Living Proof Live in Stockton

Where on earth would I start with this kind of blessing?

I took my camera and was so blown away I forgot to even take it out of my pocket. (That wasn't much of a blessing, unfortunately. I really wanted pictures!) Here are some from the Lifeway site.

Andrea (Precious Daughter 1) and I  waited in line the first evening for 3 1/2 hours and made friends in the process, plus we got great seats--it was totally worth it.  Beth Moore is a fantastic Bible teacher--so humble, so real, and so gracious in bringing us into the presence of God. If anyone reading this hasn't done one of her Bible studies, really, I can't encourage you enough. They are life changing in the best way--I'm about to start the study called "Esther  It's tough being a woman".  I've already heard the introductory lesson and I can hardly wait to start the study part.

Okay, get started on any Bible study of Beth's and report back which one it was and how much you loved it!

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Stupid Post Alert!

Well, that last posting was stupid, in all twenty kinds of ways. Angie doesn't even know I have a blog and wouldn't care if I did. And nobody else who reads this knows Angie. 

So here's an introduction of Angie:

She's been working in Awana at our church for years, signing everyone in, giving them high fives and encouragment for their achievements, etc. and Jason fell in love with her somewhere along the line. When she had her last baby Jason started talking about "mama" and we thought it was an imaginary friend. Eventually we found out he meant Angie, so now she is called "mama" by all of us.  Jason carries around a picture of the two of them we took at Awana and he remains infatuated. So much so, that when she moved away for a year or so he was terribly bitter towards her husband. Sorry JJ, nothing we say gets you out of the doghouse. Angie is gone and that makes you Evil in every manner. 

Anyway, she is a wonderful lady and I'm glad my boy has good taste. We miss you, Angie!

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"Mama"

Good luck in the Navy, Angie! We will be praying for you and your sweet family while you are gone.

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Saturday Morning Cartoons

Boy, you know, my kids never grew up with Saturday morning cartoons, and it wasn't until I just wrote that title that I realized how much I had enjoyed them myself. I wonder about getting a DVD of different ones from Netflix and starting our own little tradition. Because, you know, they don't watch enough Blue's Clues, VeggieTales, etc. on a daily basis and they need more entertainment. Also sugared cereal because of the nutrition. 

And I think that Girlie Repair Tutorial was supposed to show a nicely finished product. Well, the pink dried to white, and that's as good as it got. At least there is no longer a gaping hole in the wall and that's what we are after, right? Progress, not perfection, etc. (gag...) Still, it's odd that I have had exactly zero requests to repair anyone elses drywall. 

But listen to this! I grabbed a DVD on drywall installation at the library because it looked fun (no comments needed) and the guy showed how to put it up from scratch and also how to repair it. It was so interesting we all sat and enjoyed it and I'm going down today to get some drywall actually do it right. I will definitely be taking pictures and if it comes out as nicely as I plan on it doing, this blog may change to a handyman type blog as I go world famous in the Fixing It department. I am very excited about this. 

I wonder if I should get some sugared cereal and another Fix It video for Saturday morning?

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Girlie Repair Tutorial

Using a cheese slicer from the kitchen drawer, smoothly apply the spackling to the patch on the wall. I got the stuff that goes on pink and dries white so you can tell when it is dry, but it also gives it that nice girlie touch that goes so well with the cheese slicer. 

It's dry now and I need to sand it, spray on texture and then primer and paint. And find a way to upload pictures without taking three days each time. 

I'm going to professionally (without cheese slicer) repair a huge hole in the upstairs bedroom.  I'm prepared to be impressed with myself.

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Garden Produce

I just can't believe how delicious our salad was. I planted the mesclun mix and it was fantastic.

I have a lovely picture of the garden but it's not loading now.  I'll also post pictures of a sweet friend who is leaving to go into the navy for five years.  Anyway, that will  be next, when the uploading isn't being so fussy.

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Awana Awards Night

They finished their books with time to spare and I'm so proud of them.  That's a lot of memory work!   Congratulations, Sweeties!

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Paint!

Everyone knows you put down a protective something on the floor. We got a big sheet of plastic from the paint store when we bought the paint. It immediately got paint spilled on it, feet stepped in the wet painted plastic and then tracked all over the place.

