Twister Championship

I'm not sure how we've made it through almost 16 years of parenting without purchasing a Twister game but I decided we needed one and gave it to the kids for Christmas. All 4 kids played the first game.

Zac challenged Alyssa to a face off (or twist off?).

He was determined to beat the flexible dancer and managed to turn himself into a pretzel.

Zac won the game!

The perfect gifts!

Uncle Weve (aka: Steve, Kevin's brother) came to see us yesterday and he brought some awesome gifts for everyone. The boys all got NFL jerseys...

and Alyssa decided to model Zac's Romo jersey....

which then provoked Nathan to strike a pose in his Favre jersey.

Alyssa got her real present---a gift to Forever 21--her favorite store!

Katie scored an Itunes card and a Target gift card, and I got a Roomba! I'm still waiting on the battery to fully charge before I can find out if our predictions are true. (And please, no comments on how messy my desk is in the background. I promise I just cleaned it off two days ago and it's already messy again. Every miscellaneous piece of paper sends to up there. It's an endless cycle of clean and clutter.)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! Here's a quick recap of our celebrations:

We went to the Christmas Eve service, then came home and looked in our stockings. The kids opened their gifts to each other.

Then it was off to bed for everyone. Nathan waited till 7:30 to wake us up which was a Christmas miracle.

Since Zac opened his Guitar Hero, he has disappeared upstairs trying to become an expert.

And Katie was very surprised to find an ipod under the tree.

Uncle Weve showed up in time for our traditional Christmas lunch of Chinese takeout and the gifts started all over again which I'll share with you tomorrow!

Money Saver: Breakfast foods

It's very tempting to just stock eggos and cereal at my house for the kids to have for breakfast, but not very economical or healthy. One of the biggest ways I've cut down on my grocery budget has been to make as many items from scratch as possible. The challenge is time for most of us, but I've found a way to make baking and cooking part of my schedule without too much adjustment.

Basically, on the mornings when I have a little extra time, I cook breakfast and make double or triple the amount we really need. Then on our busy mornings, we just pull something from the freezer and pop it into the microwave. You'll eventually build a stash in your freezer and only need to make something a couple of times a week.

This works great with pancakes (with or without chocolate chips!), waffles, breakfast burritos, and any type of muffin. You can click on the foods to link to the recipes on my new favorite recipe site, Recipezaar. I especially like having muffins on hand. Kevin likes to take them to work and the kids will snack on them in the afternoons. Their favorite is these chocolate chip muffins. They never make it to the freezer!

Helpful Hint: to freeze pancakes, waffles, french toast, etc., place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer for approx. 1 hour. Then place in a ziploc freezer bag. This keeps them from sticking together and it's easy to pull out just what you need.

Ice, Ice Baby!

Yesterday afternoon, the neighborhood kids were wearing shorts and playing outside in the 75 degree weather. By last night at 8, the temp. had dropped to 20 and it was sleeting outside. Today, we're at a high of 17, there's an inch of ice on the streets, and all the schools are closed. Gotta love Oklahoma weather!

I must admit I love these days when God forces us to slow down. The past week has been filled with activities and I was starting to feel overwhelmed by not being able to stay home long enough to take care of things here or even relax a bit. Last Sunday, Alyssa danced at the fanciest assisted living place I've ever been to. (The 'apartments' are 2400SF.)Then I had 30 minutes to get across town to the church to see Nathan's children's choir program. That was followed by a week of rehearsals and performances for the church Christmas production. Alyssa was given the opportunity to choreograph and dance in the production. Of course, I think she did a beautiful job. I'm hoping we'll have a video to post soon.

So today, I'm taking advantage of my day in to do laundry, bake lots of goodies, blog and watch "Notting Hill"--the tv edited version.

Crazy Christmas Chaos

There are some days, like today, that convince me I will never be bored with my life. I know...one day all the kids will be gone and I'll wish for this craziness back. But I don't think that's ever going to happen. By the time Nathan graduates, Alyssa will probably be married and dropping her kids off here so she can maintain her sanity, all the while overlooking that I lost mine a long time ago which is okay.

I am desperately trying to finish all of the Christmas shopping. This includes the children also shopping since they still need me to drive them everywhere. So today, we hit Dollar Tree and Target. But since 3 kids needed to shop for each other and me, we had to keep changing the combinations of people who were shopping together while avoiding running into the other group. Dollar Tree was definitely more challenging than Target, but when you're 8 and 12, $1 is the right price tag for gifts so we made it work. We finally made it home and everyone took turns wrapping in my room which now looks like the gift wrap center at Macy's exploded in it. And I still have to take Zac shopping!

After a short break, I took Alyssa to dance, came back home for a quick meal of leftovers, then it was back to church for everyone but me. I was running all over town looking for green tulle for Alyssa's dance costume for the Christmas production which is this weekend--all weekend--4 performances. You would think green tulle was the 'Tickle me Elmo' of this Christmas because there is none to be had in this town. After several stops I did finally find some green ribbon that should do the job.

I would like to think the crazy, running around, wild adventures of today are unusual and rare at our house, but they're not. The circumstances change but the chaos does not. And by the way, when Alyssa put her gifts under the tree today, she numbered them--just to spite me.

Guess the gifts

When I was a kid, my brother and I were terrible about finding out what our gifts were before Christmas. My mother had a habit of taking a Sunday afternoon nap, so while she was sleeping, we would open the presents under the tree to see what we were getting. She did figure it out one time and threatened to take the present she knew I had opened back to the store, but she didn't. And I'm not sure if before this exact moment while she is reading this post, if she knows that we were repeat offenders....several years in a row.

A few years ago, I instituted the code system of labeling gifts at our house, just to help keep the kids from temptation. You know..not passing the sins of the parents on to the next generation and all. Every year I come up with a new code just to make it a little more difficult. This year it's numbers...5, 20, 22, and 30. These are not random numbers; there is a method to the madness but I can't explain it to you now. My children read this blog, mainly to make sure I'm not telling anything embarrassing about them. Believe me, this blog would be hilarious if I didn't have any kid-imposed restrictions.

