"Wisdom begins in Wonder"

Yes...All is Well

2011-12-24T20:23:00.005-05:00

Inspiration for tackling this day!

2011-12-08T06:35:00.000-05:00

"He, who every morning plans the
transactions of the day, and follows that
plan carries a thread that will guide him
through a labyrinth of the most busy life"

- Victor Hugo

"She looks well to the ways of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness."

Proverbs 31:27

Finally....My 2010 Blog book!

2011-11-28T13:35:00.005-05:00

| Make Your Own Book

(You can click the 4-arrow icon in the bottom right corner to browse the book in full screen mode.) I hope it doesn't lock up anyone's computer. It's pretty image intensive. I have a fast computer and it takes awhile to view, even on mine.

One thing that was keeping me from buying my 2010 blog book was perfectionism. After Blurb slurps all of your blog post text and pictures into a book, you can rearrange things so that they look more attractive and take up more/less space. You can of course change layouts, text options, picture sizes, etc. I decided to quit being so worried about getting it all right and just finally get it done. So it's not perfect. But that's okay. I was even brave and put it in my cart to checkout! I'm currently waiting on a little customer support for a groupon coupon I purchased. Can't wait to see the final copy! This is currently the only format of photo albums or scrapbooking that I do. We don't even usually print our pictures, but view them electronically. So I ordered the big 12x12 hardback coffee table book. I'm absolutely positive there are things that I want to change about it. But I could change things until 2015 if I'd let myself. So I just did it and I'm done. Feels good. Can't wait to see it!

Finishing up May Pictures

2011-11-28T10:59:00.000-05:00

Last year I decided to try "slurping" my blog into an annual blog book. Well...I never did get 2010 ordered, but it is sitting in a file waiting for a few last changes and a click to be ordered. (Pretty sure the Christmas money I was going to use to buy it got spent on something else. : ) Now I'm thinking ahead to ordering my 2011 blog book. I have been more purposeful this year about briefly but consistently journaling our life so that my 2011 blog book would be a good memory-keeper. I may decide to order 2010 as a "practice" book to see if I love the quality and the overall process with the company I'm using (Blurb.com). If I'm not crazy about the product-for-price ratio, I may shop around.

So it is quite possible that over the next couple of months you will see some additional random photos from months ago as I go through my digital folders and blog what I've missed.

I organize my photos into folders by year and month. Then I go through each month and organize and label new folders according to each date, event or subject. Then when I blog that folder, I mark the folder title with a "B." That way, I can go into "May," for instance, and see at an easy glance that there are one or two folders that I haven't blogged yet. It also makes it easy for me to find a photo from way back that I might need for a project or whatever. We also back up our photos on a 1-Terabyte external hard drive. It's about the size of an 8-track and is easily portable in its little case. We love it.

So now, without further ado: some random May tidbits.

Caiden was my workin-buddy. We put up my new under-the-cabinet ipod dock!

Caiden - with his cousin and bestie Kendrick. They are climbing the walls. : )

More projects - the kids worked hard helping me put together some new organizational cabinets for the boys' room.

School's Out! We celebrated the last day of school. David and the kids played ball in the backyard.

Then we ate cake!

The extra boy on the right is our neighbor, Christopher.

Ah summer....lots of time for reading!!

This poor baby got a busted lip. Can't even remember how now, but I didn't even scrub his mouth too hard. Just let him fall asleep with dirt and all. It was a wowzer. It's almost December and he still has a big scar on his upper lip.

Some Thanksgiving Thoughts & Favorites

2011-11-26T08:42:00.002-05:00

I've been reading a lot about how Thanksgiving gets lost in the early-Christmas-shuffle. I think it's actually neat how the two holidays complement each other. And we have found some small things that help our family to really honor and celebrate Thanksgiving. Familylife has some really wonderful resources. They have a Thanksgiving bundle on sale right now. Another fun thing we do (starting this year) is set up a "harvest tree," which is a second (craigslist) Christmas tree full of autumn harvest bounty.

We have done different Thanksgiving dinner traditions for sharing our gratefulness. But usually, we simply go around the table and share something for which we are grateful. Each year in our family, it seems this time is made more poignant by the perspective gained by the losses and difficulties of the year. This year my sister-in-law's (Garen's wife Crystal) mother went to heaven on November 9. Her father and family joined us for Thanksgiving. There is something powerful about purposefully being thankful while looking full-faced at the painfulness of life. One person said, "I'm thankful for God's answers to prayer that come...no matter what they are." We reflected on the various painful changes that the past year has brought, but with such deep perspective that all 21 of us at the table want most of all to meet again in Heaven.

You can't wrap those memories up and put them under any tree. Priceless.

Family Journal
This is one of our favorite traditions. About 5 years ago we bought a big red blank journal. We pass the book around at Thanksgiving (and other special gatherings) and let everyone sign it. It is a treasure to look back and see a record of who was at our celebrations and their thoughts on family, gratefulness, and blessings. Yesterday the kids and I read through the entrys from this year so far and the kids added their entrys. I was in tears. It is a priceless keepsake. It even has an entry - shaky and beautiful - written by my Grandma Wolf before she went to heaven.

Thanksgiving Day Cards from Familylife

Growing Together in Gratitude from Familylife

I LOVE this book! It is a little book full of big stories about people who were grateful in spite of very bad circumstances. We read the stories aloud, then fill in the blanks provided with difficult or bad circumstances for which we are thankful. It has been good for us to talk together about how we can be grateful for everything - even the hard things This book offers convicting and inspiring perspective. (When we purchased this it was a softcover version. Now they offer a nice hardcover edition for $9.99!)

Let's Talk Turkey (Name cards & conversation starters from familylife)

The Legend of Squanto - Audiobook

We are crazy about audiobooks

Thanksgiving: A time to Remember - Book and Audiobook
I was a little confused before I ordered these a few years ago about what was what here, because the book comes with a CD and there's also a separate audiobook. So here's the summary: The book is full of Thanksgiving history, facts, stories and ideas. There is a CD of Thanksgiving music included in the back of the book. The separate Audiobook has a dramatized version of the Thanksgiving story. They are both awesome! My kids even ask to listen to the audiobook throughout the year. ("Mom, where is the CD with the pumpkin pie on it?")

Another favorite book: One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. You have probably heard me mention this heart-and-mind-shaping book. In short, living a life focused by thankfulness helps us to renew our mind, fight the enemy, worship in wonder. It is a transformational way of living. Not easy, but life-changing. This is one of those books that has been like a foundational building block for me. And God keeps confirming and adding to the message in my heart and mind over and over in some pretty exciting ways.

Quiet Moments?

2011-11-23T09:46:00.001-05:00

I have been watching a good library video little-by-little as I sort clothes and fold laundry. It is called "Be Still." I found it at our library. It is just a conversation with several well-known Christian voices about the practice of being still before God - of the power and value of contemplative prayer. Listening to Max Lucado, Beth Moore, Richard Foster, and Priscilla Shirer talk about being quiet has been good for me. I have been hungry for some deep stillness in my days. This video was just another "grace pocket" from God on the journey.

Indiana Dunes - a place we love to visit

One of the things they talk about is why we are afraid of being still. They talk about people not wanting to face themselves and the things that God wants to change in them. This morning, I woke up before my alarm and as I tried to go back to sleep, I realized that I felt very awake and maybe this was a nudge from God to get up and talk to him in the dark, quiet house. As I meditated on the thought of being quiet and still, I realized why I have a difficult time being quiet - even in my devotions. I'm afraid I won't be productive.

In this house we have a very high respect for sleep. All six of us learn better, think better, love better and get into less trouble when we have let our bodies have the rest they need. Our family gets up at 6:30 am and my body needs at least 8 hours of sleep to function at its best. So unless a miracle happens and I get to bed right at 10:00, I usually choose to sleep until 6:30 and do "early morning" things like exercise and devotions later in the day. I actually love the feeling of getting up early to exercise or get a head start on things but it's only a good feeling if I've had proper sleep. So with all of that in mind, when I do get up before the family and have quiet time, I want it to be good! I want to feel that done what I need to and disciplined my mind and entered into his presence and had productive prayer. And I do believe that it helps to be disciplined and structured in our quiet time, but it is difficult for me to let go and just sit because my mind just w a n d e r s. And I think...if I'm not going to accomplish something in this quiet time, I'd rather be in bed!

Obviously, there is a balance to this as in all of life. I think having a short phrase of Scripture to lasso my mind when it wanders is a good thing. And as my junior high teacher said years ago...."You never know, God might be in those mind wanderings!"

One recent prayer time was the walk-the-floor-and-cry type, but this morning was the try-to-keep-focused type. And it was good. I had to trust that it was enough. I put Scripture into my mind, prayed and met with Him. No tears or fireworks. Just quiet.

Over the last 10 years full of babies, I have learned to let go of legalism and worship in the everyday - to pray during dishes and worship at the sunset and memorize scripture along with my kids. I accept the seasons of life and embrace them. But I'm not as good at being still as I want to be. It seems that I especially crave stillness this time of year. I found some good resources a few years ago that are good for really being quiet and helping the mind to be still.

A couple of other things that have helped me a different times is to walk while I pray. It helps me to stay more focused and has the added bonus of keeping me awake! A prayer list has also helped to make my quiet time more effective...it helps with that feeling of not knowing quite where to begin and keeps prayer moving along. I love to look back over the years in my prayer book.

The Divine Hours - Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime, A Manual for Prayer by Phyllis Tickle

"The Divine Hours is simply the best bood for people who want to work prayer into the fabric of their daily life." ~ Bert Ghezzi, Author of Voices of the Saints.

This is a very "liturgical" book - meaning it is planned readings for certain times of the day. It is called "A Manual for Prayer." It includes loads of Scriptures, readings & prayers for each day throughout Autumn and Wintertime. I love it. Ann Voskamp suggests stopping at regular intervals throughout the day to pray. This book is set up that way....a reading for early morning, mid morning, etc. I simply use it as a great resource for good Scriptures, thoughts and prayers for the day.

Simply Wait - Cultivating Stillness in the Season of Advent by Pamela C. Hawkins

Organized into daily readings for the four weeks of advent: Anticipation, Hope, Patience, Obedience. With readings, reflections, hymns, prayers and room to journal and sort through your own quiet thoughts. The author shares a story about attending a quiet prayer retreat at the beginning of Advent. Her thoughts have got me thinking.

