Our Mini-Vacation

A few weeks ago, my family went on a trip with some friends from church. Our first destination was the Living Word Outdoor Drama in Cambridge, Ohio. The picture below is the set used to tell the story of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount to His crucifixion and resurrection. The entire experience was superb! All of the actors, with the exception of the man portraying Jesus, were volunteers, and the acting was exceptional.

After a night spent at a Holiday Inn Express (just a quick plug for these hotels, I've stayed in three separate hotels in this chain - all of them were high quality!), we set out for Petersburg, Kentucky home of the Creation Museum. The museum and the surrounding grounds contain, of course, the museum, a planetarium, a petting zoo and botanical garden.
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Before we toured the inside of the museum, we walked through the beautiful gardens, across tricky rope bridges all the way to the petting zoo. The animals were super friendly, and tolerated my many attempts at close-up photography.

Once we went inside, our first order of business was to go directly to the 4D theater to watch the film "Men in White". The movie was entertaining, but the real fun was the movement of the seats and the splashes of water that accompanied it. As we started through the many exhibits, this sign caught my eye:

Absolutely amazing to see this posted prominently in a museum!

My daughter posing with the animals in the Garden of Eden

My son enjoying the dinosaurs

I've entitled this photo,"Mr. Clean in the Grand Canyon"

The entire experience was great, but the high point was the planetarium. The star gazer theater show was spectacular. I completely lost myself in the show. Emerging from the theater, I was completely blown away by just how big our God is!

In other news, I have completed my first college course and tomorrow, I begin the second - Bible Hermeneutics I!

Sorry

Sorry about the unannounced blog break. I had the best of intentions, yet time just kept slipping away this week. The last bit of summer vacation is upon us and my family has been squeezing it for every bit of summer fun we can.

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A week ago, we visited the Creation Museum in Kentucky and The Living Word drama in Ohio. I'll be posting pictures from those locations soon!

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My first college class is nearly finished, just need to finish the final project. Next class starts on 8/30. Loving these classes, but scheduling homework is a challenge.

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School clothes shopping is 50% finished! Still can't believe it is that time of year already. Where did the summer go?

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Bye for now!

Free Smiles!

Anyone else like to smile?
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Here are some suggestions sure to make you grin:

• Go for a creek walk (make sure you pronounce it correctly - crick walk). Scream like a little girl when a lobster size* crayfish bumps your toe. Giggle like an idiot when you reach the bank and notice your audience laughing their heads off.
• Watch your husband do the same (minus the screaming) when he sees a water snake.
• Dance with a baby. Make sure you spin and dip!
• Hang a toddler upside down and tickle his belly. If those chuckles don't make you smile - check your pulse!
• Watch a crowd of children squeal when the fireworks put on a show.
• Paint a room your favorite color (GREEN!)
• Beat the heat by cuddling in the air conditioning with a sweet pup.

Needless to say, it was a very happy weekend!

*This may be a slight exaggeration.

It's A Bird, It's A Plane . . .

For the past month or two, eye-catching signs have been popping up all over the place advertising a brand new business.

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Zip Lines.

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Located out of town, near our huge lake, brand new zip lines have been installed and my kids could not wait to try them out. They had to wait a few weeks, but after church we followed the signs and there it was - just what my daredevil children had been anticipating.

The pictures aren't perfect, but they were moving FAST! On the last ride, my girl decided to hang upside down. My heart didn't start beating again until her feet were on solid ground.

My son decided that riding the line in an upright fashion was much more to his liking.

Zip lines were definitely a hit with these two and they are already planning more trips this summer. Mom and Dad were content with zip lining as a spectator sport.

Lazy Hazy Days of Summer

Family hike tonight! Getting rid of cable was the best decision we ever made :)

Reflecting on a Wonderful Weekend

Our weekend officially started with a walk to the Farmer's Market on Thursday, enjoying fresh strawberries and blueberries on the return walk. Whoopie pies, too!

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Then came our annual family trip to the rodeo. We love the rodeo, we really do. It's a great family outing, and this particular one is also a fundraiser for a small Catholic school in a nearby town. So, it's a win-win situation.

I tried to get pictures of the bronco and bull riding, but everything just happened so fast once they were out of the shoot.
I am sorry I didn't catch this cowboy's name. The back of his vest read, "Rodeo With Jesus" and his chaps were emblazoned with crosses. I was impressed with his bold faith - he knelt in prayer behind the bull pen before climbing into the pen with his bull. He was thrown rather quickly, got up and dashed out of the bull's path, and knelt again in the corner of the arena before standing and accepting his applause.

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We spent a lazy Saturday hiding out from the worst of the heat watching movies together in the AC, but emerged and took an evening walk together before the storms set in. Father's Day was a great day spent with family as well. I live for weekends like this!