I put the first presents under the tree a few nights ago and guess who's giving me the most trouble? Alyssa--the oldest! She tried to convince me that she's responsible and can handle the knowledge of the 'code', but I refused to give in. Then she started trying to guess the different ways I could have assigned those numbers. I accused her of acting like she was 2 while I laughed at her and her curiosity. This may be more fun than the actual giving of the presents!

What about you? Did you peek at your presents when you were a kid?

Money Saver: Grocery Budget

Sometime last June, I realized that we were spending the equivalent of about $300 a week on our grocery budget. At our house, this includes everything to keep our tummies full, our clothes clean, our bodies smelling good, and our house sanitary. The cost of food was escalating, combined with all the special diets around our house (2 with allergies, me-a diabetic), had made our food expenses astronomical. I was determined to bring it down as much as possible even if it meant spending a couple of hours clipping coupons every week.

I began by reading lots of articles at Money Saving Mom on combining coupons with sales, how to get stuff for free at stores like Walgreens and CVS, and how to find coupons on the internet which are usually worth more than the typical Sunday paper coupons.

Gradually, I was able to drop to down to $150 to $200 per week. I've also stockpiled enough soap, shampoo, toothpaste and cleaning products that I only buy these when they are on sale and I have a coupon, usually getting them for free. With 6 people that need to wash and deodorize on a daily basis, this was a huge expense for us. Sometimes I would spend $50-$60 at one time at Walmart just buying health and beauty products, but not anymore!

My current goal is to get down to $100-150. Gayle at The Grocery Cart Challenge feeds her family of 6 for $60 a week and she posts her menus with links to the recipes each week. I don't think we'll ever get quite that low thanks to our special diets, but I'm going to keep trying! I'll keep you posted on our progress. Now go save some money!

I survived the Trojan virus, almost

Thursday night after work, I was innocently checking on my facebook. A friend had sent me a video in messages and I clicked the arrow to play. Then my laptop world came crashing down around me. Even though my Norton antivirus identified the virus immediately, it had already wreaked it's havoc on my new laptop. Kevin worked on it. I worked on it till midnight. Kevin worked on it again this morning and it still would not work. So....we wiped out the hard drive and reinstalled all operating systems. I use 'we' lightly here because it was really Kevin who babysat the process for 3 hours. I still don't have photoshop or any pictures loaded nor do I have any clue what was saved in my 'favorites'. I guess if they are truly 'favorites' I'll find them again.

On a totally different topic....my boys are watching a cartoon based on the song, 'Grandma got run over by a reindeer'. Whatever happened to the classics, like Charlie brown Christmas?

Down in Dallas

Tomorrow is my last day in Dallas and while I'm a little sad to be giving up my carefree days of only having to feed one person, not do laundry, and shop till I drop; I am excited to get home and see my boys. I managed to almost finish all of my Christmas shopping, buy enough shoes to keep from justifying another purchase for at least 5 years, and bought fabric to make window treatments for 3 rooms.

This has been a interesting trip in that there have been some unusual happenings...

I got pulled over by a Euless cop for having expired Texas tags. I was just thinking the current Oklahoma license plate on the back of my van would have been enough to keep me legal. Poor guy was quite embarrassed when he realized what he had done and I couldn't help but laugh at him. Thankfully there's not a ticket for that.

I stepped in dog poopy outside Liz's apt. building and got it in the car. I pulled over at a gas station to try to get rid of it and ended up using the window squeegee on the bottom of my shoe. I hope the squeegee had time to soak before anyone else decided to clean their window.

Next post from home base in OK...and now that I'm done spending money I'll get back to posting how you can save some!

Back on the web again!

We've been having trouble with our phone lines and internet since we moved in August, but since the last guy who was here didn't really do anything and locked his keys in his truck, I've been reluctant about scheduling another maintenance appointment and stopping my life from 8 to 5 waiting for some guy to show up. But, it finally died completely and we were forced to make a service call. We needed some filters on our phone lines and a new modem, which ironically, is what the original guy was going to his truck to get when he locked himself out. After feeling incomplete and watching the children wandering aimlessly around the house for a few days all the while dying to know if anyone needed to be my friend on facebook, it's nice to be reconnected to the WWW.

We had a great Thanksgiving yesterday with Kevin's dad, stepmom, and brother. Uncle Weve (aka Steve) is here for the rest of the weekend. Right now, he's at the movies with the boys. It's a well known fact that I don't buy drinks or snacks at the movies so Nathan was packing a little backpack with a capri sun and a snack. Steve told him to put it away because he would buy him anything he wanted at the movie which will raise Uncle Weve's hero status even higher around here.

Tomorrow morning, the girls and I are headed to Dallas for a few days. I have a list of things I need to shop for there that are either not available or not as inexpensive here as I can buy them there. The main reason I'm going though is because I need a break from my reality--homeschool, work, household stuff, buying groceries..... I learned a long time ago that it's better for everyone if I take a break every once in a while and recharge. The girls will be staying with their best friends there and I'll be staying with Liz which is strategically close to Ikea, Stonebriar center, the outlet mall, the galleria, Harry Hines wholesale shopping.....

A Parent's guide to video games

We subscribe to Blockbuster Online...you know, the home delivery service of movies with no late fees. (Thank goodness because I do not have the brain cell that tells me to get into the car, drive to Blockbuster, and return the movie. There must be at least one phone call from Blockbuster, threatening to charge my credit card on file for the full amount of the movie if I don't return it, before I can actually return it. We won't tell them that the credit card they have on file has since expired.)

Once a month, we get a free video game rental. Nathan knows that on the 2nd of every month the coupon resets and then precedes to bug anyone with a driver's license to take him to Blockbuster until one of us finally takes him just so he'll be quiet. As you know, there's a lot of inappropriate games out in the world so Nathan has had to learn the video game rating system, which in our world goes like this:
E = Excellent choice!
T = Tiny chance we'll say 'yes'
M = Mommy says "No!"
And if you ask Nathan what the "M" stands for on the box, he will say "Mommy says No" thanks to Kevin's tutelage.

IT

I knew IT would happen one day. I just wasn't expecting IT so soon. I thought we might have another year or so before IT occurred. I'm not even sure when IT happened, but I just noticed IT on Sunday.