Be Still and Know that I Am God - DVD

I love that God is okay with me finding my way through the balance of disciplined quantity and quality quiet time with Him. I am accepting His grace and REAL RELATIONSHIP instead of an unhealthy preoccupation with rules. But I am overwhelmingly grateful to Him for ever drawing me - for making me hungry for Himself.

a prayer when feeling smallish

2011-11-19T07:59:00.011-05:00

moon over the hills of Kentucky

"Lord, the sea is so wide
and my boat is so small.
Be with me."

(Prayer of a Breton fisherman)

source

The coast of Northern Ireland

Planning for Advent: Why?

2011-11-18T13:24:00.001-05:00

The first Sunday of Advent is quickly approaching! Sunday, November 27th marks the first of four Advent weeks leading up to Christmas. Why celebrate Advent? It's certainly not required or necessary for a meaningful Christmas season. So why take the time or energy to celebrate or recognize the Sundays of Advent? For our family, I think it provides three things: Purposefulness, Mindfulness and Fun.

Purposefulness: We plan to remember. We plan to slow down, stop. If even for a moment, once a week. We plan to be together as a family and to see the deep meaning in the sparkle and activity of the month. We plan to not wake up on the other side of Christmas and wonder where the season went. Some years even this purposefulness gets lost in the hustle and bustle. Other years we manage to
find pockets of purposeful time.

Mindfulness: We light a candle. We sing a song. Sometimes more, sometimes not. Just a little bit of time each week during December to focus on the most important things in life:
Hope (faith), Peace, Joy & Love.

Fun: It's just plain fun. Sometimes it's an evening of crafts and activities. Sometimes just a quick, special snack. Sometimes just a candle lit at Sunday dinner. And sometimes the candle gets forgotten in the midst of all the travel and family gatherings. But that's okay. We don't get our bloomers in a bunch. It is just one of those little traditions that creates a sort of glue for our family. We are family on purpose. We have fun. And we celebrate a lot - the big things and the small.

One thing's for sure - planning for Advent (or any celebration/tradition/holiday) shouldn't become a stressful burden. There are some years when we just simply don't get to it. Many times we will just do something quick and simple, just to pause a minute and remember together. Flexibility is essential or celebrating can become a burden instead of a blessing.

Some Advent Memories:
Advent 2007 Week 1

Advent 2007 Week 2
Advent 2008 Week 3
Advent 2009 - Emmanuel

Time to plan!
Sunday, November 27: Hope
Sunday, December 4: Peace
Sunday, December 11: Joy
Sunday, December 18: Love

Sunday, December 25: Christmas Day! Light the "Christ Candle" in your Advent Wreath!

Resources
A free Advent Jesse Tree Book from Ann Voskamp.
Christmas Game, Crafts, Books & Ideas from Familyman Ministries

Are you in the babies-and-toddlers stage? Check out this kid-safe wreath! I'm pretty sure this would fit in a diaper bag as a quiet teaching toy during the services of the advent season.

We got our advent wreath at the Christian bookstore in Alabama years ago. You can expect to pay at least $20.00 for a decorated advent wreath but there are cheaper versions. Another idea is to wait until they go on clearance after the season. In the meantime, use a plain wreath of greenery and just place four candles in cheap candle holders from the dollar store around the inside of the wreath.

And the easiest-peasiest way to celebrate Advent? Each Sunday (or anytime during the week), light a candle at a meal, or drink hot chocolate in the evening and talk briefly about the theme or ask everyone in the family to give one thought about the theme of the week. You don't even have to have a fancy advent wreath. And I have learned that we can certainly do without the special-colored candles. We usually just pull out whatever is in the candle cabinet that will fit in our wreath. I have also learned that celebrating these special days is much more do-able and enjoyable when we go with the flow and keep it simple. If it has to happen on a certain day and in a certain way every single time, chances are it won't happen at all.

At the very least, we can talk about it with our kids on the way to church. Explain that Advent simply means "coming." Tell them the theme for the week and remember the reason for the season together.

Using a Landline?! (10.5)

2011-11-17T07:55:00.002-05:00

Since we moved to Indiana 4 1/2 years ago, David and I have chosen to use only our cell phones and fore-go the cost of a land line. So our boys haven't had much experience with a phone that actually has a cord. Grandma and Grandpa Fry also only use cell phones, and most of the phones at Grandma and Grandpa Wolf's place are cordless. BUT! Aunt Chelle has a delightful old rotary dial phone in her room. It's red! And it has a cord!

It cracks me up that this was a new experience for our boys. They even called each other using Aunt Chelle's cell phone (also RED) and room phone. And then one of us had to go in the other room and get on the other phone to prove to them that several people can talk on a landline at once from the same house.

It's a funny world these boys live in....Video chat across the Atlantic ocean with Aunt De in Ireland? Everyday stuff. Instantly text Aunt Debbie across the Pacific ocean in Hawaii? No big deal. But a phone with a cord was a big deal. Makes me feel old. My kids are certainly growing up in a different world than I did.

Some great links and confessions and things...

2011-11-16T10:53:00.002-05:00

My friend Lizzy posted a link yesterday to THIS article for women written by Grace Driscoll of Mars Hill. Both parts are absolutely fantastic and full of scripture...a great starting place for my quiet time today, even!

The articles are written specifically for ministry wives, but the principles apply in many ways to all women. I am thankful for the encouragement from other godly women. (Liz is always finding good articles! Stay tuned to her blog.)

Another favorite writer I have been feeding from lately is Rachel Jankovic. She has written three motherhood articles for the Desiring God website. They are excellent.

Motherhood is a Calling (And Where Your Children Rank)

Motherhood is a Mission Field

Motherhood is Application

Much of what we (and by we I mean I) read online is rather useless. But these are some links to godly wisdom written by women after God's heart. They are full of scripture and biblical principles. They have encouraged me to be better. To think better. To keep trucking, cuz I'm on the right track. To fight back against the enemy's lies that try to get me to doubt my own focus.

I find great joy in keeping my home and love what happens when I am disciplined to keep my schedule and be diligent and persistent. But frankly sometimes I find myself wasting precious time sitting in front of this screen following rabbit trails - some of them extremely valuable, some of them about as valuable as a marshmallow. Many times I get up feeling defeated and insecure. I think Facebook can be to my personal focus what going to the mall can be to my budget contentedness. I hope you know me well enough to know that I am NOT against Facebook or malls. But I confess that Satan uses little lovely things like facebooks and malls to suck my joy or lure me into comparison, wrong focus, and/or dis-contentedness.

Proverbs 29:25
“Fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.”

One of the things I have been struggling deeply with lately is worrying about what perfect-and-critical people will think if I post honestly on my blog. But they'll just have to criticize away this morning. Because confession is a huge part of being holy. I am not confessing that I am a slob of a mother/wife/housekeeper. I have been enjoying an imperfect-but-peaceful, managed home and doing the things that matter with our family. BUT. I know for sure and for certain that I need a better system for keeping track of my screen time. I'm thinking of using a timer (a priceless flylady trick.) I'm thinking 15 minutes is enough time to check my email and peek at a few blogs. How many 15 minute time segments in a day? I don't really know. Probably depends on the day. And whether the morning chores are done.

One of my favorite first-thing morning prayers lately is "God, I'm YOUR girl. Help me to act like it today."

I am weary with people who seem to always have it together and get it all right and speak with haughty authority or edgy criticism. Or perhaps I'm just weary with my own faulty perception and immature comparison! So I have been hesitant to blog, afraid that I would feed into that viscous perception-and-comparison cycle.

This is where I am: I certainly don't have it all together. But I'm also not falling apart. I am learning and growing and loving it immensely. Quality articles like these and this confession & growth in the everyday nittygritty are part of being His girl. And I need to be able to be on this journey with my sisters. (I'm pretty sure I spoke that last paragraph to my fear. : )

So...I'm off to be His girl.

I Timothy 3:1-7
¹The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. ²Therefore an overseermust be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, ³not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. ⁴He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, ⁵for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? ⁶He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. ⁷Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

Smoky Mountains - taken in August of 2005 (obviously)

Indy Monumental Half Marathon (Nov. 5)

2011-11-15T01:28:00.006-05:00

I love the energy at the beginning of a race. Everyone is pumped up, ready to go.....from the lean, mean, 3-hour marathoners (26.2 miles) to the half marathon (13.1 miles) walkers. About 12,000 runners. I love watching groups of classy, grown men dressed in bright knee-length compression socks and acting like kids as they high five and hoot and holler with their running buddies. And adorable little old ladies with their fanny packs dancing in place to the music. It's cold and dark. The music is blasting. We've miles and miles to go and there's sure to be some pain somewhere along the way. We all share the port-o-pots. We're all in this together. It's a great feeling.

Got his game face on.

It just occurred to me from the nose-enhancing perspective of this picture that our children should have perfect noses. Between his Roman ski-jump nose and my squashed-wide pug, it seems like the medium result should be nose perfection.

This race had a great route through one of our favorit-est cities...and starting practically right under the ArtsGarden.

Wasn't it nice of the Colts cheerleaders to come out in their sparkly sweatsuits and watch us as we passed the stadium? I kinda cracked up when they gave my 5-year-old son signed picture cards at the running expo the night before. I made him give them back.

The first water station was right by the stadium. (See all the volunteers in their waterproof space suits as they hand out water? Cute.)
We hadn't trained very hard for this race, and only got up to 10 mile long run in recent weeks, so we took it extremely slow (over 30 minutes slower than our last half marathon) and took walk breaks. We weren't after any PR this time - just getting out there and keeping our rears in gear. It's actually nice to not be pushing for a time goal, just keep moving and enjoy the scenery.

Daylight finally breaks.
There was this totally wonderful older man who showed up like 6 or 7 times along our 13-mile route and cheered us on. He was awesome. He had shortcut routes planned so he could beat us to his next spot and be there with his little bell when we ran by. He was obviously a runner and in good shape. We all wanted to hug him. It's amazing how much a good cheering section helps. You can actually feel a surge of physical energy when you hit a cheering section. It's amazing. Makes me want to cheer more for my kids and husband on a daily basis.

Looks like we're gonna need those sunglasses after all!!

As we cruised through Mass Ave, I couldn't help but remember the awesome cupcake we shared at this notorious bakery "The Flying Cupcake" on a downtown date night. I felt like a traitor or a hypocrite or something to even be thinking about a cupcake at a time like that. But it was a really, really good cupcake.

At the finish! Right after we finished, this intense, mysterious pain came suddenly out of nowhere and attacked my right foot. I seriously could hardly walk. But I hobbled over and got some of the free chili served by Steak & Shake. Hit the spot. In case you're wondering, the space blankets really are helpful. As your body temp quickly cools down in your sweaty clothes it is easy to really start chilling. It's a miserable feeling. The space blanket holds your body heat in so that you can cool down without chilling.

