All God's Children Got Shoes....

Except some of them don't. Here's an easy way to help some needy children get a basic necessity....SHOES! For a $5 donation, you can provide TWO pairs of shoes. I don't know about you, but I can spend five bucks before I even get out of bed in the morning. I hope you can help this organization meet its goal. Just click on the banner....

And the winner is.....

At Halftime (children's ministries fun and learning time for kids K-5) there was a pumpkin decorating contest. And Teya won first prize! Yay for her....she worked hard and was very creative. She was so excited to be the winner. When we talked about making a pumpkin, she wasn't sure she wanted to because she didn't think she was very good at stuff like that. I'm so glad she won! And you can see she really did make a beautiful pumpkin bird!

Another Birthday!

A month late, but what a busy month it was! Happy Birthday, Kannon Daniel. We had a fun time making cuppy cakes and playing at Going Bonkers!

Making ice cream cone cupcakes. Notice the smallest munchkin skipped the decorating step and went straight to the taste test.







Time for the Happy Birthday song.....


























How old are you?










Lots of assistance opening birthday gifts....

Under construction

This week the grandmother of a woman I work with passed away. Shortly before, she told her family she was ready to go home to Jesus. She knew He was preparing a place for her...."but why is it taking so long? I don't need a mansion!"

So my goofy mind went in a weird direction.....what exactly did Jesus mean by that. I can see it now- "Hey, Noah, hand me the nail gun." Of course Noah would be working right along side....ark builder extraordinaire. Seriously, though, I wonder if that word should be translated differently? The creator of the universe, the one who spoke it all into existence, is preparing a place for us. Or is this another of His masterpieces....just like Adam, whom He formed with His hands.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Little Girl

To celebrate Faith Ember's 2nd birthday, we took a road trip to Oklahoma to the Arbuckle Wilderness. We endured the walk through zoo- It was hot! But fortunately, there were a lot of trees- and then moved on to the drive through zoo. We had three large cups of animal food, and different varieties of deer, giraffes, emus, ostriches, etc. would come up to the window and eat from the cups. Very exciting for the little kiddos, and let me tell you, there is nothing more delightful than the slobber of large animals all over a new car. It was GROSS-- and would not come off in the automatic car wash.


We then drove a few miles down the road to Turner Falls Park. The kids got in the stream under the falls and cooled off while Pappy grilled hotdogs. Although none of the munchkins seem to like toasted marshmallows, I took a bag along anyway, figuring that some day, they will break. But not this day.





Fun quote of the day: After toasting a marshmallow to lovely golden brown perfection, and giving him a tiny little nibble, I turned to Maverick, and with a voice appropriate for the most serious spiritual discussion, I said, "Maverick....this... right here.... (points lovingly to perfect marshmallow achievement)...is what we will have in heaven...perfect...delicious... heavenly treats." He looked at me with his big bug eyes, and in all seriousness said, "So.....we're going to have food we don't like in heaven?"

More birthday pics:

Skating!

The younger boy munchkin took a week of ice skating lessons. Day one he could hardly stand on the ice. By day five, he was skating by himself very well! I guess another week's lessons is in order! The video is from day three; the photo is from day five.

Fishy Baby Girl

Miss Barbie is the best swim instructor! Look at what she has the 23 month old doing after only 5 lessons. The kiddos are taught to imitate a rocket ship and then roll over onto their backs and float. A great idea in case they fall into water unexpectedly....from their backs they can breathe and call for help. Three short videos to show off the little one.....

I hope you dance....

Dance recital was Saturday. The little girl who was jittery and scared she would mess up, lit up when she hit the stage. All three times! She was beaming! She knew her dances and did a great job. Her hard work paid off.

Proud Gram Pics:





















After her daddy lifted her down from the stage, she said, "I want to do it AGAIN!!!!" I love to see a child encouraged by a job well done...especially when they have worked long and hard to get there!"You can't see a painter or a writer or a musician if you just look at them, but you can see a dancer in a child if they've studied ballet for a year." ----"The Dancer and the Dance" movie

Piano recital

I give piano lessons to three adorable children. Last Saturday we had a recital. They did such a great job! They worked hard and it showed!

What a difference you've made in my life....

Happy 8th Birthday, dear granddaughter! I can't believe you are 8 years old....it seems like such a short time ago I saw you for the first time....sleeping on your mommy. I love so many things about you.....you LOVE to read.......you delight in your younger brothers and sister and take good care of them......you play hard and get dirty.......you paint your nails and love princesses and girly girl things......you swim like a little fish.....your beautiful curls........your lovely blue eyes that light up when you smile.......the way you sit straight and tall when you play the piano. I could go on and on.....I love you sweet girl!