I was finishing getting ready for church. Zac and Alyssa were standing in the doorway to my bathroom talking to me when I noticed their reflection in the mirror. Zac's head was higher than Alyssa's. I turned around to see if she was slouching and saw that she had on 3" heels and he was still taller than her! The little brother now looks down on the big sister! This also means he is taller than his mommy. Since I'm only 5'3", we'll count this as a good thing.

Homemade haircuts

Note: We're constantly trying to stretch a dollar farther at our house so I thought I'd start sharing some of the ways we do accomplish that.

I just finished giving the boys haircuts and since boys need a trim at least once a month, I figure I've saved at least $2000 over the years. Scared to death to do your own kids' haircuts? Here's a few tips to help you out:

The next time you take them to the salon for a cut, watch carefully how the stylist cuts their hair. After a couple of trips to observe, you'll probably be ready to do a cut on your own.

Buy a set of clippers, a beard trimmer (to trim sideburns and the base of the neck), a good pair of scissors, and a cape. You'll probably spend about $40 up front but after 4 haircuts you've recovered you're investment. If your boys like the longer styles, you probably could get by with just a pair of scissors.

For your first try, just cut 1/4 inch. This will build your confidence and keep you from cutting too short. There may be books in your local library to give you some guidance also.

I used to cut the girls' hair also, but as they've gotten older that's gotten more difficult. We've all opted for longer layered cuts that don't require a salon trip very often. I still trim all of our bangs here at home to help us go longer between cuts. I also color my own hair and will share some pointers for that another day.

Don't Leave!

No you didn't go to the wrong site. I was getting tired of the pepto bismol standard blogger pink and have been wanting to change the site for a while but honestly, I didn't know how. Then I found this great website where I can download blog backgrounds for free! This is so much fun I may have to change it on a monthly basis. So what do you think? Like the new design? Feel less likely to have a stomach ache? Tell me...I need to know!

School buses and motorcyle cops

Last week, I was driving back to work after my lunch break, thinking about all the things piled up on my desk and unfortunately not paying attention to how fast I was going when I heard the unwelcome sound of a siren behind me. I pulled over and was told I was going 52 in a 40. Not good. Couldn't find a current insurance card. Also not good. While Mr. Motorcycle Cop is checking my record or whatever it is that they do when they leave you just sitting there wondering what your fate will be and how much it's going to cost, I noticed it was about time for Zac to be out of school. Since our neighborhood, Zac's school and my office are all on the same street, I knew there was a good chance he would be coming by soon. As I saw the parade of buses, I reasoned that his bus is usually in the second wave that leaves the school and hoped I was safe from even worse embarrassment than I was already suffering. Then my cell phone began to ring....Zac's ring. Zac hadn't noticed it was me; his friend did! "Dude, isn't that your mom pulled over?"

Thankfully, embarrassment and a trip to the courthouse to prove I have insurance are my only consequences. I think owning up to your mistakes and not making a bunch of excuses for yourself combined with politeness goes a long way. I can promise you that I'm paying closer attention to my speed through that area now. Just today I saw two more motorcycle cops pulling people over in the same area. Let's hope their kids weren't watching from a school bus window!

Blogging Sabbatical Over

First off, let me say I'm sorry for disappearing from the blog world the last 2 weeks. I can't even tell you why I haven't posted anything new because I don't even know. I think it might have something to do with exhaustion though. When Kevin is gone for a long time, it's almost like I run purely on adrenaline the whole time. I know I'm the only one here and I know if I don't take care of everything, it won't get done. When he gets back home, it's almost as if I just shut down for a bit because I can. I know I've got backup again.

But, I'm done with all that now and will resume attempting to entertain you with our crazy family stories, home improvement projects, and, coming soon, how to save money on your groceries. (I've managed to cut our bill in half over the last few months!)

For now, I'll leave you with one of Nathan's infamous quotes that made me want to crawl under a rock and die since this one happened at church. Last Sunday night, a little girl kept following Nathan around everywhere and would not leave him alone. He was getting aggravated so one of the teachers decided to talk to him about it and asked why he thought she was following him. Nathan said, "I don't know. She must think I'm hot."

He's Home!

Kevin finally made it home at 10:30 yesterday morning. So the kids and I did something very uncharacteristic for our family....we skipped church and went to the airport. I've been feeding him lots of American food...double cheeseburger, fries, pizza..and now he's screaming for ice cream. And he's managed to stay awake all day to attempt to reset his body clock back to the central time zone.

Delayed in Delhi

I just received a call from Kevin. He and Joe Pat are stuck in Delhi. Their first flight was late so they missed the second flight from Delhi to Chicago. This flight only leaves once every 24 hours and the next one is overbooked. Please pray that they get on this next flight so they can be home Sunday morning. Also pray for safety. They are stuck in an airport with nowhere to go. It is 1am there now so it is not safe for them to just leave and go to a hotel. We are trying to contact a mission house there to see if there is a way to get them there so they can at least get some rest. They have been in the villages all day teaching and are exhausted. But, with no cell phones I'm not sure we'll be able to get this information to him. So pray he calls again after I have the contact number for him.

Update: Kevin and Joe Pat were able to get a hotel room and safe transportation thanks to American Airlines, who may be my favorite people in the world right now. They will try again tomorrow to get on the flight and make it home. Keep praying!

Friday in India

My India updates have come via Facebook messaging as opposed to actual emails the last few days. As I'm typing this, it's about 9:30am Friday in India and Kevin should be close to arriving at the village where he and Joe Pat will teach for about 6 hours. Then they will travel 2 1/2 to 3 hours back to the hotel and get ready to start the long journey home. His flight will take approx. 24 hours yet he leaves Friday at midnight and will arrive here at 10 Sat. morning. I'm guessing he's going to be looking for that 12 hours he's losing for the rest of the week.