It was really a great race. It provided the inspiration we needed to keep on moving! Good times.

Love & Respect for Moms

2011-11-14T13:41:00.002-05:00

I will admit again that sometimes I find myself re-struggling with the balance of love and respect for my career as a homekeeper/wife/mother. I do love it. I do respect it. But I sometimes have to remind myself -- when more degrees and fulfilling opportunities blink temptingly at me -- that I have chosen this particular career/ministry ON PURPOSE. Not because I'm stuck with a bunch of "oops" children and can't afford childcare. (David and I both almost chose careers where paying for a full-time nanny could have been normal part of our world.) But because we have planned and embraced and accepted family as our biggest ministry in life. Period. I really love the way this blogger communicates the balance we need as full-time moms. (This not a rant on mothers working or on using hired help...I say bring on the hired help if you can afford it. : )

I just simply needed to hear this today.

I am also excited about the blog where I found it. And the book this blogger wrote, which is on my rather-extensive-and-ever-growing book wishlist.

I love it when I find someone who elevates homekeeping to the place of honor and purpose that it deserves. And so.....ONWARD! FORWARD! I will put those groceries away and get on with today's list with fresh focus.

Devil Beating You Up? Read This...

2011-11-02T08:07:00.001-04:00

I really don't even have time this busy morning to be reading blogs, but I decided to zoom through the latest posts while I drank my Starbucks coffee sent to me by my wonderful, thoughtful friend... But I'm oh-so-glad I did.....Maybe it will help you too.

Guilt or Motivation?

He Will

2011-10-11T21:34:00.003-04:00

Last week I was sitting at the piano, playing the prelude for our revival service. My mind was whirling with worry. I was tense and bunchy. Then God nudged me and said....hey silly, did you pay attention to what you're playing? It was this song.

Be not dismayed whate’er betide,
God will take care of you;

Beneath His wings of love abide,
God will take care of you.

God will take care of you,
Through every day, o'er all the way;

He will take care of you,

God will take care of you.

Again today, some worries pierced my heart. I suddenly realized that I was acting as if it were all up to me. Planning and worrying and crying and ready to take on the world and solve what needs solving with sheer determination....I seemed to forget the one little detail that He's already got the whole world in His hands. And He worketh all things for our good. And He loves me more than I love my own babies. Chillax, Sarah. He's all over it.

He's got this.

Lyrics: God Will Take Care of You by Civilla D. Martin

Photos: Red River Gorge. Summer 2011

Scenes from the road....May Training

2011-10-10T13:41:00.002-04:00

(Bear with me in this randomness. I am little by little going back through my monthly picture folders and making sure I have blogged all of the pictures that I want for my 2011 blog book.)

David and I spent many hours this spring training together for our marathon (which was in June). We did our regular weekday runs separately, but we did our Saturday long runs together. Saturday afternoons meant dropping the kids off at Grandma's and hitting the streets of Frankfort. David did a great job mapping out our long runs. Even with hydration packs, it is difficult to carry enough liquids for the really long runs, so we would drive ahead and leave cold water or powerade bottles in strategic spots along the run. We would look forward to reaching our next "watering hole" at a certain tree or telephone pole. There is an art to doing that many miles over and over while keeping the mental strain to a minimum. We love going other places to run (our favorite being downtown Indy), but we found it much more practical to just stay right here in Frankfort instead of adding extra driving time to our already full Saturdays.

I cannot imagine training for a full marathon alone. We had a good time logging the miles together. But Long Runs can get rather - well - long. So we started taking a camera with us to capture things along the way. Sometimes we would take a picture at every mile. It was an interesting way to tick off the miles. Other times we would use it to just capture random beauty that we encountered along the way. These are some pictures from two different training runs - one was 18 miles and one was 20 miles.

We prefer to finish our run before dark, but sometimes it just didn't work out that way if we couldn't get an early enough start in the afternoon.

What a great sight to get home to - exhausted but happy.

A lady we see often around town as we're running.

Very welcomed beauty along the way...

A horse rescue farm near our house

This is a barn back behind the Frankfort water treatment plant and behind the manor.

Love this time of night!!!

I love it when we get to this home stretch of a long run. By this time I'm excited because we're almost done and David is rather cranky-ish.

A rainbow! A promise that this long run will never again happen to the whole world. Or something.

I need to say a humongous thank you to my mother-in-law, Rose Fry. Without her commitment to give up quite a few Saturday afternoons to watch the kids for hours while we trained, we would never have been able to do this marathon together. We love you! You spoil us!

This post was written 10/10/11....Now that it's all over, we really miss those long runs together.....good times.

May - Pictures of Kids

2011-10-10T12:39:00.002-04:00

(Bear with me in this randomness. I am little by little going back through my monthly picture folders and making sure I have blogged all of the pictures that I want for my 2011 blog book.)

Corin does this for hours - kneeling beside the chair, playing with cars and trucks.

Sunday afternnoon quiet time!


I can't even remember now what busted his lip - but it sure was huge. Looks like he fell asleep before we even got his face washed. Sweet baby.

A Sunday Morning at Mom & Dad's house in Cincinnati.

Looks like someone was in a hurry to get dressed to come outside and play - he showed up in cords and a flannel pajama shirt. In May. Craziness.

More Sunday Afternoon quiet time....Note Karissa's own decorating above her top bunk...she's always and forever adding stuff to her walls. Borders. Pictures. Calendar pages. Homemade decorations. She is going to have a blast if she ever has her very own room to decorate.

This boy is seriously kissable.

And full of it.

Caiden was doing the celery experiment

Riding his bike on Grandma Fry's deck.

Caiden's 1st Day of Kindergarten (Sep. 6)

2011-10-10T11:22:00.000-04:00

"World, take my child by the hand- he starts school today!

It is all going to be strange and new to him for a while, and I wish you would sort of treat him gently. You see, up to now, he has been the king of the roost. He has been the boss of the backyard. I have always been around to repair his wounds, and I have always been handy to soothe his feelings.

But now things are going to be different. This morning he is going to walk down the front steps, wave his hand and start on a great adventure that probably will include tragedy, sorrow and hurt.

To live in this world will require faith and love and courage. So, World, I wish you would sort of take him by his young hand and teach him the things he will have to know. Teach him –but gently, if you can.

He will have to learn, I know, that all people are not just –that all men and women are not true. Teach him that for every scoundrel, there is a hero; that for every enemy, there is a friend. Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest people to beat.

Teach him the wonder of books. Give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky and the flowers on green hill. Teach him that it is far more honourable to fail than to cheat. Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong.

Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone else is getting on the bandwagon. Teach him to listen to others, but to filter all he hears on a screen of truth and to take only the good that comes through.

Teach him never to put a price tag on his heart and soul. Teach him to close his ears on the howling mob- and to stand and fight if he thinks he is right. Teach him gently, World, but do not coddle him, because only the test of fire makes fine steel.

This is a big order, World, but see what you can do. He's such a fine litttle fellow."

~Abe Lincoln

I got home from seeing Caiden off for his first day of school and was doing just fine, knowing he is excited and in good hands. Then Jody called and told me that Travis had posted Abe Lincoln's thoughts.....so I stole the quote from Travis's facebook note....

We have Internet!!!

2011-10-03T09:41:00.007-04:00

It has been some long weeks for us. Our internet service comes from a router in our church next door. Apparently the router got old and died. David and I are not tech savvy, but our brilliantly professional techy friend Jeff Waggoner has installed a new router and restored e-life to us! Thanks, Jeff, for doing what is not your responsibility and making us one very happy family! And thanks, Mom Fry, for taking the initiative and buying us a new router. We are officially spoiled.

It is always interesting to me to evaluate things after one of these extended internet outages that we seem to have. One thing that always kindof shocks me is that the internet isn't what makes keeping a home challenging. Sometimes we mommies think...well if I'd just work harder and stay off the internet things would be a breeze around here. And although I don't doubt one bit that time is wasted on the computer that could be spent folding laundry or washing dishes, I am again amazed/pleased/dismayed that getting the evil internet out of our home doesn't make it any easier. It is still constant work. Although I do think that not being able to check my email or blog makes it easier to maximize my mornings. My schedule has had lots of happy highlighted pink. That's good. But several times I have looked back at the day and thought...wow. I worked my tail off all day. Wasn't on the internet for one second. And I'm still exhausted and didn't get everything done. That's all I'm saying. It's about balance and priorities. Lord, give me big doses of both with lots of wisdom sprinkled in!

I have missed that feeling of being connected to the entire universe at the touch of a button. But I found that when I had a moment at my in-law's to check email or facebook, there wasn't really anything too exciting to do. I could quickly check my email. And having been absent from facebook made it easier to not be drawn in, I guess.

I very, very, very much missed the business side of internet! I use google for so much. I use online recipes. We pay our bills online. I order books from the library and check my due dates and keep track of our reading lists. I use the internet for my music lessons and church music. We buy gifts online. We use internet for our wedding photography uploads...We check schedules and due dates and driving directions and phone numbers and hours of operation and EVERYTHING online! Not having all of that has been the biggest challenge.

And Odyssey. Oh, how we've missed our daily dose of free Odyssey episodes.....And Pandora.

But I guess it's kinda like running water. You think you can't live without it. And it really is a challenge to try. But you can do it. Our family of six humans and 3 dogs spent a week at our cabin without running water during Spring Break. And we survived that beautifully - as we also survived about 3 weeks without internet. But all in all, I'd prefer not to be a pioneer woman. Bring on the google and the running water any day for me!!

It is oh-so-good to be back. I am oveflowing with blogginess. I have summer pictures and Hawaii pictures and Wedding pictures and Autumn pictures....all sitting in folders waiting to be "blogbooked". But my schedule doesn't have a stitch of pink on it yet this morning. The clothes need switched to the dryer. I'm missing a perfectly quiet time to do my run while the baby naps. There are still Morning Waffle Remains lying about the kitchen. I couldn't resist a quick blog or two...but now I'd better get the highlighter out and get busy!

(I just have to laugh...after my talk about how internet isn't evil, I finished my little blog post.....and I'm STILL on here and haven't got my work done! I'm remembering....wow. So THIS is what happens if you don't time yourself on this crazy thing. The morning disappears! Good grief! But I had blogs to catch up on and THINGS to look up! Maybe it is evil, after all. Bad, internet, bad. I'm going now. For real. It may be weeks before I'm back. Just kidding.)