Here is the cleaned floor. With lovely paint that--coincidentally--matches the walls. What are the odds? We are either going to have to sand and redo the floor in another varnish or paint it somehow.  It's the project that keeps on giving.  And here is the partly finished room. I love it in spite of all my mistakes and can hardly wait to finish.  We have throw pillows and wall accents ready and we'll do some curtain somethings and the closet doors and baseboards. Look for a completion date somewhere in early 2010...

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New Puppy!

After waiting and praying for a couple of years, Tyler has been blessed with a dog! Some ranching friends of ours have a line of Border Collies that they have bred for four generations and they let him choose one of the litter. He's the smartest dog I've ever seen and we are happy to welcome Diggity to our family. 

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These are morning clothes

Out to the trampoline for a pre-breakfast romp!  And it is *warm* outside. And dry, so the boots are just for effect, much like the helmet. 

Life is good for the fashionistas in our family. 

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Jason's First Flight is Tristan's Training Flight

Preflight--about to go

Tristan at the controls for a training flight given to him by his more than awesome orthodontist. Thanks, Dr. Grey!

I gave Jason the camera as they were about to take off and told him to get some good pictures.


I thought he did pretty well, considering he usually loves to get photos of the inside of his mouth...

Post flight excitement. Seems flying really agrees with him, don't you think? 

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Cartoon That Speaks To Me

Thank you for the cartoon, Susanne!

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Ranting

This is about Barack Obama and the direction this country is going. I didn't vote for him, and I'll say it right out that I think he is the worst thing to happen to this country in...well, I don't have an exact time for "possibly ever".   And the worst of it? You can't say that out loud to many people because he's African American and you might be accused of being "racist".  Look, it's not his color that makes him a bad choice (how ridiculous is that!), it's his philosophy. You want an African American or a woman as president? There are a host of incredible people fit for the job. But why should that matter?  They have little minds that consider gender and color things that we should use as a measure of worth.  What does a person think and how do they conduct their lives?  Do they demonstrate excellence? Leadership? Courage? Integrity?  Faithfulness? Honesty?  It could go on and on. Choose a person based on who they are, not what Affirmative Action categories they fill--and certainly to call someone a racist simply because they disagree on one, five or twenty issues involved goes beyond petty.

I watched a documentary on Roman Polanski the other day. They talked about how tragic his childhood had been (Jewish in Europe in WWII--lost his parents to the Nazis, alone on the streets at a young age to fend for himself during the war, etc) and how talented and charismatic he was. He came to this country and became very popular.  But later on he also did some very horrible things and was on trial for it and fled the country when he realized he was going to be locked up. The commentator said that he couldn't get a just trial because people didn't like him because he was foreign. Because he was Jewish. Because he was short.  Oh, my goodness. I think he forgot to list "he wore white socks".  (Plus did he forget that he had just told us how popular he was?) It is more a sad reflection on that commentator to think Americans would not like someone based on those things.  Show us a true heart in bad circumstances and you've got us wrapped around your finger.  But be unkind, untrue, a liar, a rapist, a person who finds ways of getting around the law--yeah, we aren't so fond of that.  I won't go into the details of what he had done, but there were good reasons America turned on him, and it wasn't his outward appearance.  Just like it isn't with Obama. 

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Ants!

Jaime got an ant farm for her birthday. This is by far the neatest ant farm I've ever seen. The gel they tunnel through never collapses and it provides both their nutrition and water. Plus, look how neat it makes it all look. We all love watching it.

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Happy Birthday to My Sweet Twins!

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Moroccan Nights!

The girls transformed the room into a beautiful tent and we had lots of pillows on the floor and several delicious Moroccan dishes--lamb and couscous, basilla (Moroccan pigeon pie), watermelon and baklava.  

They gave a wonderful skit that showcased what they learned and they were so creative!  We've decided to do China next, so stay tuned.

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Birthdays and Fun Stuff

This is such a fantastic time of year. It's always a race to see who wins--if the weather stays nice I can get a jump on the weeds, or the weather is soggy and the weeds grow 4 inches a day and by the time it dries out they are above my waist. 

This year I want to do Square Foot Gardening. I got so excited when I read it last September and I can hardly wait to have a big garden this year. Big. Lots of stuff and a fall garden and then a winter garden.  Huge garden. Everything but the kitchen sink. 