As you can imagine, by now, they are exhausted. Pray for endurance and strength as they teach today. Kevin has had the awesome opportunity to help new Christians grow in their faith. So many times, we (as in the church in general) rush in on a mission trip, preach salvation then never revisit the area to disciple those new believers. One of the things I love about our church is our mission work is focused in areas that we send teams to several times a year and we have church planters in each area that are there year round. In June, a team went to Cambodia. Their focus was evangelism and they saw around 300 people accept Christ. Kevin's purpose with this trip was to disciple those new Christians to help them grow in their faith and be able to then go to their own villages and tell them about Christ. So the good news doesn't stop just because we don't have a team in that country all the time.

Sorry, I got a little side tracked from today's prayer request. Energy for the day, health as their bodies are getting tired, and safety in the villages and in the air, but most importantly that the Word would impact the villagers' lives and that it would spread through India like a wildfire.

Mystery Lunch and Refreshment Seminars in India

I was able to sleep most of the day today, so I am feeling much better. Joe and I will be eating dinner tonight with our church planter and his family. Tomorrow morning, we will head out to the first village. There is supposed to be about 300 people there that are believers/new believers. Joe and I will be walking them through the discipleship principles from Acts chapter 2. We will be teaching them a Bible story for each principle. Hopefully, they will be able to remember the stories well enough to pass along the discipleship points contained in the stories.

These training sessions are called "refreshment seminars" here in India. I would relate them back to an old fashioned tent revival back home. Picture a tent or a small room, and then pack as many people as you can possible squeeze into the tent or building. It will be people sitting on the floor shoulder to shoulder. There will be people standing in the door ways. There will be people standing outside looking and listening through the windows. It is really something to see.... There will be worship with instruments of different kinds with a small praise team. Believe me, these new believers can teach us some things about worship. They are all in...After the worship, Joe and I will teach for about an hour at a time. After the first 2-3 hours, comes the highlight of my day.

That is lunch time.... My stomach is turning just thinking about it. God bless them, these ladies in the village spend all morning preparing this special food for us and the people in the seminar. Yes, we pay for it, but they do all the work. This is one of those times when you NEVER want to know what you are eating. It will be rice, with incredibly hot and spicy sauces, with "mystery stuff" mixed in for good measure. Now, I am sure there are insects and parts of other things mixed in there... Yummmm. We just are not sure. Some of my friends would say it is just all the parts of a chicken, but I am not so sure... I am sure some of you are thinking, Kevin, you are nuts, now is the time to be fasting and praying. Just tell them you are not hungry. Well, that might work in the states, but not here. Not eating what they place before you is an insult to them and would hurt those nice ladies feelings. Also, before you say, well I would just kind of move the food around on my plate to make them think I am eating... Well, the problem with that is a lot of times they watch you eat to see your reaction to make sure you like it. If you just move it around on your plate, they will simply give you more. Last time I was here, my friend Joe that is with me now, was putting his food on my plate when I was not looking. Pay back is coming! After lunch, we will continue to teach until about 4:00pm and then start the exciting journey back to hotel.

Please pray for our safety. This is an exciting opportunity to teach a group of people that really want to learn. It is an honor to be here. Even with all the "stuff" involved, it is awesome to think that God would allow me to be one of the people that brings his good news to a very dark and lost part of the world. Some people do not understand why we do what we do, well, I just cannot help myself. I must go and share. It is who God has called me to be... I love you all!

Kevin

Arrival in India

Kevin and Joe Pat have arrived safely in India. As you'll see in his message below, he is getting tired. Pray for supernatural strength this week as they go out to the remote villages and for protection. In the neighboring state, there has been extreme persecution in recent months.

It is about 8:30pm Monday night. We just got here a few minutes ago. I am one tired kid.... We will take the day off tomorrow to rest and study. Joe and I will be teaching groups of about 300 people on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We will have about 6 hours per day of teaching time, so we need to get our ducks in a row. Please have everyone pray for our safety this week. These villages are about 2 1/2 to 3 hours away from us. The traffic here is horrible, so we need prayer for safe travel and safety from the Hindu folks that do not like us very much.

Last day in Cambodia

From Kevin:

Yesterday was a lot of fun.... We went to the orphanage and spent the entire afternoon teaching and playing with the kids. There must have been over 150 kids there. We taught them Bible stories, songs, played jump rope etc... I even got the opportunity to teach the men that were there how to throw a football. It might seem strange that they have never thrown a football, but if you saw where and how they lived you would understand. In just a few minutes, we had a pretty good game of pass going on in the yard of the orphanage. I was thinking this morning about all the things that I worry about, get upset about that right now seem very petty and silly. These people would love to have the problems that we face on a daily basis. They would trade with us in a heart beat. For example, yesterday, we were playing in the yard and a little girl scraped her leg. It started to bleed a little, so we pulled out our handy dandy first aid kit and were about to help her. My friend Henry reminded us that a lot of those children have AIDS, and we need to put on gloves before we help her. When was the last time you ran inside to put on gloves before you put a bandaid on your child's scrape. Wow! I just pray that the Lord would use me in some way to bring a smile to some faces and introduce these people to the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Today, is my last day here. It is Sunday morning. This morning people from all over the area will gather on the orphanage grounds for worship. Many of these people are believers and hopefully many new believers will be there as well. I will be talking to them this morning about the importance of prayer. Most of these people used to be Buddhist and some Hindu. They have been taught all of their lives that they need to go to a temple or somewhere special to pray. Now, that they know Jesus, I am going to teach how to live a life of praying without ceasing everywhere you go. I will be using the ACTS model of prayer. Please pray for me that the Lord would use my words and the words of my translator to sink the truth into their hearts. Now, I am sure the devil is not going to let this happen without a struggle, so please pray that nothing will stop the preaching of the Word!

After the service, I will be leading the new believers into the river to be baptized. Please pray that no alligators or snakes or anything else would be there to be baptized as well. (Can you tell I have watched too many movies????). People tease me sometimes for being a country boy from South Arkansas, but you know, all the times that I went hunting with my dad as a little kid has prepared me for missions. Many of the little lessons my dad taught me hunting about staying safe in the woods and watching and thinking ahead are being used every time I go on a mission trip. Thanks POP!