Hiking at sunrise - Red River Gorge

Arriving in Hawaii


Neville-Hutchison Wedding

Family fun at a 5K

Fall fun at the Labor Day Picnic

Remembering Mississippi

2011-10-03T09:24:00.002-04:00

I was just going through my posts, deleting old drafts and tidying up a bit. I decided not to delete this one but to keep it...it brings back a lot of fond memories. This is David's study at our house in Jackson, Mississippi. It's fun to look back at those busy but good years. David was working on his Master's at Wesley Biblical Seminary. We rented a house in Jackson where we lived half the week. Then we would pack up our minivan and go back to the parsonage where we pastored in Brent, Alabama. David was gone a lot and studied even more, but I filled my Mississippi days with taking care of Kayla (hard to imagine there was ever a time when there was only one baby around here), then Karissa, and keeping two fully furnished houses. We took a lot of walks and discovered a great museum and park in Jackson. I took a job driving for a family for awhile, picking their kids up from school and staying with them a bit. I also enjoyed singing with the Mississippi Chorus. That was a treat.

I'm not going to take the time to look up the picture now, but there is an image sealed into my brain of Kayla during these years. She was almost one when we moved here, and she would sit for hours in her room by herself - looking at books. It's so fun to see how that has turned into one of the biggest loves of her life - she still retreats to her room and reads for hours! Actually, as I recall, Karissa had the curious habit of emptying out dresser drawers. Now she's the one (at 7 yrs old) who tries on 5 outfits and changes clothes multiple times before going out to play in the yard. : )

It's been fun reminiscing. David still sits for hours - reading and studying and taking notes on his laptop. We still have stacks of books everywhere, but a lot of his dissertation reading these days is rare books and is done on his Kindle. How times change. But one thing we don't have which seems like an artifact! A landline! I actually see a real phone with a cord in this picture. My kids hardly even know that there are still phones with cords!

One thing these years of education & moving have taught me....that it makes sense to find the things I love about wherever I may live and to enjoy those things to the fullest. Because at every stage of the last 10 years together we have known there was a move coming before too long - from Ohio to Mississippi to Alabama to Indiana and beyond - I have had the opportunity to prepare for each change. In that preparation time is sometimes when I realize that there is always something I will miss. There is something to cherish and enjoy about each stage and location. Even if it is Jackson, Mississippi (which we have been known to affectionately call the armpit of America.) I have left out some of the more challenging memories. But overall, I remember it with great warmth. We learned so many things. We were happy and together. We had books and food. What more could you want?

Rachelle's College Graduation (May 14, 2011)

2011-08-30T14:37:00.001-04:00

Rachelle has gone from being my "baby" to being one of my best friends. When I need to cry over a bad day or celebrate the little things, she is very often the one I call. I am so very proud of her. She finished a 5 year BA in 4 years and still graduated with honors. She is radiantly beautiful, inside and out. She is incredibly gifted in many areas, but wants nothing more than to glorify God with every bit of her life. I love you sis.

Memorial Day at the Cabin (May 30, 2011)

2011-08-29T16:43:00.001-04:00

We spent the day at the cabin - mowing and doing projects. AND....Aunt Rachelle helped the kids paint their playhouse! The kids were in charge of picking out their own paint...they chose "periwinkle." As they painted, each wall was transformed into a secret passageway to stories in other worlds. Magical things like that just happen when Aunt Chelle is around.

Spring Music Recital (May 17)

2011-08-28T22:17:00.000-04:00

This is what happens when you set kids loose in a dark church with a point and shoot camera set on weird settings....But I still wanted to preserve the memories for my Blog Book.

Cousin and best friend Alyssa Johnson!

Kayla

He's a hoot on the platform...

Karissa

Jody Johnson with her performing students. She taught the girls piano this semester and we LOVED IT!!

Me with my performing students

FCA Awards Banquet 2011 (May 14)

2011-08-28T22:03:00.000-04:00

I actually have some pretty strong differences with ACE's awards philosophy, but it is a special night that the kids love....

She's excited to be heading up there...

I love Bro. Mowery's ("Uncle Mark" to us) expression in this one.

Friends quoting Scripture together....I love the school's emphasis on Scripture memorization!

Random handsome teacher giving a speech.

Meanwhile...I let the boys spend some time playing in the adjacent room.

Guess it got a little rough...

So they had to kiss and make up.

Sorry, Bubby!

They have the banquet in a beautiful old mansion downtown Lafayette. This place reminds me of the timeless beauty of the house I grew up in on Josephine Street. We had chandeliers like this all over the place.

First Lego Set!

2011-08-28T21:35:00.000-04:00

One of Caiden's friends gave him a 3-in-one lego set for his birthday! We have played with random legos before, but had a blast with his first actual set that actually made something. : )

Caiden's 5th Birthday - Friend Party (May 31)

2011-08-28T19:23:00.002-04:00

We ate cake at TPA park with a few friends....

Look out, world! This is going to be a kindergarten class for the history books!!! Prayers are being sent up for Mrs. Angie Spangler.

Connor Davis stopped by after receiving his red belt!

If there's a puddle in the world, this boy will find it and be in it!

Love you, Bub. You're getting big on me.

Caiden's 5th Birthday -- Family Cookout (May 29)

2011-08-28T17:41:00.003-04:00

All of our birthdays are in the summer - Caiden's birthday kicks off the summer birthday season on May 31 and mine wraps it up on Aug. 16. We often have a family party and a friend party for the kids. This year we had a cookout at Grandma and Grandpa Fry's house with family and friends.

Uncle Davin is the Barbeque King!

We did a lot of laughing that evening

Anyone who has lived in Frankfort for awhile has seen this bike pass them on the street.

Raymond Graves just happened to ride by and stopped in for a visit......He told story after story.

Did I mention we laughed a lot? The laughter was uproarious. That really is the best word.

Her name is Polly

2011-08-18T11:02:00.002-04:00

This, my friends, is a Giraffe/Pregnant Dragonfly. Or maybe it's a sunflower-making machine. They aren't really sure.

Didn't want to leave him out. We have no idea what this is. Silliness abounds this morning.

Today

2011-08-15T18:47:00.000-04:00

"Deep summer is when

laziness

finds respectability."

~Sam Keen

For Me....

2011-08-07T22:25:00.002-04:00

These days.....

2011-07-27T00:16:00.006-04:00

Now that we are finally home from Hawaii, Cincinnati, Red River Gorge and Indianapolis.....I've been up to my happy eyeballs in suitcase unpacking, doctor/eye/dentist appointments, VBS-planning and......WEDDINGS!

Sneak peeks here.

The lovely Katie Brubeck-Rhodes in her wedding splendor

Oh, how I'd love to stay up and chat and chat. But I'm a bit pooped at the moment. Hope you all are having wonderful-good summers! 'Night, friends.

Sunset: Waipio Valley, Hawaii

2011-07-17T00:58:00.002-04:00

"Beauty is God’s handwriting."

~ Charles Kingsley

Home again, Home again...Jiggety Jig

2011-07-07T23:57:00.001-04:00

It is so good to be home. We just got back from our 10-year anniversary trip to Hawaii. And do I ever have some stories and pictures to share. The whole earth is FULL of His glory!! But I love the beauty of Indiana, too. And it was so wonderful to just hang out tonight with our awesome kids. We ate brownies and homemade pizza.....David and Caiden practiced their new Ukuleles, Karissa made a huge fresh flower lei from our garden and Kayla learned how to tell Hawaiian stories with her hands.

I just looked back at my May and June pictures and realized again that I have quite a bit of catching up to do. BUT...I currently have to focus on unpacking , planning and organizing a VBS, a wedding to shoot this weekend, and a super-lot of pictures to organize and edit: a bridal and 3 weddings. Plus, I am just dying to look through and organize the thousands of pictures we took on our trip. So...I think I need to jump in where I am. I'll probably blog a June highlight (running our full marathon, about 2 weeks before our Hawaii trip), then just plow on through - from Hawaii on - and catch up later. It's totally for us and our memory book, so you'll bear with us if you have to endure summer birthday party pictures next November. : )

So....just popping in to say Aloha. My body has no idea what time it is right now. We've been through so many time zones and flights in the last 24 hours. And we were pretty well adjusted to the 6-hour time difference. I'm afraid I may be a bit of a zombie tomorrow. Hope I can at least see straight to get the right settings on the oven, the washer and the dryer. The rest is just details.

Mother's Day

2011-06-22T09:46:00.001-04:00

May 8, 2011

David and his dad did the dishes!!

After dinner, we all went over to Wesley Manor to visit Mimi (David's Grandma Fry)

So glad the kids have been privileged to know their great grandmas!

Corin - chillaxin on the floor while we talked

Grandpa Fry - taking his Sunday afternoon Mother's Day nap in his chair at Wesley Manor! Or...maybe he's playing with his SmartPhone...?

At home, the kids had love and surprises planned for me. One of my surprises was a puppet show written and designed by them!

It was a happy Mother's Day and I'm a happy mamma.

Corin + Mud Puddles = HAPPINESS

2011-06-18T10:26:00.001-04:00

"Always jump in the puddles!

Always skip alongside the flowers.

The only fights worth fighting

are the pillow and food varieties."

~Terri Guillemets

Boy, n.: a noise with dirt on it.

~Not Your Average Dictionary

There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million.

~Walt Streightiff

When I grow up I want to be a little boy.

~Joseph Heller, Something Happened, 1974

Children have neither past nor future;

they enjoy the present, which very few of us do.

~Jean de la Bruyere

Rachel's New Baby!

2011-06-16T13:59:00.002-04:00

(Yay! I'm blogging May Pictures already! And to think it's not even July yet.)

May 1, 2011

After our half marathon in Louisville, we went back to my folks' house in Cincy to spend Sunday together. Well...My dear old friend Rachel (McIntyre) Bender cooperated quite well and had her fourth baby (1st girl!) on Sunday morning.

So I got to go hold baby Leah before heading home to Frankfort. Rachel and I have been friends since 5th grade.

We've been through a lot together...puberty, boys, broken hearts, confusing years, college, first pastorates, living in the South, and NOW...having 4 babies each!

As they say, old friends are gold.

Love you, Rachel.

Derby Half Marathon - April 30

2011-06-15T11:53:00.003-04:00

Our first half marathon (13.1 miles) was the weekend after IHC. On Friday, we loaded up the kids and drove to Louisville for the Derby Festival Half.

The night before a long distance race, runners have a bizarre practice called "Carbo-loading." This helps your body store up valuable glycogen, which is running fuel for your muscles. The downtown Old Spaghetti factory was packed with carbo-loaders.

Before and after the running expo (where we picked up our race packets, shirts and bibs) we enjoyed walking around downtown Louisville, seeing the sights.

And we stopped for some of our own carbo-loading. Our normally jolly Corin-boy was cRAnKy!