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Long live lazy summer weekends!

An Evening Ramble

My hubby and I have been enjoying our evening walks immensely. For the past week, we have been choosing increasingly challenging treks. Tonight, was the best of all.

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First, lets take a look at this beauty blooming on the front porch!

We hiked all the way up to the highest point in town. It was steep. It was the hardest walk thus far, but oh, my. It was so, so worth it!

Remember this post? I loved taking in this view of the mountains and valleys stretching off into the distance.

And finally, a picture of me, triumphantly enjoying the splendor of God's creation!

The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills. To the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments.

Habakkuk 3:19

Whirlwind Week

What a week this has been!
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Just as my children celebrated their last day of school, my daughter's last day of middle school *sniffle*, I received my book list for my first college course at Lancaster Bible College. In a little over a month, I will officially begin classes. So, while my kids kick back and relax, mom will be hitting the books.

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I'm sorry I didn't keep up with blogging about this week by week, but this was our final week of the Becoming More Than A Good Bible Study Girl by Lysa TerKeurst. Those six weeks flew by! I highly recommend this study, each lesson was better than the last and the messages were challenging, faith strengthening and went straight to the heart. I hope that she writes many, many more Bible studies. We used the DVD that went with the book as well, and each lesson was like visiting with a dear friend.

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On the home front, we are shifting from school schedules to summer schedules and the more relaxed pace is like manna from Heaven. Evenings spent walking through our neighborhood or reading on the front porch while enjoying a breeze, are divine. The garden is planted (on a much more modest scale than last year) and the plum trees are laden with fruit.

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Summer here we come!

Getting Warmer

Eight years ago, when we first moved into our house, I bought two, cheap plastic pots at a "dollar" store for four dollars each. They were the typical terracotta color. This year, I considered buying some new planters, but instead opted to give the spraypaint made for plastic a try. Pretty nifty, huh? Like brand new!

Red pots are pretty, but they needed filling, so off to the greenhouse we went! Gerbera daisies are my favorites, so my containers are very simple - gerbera daisies and sweet potato vine (gotta get that splash of lime green in there somewhere!) They look a little pathetic now, but they'll fill out in no time. A white daisy ready for it's close up.
Not the best picture, but isn't this color outstanding?!
As long as we had the hose out, it seemed a good time for two pups to get a bath. Neither were impressed, but a good shampoo and brushing had to feel good. Midnite thought getting us wet was the best part of the whole thing. Shaky dog shower!
The calendar may not agree, but I think summer is officially here!

Keep Moving Forward!

Since the theme seems very appropriate for this week, I thought I'd share this video of my daughter's indoor percussion team's 2010 show. Enjoy!

Overdrawn at the Sleep Bank

So tired. So very, very tired.
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Turns out, it was too much to expect to just bounce back from two days of late nights and early mornings. When I was a teenager, this was not a problem - now, however, my body is telling me in no uncertain terms that I am no longer a teenager. Rest is a good thing and I sorely need some.

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Acquire the Fire was very good this year. The drama, Surrounded, was amazing. I was so glad to have the opportunity to watch the youth touched by God, and especially moved as we watched 700 young people respond to an alter call. Well worth the exhaustion.

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Now that I'm home, my focus is shifting to my big project for this week. Months ago, I agreed to make a wedding cake for a friend this weekend. I do not make wedding cakes, I like to bake, but this is a major undertaking. And yes, I plan on blogging about it as I complete each step. Please bear with me!

A Day at the Symphony

I have a confession to make . . . . .
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sometimes, I am *gulp* . . . . .
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WRONG!
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Hard to believe, right?
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Please tell me it's hard to believe. I need to hear that sometimes.
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Five years ago, my daughter came home from school filled with excitement due to an assembly all of the fourth graders took part in. At this assembly, the elementary band director regaled the youngsters with the wonders of playing an instrument, in a very similar manner, I imagine, as Professor Harold Hill would have.

Or maybe not. I wasn't there. I prefer to imagine it that way, though.
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The result of this sales pitch was an extremely enthusiastic nine year old who would expire on the spot if she was not promised band membership in the immediate future. I was skeptical. I had a very brief and mediocre music career in middle school. My parents purchased the instrument, I practiced it wholeheartedly for about, oh, let's say a month, before merely going through the motions for a couple of years. I tried to negotiate with my daughter. Maybe she could stick with choir. No go. Soccer is good, how about you just keep playing soccer. She insistently pressed the "how to lease an instrument from an over-priced place of business for nearly the same price as a semester at college" pamphlet into my hands. With a deep sigh, I asked, "What do you want to play, if we decide to let you join the band? And I'm not saying that you are going to join the band." The answer to that question was a filibuster on the amazing innumerable qualities of the clarinet. My husband and I held her off for 24 hours with a solid "we'll see".