The good, the bad, and the ugly

One of the ways I have learned to cope with Kevin being gone for extended lengths of time is to recognize there are some good things about being by myself for a little while. (By myself, meaning no spouse. I've still got 4 kids and a dog running around here. I can't seem to get rid of them.) There are also bad things though, and then there's the ugly.

The good:
*Sole possession of the remote control--this is very important. (Name that movie!) This means the tv is more likely off or on 'Say yes to the dress' or 'Dallas cowboys cheerleaders making the team' as opposed to shows that irritate me beyond comprehension like 'Cops' or 'World's dumbest criminals'.

*I have a whole King size bed to myself and no one to wake me up by snoring or moving too much in the middle of the night. (I'm a very light sleeper.) Not that Kevin does this every night, but it does happen.

*I get a little vacation from making sure I cook dinner on my nights at home. The kids are just as happy with a grilled cheese sandwich as they are with pork chops.

*I can stay up till 2am reading a book if I want and not feel guilty even though I'll probably regret it the next morning.

The bad:
*I'm stuck with all the carpools, drop offs and pick-ups. I especially dislike the 9pm dance pick up after I've worked till 8.

*He's not here for me to chat with about all the little things that happen each day that no one else would care to hear about.

*I'm in charge of everything, and despite what you may think, I don't want to be. I like knowing there are some things I just don't have to be concerned with, like paying bills which I was supposed to do on Wednesday and haven't yet. (Kevin's having a coronary as he's reading this on the other side of world, I'm sure. Don't worry sweetheart, I'll take care of it soon.)

The ugly:
By next Monday, I'm going to start getting tired of being both parents to 4 kids and I'm going to get crabby and it's not going to be pretty. And, I'll still have 5 more days to go before he comes home. Guess I better go read a book and sprawl all over my bed to make myself feel better!

We're goin' green

No we're not becoming more environmentally friendly--probably less so since we just painted two rooms and filled our house with fumes. Nathan's favorite color is green and he's been asking to have his room painted green since he was old enough to know it was called green. In my practical nature (aka controlling nature) and thinking green wasn't the greatest color to paint a room when you know your track record of moving every few years, I always said no. The cuteness and the hope that this is our permanent home took over and I agreed.

I did learn that it takes 2 cans of green paint to cover up builder's white. Unfortunately I did not possess this knowledge during my first trip to Lowe's. So after coat one, I changed clothes to go back to Lowe's and buy the second gallon. Changing clothes was necessary because sometime during coat one, I sat on the large paintbrush that one of my boys so kindly left laying in the floor so my backside had a large green stamp on it. I was pleasantly surprised though at how well the green looks and he is thrilled to finally have his green room.


I also committed to painting Zac's room this week. He was home for fall break and wanted to work on his room. His was easier, and only took one coat for which my wallet was thankful.

All this grey just reminded me to tell you that Kevin called this morning (Fri. night for him). They had 7 more salvations today and Kevin rode an elephant. (This is where the grey comes in.) He has promised me there are pictures that I cannot wait to see! Tomorrow is the big evangelism rally then Sunday, Kevin and his travel buddy, Joe Pat, will be flying to Thailand then on to India on Monday.

Cambodia--Friday

Kevin's email for today is below. Remember they are 12 hours ahead so as you're going to bed, pray for them to have strength for the day and as you wake up, pray for them to have a restful night. There has also been some unrest between Thailand and Cambodia this week. We think it has been resolved, but Kevin is supposed to fly through Thailand and on to India on Sunday. Pray for them to have wisdom to know if they will need to change their flights and go through another country.

It is about 6:50am on Friday morning. This is the last day for the two teams to be together. Yesterday, Joe and I went back to the villages where the first team had been and had success. We spent some time with them on discipleship. In the first village, we used the story of Jesus calming the storm to talk to them about the power of God and how we can trust God even in the worst of times. We also taught them the parable of the talents and taught them about using whatever God gives them for His glory. These people love stories and are great with detail. The second village we went to was the one where the first team had 18 salvations the day before. We taught them the parable of the sower and talked to them about staying close to God and making sure their hearts are ready to receive a word from God at all times. At the end of the teaching time, I felt that I needed to take the story and explain the Gospel once more. When I did, the 18 that had trusted Christ affirmed their decisions from yesterday and then 2 more ladies in the group prayed to receive Jesus Christ. It was awesome! In that little village, salvation has swept through, and they will never be the same. That little village now belongs to Jesus Christ. Today, the first team will pack and get ready to leave for the states. Joe and I will be back out in the villages sharing the truth with anyone that will listen. Saturday, there will be a large group on non-believers gathered at the orphanage. I am going to use the Parable of the lost sheep, lost coin, and prodigal son to explain to the group what it means to be lost and then found by the Savior of the World. Please pray that any and all opposition will not be allowed to enter the gates of the orphanage, and I will be able to very clearly explain the truth so both the translator and people in the crowd fully understand.

Thursday in Cambodia

Below is an email from Kevin. They are 12 hours ahead of us so he is already starting his Thursday. In an earlier email, he shared that on Wed., 18 people accepted Christ even though the focus for the day was discipleship!


It is about 6:30am here on Thursday morning. I am getting ready to begin day two. Yesterday was pretty much what I expected. Henry took me to see the killing fields where Polpot had all those millions of adults and children murdered. It was very sad and you could just feel the evil there. Polpot was a lot like Hitler in his methods, just killing people out of pure evil. It was very very sad. We walked along the path beside the mass graves, and I could see old pieces of clothing coming out of the ground and even saw an old tooth on one of the paths. It was an interesting way to begin the day to say the least.