Kayla and her almost-"singing in the rain" moment, a la Gene Kelly.

Mom and Rachelle drove to Louisville to be with us. We had a separate room for them and the kids so that David and I could get a great night of sleep and not wake the kids up when we got up well before dawn for the race. Our bibs and running gear were laid out, ready to go. And we slept great!

The race was incredible. My most miserable time of running is usually the first mile or two. But the feeling at this race was so fun & relaxed, I don't even remember feeling that warm-up time. We started way in the back, so it was a blast. The people up front tend to be a lot more intense (obviously). We didn't have a time goal, so we enjoyed starting in the back where people wore costumes and signs and happy smiles instead of compression socks and GU's and scowls. And the fact that we passed people the whole 13 miles was kinda fun, too.

We enjoyed the route through downtown Louisville. It's absolutely amazing how much energy you get from the crowds cheering from the sides of the streets. I felt like I was on a high the whole time. We even got to run a lap around the inside of Churchill Downs..just days before the Kentucky Derby! I wished I had a hat. And then...the finish line! And Cheering! And Medals!

This race was sponsored by Walmart, so the post-race goodies are plentiful. It is extremely important to feed your muscles right after a race so they will rebuild well. Free chocolate milk, bagels, bananas and more abound! AND we got free massages. So yeah. It was a pretty awesome time.

We let the kids do a few fun things at the after- race party.

Corin needs to work on his contentment level. He was not happy with his allotted number of rides. : )

I just absolutely love this sight. The silver things are disposable warm-up blankets runners use before and after races to keep from chilling and keep their muscles warm.

See the stacks of Powerade and boxes and boxes of bananas?

We knew this experience was going to be hard to beat. It was an absolute blast.

Random April Pics of the Kids

2011-06-14T19:07:00.000-04:00

Not sure why, but Corin's cuteness just gets me everytime he drinks out of his cereal bowl.

This was before Daddy started chopping all his hair off

Caiden has been saving his chore money for a LONG time to buy some costumes. This was his reaction when I handed him his "save" envelope and told him he had enough and we were headed to the store!

At Walmart, picking out his stuff with his OWN money! It was awesome.

Looks like maybe he was telling me how to take the picture.

Corin was FURIOUS when I first put this outfit on him. He wanted the shorts to go all the way down, and kept trying to pull them down to his feet.

4-year-old Heartbreaker

April Home Projects - Homemade Laundry Soap!

2011-06-10T10:51:00.004-04:00

Whereas the sprouted bread recipe may never become a staple around here, I believe that homeade laundry soap is here for GOOD! Where have you BEEN the last 10 years of my homemaking career?
I guess I'd always thought it would take too long or not work well or maybe I just didn't give it much thought at all. But I tried it, love it, and now my clothes are happy and my budget is happy!

It is unbelievably inexpensive to make. My mother-in-law bought the ingredients, shared her first batch with me and got me started. She found all of the ingredients at Rural King, and I think she said she got it all for under $10.00...and it is enough for multiple batches (I get about 7 gallons each batch)! I'm almost ready to go back and restock, so I'll have a better idea of what the exact cost is then. We have been splitting the batches since it makes so much.

Grate the bar and melt it on stove...

Stir it in a bucket with water and powdered ingredients...

Let it sit overnight

Pour into jugs and add water. IT IS REALLY THAT SIMPLE!!

Here is the original recipe copied directly from Jo Walker Dahler. I know there are lots of recipes out there, but I'm happy with this one for now!

Jo's Recipe:

"Tips for laundry soap: We use Fels-Napatha bar soap in the homemade soap recipes, but you can use Ivory, Sunlight, Kirk's Hardwater Castile or Zote bars. Don't use heavily perfumed soaps. We buy Fels-Naptha by the case from our local grocer or online. Washing Soda and Borax can normally be found on the laundry or cleaning aisle. Recipe cost approx. $2. Yields 10 gallons.

4 Cups hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup Washing Soda (this is not baking soda)
1/2 Cup Borax
(easier if you have a funnel on hand)

Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water.

Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well untill all powder is dissolved.

Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with the soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has co-led.
Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil

Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

Top Load Machine-5/8 cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
Front Load Machine-1/4 cup per load (Approx 640 loads)

Tip: I went to Walmart bakery and asked for a 5 gallon bucket. They just gave me one (their white icing comes in 5 gallon buckets. I had to wash it, but....who cares...it was free)

I think I get the fels-naptha from Marsh. The soda and borax, I think I got at Meijers. Walmart probably carries it too.

This is very easy to make. I just use milk jugs, juice jugs, whatever gallon jugs I could get with lids. Save up 10 before you start.
It really does gel, so when I make mine, I don't fill it to the top when I'm making it. As I open a new one. I shake it up well (or have
Craig do it for me) and want to have "head space" in the jug to shake with. Then I fill it to the top before I use the new jug."

A few of my own notes:

I do not get 10 gallons out of this. Maybe I don't fill the 5-gallon bucket up enough.
I like my soap strong, and have a double load washing machine, so I use 2 full cups per load and I love the results.
One batch I got mixed up and put the powdered ingredients in the pan when I melted the grated soap. I was not as happy with the results...it seemed clumpier.
I love the smell! Very fresh and soft and clean and natural. And I have even stopped using liquid softener (more $$$ saved!).
Oh.....and I use my mother-in-law's big red (clean) oil funnel. It really helps to have a big funnel opening when you pour the soap from the 5-gallon bucket into the tiny jug holes. Don't push the funnel down in tight to the jug, or the air seal doesn't let the soap funnel through quickly. Lift the funnel just slightly and use a butter knife if any thicker detergent gets stuck. Definitely a two-person job! My kids love it.

April Home Projects - Sprouted Bread

2011-06-10T09:32:00.003-04:00

In April I tried some new home projects. Sometimes when you try new things, you win some, you lose some. I had been having some stomach issues and my natural health practitioner told me I wasn't dealing with wheat well, but I tested okay for sprouted wheat (like Ezekiel 4:9 bread).

Ezekiel 4:9., "Take also unto thee Wheat, and Barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and Spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make bread of it..."

Sprouted wheat has been soaked as berries until little green sprouts pop out. Then you bake your goods as usual and the wheat becomes a green "vegetable-like" food that is processed much easier by your body. I love Ezekiel 4:9 bread, which is one of the most nutritious mixtures of grains you can feed your body. Healthy grains are a power house of nutrition. Some of you have heard my mom tell the story of Elijah's depression from a nutrition teacher's perspective.....sleep, water, healthy grains. Repeat. It's powerful knowledge. There are incredible B vitamins which bolster our nerves and I could go on and on.

Anyway, I wanted to experiment with making sprouted bread myself. So David bought me a 25-pound bag of wheat and I started experimenting. The sprouting part is easy. But grinding the sprouted wheat is pretty intense. I tried several machines before finally borrowing a food processor powerful enough to handle the heavy, sticky dough. All in all, the recipe I used was simply gross. The bread was too moist and has a strange flavor. But I haven't totally given up. I still plan to sprout some more and try a sprouted recipe for banana bread. My family loves quickbreads, and it's one of the coolest ways to sneak in heavy flour, extra pureed vegetables, and even things like wheat germ and flaxseed meal. They usually call for a lot of fat, but I like to substitute unsweetened applesauce. And you can usually substitute at least part of the white sugar with pure maple syrup, agave, or some other natural sweetener.

My bag of wheat makes me happy. Does that mean I need to get out more?

Why is this so beautiful?

See those little powerful sprouts?

Magic Bullet's awesome for smoothies. Sprouted wheat? Not so much. Oh well. I had to give it a try.

Oh my....I forgot how many steps there were to this until I looked back through my pictures!

Why is kneading bread so therapeutic? Maybe I should just invest in some new playdoh.

I realize the whole wheat conversation is very extensive, and for some, very passionate. I am not - nor do I intend to be at this point - wheat free. I have rye flour to try, and I'm open to trying spelt flour and I've tried gluten-free as well. But my goal for this now is really just to experiment with the sprouted, and if I do find a recipe we love, building it in to my routine so that it isn't a huge task. And if it doesn't happen - no big deal. My baby is eating a piece of toasted Ezekiel 4:9 cinnamon raisin sprouted bread right now that I bought in the freezer section of my favorite grocery. So life is good.

P.S. Corin just came into the kitchen wanting another piece of toast. (I just love it - begging for some of the best nutrition he could have!) I couldn't believe he finished his first slice so quickly. I wondered if he may have deposited it somewhere throughout the house (they're really not allowed to have food in any room but the kitchen, but I was - well - busy blogging.) After a trip around our small house calling "Here, toasty-toasty!" no toast showed up, so I guess he scarfed it down! He's currently eating the center out of slice #2.

PS #2: Lest I sound like a total health weirdo, we are very normal. We love Doritos and Oreos. But that reminds me!! I found all-natural Dorito-tasting tortilla chips (Kroger healthy living section) and we absolutely LOVE Paul Newman's organic oreos. They're called Newman-O's. We don't get them very often. They're very expensive! Come to think of it, though, who wants to be normal?

PS #3: There are so many layers to nutrition. I'm feeling another big conversation coming on. I want to blog sometime about the search for your individual family's healthy, sustainable balance.....

PS #4: It's a pretty good sign I need to be writing/blogging more when I do a silly little blog and end up wanting to write and write and can't find a place to stop.

Thoughts on my new system

2011-06-10T09:14:00.000-04:00

Yes - I'm still blogging my April pictures! I have a new system for blogging our memories, and I have mixed feelings about it. I organize my pictures into year -- month, then within each month I categorize the pictures by event and name each folder by the event or activity. When I have blogged that folder, I mark it. So I can easily look through each month of 2011 and see which pictures I have blogged and which I haven't. The good thing about this system is it's a system. And almost any system will work if you work the system consistently. I love having my pictures organized, having them backed up on my external 1-Terabyte hard drive, and knowing which pictures have been blogged ("scrapbooked") and which haven't.

The things I don't like about my new system? I find I am blogging much more of our memories (which I love), but much less of my thoughts (perhaps that isn't a bad thing?) On one hand, I will be able to look back through my 2011 blog book and have a pretty complete memory book of our year. But with the limited allotted blogging time in my schedule, and when I just simply don't get to it, I am not taking the time to blog when a deep or brilliant or utterly useless thought shimmies across my brain.

Another thing I'm not liking is that it fosters a habit that I'm working on in other areas....it keeps me always feeling like I have to "catch up" instead of being satisfied with just focusing on the tasks of today. There is a balance (and that is one of those unwritten posts), but I find myself thinking I have to catch up on April and May before I can begin blogging June. Thus I am kept in a "always behind" cycle. This is deep doo-doo, but I'm working on it.