Dallas Blooms

I had the opportunity recently to visit the Dallas Arboretum. It was lovely! The weather was nice, but a bit too sunny for a photo shoot. However, I will share some of my favs here anyway. Great fun with the new digital SLR I received for Christmas from the greatest husband in the entire history of EVER!

Amazing Archeological Anthropological Discovery!

I'm sure you are all waiting impatiently (as am I) for your next issue of Anthropology & Archeology Today. The March issue will contain an article about the recent discovery in Lewisville, Texas....Yes, LEWISVILLE, TEXAS!....of the world's original jello salad.

On or about January 28, upon receiving my lunch tray, I was puzzled by a green and orange substance in a disposable cup. This green was so intense, so luminous, it was able to penetrate my morphine laced brain and I immediately realized a potentially dangerous situation.

Responding to the call button, the nurse entered the room, gawked at the offending substance, and immediately backed out the door. "I'll call someone," she stammered. Realizing she had most likely fled the vicinity, I called Homeland Security and the CDC. Upon hearing a description of the green and orange material, and realizing the potential for an epidemic in a large metropolitan area, the DHS and the CDC dispatched specialists in full hazmat gear who arrived in only two days. Upon their arrival, the material was placed in an hermetically controlled chamber. I didn't have the heart to tell them I had already poked it with my fork. After checking carefully for radiation and biological contaminants, the offending substance was placed in an airtight container and moved under armed guard to the Jeffersonian Institute in Washington, D.C., where Bones and her lab rats could study the ancient artifact.

Although easily identified as green jello with a petrified apricot floating in it, and carbon dating placing its origins in 2376 BC, questions remain. How did this ancient jello salad find its way to Lewsiville Medical Center? How did an apricot, which was first cultivated in China in 3000 BC, combine with green jello which was first served at a Peruvian childcare center in 2820 BC? These and other pertinent questions may be answered in March's Anthropology & Archeology Today. We need these answers. Without them, we may soon be dealing with the original Mystery Meatloaf appearing at the corner laundromat.

Yep, It's 2008 already!

Some miscellaneous thoughts and observations from the holidays....

1. Christmas eve is stocking night at our house. The kids have fun debating who should be first, and in what order the stockings should be opened. Most interesting comment, repeated several times throughout the unwrapping of tiny gifts- "Whooooah!" Uttered with awe and wonder. Followed by, "What is it?" Just too funny.....and yet I thought.....they trust the giver enough to know that whatever it is, it's good.

God has perfect and wonderful gifts for us. I hope I say "Whooooah!" with awe and wonder even before I know what they are.

2. We didn't get so busy with the parties and shopping and baking and cooking, that the reason for Christmas was lost. Three of the four grandkids can tell you in a heartbeat what it's all about. And they are quick to notice who has the REAL Christmas stuff in their yards.

3. The munchkins took just as much pleasure in seeing what the other kids got as they did about their own stuff. Hmmmm.....obvious application there.

4. Taking down the tree and the decorations is such a bummer. There's a part of me that hates the clutter, but I really hate that it's over. We have such fun planning what to buy for each person, and it's great watching them open everything. And I know I couldn't live with that level of 'excitement' year round. I'd be burned out in two months. But still, taking down the decorations is a bummer.


5. One more Christmas and I still have all my family. Dad had a pacemaker/defibrillator inserted a couple of weeks before Christmas. All went well. Parents, brothers, sisters, their kids....husband, son, his wife, their kids. Some day there will be a Christmas with an empty place. But not this one. I thank the Lord for that. And pray that I will thank Him just as much when that changes.









Just for fun- here are Christmas pics of each of the munchkins.



























6. So now it's back to the pedestrian things that make up my life. This morning the kitchen got a good cleaning and I was clipping coupons from Sunday's paper thinking, "Now this is one exciting life I've got here. Yep, wouldn't change a thing."

How quickly we forget

It was a year ago that the pain of disappointment and betrayal led a number of us to begin blogging. Each of us experienced the usual range of emotions associated with great loss. A year later, and the pain is minimized, the anger is cooled, the sadness is lessened. And yet, over the past few days I realized that immediately following that wretched day, I was so pulled toward the Lord, so motivated to read His Word and to seek Him. And now that the pain and disappointment have lessened, I find it easier to forget Who holds me up- easier to spend less time with Him- easier to think I can do this by my own strength. God knows how quickly we forget. He knows that we need constant reminders of His provision and protection.

All through the Old Testament God instituted feasts and festivals- celebrations to remind His people of what He had done. An opportunity to tell it to their children and their children's children.

I'm glad I started this blog. I'm glad I can go back and revisit the time when the pain of loss and betrayal led me to seek Him more earnestly. When confusion and fear made me trust Him more. My prayer is that I can regain the overwhelming sense of my need of Him- the need that was so apparent when the hurt was so fresh, the pain was so intense.

Deuteronomy 4:9
Just make sure you stay alert. Keep close watch over yourselves. Don't forget anything of what you've seen. Don't let your heart wander off. Stay vigilant as long as you live. Teach what you've seen and heard to your children and grandchildren.

Draft

There's only one definition that matters!

draft:
noun
1. A current of air in an enclosed area.
2. A device that regulates the flow or circulation of air.
3. a. The act of pulling loads; traction.
b. Something that is pulled or drawn; a load.
c. A team of animals used to pull loads.
4. Nautical The depth of a vessel's keel below the water line, especially when loaded: a river vessel of shallow draft.
5. A heavy demand on resources.
6. A written order directing the payment of money from an account or fund.
7. a. A gulp, swallow, or inhalation.
b. The amount taken in by a single act of drinking or inhaling.
c. A measured portion; a dose.
8. a. The drawing of a liquid, as from a cask or keg.
b. An amount drawn: ordered two drafts of ale.
9. a. The process or method of selecting one or more individuals from a group, as for a service or duty: a candidate who did not pursue the nomination, but accepted a draft by the party convention.
b. Compulsory enrollment in the armed forces; conscription.
c. A body of people selected or conscripted.
10. Sports A system in which the exclusive rights to new players are distributed among professional teams.
11. a. The act of drawing in a fishnet.
b. The quantity of fish caught.
12. a. Any of various stages in the development of a plan, document, or picture: a preliminary draft of a report; the final draft of a paper.
b. A representation of something to be constructed.
13. A narrow line chiseled on a stone to guide a stonecutter in leveling its surface.
14. A slight taper given a die to facilitate the removal of a casting.
15. An allowance made for loss in weight of merchandise.

verb.
1. To select from a group for some usually compulsory service: drafted into the army.
2. To select from a group for placement on a sports team.
3. To draw up a preliminary version of or plan for.
4. To create by thinking and writing; compose: draft a speech.
5. To work as a drafter.
6. To move, ride, or drive close behind a fast-moving object so as to take advantage of the slipstream, especially in a race.

adj.
1. Suited for or used for drawing heavy loads: oxen and other draft animals.
2. Drawn from a cask or tap: draft beer.

Today Fantasy Football will reach new heights. Attention KeystoneLoneStars....be afraid.....be very afraid. In the end, there can be only one....GramCrackersZoo will eliminate you and your pathetic little FFL team.

Do you want Fry's with that?

Last night I had the dubious pleasure of accompanying the man to a local electronics store. Before being eligible for employment at said store, one must enter the geek enhancement chamber. The potential employee is zapped with hundreds of billions of geek particles, so tiny they can embed themselves into a carbon-based life form's brain cells. He is also supplied with a permanently applied store uniform- a starched white shirt and geeky tie. Within 10 minutes of standing wide-eyed in an aisle filled with alien technology, I was feeling slightly comatose. A certified geek employee approached. "May I help you?" he asked in broken English. (His first language was obviously Cardassian.) The only response I could think of? "Are you a licensed mental health professional?" He was obviously torn between calling for security and just zapping me himself with a Zat gun. "Never mind," I muttered. At this point, I told the man I'd wait for him in the bar. Unfortunately, the strongest beverage offered was carbonated soft drinks. Be warned. If you are invited to accompany a man to this store, no matter how hot this guy is, RUN, do not walk to the nearest exit. Or call homeland security.

Remember: there are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

My Friend

If anyone reads this, I have a request. Please pray for my friend. I will not give her name, but God knows it. He knows all about her. That she has had a hard life. That she has made bad choices. That she is angry and bitter and doesn't want anything to do with 'religion.' (She doesn't know there's a difference between religion and Jesus Christ's offer of free salvation. YET!) Because she is so angry about religion, I am very careful what I say to her. I hope my life will say it better anyway.

I had lunch with her today. She is over medicated and spacey, and yet still is looking for answers. I prayed beforehand and asked God to make it clear to me if this was a time to share. Somehow, the time didn't seem to come. I was able to do a favor for her, and while we were driving around she commented about how "You're just too understanding" with a tone of voice that said "and weird" in my reaction to an impatient driver. (Oh, I'm glad she's not always in the car with me!)

She needs Jesus so much. And as I look at her and hear her stories, I know that except for what He has done in my life, I would be so much like she is. Angry, bitter, lonely. I am praying that I will not miss the right opportunity to tell her about Him. Maybe I just need to jump right in there and share my life story. Please pray for her. And please pray for me.... I need wisdom and discernment. And boldness. And caution.

Blessed be the Bonds that Tie

One more, and the melodrama will finally be over. It's been dissected, re-dissected and dissected again. Is he juiced? Was he juiced? Does it matter? Should it matter? Enough already. It is what it is. MLB has created a monster. Let them deal with it. Meanwhile, let's get back to baseball and pennant races. And hotdogs. And little kids looking up to heroes who deserve to be heroes.