I saw the orphanage yesterday, and prayed for God to allow that ground to become "Holy Ground" because of His presence. After that we went to three different villages. The villages are a lot like the ones in India. They are very poor and focus day by day on survival. The people were so glad to see us. The children were climbing on us and playing with us like they had known us all of their lives. One of the things that always grabs me on these village type trips is that these people have absolutely nothing, and yet they are all smiles and happy. Once they hear the truth of Jesus and trust Christ, it is like all the pieces of their lives are complete. They are sleeping on the ground in these very primitive huts. They are walking around with very little clothing, no need for storage buildings or large closets. Just a happy day to day existence with their families. It is so cool to be able to walk in there with the greatest news they have ever heard. I love my job and calling! Today, I am going to see the prison where the people were kept before their executions. After that, we are going village hopping again. It will be a day of telling discipleship Bible stories to the new believers in each of the villages in an attempt to grow them up a little bit in the faith. God willing, people that do not know Jesus will sit down and listen and hear the gospel as well. Pray for us to have safety and energy to complete the task. It is super hot and draining out in the sun standing, playing, and talking all day. Please pray for safety in travel and for the leaders of the villages to allow us to come in and engage their people with the Truth. Many of these villages require long walks into the middle of nowhere to get to the people. The long walk in is exciting, but the long walk back out is a little different story. I keep thinking about the Apostle Paul going people to people saying "How beautiful are the feet that bring the good news."

Almost there! (Kevin's Mission trip update)

I really meant to post this information yesterday, but one of the side effects of Kevin being gone is I get stuck with all the drop offs and pick ups of which there were seven yesterday. Seven times I had to leave my house to deliver a kid or retrieve him/her from whatever they were doing plus take Kevin to the airport at 4am. I usually try to avoid 4am but since it was my last time to see him for 2 weeks I decided to make an exception to my 'I don't do morning' policy.

So as of now, Kevin is somewhere between Seoul, Korea and Cambodia. When he lands, he will have been on a plane for a total of 24 hours with an additional 8 or 9 hours being spent in airports for layovers. Obviously, he's going to be exhausted so today pray for safety as he finishes traveling and for him to be able to sleep tonight even though his body will be telling him he should eat breakfast.

For the next few days, he will be traveling to villages and teaching Bible stories that center on evangelism and discipleship. The people are illiterate so our team memorizes chapters of scripture and tells it as a story. Sometimes they will have the villagers act out the story or draw pictures to illustrate to help them remember. Kevin has 12 stories memorized for this trip. Pray for his mind to stay fresh and to be able to recall all of the chapters easily.

This picture is of one of our team members that arrived earlier last week with some of the children at the orphanage. Kevin's trip will overlap with theirs for a few days. They'll return home and he'll head to India.

I'll post updates as I get them. My understanding is that there is easy access to the internet in Cambodia. Next week, when he goes to India, it will be more difficult to get information.

Porch Surprise

Today, I came home for lunch from work like I always do. As I was pulling onto my street, I noticed the UPS guy in front of my house but I hadn't ordered anything lately so I assumed he was delivering to one of my neighbors. But then, there was an amazon.com box on my porch. I didn't think I had ordered anything but earlier in the day Kevin had accused me of not remembering an entire conversation so I was already questioning my sanity. If I had known what was inside, I would not have been so casual about opening the box. Someone sent me......

I was so excited I screamed when I got all of the air bubble packing material out of the way and saw my surprise. No way I was expecting this one. Then, with a cruel twist of fate, I had to leave it laying on my desk, still sealed shut, while I returned to work. I have now loaded it on my computer and played around with it some. But could someone send me "Photoshop Elements for Dummies" tomorrow? I think I'm going to need it.

Monday night football--Not the NFL

We are 2 games away from the end of Zac's first football season. I'll admit there are lots of activities that I have been to that involved my kids, only because they involved my kids and it's my parental duty to be there. But, I have loved going to all of Zac's football games. Part of that enjoyment results from the fact that I actually understand the game thanks to two events in my life:

1)Coach Burson's 7th grade PE class--He made us learn the ref. calls and signals and all the rules of the game. And because I've always been the studious type (aka nerdy) and wanted to make A's in all my classes, I learned them all, although pass interference still confuses me to this day; no matter how many times my patient husband explains it to me.

2)My entire dating relationship with Kevin and our first year of marriage revolved around him playing football where I was welcomed to the world of hang time and punt averages and national rankings and waiting outside the locker room after the games where the smell of sweaty football players permeated the air.

Now, I get to wait outside the locker room in my minivan and pickup the football practice carpool so the smell of sweaty football players permeates my van. Sometimes we ride home with the windows down and then I spray lots of febreeze.

These pictures were taken at the beginning of the season when Zac was trying out the running back position. Recently, he's been playing safety. I don't really care if they win or lose. I just love sitting in the bleachers, enjoying the cool fall weather. After tonight's game, Kate and Nate decided it was cool enough we needed to have hot chocolate after we got home. Then Nate said, "Mom, we need to stock up on marshmallows for the winter." Which brought to mind the question: When did we turn into squirrels?

Marriage Movie Grace

I went to see 'Nights in Rodanthe' today, alone. Most of the theatre was filled with middle age women (not that I fit in that category) or younger women with their dates/husbands. Kevin would have gone with me if I had asked him, but I love him enough not to subject him to a movie I know he wouldn't appreciate--marriage movie grace.

Oh, and the movie? Since I had read the book, I knew about the shocker ending that sent sniffling sounds throughout the theater. If you're wanting to see a romantic comedy, skip it. If you're wanting a reason to use a whole box of tissues, go! Nights in Rodanthe is an intense, emotional drama, but I'm not sure how much I can like a movie where......................



Spoiler warning




Richard Gere dies in the end.

Meet Jude and Noah

Yesterday, we had the privilege of babysitting for my new friend, Cassie, while she went to the dr. to check on baby #3. Noah is 2 1/2, Jude is 7 months, and baby #3 will show up in May. This brings back so many memories of the beginning years of our family. Alyssa had her 3rd birthday party one day and the next day, we found out Kevin had gotten a job in Texas that would allow him to attend seminary. The day after that I found out I was 10 weeks pregnant with Katie. Zac was only 6 months old at the time so I think I responded appropriately when I sat in a chair for 2 hours, alternating between crying and a semi-catatonic state. We adjusted to the surprise quickly and wouldn't change a thing about our family. I may want to amend that statement when they are all in college at the same time.

Back to the cuties playing at my house....Nathan wasn't happy about the little guys coming over. Being the typical baby of the family, he didn't want anybody getting in his stuff and stayed upstairs away from everybody else for the first hour they were here. Then on the way to get a snack, he got caught up in the cuteness and was doing everything he could to make Jude smile.