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At church that Sunday, my husband consulted with a retired band director. When we got into the car and pulled out of the parking lot, he mysteriously turned in the wrong direction. "I have a stop to make.", was his only explanation. In very short order, my daughter was clutching a refurbished b flat clarinet, lovingly restored by that retired band director. Two years later, excelling at the b flat clarinet, my daughter was introduced to the bass clarinet at school. They hit it off splendidly and she now plays bass during concerts and b flat during marching band.

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In fact, she and the bass clarinet make such beautiful music together, that after months of practice, they played in a college symphony yesterday afternoon. My daughter was invited to play as a community member. The music was breathtaking. We were so proud. And I was so glad that five years ago, I was wrong about her playing an instrument.

In Need of Organization 101

Or, to be more accurate - Remedial Organization.
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In the next month, I need to re-plan the Chonda Pierce trip, finish planning ladie's Bible study, fundraise for a summer mission trip to Atlanta, survive the end of band season and make a wedding cake.

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I think I need a personal assistant, but at this point, I think the best I could do would be to hope that one of the dogs learns to type or make phone calls soon.

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I am officially declaring tomorrow the day I get organized!

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I'll let you know how it goes.

Digital Camera Dilema

My camera has been dying a slow death ever since Christmas. The shutter speed gradually slowed to the point that unless I was talking pictures of still life bowls of fruit, it was basically useless. Last weekend, it refused to turn on at all and I was forced to admit that my trusty Vivitar Vivicam (with a whopping 5.1 mega pixels!) is not coming back to me.

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So, as I do with any large (read:minuscule) decision, I obsess. I've been poring over endless reviews, window shopping online (or would that be windows shopping?) narrowing down the options, and trying to decide what features I really want. So far, I've decided that I want a camera that will make all of my photographs look like Ansel Adams, The Pioneer Woman and Anne Geddes rolled into one. Perfectly reasonable, no?

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Here are the contenders thus far:

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Nikon Coolpix - Good reviews. In my price range. Lots of bells and whistles.

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Canon Powershot - Slightly better reviews than the Nikon. In my price range (but some models hover on the edge). Again, lots of bells and whistles.

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Casio Exilim - Good reviews. In my price range (but the high speed one is not). Lots of different models with various options.

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Hopefully, I'll have a decision made by Friday and I can wow everyone with my professional grade photos (I could barely even type that with a straight face) by this weekend!

Of Teenagers and Locusts

This morning it was a struggle to get out of bed.
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Dark and rainy and chilly. Good sleeping weather. Really bad Monday morning weather.

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For the record, the perfect weather for a Monday morning would look like something out of an early Disney feature film. Sun streaming through gracefully floating fluffy white clouds, gentle flute music wafting over green meadows full of technicolor wild flowers punctuated by the perpetually cheerful chirps of bluebirds sitting on my windowsill.

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Not too much to ask for, right?

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I didn't think so.

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This morning was definitely a stereotypical Monday morning. I hit snooze A LOT. Stumbled out of bed and drowsily picked out clothes for the day. I went downstairs to find that my kids were ready for school and had prepared the "sign this" gauntlet for me. I often wonder what their teachers think of those signatures, most times I sign them without even turning the light on. The bus comes early, so after talking with them a bit, they got their things together (we are considering renting my daughter a pack mule for Monday mornings.) The bus came, goodbyes were bid, and I headed for the kitchen to get something for breakfast.

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This verse came to mind as I surveyed the damage:

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And the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over Egypt so that locusts will swarm over the land and devour everything growing in the fields, everything left by the hail."

Exodus 10:12 NIV

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I'm kidding. Kind of.

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I think there may have been one wee surviving Oat O (yes, we buy store brands) in the bottom of the box. I think maybe the grocery store has been bumped up a bit in my list of priorities.

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Have a Happy Monday!

Free to Be TV Free

As of this evening, our family is undergoing an experiment for spring and summer. Our television is now a free agent - no cables or dishes attached.

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This was a decision that we had considered on and off for the past year. Two other friends took the plunge before us and had nothing but good things to say about the decision, so we consulted the kids and took a few days to consider it. Surprisingly, we were all in agreement.

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I have to admit, I've been a bit nervous about the whole thing. While I'm definitely not a TV junkie, I've become quite accustomed to the constant chatter and passive entertainment and even if we were not watching anything in particular, the television was usually on in the background.

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We are all hoping to accomplish more reading and spend more time outdoors, and just generally have less "junk" in our lives. I will try to keep you posted as the experiment goes on.

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Here's hoping for a successful withdrawal from the television!

Oh, the Wonders of the Internet

While doing a bit of family tree research a few years ago, I managed to find some poetry written years ago by my great aunt. I thought that perhaps I would share one of her poems here. Enjoy!

On Trusting
How small, this heart of mine
How little does it trust
My God has said He made us all
And cares for us each day

My eyes can only see the ashes
Of all my golden dreams
My God can see beyond all his
For He has planned my way

And when my foolish tears are dry
And my soul again will look
I'll see my Loving Lord has been
building what He planned for me

And Oh! My heart leaps high with joy
For far more wonderful it is
Than any earth-bound dream I had
or even hoped to see

by Arlene Hearn Price

Happy Birthday!

Fourteen years ago today, at the ripe old age of 22, my husband and I welcomed our daughter into the world. A full week and a half overdue, she gave us several clues to her personality even before she was born. We found out that we were expecting a girl a month before she was born. Excitedly, we gave her the name we had picked out and our doctor and his staff were pleased to use it during tests and exams. Following her unofficial naming, our precious daughter commenced a prenatal noncompliance campaign - leading one ultrasound technician to comment that perhaps she did not like her name. A few more similar incidents led my husband and I back to the baby name book. She kicked so hard when we came to her name that we knew we had the right one.

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She protested her surroundings loudly and with gusto from the moment she was born. She slept little and screamed much. Our baby was an intimidating little mite, but fortunately we were young enough to survive the sleep deprivation and assault on our hearing.

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Fourteen years have flown by. I cannot believe that the precious little bundle that was handed to me then, now has her own income from babysitting, flew across the country by herself and has a terrific talent for music. Apparently all of that screaming as an infant made for a powerful set of lungs.

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Happy birthday! (And good luck at your band competition today!)

In Honor of Pi Day

This has been a wild and wacky week. Parts of it have had me tearing my hair out, others have had me laughing so hard I cry.

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My husband, who has been dealing with a minor knee injury for a few months, thought it would be wise to slip on the basement stairs and take it up a notch. His new nickname is Tiny Tim. He's not a big fan of crutches, as it turns out.

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My daughter, busy with band competitions, had informed me (several times) that she needed a pie for school tomorrow. I somehow managed to procrastinate so well that it completely slipped my mind. This evening, she asked how her pie was coming along. I asked her where she got her sarcastic sense of humor. She answered, "From my mother." That sounds about right.

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My son, hopped up on sunshine, reached new heights of creative hyperactivity this evening. He treated us to a two minute reenactment of Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief followed by a serenade of his original musical arrangement about chicken soup. It was riveting. And energetic. Really. I asked him where he learned to be so crazy. That apparently is from me as well.

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I did ask them where all the normal stuff they do comes from. That, they said, they got from their dad. They're probably completely right.

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For the record, there is a peanut butter pie ready to go for tomorrow for the observance of Pi Day.

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Happy Pi Day!!!

Happy Birthday!

12 years ago, my husband and I were 24 years old and expecting baby number two. In my 18th week of pregnancy, a blood test (now known for many false positives) indicated that our baby may have Down's Syndrome. This lead to further testing at a much bigger hospital than our little town had to offer. We were naive and hoped to have the test done quickly and be on our way home knowing what to prepare for. We had no idea we were in for a grueling visit with a rather cold genetic counselor followed up by a two week wait for test results. At the meeting with the genetic counselor we were given our options, have the test done and if the test was positive for DS, terminate or just terminate the pregnancy and try again. We were so shocked by her matter of fact presentation of our "options" as she saw them. Of course we were not going to harm our precious baby! Our concern was for his heart, that was all we needed to know about. We were offended and we told her so in no uncertain terms. The test was done, and to our delight, the specialist was forced to wait for our baby to cooperate. Every time the doctor tried to aim the needle for the pocket of fluid he was aiming for, a foot was trust directly into the target area. To add insult to injury, we watched as toes wiggled on the ultrasound screen.

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Two weeks went by and we received a post card in the mail informing us that we were going to be the parents of a baby boy - who did not have Down's Syndrome. The remainder of my pregnancy was uneventful and early in the morning of February 20, we set out for a hospital 45 minutes away. En route to the hospital, it occurred to my husband and I that this labor seemed to be progressing much faster than before. By the time we reached the admission desk, I was in dire need of a room. Two hours later, I was presented with a beautiful (and HUNGRY) baby boy.

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Oh, the memories. Sigh.

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That baby boy is now a 12 year old middle schooler. Funny, smart, athletic and handsome. But, I guess I'm a bit biased. It's my prerogative as his mother. How quickly the time has flown by. Soon, I'm sure, he'll be as tall as I am. Soon after, he'll be taller. But, he will alway be my baby.

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Tonight we will be enjoying lime jello cake, lime sherbert and cherry limeade. Birthday boys and girls get to pick their treats at our house, and the boy likes lime, what can I say?