010-05-10T18:30:00.001-06:00

Today we said good-bye to our good friend, Daisy. We know she is no longer suffering.....but it is still hard to say good-bye. Especially when it breaks your daughter's heart.
Good-bye Daisy Doodle Dog.

GREATER LOVE HAS NO ONE THAN THIS....

2010-05-06T13:45:00.006-06:00

That they would clean out my pantry!

And not just my "pantry". Let me just tell you.....my pantry is like the Black Hole of Calcutta (to coin a Mom Phrase). Even though I clean it often....um....weekly.....uh.....monthly.....uh.....I have cleaned it at least twice since we moved in four years ago, it is nearly impossible to keep organized. You know what happens when you can't keep your pantry organized? Science experiments happen!

Today, Angi cleaned my WHOLE, stinkin' (and I do me PEE-YEW, Stinkin') pantry. She threw out items that they don't even carry in the stores anymore! She organized the Fort Knox stash of bread crumbs that I have (who knew? Certainly not me!). She fought off the Killer Potatoes (which explains the "stinkin'" in my pantry) and 5 bags of kimchi pancake mix!

It says a lot about a woman who will risk life and limb (and I mean that literally) to clean out a pantry so that I have a clean one when my mom and her white glove show up in a week and a half! But it says even more about her when she doesn't hold your barfus upus pantry against you! Angi is a woman filled with grace. Know how I know? Not only does she not hold my pantry against me, but she has seen my bathroom with sorted laundry laying all about it and needing a good scrub AND she has seen my exploding laundry closet, too....and yet, she still comes and hangs out. That is REAL friendship! She doesn't even bring a can of Lysol with her!

Is there really any greater love than the one between friends and their pantries? Or between friends who post the perfect comment on your blog because they GET you? Or the ones who share their kids with you? Or the ones who see the real you and love you anyway? I am blessed to have some friends like that!

So, now that Angi has saved me from my pantry.....I just have one question.....

Does anyone have a recipe for 4 boxes of Vanilla Pudding, 2 boxes of Peach Jello, 5 cans of bread crumbs and 3 JUMBO cans of green enchilada sauce?

EVER FEEL LIKE YOU SHOULD COME WITH A DISCLAIMER?

2010-05-05T20:34:00.005-06:00

What you see, is not always what you get!

BOY, OH BOY!

2010-04-27T15:26:00.004-06:00

Pray for my son, Sam. Oh, sure. He is very cute and very charming, but he may not make it to four years old. Why you ask? Let me pick a reason. No, better yet, let me tell you ALL that he has been up to in the past 2 weeks.....

*Gecko comes down stairs and announces, "Sam is being naughty. I told him to stop." This begs the obvious question, "Gecko, what is Sam doing?" To which Gecko gives this completely unexpected answer, "Peeing in the sink." WHAT? After determining WHICH sink, I asked the next obvious question (while trying to find him), "WHY would he do that?!" Gecko informed us that Sam "wanted to see what it looked like." Meaning, he stood on the counter and peed in the sink so he could watch himself in the mirror! (Giant groan and eye roll from Mom).

*NEXT DAY.....BOTH boys come to the back door from outside (but you KNOW whose idea this was) to have their behinds wiped. Why you ask? Because they pooped in the backyard! This goes beyond the peeing marathon that Gecko and Luke had going! I am pretty sure the only reason they came for a wipe was because Gecko knew this was needed....Sam rarely cares!

*A few days later.....Yuenkowskis are playing in the basement. Sam pees in a toy box!!! WHAT? Yep...you heard me! WHAT is that about?

*Yesterday.....Sam stuck his head in the bucket full of dirty, Murphy Oil Soapy, mop water! I explained that he could have DIED! He could have drown in the bucket, poisoned himself with Murphy chemicals, or I could have wrung him like a mop!

One only knows what he is up to right now with his cohorts. It is a little quiet......

Uh-oh.....

STEVE-U-SEE AND OTHER MUSINGS FROM THE NEW MEXICO HOMESCHOOL CONFERENCE

2010-04-23T20:47:00.005-06:00

Let me first say thank you to my friends, Jen and Angi. It takes a lot of guts to go ANYWHERE with me (just ask Karri....). But, a Christian Homeschool conference with Jill is not something for the faint of heart! In fact, I believe if you can attend any major event with me and still leave liking me, you are a friend for life! And I pushed these women to the limit....and this was just the first day and we only saw two speakers!

The whole trip started innocently enough. A simple road trip to New Mexico to hear some good speakers and be encouraged in our homeschool walk. But "simple" is never enough for me (again....just ask Karri).

Poor Jen and Angi should have known what was coming when I told the Apryl, at the check in desk at the hotel, that we intended to hit the lounge and start a karaoke party on our own. She promptly put us in a room on the other side of the hotel, where, she assured us, "all the party animals are booked." And I smiled! Yeeees! They just rolled their eyes.

Today, also seemed to start pretty easily....except for Angi parking her truck on the curb at Starbucks because she wouldn't break the Keva Juice Parking Only rule like Jen told her to. After that fiasco, we headed to the conference where we saw Steve Demme.For anyone who does not know who Steve Demme is, he is the creator of Math-U-See, a GREAT math program, which we have used for years. I loved his talk! Afterward, we hit his booth to buy next year's books. He actually gave me a book he wrote and signed it for my daughter, Jocelyn. I told him that Joss actually had a whole "message" for me to give him, but due to my kind, compassionate, Christian character (stop laughing), I could not repeat it. He said, "Give me a phone." And proceeded to call and talk to my daughter on the phone for 10 minutes!! I thought that was GREAT! Jocelyn....did NOT. Did she thank me? Did she bask in her 10 minute conversation with Mr. Demme encouraging her? NO....she just kept screaming at me, "HOW COULD YOU PUT MR. DEMME ON THE PHONE AND NOT TELL ME YOU WERE GOING TO DO THAT?" I guess it takes guts to be my kid, too.
After I recovered from our celebrity photo session with Steve Demme, it was time for Angi and Jen and I to grab lunch. We thought we were going to Quizno's, but as you can see, we actually ended up on the Black Pearl for our meal. Oh sure, it LOOKED like a Quizno's....but look who made our sandwiches! By the way....the reason we have that picture of Jack is because ANGI just had to get it! She actually went up to him and asked if she could take a picture for "our" blog. The audacity! (okay...really....I asked her to get the picture...AND SHE DID!)
Once we finished eating and escaped the clutches of the Cracken, we went back to the conference for a little Bill Jack. He was awesome, as usual. Then we saw him again. Awesome again. And then Steve Demme again. Also continued awesomeness. For those of you playing along at home, that would be 1 Starbucks run, 2 Steve Demme talks, 1 Jack Sparrow lunch, and 2 Bill Jack sessions and about 1 hour of shopping.

But the real fun started when we went to Ghengis Grill for dinner! YUM! Mongolian BBQ! But, to be honest, the food was good....but Ernesto was FANTASTIC! He was the extremely wonderful, fantastic, extraordinary, fabulous man who served us our food....

AND CARDED ME! (on Monday, I will DOUBLE the age you need to be to order an adult beverage in a restaurant!). We left him a BIG tip!
In between all of this, we were laughing hysterically! And people were looking at us like we had lost our minds. As a matter of fact, when Jen's husband called and heard us, he asked, "Have you been drinking?"

Nope....it's just Travels with Jill.

We got back to our room and now I am boogie-ing on my blog with lots of stories dying to come out. And Jen and Angie.....they are asleep in front of a documentary. I think I exhausted them.

I believe they are considering starting a support group for people who have traveled with me.

You in, Karri?

THE GOOD (?) OL' DAYS

2010-04-19T21:17:00.003-06:00

Empty Tomb
Originally uploaded by abcdz2000

"On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment." Luke 23:56b

I never really thought about this verse before. I have read the book of Luke many times, but this verse never stuck out to me like it did a couple of weeks ago in a sermon. (are you getting that I am REALLY getting a lot out of our new church?)

The passage is referring to Jesus' disciples and friends who were in the process of preparing cloth and spices for Jesus' body. They didn't actually go to the tomb and wrap and spice his body that day because it was Sabbath, and the law forbade them from working.

Can you imagine? These are the people that Jesus didn't just know. He LIVED with them every single day. They ate together, traveled together, and ministered to others together. They were in the presence of God, the man. All the time! Many of them immediately left their families and occupations upon the Lord's calling. They KNEW something was different about him. And he spent three years telling them what that difference was. And he explained how he was the fulfillment of the law. He taught them how he was the Messiah and had come to set them free.

Jesus was radical! He showed his closest companions how all the things they had believed were just pointing to his coming. He taught that the law was about him. And that it would pass when his earthly life was finished and he was resurrected. Jesus' friends had the ultimate inside scoop!

But, upon his death, what did Jesus' friends do? They rested according to the commandment mandating the Sabbath. They returned to their old ways. They did not believe he was going to be alive again, and so they went back to their former life. They were sad, and probably mad, and so they fell back on what they had always done. Keeping the law and being acutely aware of their sin.

When I read similar accounts to these, I always wonder at the disciples' stupidity! How could you walk for THREE years with GOD, and have him spell it out AND STILL NOT GET IT?!

And then I take a good look at the proverbial mirror.

How many times have I read the Bible? How often do I continue in its study now? The answers to both are, "often". And how many times do I see my sin and try to make myself acceptable by trying to keep the law and do good deeds to gain God's favor? Unfortunately, the answer to that is, "too often".

Even after standing on this side of the Resurrection, with the whole Bible at my disposal, having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ (for longer than 3 years), I can return to my old ways. I go back to trying to keep those commandments in my own flesh.

I figure, at that point, Jesus must wonder at MY stupidity. At least after the disciples realized the Resurrection, they never forgot it. They had things to work out in faith, but they did not forget the Risen Lord and what he had done in them. What's my excuse?!

What about you? Do you forget what Jesus promised you? Do you go back to relying on your old ways when things get hairy?

I don't want to look upon the cross and think that is the end of the story. I want to remember the tomb, and the Gardener, and the fish fry! I want to go NEW places with Jesus! And leave my OLD ways in the dust!

GET IT TOGETHER, KARRI!

2010-04-15T08:27:00.009-06:00

A funny thing happened on the way to the ICC National Convention this upcoming June. A few Yuenbert children received invitations to go! I considered this good news on many fronts!

Attending ANY ICC function is always a treat. We learn so much in training and encouragement and connect with friends we otherwise don't get to see very often. The National Convention also hosts a short tournament and the kids all benefit from being able to hone their speeches some more before they take them out to the community again. But, there is one more thing that makes it so enticing to me!

Since several Yuens and Berts will be attending...I am thinking, "Yay! We can room together again....just like at MASTERS in NC in January!" Apparently, Karri was kind of thinking the same thing, because I started hearing rumors at our tournament this week that, in fact, what Karri was thinking, "Oh PLEASE! Not again!" And that she was seeking other roommate options for June!

Karri is a very nice person, though. She tried to assure me that what I had heard was just a rumor. Even if that is true.....I am not sure she is going to want to be driving around Olney, Maryland with me this summer.

Know why?

Let me see if this gives you a good guess. Here is what one of their state civil engineers said when asked why the state is considering instituting roundabouts at every opportunity..... “because we owe it to our residents. We believe that all public officials are so obligated. We are not suggesting that roundabouts are the solution to every traffic problem, but we would suggest that for public officials and the media to dismiss roundabouts out-of-hand, without bothering to learn how and when they can work to the public benefit is an absolute abdication of responsibility."

WHAT?! OWE IT TO THEIR RESIDENTS???? Why???? Annapolis is considered the Sailing Capitol of the WORLD and the first successful manned hot air balloon launch occurred in 1784 when 13 year old Edward Warren went airborne in Baltimore. Perhaps the state is trying to encourage other forms of transportation by highlighting hot air ballooning and sailing and making driving nearly impossible! In 1774, one of the first calls to freedom from British rule rang forth from Hungerford's Tavern in Maryland. But, perhaps the attendants were all drunk in the tavern and didn't mean it, since they are still embracing the wiles of British subjugation in 2010! Curse you, Roundabout!

Not only did the site, Institute for Community Preservation list the above quote, they also listed NINE reasons that roundabouts are supposedly beneficial. (Notice they couldn't even come up with an even TEN! for their list!!). Here is their list (see my comments in bold italics after them)

1. Roundabouts are among the safest intersection designs available. REALLY? I know six people who would disagree! Not only can you practically kill yourself trying to get off a roundabout, but you are most likely having a hard time keeping your eyes on the road because by the 5th time around, you are throwing up due to dizziness!

2. Roundabouts reduce serious injury and fatal accidents. This may actually be true. It is because you have to go so slow....because you are trying to FIND your exit, MERGE over to the exit lane, and THROW UP all at once. We are nothing if we are not cautious on those terrible traffic circles.

3. Roundabouts increase pedestrian safety and mobility. This is partially true. While I do not agree with the safety issue, I can see how it increases mobility. Pedestrians probably travel much faster hanging on to the hood of the car that hit them and is now driving them around in circles. It is hard to see pedestrians on a roundabout because you are so busy trying to merge and exit and follow all the fingers that are pointing out five different places to try to get off!

4. Roundabouts reduce traffic congestion. Okay....I concede this is true as well. BUT...it is because once you get on a roundabout, you stay on the roundabout and that keeps everyone moving (though, not going anywhere!).

5. Roundabouts increase road capacity. Wow. Alright. This one is true. But it isn't what you think. It increases road capacity because less people drive...because they don't ever want to get stuck on a roundabout again!

6. Roundabouts reduce air and noise pollution. While I am sure it reduces air pollution due to the drop in drivers (see my response to point 5), I can guarantee it does NOT reduce noise pollution! SIX of us were screaming at the top of our lungs when we went round and round on the roundabout in North Carolina! And that doesn't even count, "Lee", our Aussie GPS guide, who actually had a program to say, "Just get off the stupid roundabout, Mate!" Multiply that by every other idiot and his passengers stuck on a roundabout. THAT seems like noise pollution to me!

7. Roundabouts are economic and aesthetic. Me? I am a square kind of gal, so a traffic circle is not more pleasingly aesthetic than say, a normal traffic grid. Again....it is an economic attribute because no one will drive on them...thereby saving on gas, insurance, and road wear and tear.

8. Roundabouts take up the same or less space than a traditional signalized intersection. (Surprised?
You’d be amazed how small most are.) And yet, you can still go around them 8 or 10 times before you manage an escape!

9. Roundabouts have an enormously positive cost/benefit ratio. Cheaters! This is just a restatement of point 7 (so, my same answer applies here!). So, not only could they not even come up with a tenth reason....they really don't even have NINE!

Well, Karri....in the off chance that you may still consider rooming and carpooling with me, I just want to give you a little list. It is of the things you need to get together. Things like:
1. Your driver's license
2. Your insurance info
3. Your passport (in case you lose your license)
4. Your SANITY
Because me. Well, I AIN'T DRIVING!

KID(S), YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

2010-04-13T08:46:00.004-06:00

Oh, The places you'll go!
Originally uploaded by sugar&spice&everythingnice

"Your mountain is waiting. So.....get on your way!" Dr. Suess: Oh, The Places You'll Go!

Congratulations!
Today is your day,
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

You're on your way! And you know what you know!
Olney, Maryland is the place you will go.
You have speeches to give and interps to do,
Which is great for kids as speechy and interpy as you!

You practiced and practiced to the very last second.
And now all the ballots are tabbed and they're reckoned.
Who cares if yours was the only duo that beckoned!

It only takes one team to do what you did!
Get an invitation to the National Convention, Kid(s)!
With a Duo and a Thematic, you are both riding high!
Ready for anything under the sky.

Ready because you're that kind of guy!!

And when you are in Olney, no matter how you do.
You know that Dad and I will be proud of you.

Because whether you do interps, oratories, duos or more,
You will be serving more people than ever before!
And that is the very best thing you can do.
Which is great for kids as speechy and interpy as you!

So....
be your name Catey, Jocelyn, Madison or Fay,
or Maci, Levi, Laura or Kay,
You're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.
So....get on your way!

Our local chapter of ICC (Chapter SEEK), hosted its very first tournament yesterday! We are finishing debate rounds today. It was very exciting to be a part of all the hubub! I didn't do much, except what I was told, but I feel like I learned A LOT! Thank you, Karri!

We had 15 participants and I am absolutely amazed at what God communicated through kids as young as 11! So many of these kids had more poise than a lot of 40 year olds do in front of an audience. But, while their brains are obviously big....their hearts are bigger! And this is a big deal, because the goal of the Institute for Cultural Communicators is not to train speakers to win tournaments, scholarships or any other such prize. We believe in training students to reach the culture by serving them. You will always see ICC students taking out trash, cleaning, cooking and doing all sorts of "grunt" jobs in the midst of any kind of speaking engagement they may be involved in! After they speak, it is common to see the students meet one on one with people in the audience, not to share their opinions or intellect, but to connect with those people and hear THEIR hearts!

So, I was really proud of the Chapter SEEK students yesterday. These kids served and served! That is asking a lot of folks who are trying to practice speeches and stay calm, cool and collected. But, I never had to ask more than once for the kids to do things. Most times....I didn't even have to ask at all! As a matter of fact, some of our chapter members who were not participating in the tournament were flurrying around us and offering all their services. We were never in want and their service was always topped off by a BIG smile!

Here is a shout out to my 10 year old, Carli! That awesome girl came to hang out and time. In the speech and debate world, timing is where it is at when you can't yet compete. It is the more "posh" job at the tournament, and you get a lot of exposure to speeches to glean from. But, yesterday, we needed child care and Carli willingly played and played with little kids and blessed those little ones and their folks! Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!

In the end, our chapter chair received an invitation to our National Convention this June in Olney, MD to give her Thematic Religious Reading. That is THREE TRR's from our chapter that have been invited! The Amazing Madison received yet another invitation to the convention...this one for her Informative Speech. And Catey and Jocelyn received an invitation for their Duo, Oh, the Places You'll Go!

I must say here that only one duo entered. That would be Joss and Catey's. But a disclaimer: Regardless of how many duos there were, theirs was so fun and well done that I believe they would have been in the real running for an invitation even if there had been more teams involved.

So! We are off to Maryland this summer for the National Tournament and better still....lots of training and seeing far flung friends!

OH! The places we'll go!

ROSE, APHID OR LADYBUG?

2010-04-03T09:03:00.001-06:00

Please don't eat me dear Ladybug
Originally uploaded by Anderson Mancini

Has God ever planted you where you have found it nearly impossible to bloom? Have you been a willing bud, using the Lord's water and sunshine to grow taller and eventually open......only to have a bunch of aphids eat you up?

I was thinking about this with a friend of mine who is one of the most beautiful flowers in my bouquet of friends. She has been planted. She started to bloom....and then the aphids set in.

Funny little guys, those aphids. For the most part, anyone who owns roses has a very low opinion of these bugs. As a matter of fact, there seems to only be one group of folks that appreciate them. Ants. Ants like them because they round them up and keep them. Turns out if you stroke those ugly green aphids, they actually give milk that gives life to whole colonies of ants. So....if you are an ant, you learn to manipulate the aphids and get what you want.

The beautiful thing about busy ants is, they actually provide food for the aphids. In this way, the aphids stop eating the roses. They are happy, little insects because they are being fed and stroked and cared for. But an ant can only do so much. Ants can't capture ALL of the aphid eggs and take them to their nest. While an ant can round up a lot of aphids, they don't get them all, and the ones that stay outside the ant nest continue to eat the rose. Inside the nest or out, aphids are pretty self-centered little boogers.

And so we are with friendships sometimes. We know people who are hard to reach. They are interested in what works for them. They have their own agenda and we only fit in if we stroke and feed them. And so we try. We reach out. We try everything that has worked making connections in the past. But, sometimes those aphid acquaintances won't be corralled. They keep munching on your bloom until you are ragged and withered.

But what I have found is....sometimes God wants us to be the ants. Reaching out, helping, caring, TRYING.

And sometimes, He wants to remind us that we are the rose. The bloom He has planted for His good purposes. Sometimes, He wants us to just be rooted in Him....even during long winter, dormant months. Months that seem to last years. I think He does it so that others can look at the rose and say, "Wow! She never failed! Not even once! She had faith and moxy. There is NO way she could have done that without God."

And I believe that God also helps the bloom stay on the rose. He does it by sending the anti-aphid. The ladybug. Beautiful, red, buzzing around, looking for something to eat. And aphids are hard to see. Until there are a BUNCH of them nibbling away. That is when God sends the ladybug(s) to swoop in and make a meal of them!

I think the hardest thing is to see that you are the rose. And to wait for the ladybugs. To understand that the dormant season is actually a blessing of relief somehow. And that spring will come....and that it will likely bring aphids. But....hear that buzzing?

Here come the ladybugs!

FOR YOU, VINNIE....

2010-03-26T14:31:00.005-06:00

"A friend loves at all times." Proverbs 17:17a (I loves ya, Vinnie!)

Here are my kids and Vanessa's daughter at Garden of the Gods today. What a fantastic visit! A huge blessing! And, um, Vanessa.....I don't think I can send her home!!!! But here are some pictures of her for you to enjoy!

WHO, ME???

2010-03-25T09:35:00.002-06:00

CrAzY
Originally uploaded by Monica Galafassi's Photos

We have some FAB friends visiting right now. They are the daughters of two of my dear friends in California, and the girls happen to be cousins! What a blessing to have them. They are wonderful, funny and smart girls and I love conversing with them and hearing all their opinions.

But last night, they blew my socks off!

One of the girls, Sophie, has a crazy and zany mom. Or at least I thought so.

I have many reasons to believe this. Or at least I thought so.

Sophie's mom, Vanessa is a lot of fun. I don't mean she is someone you enjoy. I mean, if you find out you are invited somewhere and Vanessa will be there too, you rearrange whatever you have to to be there, too! She is the kind of person who IS the party. Everyone loves Vanessa. I have always thought we were very similar...though she, in my mind, was always the nuttier of the two of us. But last night, Laurelyuen and Sophie looked at me with their mouths hanging open and said, "NO WAY!" WHAT? They actually think I am crazier than Vanessa! How could they think that?????

Vanessa and I have had many adventures together. She has kicked kids off her trampoline so that she and I could jump on it. She even launched me a few times! We have driven right next to each other on the freeway, while talking to each other on our cell phones until we got to our destination. It was always a bummer that we could not fit all 8 of our kids and ourselves in one car. We even used to dream of owning a tour bus together just so we could all fit. And so that I could have a microphone to talk on during the whole trip!

I used to co-op with Vanessa and her girls. I used to dress up like Swami Mommy and act like a nutcase and Vanessa......used to watch. To contrast different women in the Bible, I made up a Dating Game and dressed up like Delilah ("Hi, my name is Delilah. I am a hairstylist. In my spare time, I flirt and partake in espionage.") and Vanessa.....laughed. I made up a game show for our kids when they studied horses called, Who Wants to be a Horse Expert? I wore my husband's sport coat and used a wooden spoon as my microphone. I encouraged kids to poll the audience or use a lifeline to arrive at the correct answers about different equine subjects. The kids loved it, and Vanessa had a good time....watching. I have also gone bowling in a hot pink wig with VERY large, purple leopard print glasses, which made everyone laugh....especially Vanessa.

Slowly, I realized....I AM crazier than Vanessa! After all, I WORE the wig! I could not believe this! I am still trying to come to grasp with the whole revelation!

What I have come to see is that I have some really good and normal friends, like Angi and Shirin. They are always ready to follow me into zaniness. But Vanessa....Vanessa was different. She came alongside me in my "wit". She encouraged it. She told stories about it. She made me crazy.

I think Vanessa kicked her kids off the trampoline because I was the friend she KNEW would jump on it with her! I believe that she talked with me on the cell phone while we drove an hour to the Oakland Zoo because she had NO doubt, I was the friend who would not think about the minutes but how funny it was! And I am pretty sure that the reason Vanessa like the tour bus idea was because she was eager to hear me do my Tour Guide Barbie impression! Usually, I am the one with the unorthodox ideas and I count on my friends to ground me. But, with Vanessa, SHE is the one with the ideas....because she sees that part of me and knows...

Vanessa Ideas + Jill's Lack of Sense = Much Fun (at least for the two of us!)

And there is something....A LOT, actually....to say for the friend who inspires you to so much fun and never runs away when people gawk!

TAKE A PEEP

2010-03-25T08:19:00.002-06:00

Hey Peeple! Be a good egg and take a peep at my friend, Shirin's blog! She's a cool chick who has hatched a WAY fun idea!