Here's Noah.. He was too busy watching veggie tales and leading Alyssa by the hand around the house to pose for any pictures. Somehow, his mom manages to take amazing pictures of both boys which you can see over on her blog. She has the same camera I do but her pictures are way better than mine. I think I'll tell myself it's because she has photoshop and I don't.

Give us this day our wheat-free bread

I really do feel bad about not blogging more often lately. It's not that I don't want to--I think about my readers all the time and what I can share with you that would brighten your day; I just don't seem to have a lot of time for slackinoff my mom duties lately. What's really aggravating though is when I spend time attempting to accomplish something and then something happens to erase anything gained.

For example, the other night I needed to make Zac some bread. (He's allergic to wheat and a slue of other stuff present in almost every normal food offered at the grocery store.) I was tired but knew he needed some so he would quit eating the regular bread. I'd feel really bad if he had an intense reaction all because I was blogging instead of baking, so I dragged myself to the kitchen and mixed up the dough. It didn't look right and after half an hour of it sitting in the bread pans, not rising, it hit me that I hadn't added yeast. So I scraped it back into the kitchen aid bowl, added yeast, then put it back in the bread pans to rise. I got busy doing some other things, went to the kitchen to turn out the lights for the night, and realized I never actually baked the bread which meant I had to stay up another 30 minutes.

The next morning, I hear Zac yell, "Mom, you're not going to believe what the dog did!" Usually it's throw up in the carpet that precedes this statement so that's what I was expecting. Instead, I see the loaf of bread with half of its side missing and crumbs all around the dog's mouth. AAAAAGH! All that time, wasted for nothing! Reason #56 why I cannot like the dog. At least now I am absolved of guilt if Zac has an allergic reaction since the dog ate my homework.

The Closets

Another thing I love about our new house are the closets. For one thing, there are closets everywhere. I still have one rather large closet with nothing in it and I have two linen closets that aren't even close to being full. This is my closet:

No, your eyes are not deceiving you--it is the color of crest toothpaste as is/was the rest of the master suite, including the ceilings. I painted the bedroom before we moved in but haven't done anything with the bathroom or closet yet. Anyway, love my closet. It's 18 ft. long x 6 ft. wide. I have room for everything, including my sewing desk, all of my scrapbooking supplies, and the ironing board which had become an unwelcome permanent fixture in my bedroom in every other house we've lived in. This is Alyssa's closet:

Hers is almost as big as mine and as you can see, she got more than her share of the 'type A' gene. I have it bad, but I'm wondering if my abnormally organized teen girl got a double dose. One of her favorite flairs says something along the lines of 'I wouldn't have to be OCD if everyone else would do things right the first time'. Ahhh, a child after my own heart. You see how everything is color coordinated within each clothing category? If you borrow something(which I often do), you must return it to the exact spot you removed it from and hang it on the exact hanger. She also spread everything out so it would look like the closet was full, but I know her secret goal in life is to fill it to capacity with cute stuff from Forever 21 and Fossil.

Just for you Mom

My mother called yesterday and reminded me I haven't put any pictures of the inside of the house on the blog yet. And if your mom calls and tells you you need to put something on your blog, I recommend you follow through rather quickly. Keep in mind that we pretty much plopped our stuff into the new house--no decorating or painting have occurred yet with the exception of my room. We still have the previous owner's window treatments. I'll change them whenever I decorate the rest of the room.

Obviously this is the dining room. It's on the left as you come through the front door.

Looking into the entry way from the living room. You can see the archway into the dining room there on the right.

This is the living room. The archway on the right leads to the girls' rooms, their bathroom, the garage, and the stairway that takes you to the gameroom and the boys' rooms and bathroom. The archway on the left leads to the master suite area which you are not going to get to see tonight for two reasons: 1)There are no sheets on my bed. 2)I am currently doing an embroidery job for our church preschool and there are 58 scrub tops in various stages of completion in stacks all over my room.

Another view of the living room... the opening on the left is to the breakfast room. You can't see her but Katie is laying on the couch watching 'Say Yes to the dress'. And even though those curtains match my living room furniture, they're not mine and are coming down as soon as I figure out what to replace them with. (I'm taking suggestions if you have any ideas.)

Standing in the breakfast room, looking through the kitchen towards the dining room. There's a small hallway between the kitchen and dining room that has a wonderful pantry on the left and a laundry room on the right that does not lead to a garage which was one of the non-negotiable requirements. Yes, that's Belle, the dog that throws up in my carpet, peeking around the cabinets.

Looking into the breakfast room---Katie has relocated here because she decided she needed some chocolate chip pancakes for a bedtime snack. More rooms later. How soon will depend on how well the boys do with their project of cleaning the upstairs tomorrow morning.

Recital pictures......from May

After waiting 4 long months, Alyssa's recital picture cd was finally delivered today. Everyone else got their pictures in June, but not us. I'm still debating if all the emails and waiting and getting the studio owner to call the photographer was worth the extra 5 images he threw in for free. I think at this point, I'm just glad to have them and I'm feeling a little better about the check that he promptly cashed in May. Enjoy my 'little' ballerina.....

The Bully's in the Mail

I've spent the last hour attempting to scan a revolting piece of mail into my new laptop so I could share it with you. But, my printer from 2003 refuses to be friends with the new Windows Vista so I have given up. I've resolved to giving the kids my printer/scanner along with my old computer and I'll have to upgrade to a newer, friendlier printer.

Now to that revolting piece of mail--you'll just have to imagine it with me. It's a rather large envelope, very thick, and in a black box right on the front, are these words: The American Community Survey Form Enclosed. YOUR RESPONSE IS REQUIRED BY LAW I'm not yelling at you; that's how it was written. Remember? I'm trying to help you visualize.

So my immediate response is, "I don't want to". If they sent me a nice letter, explaining how they needed me to complete it, I probably would have been happy to comply. But, since the government has ordered me to complete this 28 page form, I have reverted to the side of me that resembles a 5 yr. old refusing to clean her room. I was briefly tempted to not do it just to see what would happen, but I decided provoking a government agency was probably not a good plan.