But at this point I'm not really willing to give up my new system. I like my new system. I realize that it may make for a rather boring blog, because it is full of lots more of our daily family stuff. But that's what I love about blogs. People only come because they want to, so no one can complain about what I put in my own little personal corner of the www.

That said, I am almost through blogging April pictures! And June is full, full, full of fun things I want to record! But we're so busy doing things (and taking pictures of them), I'm not taking enough time to record as we go. I think I need to build a very solid chunk of blog time right into my schedule, instead of letting it just happen randomly.

Spring Break at the Cabin (#7) - LAST DAY! - Friday, 4/1

2011-05-25T04:10:00.001-04:00

Friday was our last day of Spring Break at the Cabin. After relaxing around the cabin, we took another hike, then went birdwatching, then went to a park by the Ohio River. Then we packed up, cleaned up and headed home.

Snuggled up, reading my book

Bed Head!

We saw several beautiful birds, but the most exciting was the BALD EAGLE we saw on two separate days that week. These are shots from the cabin...obviously, the eagle was soaring extreeeemely high. So I zoomed way in to prove to you that we have our very own bald eagle!

I think these are some sort of hawk....I'll have to ask David what kind.

On one of my runs that week, after running this trail I just stopped and sat awhile and let the sounds of the woods soak into my bones. Nice.

We went to this abandoned homestead near our cabin to look for some gorgeous woodpeckers I'd seen there on my run....They were gone, but we had some fun with the vulture!

Ahh, the signs of nature...

Enjoying the last of our Spring Break....on the banks of the Ohio River!

Spring Break at the Cabin (#6) - Thursday, 3/31

2011-05-25T01:45:00.007-04:00

(Wow. You are very patient if you've stuck with me through all of these cabin posts! Now that I'm planning on printing my blog into an annual memory book, I'm being more careful about including things we want to remember. Bear with me. I'm almost through these! Spring Break will be over soon.)

After three pretty intense work days, we decided not to start any new projects and slow down a bit on Thursday. I enjoyed curling up and finishing One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

We enjoyed more good food together...

The kids loved making fresh orange juice (something we don't really take the time for at home)

Caiden's faces...

More nature...

The view of our cabin from the woods

Molly takes a run through the woods...

The kids love exploring within their boundaries

I had to laugh...This weekend I saw my friend Dixie. She said she had caught up on the Spring Break posts, but I'd left her "hanging" without the final pictures. (Oh mercy.) I told her not to get her hopes up too high! It's not a fancy place, by far. But we love it and it feels cozy.

AFTER: The master bedroom (cabin/lodge theme)

You can't really see it here, but the robes hanging on the closet doors are cozy flannel cabin-y robes....what I wear when I get up in the night (many times!) to feed the upstairs and downstairs fires! (David fed the fires, too...but I have a tendency to wake up more often with the kids and baby, so I'd check the fires while I was up.)

So many things in this place have a story: The painted saw above the window has been part of this cabin for as long as I can remember.

One of our FAVORITE things to do at the cabin.....reading!!

Three cheers for Goodwill shelving and treasures!! (My dad thinks I might never quite hauling stuff out there. 8 ) Maybe I will, maybe I wont.)

Love this pillow my friend Catrena Durgan gave me! The picture is off because our camera sensor is broken and I forgot to compensate.

A close-up of the Craigslist rugs with the new floor paint...I LOVE it. The rugs were definitely worth it - long trip, dog puke and all! Fellow bargain-hunters, I just have to tell you that this exact rug sells for $410.00 on the lodge decor websites! You can be quite certain I didn't pay anywhere REMOTELY near four-hundred-dollars (oh my !!!) And we got 3 rugs in the deal. (happy sigh)

Oh, it was so fun to move back into the bedrooms and enjoy the fresh, clean feeling.


AFTER PICTURES: The Girls' Room (Americana theme)

Yes - the curtains are wacky and skewed. And no - I don't care a great deal. This is a cabin. A very rustic cabin... Besides, I like wacky stuff. I'm kinda wacky myself.

My friend Melissa Huffer made this out of an architectural remnant!

We tried to balance cuteness and practicality...The baskets are an easy place for the kids to dump their suitcases and keep their clothes cleaned up with very little effort during our cabin visits.

Thursday night Rachelle came to stay with us after she got home from Band Tour!

The kids BEG for Aunt Chelle's amazing, wacky, imaginative bedtime stories.

Other themes/future decorating plans:
The basement bedroom: "Gone Fishing" theme
Bathroom: "Birdwatching"
Upstairs greatroom: Wildlife/Antlers Theme (In the picture above, you can barely see the huge wall mural of 3 white tailed deer that my Mom and Dad put up years ago.)

Spring Break at the Cabin (#5) - Wednesday, 3/30

2011-05-20T12:59:00.002-04:00

Wednesday....PAINTING!!!

Corin watches Daddy put on the first coat in the girls' bedroom...

The master bedroom painted....these pictures don't do the color justice, of course. Everybody always says that because its true! The color is creamy & warm but clean. It is flexible if we ever decide to change our decorating themes...And it changes moods with the natural light. Love it!

We pulled up the bedroom rug, swept and vacuumed and primed the floor

I had been collecting cabin & lodge decorations for probably a year.

David and I had so much fun keeping our eyes open for Goodwill and Yard Sale bargains that fit our decorating themes!

We loved how the master bedroom floor turned out!

David painted himself out of the master bedroom, then we had to let it sit overnight before moving the furniture back in and decorating!

Spring Break at the Cabin (#4) - Tuesday, 3/29

2011-05-20T12:34:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday we sanded and primed.....

More Family Graffiti (1984)

We sanded.....

and sanded....

and SANDED!

Finally....priming! I love that stage - that's when hope dawns new upon the horizon. You can see progress!

The cabin's the perfect place to take a nap...

......after a cozy snack

I'd like to introduce you to John. John Deer. That's his name, thanks to Caiden! During the naming process, I actually considered Jane or something similar. Then I remembered that she had antlers. Oops.

We were glad to have all the naughty dogs back. They LOVE the cabin (and all the acreage!)

Tuesday night we decided to drive the 45 minutes to Mom and Dad's for showers - to wash the sanding dust out of our hair. Being brave and outdoorsy is all well and good, but sleeping in drywall dust is not our idea of fun. And a sponge bath wouldn't quite cut it....we were WHITE from head to toe!! We had a very refreshing shower-visit to mom and dad's (they were in Kansas), then headed back to the cabin all clean and shiny.

Spring Break at the Cabin (#3) - Monday, 3/30

2011-05-20T12:08:00.002-04:00

Let the work BEGIN! We wanted to do some painting and freshen up two of the bedrooms. Monday we dug in. We finished scraping paper in the master bedroom and the girls' room.

BEFORE....(sortof) I think somewhere I have an eariler before picture. I can remember my mom and dad basically reconstructing this room, which was a mess when they bought this place about 30 years ago....

The girls' room....BEFORE. Everything has a story. This bunkbed my brother bought himself with his hard-earned money when he was a kid. It was in his room in the Josephine house (GBS) for years before it found a new home at the Cabin.

And this wallpaper (if it could talk....) We loved this wallpaper. The girls and I were sad to see it go -- yes, they inherited some of my sentimentality -- but it had put in a good 26 years of use, so it was time...

This, of course, always represented Deanna and I

And sweet little Garen II even made it into the scenes!

De, flying free on her bike with her kitty. Oh, how she loves little kittens. hahahahah!

It was tedious work, involving gallons of vinegar (and precious stores of water ...remember the running water wasn't available!)

One of the cool things was finding the FAMILY GRAFFITI under the wallpaper.....1985!!! 26 years ago!

Finally, all the paper was down in those two bedrooms, David did some patching and skim coating - and we let it dry before the really fun part....SANDING!

Spring Break at the Cabin (#2) - Sunday 3/27

2011-05-20T11:45:00.002-04:00

We woke up Sunday morning to a beautiful snow!

Sunday afternoon we took a hike together

Caiden found a piece of wood shaped like a gun

Sunday morning the dogs all ran off. Max and Molly are bad! They didn't come back for a long time. Maggie came back on her own. It's actually a much longer and more interesting story than this....

One of the cool things about the cabin...it doesn't matter what you wear!

You don't even have to match!

And nerdyness is completely acceptable

After our hike, we took a beautiful Sunday afternoon drive. We enjoyed watching the Blue Heron...

Spring Break at the Cabin (#1) - Friday & Saturday 3/26

2011-05-20T10:00:00.001-04:00

Our trip started out fairly well, considering the planning and packing it takes to prepare for food, clothes, water & supplies for a family of six for a week. Dad discovered a new leak in the cistern during our work week, and it stayed too cold the whole week of Spring Break for us to patch the crack. So we had no running water! We loaded up our trailer and minivan with wood, decorations, food, water, and supplies and headed out Friday after David and the kids got out of school. There were six of us, plus luggage, plus (cringe) three FULL GROWN golden retrievers in the van.

But we were happy and brave and together. VERY together. So...the three-hour trip from Frankfort to Aurora would have been long enough with that crew, but we made...um...a detour. I had found some lodge rugs on Craigslist for an amazing price. They were perfect for our planned cabin redecorating project, and David agreed it was a good deal. So we went an hour out of our way to pick the rugs up in Lafayette before backtracking through Frankfort and south again. The rugs were gorgeous. We loaded them up. But then the fun really began. With dog puke. And then, when we stopped in a subdivision to clean it up...all three dogs ran away! David was so over it by then, he was ready to leave the dogs running wild in Lafayette and go back home to Frankfort and read a book and forget the whole cabin ordeal. But we pressed on.

Not all of the trip was lovely, but we made it. We tried to remain brave as we watched our watches and realized that we would arrive - well after dark - to a freezing cold cabin. We planned to keep the kids in the van while we scurried inside and got the fires blazing to take the edge off the cabin chill before we unloaded. We were pleasantly surprised when we pulled up Smiley Hill Lane (Yes - that's the real name of our road!) and looked up the hill to see the cabin lights glowing and smoke rolling out of the chimney! Dad and Garen had driven from Cincinnati to get the fires going and heat up the cabin before we arrived. They also had a good pile of wood chopped to get us started. We felt so happy and spoiled.

Saturday Dad, Garen and his wife Crystal came back with the 4-wheeler for some fun.

Garen's a tough dude, but he loves those dogs.