The Iditarod is going on and we are following it again this year, although it is much harder to follow this time. Last year they had experimented with the top runners having GPS devices so you could follow them along the entire race. This year they charge for the service and it is way more difficult and not nearly as fun to watch. I can't find the screens for some of our favorite ways to follow. I'll try another day and then find someone who might be able to either show me how to access the rest or lodge a polite disgruntlement.

Never mind. Everyone is having trouble. Oh well. 

Jaime has started a blog. She loves to write and will write for hours. This bolts right on for her. Plus it's a great excuse not to be doing schoolwork. Hmm...

We are going to do our Moroccan night on Wednesday. We've been reading lots of books on Morocco and after Awana tomorrow our friends are coming over to spend the night so we can cook the baklava, couscous and lamb, yogurt and cucumber stuff (sorry, forget the name) and hummus and pita. They will all show their notebooks and tell what they've learned, then we'll eat on the low tables while sitting on the floor on pillows in a room they've decorated. It won't be entirely authentic, but it should be fun and we've learned a lot. 

And really? We chose Morocco because we love the food. 

Jason is going for his first overnight at the grandparents on Friday. He's so looking forward to it. I hope he has a wonderful time.

We just celebrated two of the four birthdays we have in this two week span. Kimberly is 22 and Tristan just turned 16. Happy Birthday, lovely children!

Also. The neighbors loaned Tristan a big set of drums to go with the electric guitar he got. I've had a talk with everyone about the difference between "noise" and "music". Practice and bobbles may be disharmonious but expected while learning. Standing outside your bedroom in the hall with the amp turned *way* up and making LOUD screeching and screaming guitar sounds that have nothing to do with any music on this earth is considered "noise" and will be treated with severity.  

That's all for now. Carry on, troops.

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I've Got a Better Idea

I think the scientists would be more valuable finding a way to increase the rate, like say, 100% or more.  

Truly--why do people think rattlesnakes have a specialized niche? Other snakes eat rodents and the same things rattlesnakes eat, and they don't have the down side of poisonous bites. I took care of a guy in the hospital who had been bitten on the finger by a rattlesnake. His arm was swollen and black all the way up to his shoulder. It was horrific. 

I'm not a fan of the pit vipers. 

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Living Room is Finished!

This looks a little grey when it is really a purply eggplant color. I am very pleased with how it came out and now I'm about to tackle Jaime's room, which is quite a more involved undertaking. 

Hurray! One project down!

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Fighting Fires

Wouldn't you have loved to have been here?

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My Current Project

I'm going to ignore that my car is *still* not working.  And because of that, I'm not posting pictures of it being towed. It doesn't deserve any recognition for the grief it continues to put me through. 

Instead, here is my living room transformation. 

I'm a bit unnerved by it at this point, but I'm hoping that it will all look fine when it comes together. I still have that other half to put a second coat on and then replace the baseboards, etc. I think I will like it, but I have a bit of a panic at the edges just in case.

In other news, we went on a fantastic field trip to the fire department with the Homeschool Group this last week. They saw a wonderful and educational movie about the four types of fires and what you use and *do not use* to put each one out. We all learned a lot and they've been talking about it and discussing it since then so it really made an impact.  Then we all went and they got to practice putting out a real fire. They had a liquid fuel fire (diesel, kersosene, etc. mix) and they each took the extinguisher and pulled the pin on it and sprayed the contents on it, walking closer and closer until it was out. All of mine got to take a turn and it was wonderful. 

We've found a math program we love, school is going well. We are studying Ancient Rome right now and are also doing a side study on Morocco with another family. We are putting a lapbook together and will have a Moroccan dinner, sitting on the floor with pillows and tapestries and whatnot, in early March with the entire two families as the children all give a presentation of what they've learned. 

And I signed up the two youngest boys for baseball. Right now it seems like no big deal and I'm going to cling to that delusion as long as I can.

I'm in the process of reading 13 books, with 3 being read concurrently. Only not while I'm on the computer, so I need to go. 

I'll update the room situation soon.  Bye!

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Broken Cars are a Major Pain

There's certainly no good reason for being gone for so long from blogland, only lame excuses and I'm always full of those, but I'll spare you.  

You're welcome. 

Ummm,  I can't. Because If I don't put my excuses down I'll have nothing to say. And besides, it might make someone feel blessed if they realize it's someone else's turn to have everything fall apart.

I am having car woes, sung in a Major Key. I put out a Major Expenditure on a Major Tune-up and instead of running better, it almost immediately started having Major Problems. The power steering pump exploded or something and I had to get towed to the dealer.   (Major thanks to Andrea  [Precious Daughter1] for the incredible Aid and Comfort In a Time of Need.)

They did Major work on that, the brakes, a serpentine belt (I think they make these things up) and who knows what all and I paid a Major, Major Bill. I got most of the way home when the back end started grinding. No way!  They assured me it was fine, but fine it most certainly was not and just a few days later I had to be towed again and we are waiting to see how major these damages are.  I'm afraid I'm going to end up paying on this car until three years and ten months after I'm dead and gone. 

Whew. 

But I do have pictures.  

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Rusty Wire

Rusty Wire, originally uploaded by MisterTrister.

My son is now my #1 photographer. I love his pictures!

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Also Yesterday...

In the morning before I had my Town Adventures (ahem), we had three huge gravel truckloads of road base dumped on our driveway.  It was wonderful, but it also needed a whole lot of shoveling and raking in order to spread it where it goes.  

I have been blessed with two healthy, strong teenaged boys.  We had one shovel and one rake between the three of us, but we figured it should work well as we would each take a turn with a shovel, then a rake, then take a break, so there would be two people working and one resting at any given time.  

Well, unless you were one of the strong healthy teenaged boys. Then it was more like--work a tiny bit, complain some, pick a fight with the other brother, use energy swinging rake in threatening manner, change to a shovel, continue quibbling, etc. 

I finally gave them a talk about how I was old enough to be a grandmother and they were always flexing their muscles and talking about how strong they were and hey!--does anyone see anything wrong with this picture?!  The strong ones are slacking and whining and the "old, weak one" is working hard without complaint.  They straightened up and finished well while I went inside to get get my skirt all tucked up ready to show the world my lovely black knee socks and legsfrombehind.  

So what happened today? They are experiencing a normal, happy day and I'm so stove up with sore muscles I can barely move.  It hurts to sit and it even hurts to cough. What on earth muscles did I use to rake and shovel??  Either I need to develop some teen muscle mass of the masculine variety (rather doubtful) or limit my strenous exerting to pointing with a delicate finger exactly *where* I want them to do the work.  

I do believe I will take myself up on that offer. Supervisory postion, now filled. Thank you all for applying.  Now go run me a hot bath for my poor sore muscles, would you, Sweet sons? Growing older does have some perks, as it happens!

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BlogPost Fast Is Over

Cause, boy, do I have things to say. 

I have frequent delusional daydreams that I am a normal person--one who doesn't seem to have a hair shirt as a normal piece of underclothing.  But I think it's time for me to wake up and smell the coffee and find a way to reconcile this part of my reality, cause it doesn't seem to be something I'm growing out of. 

Yesterday I had to go to town to do laundry (thanks, Sears! Three weeks waiting for you to come fix the triple load sized washer I use Every. Single. Day.  is really not inconvenient at all) and get my car fixed.  My car has developed a distinctly tangy attitude and is now going on the auction block if we can ever get it fixed long enough to get rid of it. 

Anyway.

At the car fixing place I chatted a bit about what they were going to do, then I walked down the main drag of town, which is also the highway through town.  I made it to the laundrymat, put the clothes in and then had to walk to the grocery store to get money for the washer. I browsed through the grocery store to find something to buy in order to get some money back for the laundry. Fruit section, lunch meat, bread, etc. and finally was checking the deli section when a very nice lady came up to me and asked quietly and hesitantly if I knew my skirt was tucked up into my waistband. ***What?!!!!**   Oh, yes.  Simply another example of me in my glory.  And here's how bad it was--when I pulled it down it pulled for a long time, and more than in one little section and my legs got distinctly warmer.  It was a Major Tuck.

Just how many people saw my cute "situation" is something I'd rather not contemplate. Oh, and because it was so cold out, I was wearing a pair of black knee socks with my skirt.  Yeah, I'm just the very picture of dignity and decorum.

I wonder if a person ever gets used to the feeling of being mortified? 

And no. I had my camera and decided that pictures were the last thing I needed here.  Low as they are, I do have standards.

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