My other big problem with this form, other than it taking 45 minutes to complete, is I had to answer all kinds of questions about everyone in my house--including the kids. Don't I have a right to privacy? Apparently not since I was asked to reveal everything about us...how much money we make, how long we drive to work, when we leave for work, where we work, what we do, where the kids go to school, and on and on and on. See what a little fear of a $500 fine can make you reveal?

So anyway, hopefully I'll have all my technological capabilities converted over to the new laptop soon which I had to purchase for a multitude of reasons that I won't go into. Just know that at the top of the list was a phone chord draped from my kitchen across the entry way into the living room to my desk that was going to eventually cause a broken appendage, probably mine, and a strong temptation to slam my desk top against the wall every time I used it because it is 5 years old and that's like 100 in computer years. Now if I could only win a copy of Photoshop Elements from one of Pioneer Woman's giveaways, my conversion to modern technology would be complete.

Dear Gustav

I do not like you. You are a mean hurricane. You are wreaking havoc on my life today even though I don't live any where near the coast. My dog is scared of you and has not peed all day. I'm afraid she is going to feel the need to take care of business in my new house on the new carpet, or worse, on my expensive wool rug. Thanks to you and the people here who do not know how to drive in the rain, I suffered 10 mini heart attacks and near collisions while driving to the dance studio and back. (Is it really that difficult to turn your headlights on and not slam on your brakes?)

I'm wondering though if it's not you're fault. Maybe they shouldn't have named you Gustav which brings to mind images of German soldiers like this guy.

Maybe if they had named you 'Gus' after one of my favorite Disney characters you wouldn't blow the rain sideways so that no umbrella would serve a purpose or confuse the sensors on my garage door so that it won't close which leaves me standing in the rain, trying to make it work so that I can take my children to church.

If I give you some of these guys to play with, would you please go away and bother someone else for awhile? Because I don't live close to the ocean, I really shouldn't have to deal with you.

The Tale of Nathan's Tail

We finally started home school year #10 this week. I always begin our day with a devotion or missionary story or something along those lines, then we pray for our day. We keep a running prayer request list on the dry erase board. I'm trying to teach the kids to turn to God for the big and little things in their lives, to watch for Him to work in the situation, then praise Him when he takes care of it. So our first day of school we listed these...

Except, I wrote "Nathan--grow tall", not "grow tail". Nathan recently had an appt. with an endocrinologist to check his growth since he's had another year with no increase in height or weight. He is the size of a kindergartner despite being 8 1/2. He has another growth check in February and if he still hasn't grown, we'll have to consider the possibility of daily HGH shots for several years. So, I'm determined to pray that boy tall, tall enough that he'll amaze his Dr. and I'll get to say "God did it!" Tuesday morning I go upstairs to start the school day and this is what I see:

(Just in case you can't read it--Q:Why are we praying for Nathan to grow a tail? A: Cause he needs one that's why!
Nathan admitted growing a tail might be kind of cool because he could whack people with it. I think I'll stick to praying for him to grow in "stature and wisdom".

Ministry News

On the home front, we've been experiencing some awesome growth in our church. It seems every Sunday in all three services, new families are joining us. In the month of August, typically one of the more sparse attendance months, we averaged over 2000 in worship which is up from approx. 1600 a year ago! Woo Hoo! If you want to see what our church is like, you can go to fbcba.org and click on the videos on the left.

Last Sunday night, we had a missions focused service where 11 different groups that have been out 'in the field' presented testimonies, videos and pictures of the work our church is doing around the world. We had set a goal of 1000 salvations through the different teams this year, and God is already at work in answering that prayer. I'm not sure what our total number is at this point in time, but I think I can say confidently that we are over halfway there.

Sept. 20, we'll have block parties all over the city in the neighborhoods of our Sunday School class members. Pray for lots of new beginnings of friendships that will lead to opportunities to share Christ and invite them to become part of our church family.

Kevin is still working on finalizing his plans for his trip to Central Asia in October. The plan is to have 3 teams in place in 3 different countries, then for him to spend a few days in each country seeing the work there. These are places that we have ongoing relationships with and continually support with funds and volunteers. I'll keep you updated as things develop. As always when traveling to this area of the world, it is illegal to be a missionary and we'll appreciate your prayers for his safety and effectiveness while he is there.

Finally, please pray for our fellow believers in India. In the state that we have adopted, they are experiencing major flooding and many villages have no access to clean water or food, and there is no hope of getting any supplies to them until the water recedes. In the neighboring state, there have been many uprisings against the believers there and numerous horrific acts against believers and their families. It's easy to forget that Christians still die for their faith when we are complacent here in the US. But, it happens every day in the rest of the world. Please continue to lift up the persecuted Christians and to be thankful for your freedoms every day.

Project Fly Reflector

So we just moved into our new house and with all the doors standing wide open for several days, we got a house full of flies. Kevin was grilling a few days ago and was getting swarmed by flies outside too and does this....

He says in Mexico that everyone hangs up water bottles to get rid of flies. The villagers tell him that the flies see their reflection, get scared and fly away. Personally, I'm still seeing lots of flies in the backyard, but that could be because I have a dog who leaves presents in my yard. So here's what I need you to do so I can be convinced this gimmick does/doesn't work because as of right now I'm leaning toward the 'doesn't' side of the hypothesis. Just follow Kevin's example and hang a water bottle in a fly infested area then come back here and report to us if you think it helped. Don't worry about your neighbors thinking you're crazy; they probably already do.

Distractions

Last weekend, we had Katie's 12th birthday party at our new house. I frantically hung pictures and unpacked or hid the miscellaneous boxes that I'd been procrastinating dealing with. We had 8 girls for pizza, Hello Kitty cupcakes, and Nancy Drew.

When the movie was over the girls all went outside to jump on the trampoline which I should have been taking really cool pictures of them in the air.

Instead, I got distracted by the way the moon looked and how I could actually take a picture of it with my new camera. No way my old one would have captured this...

And just think how awesome this would look if I had some cool photo editing software, like say, Photoshop elements. (Hint for anyone wondering what to buy me for Christmas. Yeah, I can wait that long.)