Corin wearing Grandpa Wolf's huge, furry Russian-looking hat

Karissa LOVED 4-wheeling with Daddy

I didn't know she was such a daredevil

It was fun to have all 5 golden retrievers together....3 are ours, 2 are Garen & Crystal's

David in dog-training mode

I wasn't too crazy about Garen's ingenious method of load the 4-wheeler onto his truck. I could just see him flipping it over...

Loved this moment between Karissa, Caiden and Maggie

David chopped a LOTTA wood that week!

And kept us warm and cozy inside

The kids were so thrilled with their job of hauling wood inside from the pile

It really was freezing - they were troopers

We were ready for some good Birdwatching and Birdlistening! We are crazy about this book...it has the birdsongs of 250 North American birds. Each bird is described and pictured and assigned a number. You click the corresponding number to hear a gorgeous, real recording of that bird's call or song.

What better way to celebrate our first days of Spring Break at the cabin - than by making S'mores (my Dad calls them smears) in the fireplace!

Sneak Peek - Bob and Amanda (Engagement)

2011-05-19T06:59:00.002-04:00

We are only accepting weddings these days, but this engagement setting came with their wedding package...it was a fun evening.

Click Here to see more....

Hand over the CHOCOLATE and no one gets hurt!

2011-05-18T10:29:00.005-04:00

May 18, 2011

Green and Black's Dark 70%

Organic (no added toxins and junk!) Whole ingredients, Intense flavor but still creamy
Wanna know why dark chocolate (in moderation, of course) is good for you? Organic Nature News tells us:

"A chocolate bar contains as much antioxidant power as a glass of red wine. The phenols in chocolate are known to help the immune system, reduce the risk of cancer, and promote heart health. Dark chocolate, pound for pound, has higher levels of antioxidants than blueberries! Dark chocolate also contains more flavanoids than green tea.For centuries, chocolate has been known to soothe the soul. That’s because chocolate boosts the brain chemicals serotonin and endorphin. These chemicals produce a feeling of euphoria. Another compound called anandamide has known calming properties." There's more! Read the rest here.

It is also reported to have some other positive, unmentionable affects.....

I am a big fan of blueberries as a delicious power-food-cancer-fighter. But dark chocolate even gives blueberries a run for their money! (well, sorta..except for the whole fat-and-sugar thing....)

A Green and Black's bar is admittedly more expensive than, say, a snickers bar. But does Snickers really satisfy? Quality is worth it! You only have to eat a small amount to be satisfied. It contains fiber, too! Six squares (1/5 of a large 3.5 oz bar) is only 3 WW points! So if you eat one 3 point serving a day, that bar will last you for 5 days - or even a week if you skip a couple days! What are the chances of a snickers bar satisfying for 5 days?

I'm not saying that after I have a small portion of dark chocolate that I don't WANT more. My "fullness" brain trigger is very slow in registering "enough chocolate." Hahahaha....AS IF. But I definitely think that quality dark chocolate satisfies much, much more than sweeter, cheaper chocolate. (Hint: to keep yourself from un-doing the awesome health benefits of the chocolate by eating the WHOLE ENTIRE BAR in one setting....break it into an appropriate portions (heeheeheee...whatever that may be. I've never tried it, but I bet you could fit the whole bar) and put it in snack baggies. If you still can't help eating it all, tell your husband to hide them and give you one a day. I find that my ability to eat healthy portions of this correlates to my current tiredness and strength level in my overall diet and healthy eating. There are some weeks when I have no business having chocolate of any kind in my house. Because I will eat. it. ALL! Other weeks, when I am on a roll and in control, it is just the ticket to take the edge off my sweet tooth, get me through the 4 o'clock slump, or as a substitute when others are eating dessert.

I find that dark chocolate is especially satisfying with milk. (Have you ever studied the "mouth feel" and "fullness" attributes of foods? There are lots of reasons we crave the foods we love!) I like to have about 4-5 ounces of skim milk (1 point) with my chocolate allotment. But I am experimenting with Coconut milk. It's sweet and light and very good - with more flavor and creaminess than skim milk (less watery) - but with the same points.

The closer a food is to its natural state, the healthier it is and the better your body can use it. As a general rule, the shorter the ingredients list on a packaged food, the better! Check this out:

Green and Black's Organic 70% Dark Chocolate

Ingredients:

Organic Chocolate Liquor
Organic Raw Cane Sugar
Organic Cocoa Butter
Soy Lecithin (Emulsifier)
Organic Vanilla Extract
Organic Whole Milk Powder

Hershey's chocolate bar Ingredients:

SUGAR,
CHOCOLATE,
COCOA BUTTER
COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI,
MILK FAT,
LACTOSE,
SOY LECITHIN,
PGPR, (my note: This stands for "polyglycerol polyricinoleate" ......Sound healthy and close-to-nature?) Read more here if you're curious.
VANILLIN,
ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR,
AND MILK

Don't get me wrong...I actually LOVE Snickers bars! I'm not above consuming a "normal" candy bar now-and-again (If I were willing to spend the whopping amount of points!) And I am not an organic eater...I definitely do think that the fewer chemicals and pesticides and additives the better, but organic is really expensive! But this is a conversation for another health post. I just think it's interesting to know what's in what I'm eating.

And this is really just a blatant, apology-free commercial for eating dark, healthy CHOCOLATE! Yay!

So...have a little smidge of dark chocolate today, your husband might thank you! (wink, wink)

IHC 2011

2011-05-18T09:28:00.000-04:00

April 26-28, 2011

I love IHC!

It was hilarious - the Fry kids and the Johnson kids see each other almost every single day of their lives (they go to church and school together and play at each other's houses every chance they get!). But when they saw each other the first time at IHC they cheered and squealed and hugged like they hadn't seen each other all year. Goofy kids.

I'm getting just the teeniest bit concerned about Corin's uncanny knack for finding and befriending cute little girls in social situations. He has a good eye and he's a charmer, let me tell ya. He's a chick magnet.

After three days of being lords and ladies and walking nice and talking quiet and sitting still and staying close to mommy and "Shhh!" in the hotel and "Shhh!" in church and "Pay attention!" on the escalators...by the time Thursday night rolled around, they were ready for a little free play. We ended up staying pretty late after the service Thursday night, visiting with our friends the Watters while our kids enjoyed some free time.

Breakfast: IHC style! Eating out with a family of 6 adds up quick...even at Arbys! We saved a lot of money by eating several meals in our room.

Did I mention that I love IHC? See you next year!

Easter Season 2011 - Passover Seder

2011-05-18T08:35:00.008-04:00

April 18, 2011

I really enjoyed our Family Passover Seder this year. Even though I tried to keep it pretty simple, the whole process did seem to take the good part of my day. There are moments when I'm preparing for a special family time when I wonder if I'm off my rocker for going to the trouble. But it was definitely worth it! We aren't authentic or even thorough in all of the traditions surrounding this Seder. I have focused on just having a special family time, explaining the basic elements of the Seder Plate and remembering the meaning of the season. But I feel like it is growing on us...the kids seemed to understand even more this year.

One night we made "Lent Pretzels"....they are to reminded us of our arms folded in prayer...

Loved this craft they brought home from church for Palm Sunday

I was disappointed that when I ordered my Passover serving set from Dayspring the Seder plate (which I paid for!) was out of stock. So I just improvise with my own dishes and use a custard bowl for each Element of the plate.

My mom got us these adorable individual kid seder plates...the picture isn't clear, but each section is marked with a picture of the element and its Hebrew & English name.

As we were preparing the meal, the kids and I reviewed the meanings of the season, the meal and the elements. We talked about the deliverance of the Hebrew children and how it corresponds to our deliverance from the bondage of sin. We talked about the difference between "leavened" and "unleavened" bread....that yeast represents sin in the Bible, and that the Hebrew children had to prepare and eat the passover meal in a hurry! (I did totally cheat on the meal. I included leavened bread and other non-passover things simply because I wanted to include things the family loved for the special meal.

Before we ate, the kids preformed their own depiction of the Passover through a skit they made up.

Daddy & Corin sharing a moment as we sat to watch the kids' Passover skit.

The kids decided to do their skit in pantomime - a couple of times they had to interpret, but it was generally very clear and neat the things they came up with. First they busied themselves for the Passover....

I loved their creativity in putting together costumes at the spur of the moment....This headdress doubles as Corin's favorite "blankie"

This one needs some explaining....This is their horse and cart, all loaded up and ready for the big Exodus!

Kayla was in charge of slaughtering the family lamb. She laid the lamb on the ottoman, used a comb as the instrument of death, then quickly threw Corin's red blankie over the lamb to represent the shed blood

They spread the "blood" on the doorposts with a palm branch (representing hyssop)

And Caiden shimmied up the doorposts and hung a cross on a nail in the corner of the door

David and I had no idea what to expect from their skit, and this was an especially touching moment....getting to watch them make the emphasis on the cross and the shed blood in their own unique way. It was awesome.

Karissa prepared a salad for their meal (Out of Easter grass) The small ball is a beanbag matzo ball that came with one of our Passover kits.

I think here they're leading the horse as they escape from Egypt

After the skit, we headed back into the kitchen for our meal.

We did something a little different this year...each of the kids was in charge of presenting & explaining one element of the Seder plate or meal.

Charoset is an apple/nut mixture that represents the bricks the Hebrews had to make. My family is nuts, but they're not big on eating them....so I made my own version: Chopped apples, peanut butter (nuts!) mini marshmallows, honey or syrup, maybe cinnamon....and I can't remember what else. But it was yummy! And it still looked mortar-ish. Like I said, we kinda do our own thing. : )

Kayla explains the significance of the hard boiled egg (we use the idea of Pharaoh's hardened heart)

Karissa explains the meaning of the parsley ("Karpas") and dips it in salt water (representing tears). We also improvised and dipped the parsley in ketchup (as a visual symbol that they dipped the hyssop in blood to apply it to the doorposts.)

Caiden was in charge of explaining the Matza (I had to use crackers this year because I didn't make it to the right store to get real Matza). The holes poked in the Matza represent Jesus' pierced side.

We had pumpkin pie for dessert. Has nothing whatsoever to do with Passover and isn't even really appropriate, but David loves it and it's a special dessert for us.

After the meal, we played a Passover card game

"Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us."

1 Cor. 5:7

Here are a few interesting videos explaining some of a Passover Seder. Obviously, these are more Jewish in their orientation. Our focus is obviously Messianic....There is also a helpful but longish "Christian Passover Seder" video here. (And we use Welch's Grape Juice, by the way!)

Yay! New Camera!

2011-05-17T13:22:00.002-04:00

May 17, 2011

We are the proud owners of a new-to-us point and shoot camera!

I have been wanting a small camera to put in our running pack to take along on runs and races. We see so many funny/cool/beautiful/interesting things when we're out running. And I don't know how many times I've wished for a camera! After our half marathon in Louisville, I knew I HAD to have one. There are so many cool things to record, I felt lost without a camera.

I could tell by the noises David was making that the budget wasn't going to be very generous for this purchase. We have already used up our running budget for awhile just on races! But I looked at the store and realized with a sinking feeling that I wasn't going to be happy at all with a cheapy. I wanted a Lumix. I'd seen them in action, liked what they had to offer, liked the size and options. So...I headed to Craigslist as a woman with a purpose. And would you believe, I found a Lumix for $30.00!!! The catch was, it had no charging and USB cords. (Which also meant there was no guarantee it would work after I got the cords!) But this camera is selling for $100-$250 right now, and the cords we needed were super-cheap on Amazon....so we took the risk and set up a meeting. The cool thing was, we were able to combine the trip with a trip to Indy for a photo shoot...AND I found something else we were needing on Craigslist that day that was about 5 minutes away from where we picked up the camera! It was a happy-happy day. Saved gas, saved money!

I waited nervously for my charging cord to arrive so I could test out the camera and see if I'd been had by a skinny teenager in a parking lot. But it works! Happylujah! And I'm very happy with the camera. Another reason for this purchase is so that we don't have to haul our good (hugemongous) DSLRs in the diaper bag, to sandy or muddy places, and in my purse. The liability is so huge with those cameras. So now I have a diaper bag/running camera. And the kids are enjoying having a camera they can use without their mother hovering above them, clutching the strap so they don't drop it.

Here are a few pictures, straight-out-of-the-camera (SOOTC) I'll get better ones later, but Karissa were just tooting around with it yesterday. Can't wait till my next long run so I can try it out!

I had a few other good ones that showed the depth of color, but I deleted them off the camera memory so Karissa could fool around with it. She took most of these! I also had to delete one really cool one cuz Caiden was in his skeebies and David forbids me from posting naked pictures. ; ) Obedient-wife-that-I-am.

I think there were some special effects settings going on here. She is so excited that she gets her own file on the computer for her pictures and she gets to edit them to her heart's content without any hovering from her (helicopter) mother.

Nelda's March Visit

2011-05-16T11:39:00.000-04:00

Nelda has been sort of like an adopted sister ever since I can remember. She is "Aunt Nelda" to the kids. Every once in awhile, she comes up from Indy to visit for some fun. She always brings a box full of all kinds of goodies and presents. She is one of the most gifted women I know. She is a CNM (Certified Nurse Midwife), an awesome teacher, a talented artist, photographer, calligrapher, crafter, designer, and much more.

Of course, Caiden had to demonstrate his climbing skills for Aunt Nelda

She treated the kids to an evening at Chuck-E-Cheese. I had fun playing around with her new camera - an awesome Sony that is an upgrade from ours. Some of these pictures she took, some of them I took. Can't remember who took what now.

Nelda and Corin developed a cool system for skeeball.

But even at that close range he didn't get many points.

This cracked me up...Karissa and another little girl she met decided to share a ride on the roller coaster simulater. Karissa had a ball...but the other little girl didn't want to ride a second time. I saw that she was quieter than Karissa, but didn't see her terrified fingers until I looked through the pictures later on my computer....

As I mentioned, Nelda always brings a goodie box full of presents for all! This time she blew me away with a surprise. She had created a stone plaque inscribed with one of my favorite running quotes...I was so happy I cried. She's awesome. If you enjoy crafting at all, you've got to check out her blog. She is super-creative, and is full of ideas and resources.

Cabin Work Day - March 19

2011-05-03T20:54:00.002-04:00

The weekend before Spring break, the kids and I met my dad at the cabin to do some work projects.

It was so good to stick my hands back down in that tough Indiana clay. I distinctly remember hauling 5-gallon buckets of this heavy clay out of a pit under the house when I was a very young child. Probably broke every child labor law, but it made us tough!

We did some cleaning and Dad started a bonfire

I love how you can see up our hill when the trees are naked

If you look close enough I think you can see Dad with his tongue between his teeth as he gets our van to the top of the hill for me - a daredevilish ride that still terrifies me silly.

Quiet. Country. Green. Ahh.

The kids and I listened to lots of the Chronicles of Narnia on that trip! And I was rather proud of myself for hauling our trailer and 4 kids alone on our 6-hour round trip without event or trauma. I even discovered that I'm a pretty amazing trailer-backer-upper, which is really quite astounding considering my ability to crash our two vans together in my own driveway! Oops...David doesn't know that yet.

Ketchup Warning

2011-05-03T20:46:00.000-04:00

Definition:
Ketchup Blogging - When a busy mommy goes too long without blogging, then tries to catch up, resulting in a huge blob similar to too much ketchup out of a glass ketchup bottle. Posts may be somewhat meaningless to the public and/or out of order.

I am now going to make a valiant attempt to catch up on my March and April Blogging before May gets a chance to run me over like a squishy pancake.

photo

The Lifter of My Head!

2011-04-26T07:07:00.004-04:00

When David suggested that we start getting the kids up and meet in the living room at 6:30 every morning to read Psalms together before getting ready for school, I was at first - shall we say - a bit overwhelmed. We had a "discussion." But I'm loving it, and it's amazing how it sets the eyes right, first thing. This morning we read Psalm 3.

Psalm 3 (English Standard Version)

Save Me, O My God

A Psalm of David,when he fled from Absalom his son.

¹O LORD,how many are my foes!
   Many are rising against me;
²many are saying of my soul,
    there is no salvation for him in God.
                         Selah ³But you, O LORD, are a shield about me,
   my glory, and the lifter of my head.
⁴I cried aloud to the LORD,
   and he answered me from his holy hill.
                         Selah
⁵I lay down and slept;
   I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.
⁶I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
   who have set themselves against me all around.
⁷ Arise, O LORD!
   Save me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
   you break the teeth of the wicked.
⁸ Salvation belongs to the LORD;
   your blessing be on your people!
                         Selah

My warped 6:30 am sense of humor caught verse 6:

I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
who have set themselves against me all around.

I just really hope it's not prophetic since I've been preparing to give a 6-minute talk on parenting on Thursday at IHC. I guess you'd have to be here reading Psalms at 6:30 am to catch the humor...

But the real reason I jumped over to my computer while the oatmeal water boils is because of verse 3. One of my all-time favorite verses (and songs!) It's blessing me to pieces. Just too good to not share.

But you, O LORD, area shieldabout me,
my glory, andthe lifter of my head.

So the oatmeal is boiling. I'm surrounded by coolers and suitcases and packing lists and things to do in order to get this crew to Dayton in one piece. And after all of my "being prepared for our trip" shopping trips, David just now informed me that he needs deodorant. My insides are a bit shaky from not-quite-enough-sleep. The baby is eating the brown sugar out of the bowl and spilling grapejuice on my clean floor. And my spirit full.... He is my glory! The Lifter of my Head!

Sarah

Resurrection Eggs

2011-04-23T23:11:00.000-04:00

Tonight during devotions, instead of doing our regular scripture memory, we went through the story of Easter using Resurrection Eggs. It was very, very simple this year - and quick. But it was fun to hear the kids making connection and remembering the significance of various symbols. It was neat that elements of our Passover Seder on Monday really helped things sink in.

Here's a website that has do-it-yourself instructions.

Benjamin's Box is a neat little book about the story of the Resurrection eggs. My great friend Liz sent it to us a few years ago.

Resurrection Cookies

2011-04-23T23:01:00.001-04:00

A quick Easter recipe.....I actually prepared this post around Easter, two years ago and never published it.

Annie's "Resurrection Cookies"

~Also known as Easter Story Cookies~

You will need:
1cup whole pecans
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 egg whites
a pinch salt
1 cup sugar
a zipper baggy
1 wooden spoon
scotch tape
Bible

Instructions:
These are to be made the evening before Easter.

Preheat oven to 300F.*** (this is very important --- don't wait until you are half done with the recipe).

Place pecans in zipper baggy and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested. He was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read: John 19:1-3

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read: John 10:10&11

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers,and the bitterness of our own sin. Read: Luke 23:27

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup sugar. Explain that thesweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read: Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read: Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3

Thanks, Nelda for sending this!

Here's the link to the site: http://www..annieshomepage.com/resurrectioncookies.html

Free Easter Printable Crafts

2011-04-22T18:51:00.004-04:00

Here is a free printable Easter Craft from my super-creative friend, Nelda. I more to blog later about her, but here's the link for now.

I have been trying to upload some other pictures of her cool, fun creations, but can't get the pictures to work. You'll have to just go check out her blog.
Her website is: http://papercraftingwithnelda.blogspot.com/

She brought us a stack of her very-cool printable easter crafts yesterday, including an adorable chicky cupcake wrapper she designed. You gotta go see it. And they're so easy! My blogger isn't even letting me link to text tonight, so here's the direct link to the cupcake-chicky post:

http://papercraftingwithnelda.blogspot.com/2011/04/easter-chick-cupcake-wrapper.html

Tonight is Erev Pesach (Eve of Passover)

2011-04-18T13:48:00.002-04:00

I've had it on my calendar, but forgot on my errands day last week to buy a few things we need for our Passover Seder (basically a special supper) tonight. I ran to the store and picked up the items I didn't have in the kitchen: a leg of lamb roast, apples, crackers (they didn't have matza), and parsley.

I like to include the basic elements of a Passover Seder, but also make it a yummy meal that our family enjoys. So....the lamb roast is in the crockpot with some potatoes and carrots, a pumpkin pie is baking in the oven, the eggs are boiling, I'm peeling potatoes and getting ready to make our version of Charoset and the challah bread is mixing up in the bread machine. I'm trying to get as much done as I can early so that I can get the dishes washed up and get on with the things I need to do to day...

I am actually toying with the idea of having our passover seder on the floor (reclining symbolizes the freedom). Not sure if I'm brave enough to try that with this bunch yet. There's the whole matter of where to put the table? And I'm quite certain drinking grapejuice and eating mashed potatoes on the living room carpet is NOT an option. But I have a feeling the kids would really love the idea of lounging on cushions for this meal. We'll see.

I look forward to someday inviting guests for our passover seders when we have room to entertain again. Grinning at the thought of how guests would react to arrive and find no table, but a cloth and cushions on the floor. I think I'm warped.

I'm also brainstorming about ideas to maybe have the kids act out the passover in a little skit or some other kind of "active" learning to make some of the meanings of the season more real to all of us. Whatever we do needs to have easy and quick prep. Maybe we'll just do an impromptu skit.

A few scenes from last year: