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(I have to say at the outset of this post that I am limiting my observations to my teens only today and that this is not at all to be taken to mean that the younger ones are in any way remiss in these areas!!) I have no greater joy than to know that my children are walking with the Lord! Madeline, Alexandra and Abigail have all matured much in the past year and are actively seeking opportunities to serve and to love at home first, then in the community. I am so blessed at the daily Narnia readings around here! I wish you could see them. It is truly the highlight of the day for the llittle ones. Madeline wonderfully and expressively reads while Alexandra "acts" the drama out on the coffee table, using "props" - stuffed animals, dolls and other toys. Alexandra takes some delightful liberties with the text, bringing peals of laughter from the rest of the children. They all love these times and the little ones beg for their Narnia time over and over throught out the day! On Thursdays, Madeline leads G.R.O.M.I.T. (Good Reflections on Making It Terrific - "It" being "our life together" as siblings). This is a Bible Study focusing on their relationships. Right now they are going through the book, Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends. Someone usually spends their own money to get a GROMIT treat to share. Wow. Abigail checks with me throught out the day to find out what kind of help I might need and then cheerfully (and I can't emphasize that word enough!!) follows through. Alexandra has appointed herself my shopping helper to ease my work and is very insistent at keeping me from any exertion. Madeline is more and more my "go-to" helper in cooking, leading and cleaning. She plans to learn how to drive this summer even though she doesn't really want to. But she does want to be able to ease some of my work load and run errands for me. These are only a very few examples of the selflessness that I am seeing in my teens this year. I am very grateful for their help but, much more than that, I am overjoyed at the way that they are cultivating relationships with one another and especially with the younger ones. They are not only forging strong bonds with them but they are setting amazing examples for them!! And they, too, are more and more reaching out in love also, and seeking the chance to serve each other and me. And the best part of it all is that they seem to be growing in the Lord and serving in their family in response to His love and His work in their hearts. For it is He that is at work in us to will and to do His good pleasure! And as thankful as I am to the girls, I kneel before my Maker Who has wrought such good in our family. He loved us before the beginning of the world and has lavished undeserved blessings on us!! It is He only Who deserves the praise and credit for all of this. I find myself groping for words to express the fulness of my heart right now. With Mother's Day right around the corner, I feel that my gifts live with me every day! |
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I've talked to some of you recently and naturally you have many questions about the wedding! The short answer is usually - "I don't know"! Date: December 19 Place: PA (Sarah's home town and our old one). But the church and reception hall are still being decided upon. Wedding party: --Sarah's best friend will be her maid-of-honor, with her sister, sister-in-law and Madeline & Alexandra as bridesmaids --Andrew's best man and groomsmen are all college friends --Ethan & Eliza will be the ring bearer and the flower girl; Abigail is in charge of the guest book and Emma & Sophia are greeters. --Andrew told Jay that his job as the Father-of-the-Groom is to keep the Mother-of-the-Groom from crying too much. Jay then asked whose job it was to keep the FTG from crying! I am sorry that I cannot tell you more yet, but there really is no more to tell. They still don't even know how many people they can invite. I am just an observer to all the planning (happily so - our turn will come all too soon! ****** Footnote - still coming to library. It will be several days more at least before we get a new computer!
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Our computer sadly died over the weekend. Jay anticipates a quick revival but I am not as optimistic. (For you who know us well, that should not surprise you as this seems to be our usual approach to life - Jay the eternal optimist and I more cautious.) Those of you who bother to read this blog are pretty much the only ones who correspond with us on a regular basis, so this seemed the best way to tell you all to hold your emails for a while - I do not know how ofter we'll get to the library to check . We'll let you know as soon as we are back! ****** Andrew & Sarah are well into their wedding plans and have graciously included all of their siblings in the wedding. As you might expect, excitement is high at our house and at some parts of Geneva College! ****** Neighbors who bothered to glance into our fishbowl Friday night would have been amazed at the goings-on there! Madeline and I danced boisterously about the living room to the Grease soundtrack; then Alexandra joined in; and soon by the entire clan was part of it! That was about the time that I thought it best to pull the shades! |
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We were amused at these slip the kids made while reading Scripture during our morning devotions recently. I thought you might get a smile from them as well. -- Proverbs 30:2 "Surely I am more British than any man..." (should be "more brutish"!) 1 Thess. 5:14b "warn them that we are unruly..." (should be without the "we"!) I can think of several situations where the misquote might be appropriate to the moment than the correct words! Makes me wonder, though, who would be qualified to proclaim himself more British than any other man!!  ******* Also, to Andrew and Sarah: the kids are all using their message boards on their doors and having great fun leaving silly messages, quotes, polls and announcements for one another. Even dad and I have gotten into it!  |
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Hmmm...start out with an eye-catching graphic? Or perhaps a clever question? How about a touching story? ... Nah! I'll just tell ya! Andrew and Sarah are engaged!  We're all very happy (Andrew and Sarah - you would have been thrilled by all the cheering that your announcement brought here at home), although some of us were not as surprised as Sarah. Andrew had shown the ring off to just about every other female he knows in the past 2 weeks. I am only surprised that he managed to wait this long before proposing. What a day of firsts this has been! First child's engagement First piano arrived First "new" car for me First Day of Spring Happy Resurrection Day! |
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We have had a very, very wet winter; tragically so for some around here! This conversation took place on the way to church amid flooded fields. Daddy *pointing*: Larfa! Alexandra *whips head around trying to see the unusual flora or fauna that she'd never heard of*: ??? Now she checks to see if Daddy is joking. Nope. He's just driving - no telltale smirk or sidewise glance. Daddy *points again*: There's another waterfall! Alexandra *smacks self in head* Some people have snipe-hunts. We now have Larfa-hunts in honor of Alexandra's exceptional hearing!! ****** Madeline's sad ****** Madeline, Alexansra and I went Easter dress shopping today. This was the 3rd attempt to find dresses for the big girls. Ugh! It has proven a monumental task to find something modest and pretty!! Both seem to be greatly lacking in this year's spring fashion. Seriously -- have nay of you actually looked at dresses lately?!! Yuck! Anyway, the sight of us trying to exit Panera's was enormously entertaining! We all had our hands full as Alexandra and I attempted to manipulate umbrellas while opening the doors. At the same moment, our umbrellas got ornery. Hers dropped its handle right on the floor as my huge one launched open and forward, blocking the entire doorway! She bent over, fiddling with hers, while I giggled and tried unsuccessfully to regain mastery of mine. Once outside, as the wind grabbed my umbrella and tried to make Mary Poppins of me, I realized that there was a panel out and I had only minimal rain protection anyway.... How very silly we looked. |
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I know that this comes right on the heels of my previous post, but I just got this in my email and found it to be so wise that I had to share! -- from Home School Heartbeat, a radio message from HSLDA
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Ethan needed cold medicines this morning. Yes, that was plural. We prefer to only give the necessary meds and not anything extra. So we have separate antihistamines, decongestant, cough meds, etc... Today Ethan needed all three. He decided he wanted them all mixed together.  Afterward-- Me: So how did that taste? Ethan: Well, the aftertaste was kinda good and the first taste was kinda bad. So I guess it tasted half good and half bad! ******* Ethan: Clean laundry delivery! Clean laundry! Daddy: Ooooh! Great - a clean pillowcase! I've been hoping to see this soon. (Because it matched the current bedding.) Ethan, *in a very serious, slow and lowered voice (think Eeyore!)*: Yeah. I was wondering about the flowers! (on the substitute pillowcase. Apparently he had been worried about Dad's masculinity!  ) |
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The following conversation from our church dinner last night: 7 year old girl: Andrew, I love you. Wanna go to China with me? Andrew: . Ummmm... I don't think I feel like China tonight.Girl: Okay. How 'bout Pennsylvania? ******* Ya know, sometimes it just feels like my body is betraying me...  Don't mind me (Pay no attention to the whiny woman behind the curtain!) Big pain day. No relief in sight... It does make me wonder, though, how those of you without Christ cope with life. Life in this sin-sick world has so many pains. Only Christ makes them bearable for me. Do I like pain? No!! Just the opposite - I am a big wimp. But I am greatly comforted knowing that I am a child of The King! And nothing happens to me without His permission. Even more than that, I know absolutely that every little thing in my life is orchestrated by Him - for my good and His glory! Hallelujah! Like Paul, I ask for the removal of the thorn. And sorta-kinda like Paul (my submission to His will and my selflessness are definitely not like Paul's! There is way too much "I want..." and "what about me?" still left in me!  ), I praise Him for His answer, even when that answer is, "No, my child. My grace is sufficient for thee: My strength is made perfect in thy weakness." <2 Cor 12:9+>My prayer then becomes not, "Lord, heal me, take this pain from me." But rather, "Lord, give me the grace to say from my heart: 'Most gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. And I take pleasure in my weakness and pain, for then Christ is shown to be my strength! Thy will be done.' '" Oh, how He loves me to take so much trouble with me, making me more like Christ each day! And, yes, sometimes that hurts -- "only a little". ( That quote thrown in for you PoTC-fans!!)******* Sorry. I broke my own rule of no philosophizing on this blog. Good thing that The Powers That Be are me, myself and I! |
guess i'm not such a good babysitter after all! |
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Well, I have gotten this much out of the Attack of the Flu-bug - more "free" time as we have been forced to slow down or even cancel school for several days now. And that is why I have posted more in the past few days than in the past 9 months! Your daily Flu Report is summarized in these comments from this morning: Ethan to Eliza: Alexandra's out! Now it's down to just you and me! Madeline: I feel so left out! I haven't gotten a fever, just feeling yucky. As we all do, excepting those two aforementioned, with the yuckiness (I shall spare you any further details! ) extending long past the fever. ****** And for your entertainment, the following is "borrowed, borrowed without permission" from Alexandra's comment on a friend's blog. speaking of madeline...today while we were watching a movie, madeline suddenly remarked, "that guy looks like a preposition." i gave her this look: O_o and she 'explained' herself by pointing out his "curvy head and big, long nose." okay...SOMEBODY'S been watching too much 'Schoolhouse Rock' and speaking of valentine's day, on the very day, right when mama had just given daddy his valentine's present (hershey's pot of gold. best thing in the universe) and he was happily enjoying it by eating it (that's the best way to enjoy chocolate after all...by eating it) and sharing the eating of some with mama (that is the second best way to enjoy chocolate...by sharing it) i happened to notice a loose thread on his sleeve. now you must understand one thing about me: i cannot abide loose threads. they irritate me to no end. there is some sort of mechanism in me that is quite automatic, and it urges me to lose no time in pulling that erratic thread, telling me that not only is it the obvious thing to do but it is moreover the right thing to do. so pull it i did. as suddenly as the thought to pull it had placed itself in my head, instantly a new thought introduced itself: "what if this thread is connected to something? something like---" SNAP! "his button?!" aye, alas...the bright idea came too late. in all but an instant i pulled the thread, his button came off, and it clattered noisily to the floor. mama and daddy froze in their conversation. they looked slowly from the button on the floor, to the thread in my hand, to the hole in daddy's sleeve. i blushed and placed the offending thread in daddy's hand, as if that could somehow make up for the hole in his sleeve. i picked up the button and shrugged sheepishly. "i suppose i could sew that back on..." i started, but daddy interrupted me: "of course you will! but...where are you going to put it so you'll remember?" this was a serious question, and one that needed careful consideration. so i picked up the button, stared at it for a few seconds, and then promptly attached it to my earing. it looked weird, but it worked! his sleeve is fixed!! ****** Lastly, I invite you all to postulate in your own minds and for your enjoyment alone, the possible ends of the very dangerous fight that Madeline and I have undertaken together - SAT prep. It might well be that one or both of us shall perish on the way! Algebra pummels Madeline, with one polynomial tied behind Its back, but she takes the punishment and doggedly fights back. Each round, she slowly beats it into submission. I am confident that she will emerge the victor, though she drags herself to her corner at the end of day. And I, being older and tireder, have not her stamina and often wonder what I will look like at the end of it all? (In plain language, Madeline's intense dislike of math led her to forget nearly all the algebra she ever learned, not even allowing a bit of it to linger as a bad memory. She was thrilled to be done with it, knowing that she'd never need it again. Oooops. So now we're trying to relearn it all in a few weeks.) Her constant question is Why? "Why do we need to know algebra? Why is it so important? When will I ever use it again?" The answers that Jay and I have given do not satisfy her as she has been able to see other answers to the hypothetical problems that we pose, ones that do not require algebra for the solving. So I am asking for real life occasions that use algebra. I know that she would be more content to pour herself into this if she saw a practical application for her future beyond the college entrance exams. |
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My fever has broken. Thanks for your prayers, OPCKid! Abigail's came back, however. Anyway, now that I am feeling a little better, I wanted to post these two amusing conversations overheard around here recently. The first is thanks to Alexandra. And in the second, Ethan is talking about his immune system. Eliza: *squeals* STUCK! Emma: Stuck in what? Eliza: My shirt! Emma: What's stuck? Eliza: Me!! As I make the rounds checking temperatures. Ethan: I'm 98.8! My little soldiers sure are doing their jobs! *then to Emma*: You're 99. Not as good as me. That's cause you're a girl! (So, obviously, girls cannot have as good an army as boys! ) |
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Influenza here. It has hit our town hard. Jay, Madeline, Abigail and Emma are nearly back to normal and Alexandra, Eliza and Ethan never got it. (Yet?) Sophia is improving - no fever but her "cold-like" symptoms are hanging on; and I'm still very sick today. I owe several of you emails or letters and I'll try to get back to you when I'm on my feet again. Right now, it's back to bed! |
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You will never believe what we just bought for Madeline!! I'd almost like to have a contest, but I know the girls would tattle. So here it is. Today we got Madeline ---- her wedding veil!!!  It's true. It has daisies on it (and it was 62% off)!! We couldn't resist. If you know Madeline, you know that this veil was made for her! No, there is no wedding in her foreseeable future (although her brother is another story!). We got it for her hope chest. Each of the girls gets a hope chest at 16. Well, actually, that's the plan and we are working on execution now. When Madeline turned 16, we barely had grocery money so she had to wait for her chest. We've looked at them a couple of times recently but she hasn't found the right one yet. But we saw no reason the chest had to come before we could begin filling it! (We will have it professionally preserved so that it looks brand new on her special day.) ******* Today is Ethan's birthday and next Wednesday is Madeline's. Happy Birthday!!!! We had a wonderful and silly celebration last night. I so wish that I could remember more of the quotes. Alexandra, as usual, was the source of much hilarity, especially when Abigail began laughing with her mouth full of water. Alexandra shielded her plate, yelling, "She's gonna blow!" Unbelievably, this time Abigail actually managed to swallow eventually! (Uh, yeah, that implies there was another time when she did not! )Ethan got a cool RC car and a robopet - what a hoot! But Madeline thinks that perhaps the little creature is a bit too real - "Oh! How rude!" Madeline was showered with chocolate, her very favorite thing! And Alexandra got her a frog to kiss until her prince shows up! This thing actually makes a loud, wet-sounding kiss. It is so cute. Madeline loves it. But so does Daisy. It's been quite a show. Madeline has been keeping it with her but still Daisy manages to sneak in and grab it. Then she's off, with Madeline in hot pursuit! Daisy is very, very fast and Madeline has only been able to catch her when someone else helps to corner her. What can I say? It's the little things that amuse me.Speaking of Daisy, she is very large as well as very fast, and she jumps extremely well. I never knew that poodles are great jumpers! Our evening entertainment usually includes someone chasing Daisy and vice versa. She now leaps over the entire couch without touching any of it!! It is not safe to be sitting there when the running begins. She frequently leaps onto the couch from the back or side then races the length of it to head someone off! She gallops right over anyone sitting there. And, while she can clear the couch in a single leap, she doesn't always clear the person sitting on it! What? Doesn't sound like your kind of family fun? Oh, but remember - we're weird!And, finally, here's a couple of Alexandra quotes. She often complains that she never learns anything in school. But she is always the one who so often comments on history out of the blue. The other day she says to me, "Oh, Mama! That face you made was just like Elizabeth I's 'I am not amused!' look!" Bursting in: "Thomas Morton is a punk!" - her estimation of the man who raised a Maypole in 1627 America, bringing the ire of the Pilgrims down upon him. This was followed by her very modern retelling of that bit of American history. "...And he sold guns to the Indians so that they could shoot the Pilgrims! So they tell him, 'Stop!' And he says, 'Make me!" What a punk! Then he goes and gets all his friends and they have a big party with lots of liquor and Indian girls and stuff like that. What a punk! Then Miles Standish shows up with his soldiers and says, 'Stop!' And Morton says, 'Make me!' But he and his friends were too drunk to even lift their guns so Miles Standish did make him, and no one was hurt except one guy who was so drunk that he ran into a drawn sword and cut his nose! What a punk!" And then she was gone!  Doing dishes with Abigail and Emma, who were having a disagreement: That's it! I'm leaving! I will not stand here between you two and be shot full of the daggers that are flying out of your eyes! Hope that holds you for a while. Don't know how many months it may be before I'm back! |
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Wow! It has been such a long time since I updated. I'm sorry, to those (few) of you who have been waiting on me. Time has flown and I really have been extremely busy. Most days I never get half of my to-do list done. One reason for that is that we have all gotten very involved in our new community, especially the children. They are volunteering at the assisted living apartments and at MOPS, they are in youth group and AWANA, taking piano lessons, taking online classes (okay - that one is not community involvement, but it takes a lot of their time), and so on. We have settled in very quickly and are very happy here. Ethan has joined the Cub Scouts and we spent October selling Boy Scouts popcorn - lots of popcorn! He was the second highest seller in his pack, with over $1500 in sales. He won several prizes for his efforts. He did most of the work, but it was a family affair. His sisters were a big help. So they will share in one of his prizes - a $50 gift card to WalM. We'll get something for the entire family. He also won a pizza party to be followed by a trip to one of our state university's football games. He is not sure that he wants to do that, though. He knows nothing at all about football and thinks the idea of sitting out in the cold in December for around 3 hours does not sound like fun!! lol ****** One day, I stopped for gas with the children in the car. A hearse pulled in to the pump in front of me. There was rock music blaring from its radio and the bass was thumping, so much so that we felt the vibrations in our car. When I answered the kids question about where it was coming from, Alexandra exclaimed, "That is so cool! That's what I want when I die - I want the hearse to drive me around town with the bass cranked up and the hearse thumping!" She went on to ponder aloud the songs that she knew, looking for one that has a really hard bass. "Another One Bites the Dust," she announced. "That one has an awesome bass! That's my last wish - to be driven around while the hearse blares Another One Bites the Dust!" She entirely missed the irony of it until I finally stopped laughing long enough to say, "Alexandra, no funeral director will ever do that for you! The entire community would think he was sick!" It was almost as much fun to see the realization dawn on her face! Once it did, she said, "That makes it even better!! Now I know that's what I want!!" ****** And we did get that standard poodle puppy that we wanted. Her name is Daisy and she is wonderful! She really doesn't act much like a dog! She doesn't lick much and likes to sit and sleep like a person. She is very smart and has been easy to train. The flip side of that is that she is bright enough to actually think about whether she wants to obey! She is also growing very fast and looks to be on the large size of standards. ****** That's all the time I have this morning. Gotta get back to that to do list! |
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This one is told in their own words. I have lifted, er - borrowed, borrowed without permission - comments made on another blog by Alexandra & Madeline as they told this story to friends. Alexandra: Comment on August 11th, 2007. well, at devotions yesterday, ethan was holding one of those super-small pickles. and then he just randomly decapitated the poor thing. he had such a serious face, and the noise was so weird and random, and the ‘head’ of the pickle happened to fly through the air and land *on my foot*…so i had to very quickly take a huge gulp of water from my cup, and pretend that the huge smile spreading across my face was not from amusement, but from trying to open my mouth wide enough for all the water to go in. Madeline: Comment on August 11th, 2007. Alexandra, I was just about to tell that story! Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep from laughing. All the other kids started laughing too, which got us several vicious glares from the other end of the table. *looks sheepish* And now for some editorial comments of my own. I would say that those "vicious glares" from the other end of the table were actually very stern looks. And if I remember correctly, they were accompanied by a reproof for not giving due attention to the speaker and the subject under discussion. And though our illustrious leader, having been in the right, does not need any defense from me, I will point out that our end of the table had entirely missed the unusual cause of such hilarity, causing him to presume that it had originated in the ordinary way (an outbreak of silliness). Thus, he was stern in calling your attention back to the question at hand. ******* Time for kudos  to Emma & Abigail - for your initiative and help today! You saw what needed to be done and did it! Gotta tell you , girls - that's a sure sign of maturity. to Madeline - for sticking with a tough lit assignment and even learning from it!! to Emma & Alexandra - for sliding so smoothly into the next level of work and doing it well! ******* As there have been some break-ins in our little town, and as we are "celebrities" around here, (might make us an inviting target), I have requested that we take some measure of security. Jay has opted for a dog rather than an alarm company because "they're more fun" and "all the kids want one". Each of them is a dog-lover. We want to get a standard poodle puppy for the following reasons. --I am allergic to dogs so we need one that is hypoallergenic. --She will gets lots and lots of loving around here. So we need one that can physically handle all the attention and romping. --We believe that a puppy would be best so she can adjust to our "pack" early on. When we have tried adult dogs in the past, each of them has tried to raise her status/rank in the pack by turning on one of the younger kids. --We want her to function as a watch dog too. And, believe it or not, standard poodles are frequently used for guard dogs and make great watch dogs. So, please pray for us as we try to find just the right dog this coming week. And continue to pray once we get one. Jay and I feel a little old to be going through a "baby" stage again! |
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We officially joined our new church on Sunday and the pastor had us each write a paragraph to help the congregation "get to know us" a little. He included them as an insert with the bulletin. I thought you'd like to read them. Andrew & Jay did not write theirs in time for the printing, so I had to do it for them. And I am blanking out birth dates here for internet security. Ethan I am really good at climbing. Sometimes I bonk into things a lot. My favorite color is red. I like to read a lot. I like math. I am 6 years old. Eliza My birthday is on _____. I will be eight. I like to read, especially The Boxcar Children. My favorite animal is the dog. I like math. My favorite color is green. Sophia I like to read to pass the time. I like to swim. I love horses and dogs. My favorite color is yellow. I am nine years old. Emma I'm ten. My birthday is ____. I like to color. My favorite color is blue. I usually like to play outside. I love to read. I like homeschooling. I love my family and God. Abigail I love horses. When I grow up, I want to have a job involving horses. I am thirteen years old. I am in eighth grade. My birthday is ____. My favorite color is purple. I like Star Wars. Alexandra I am fourteen and a freshman in high school. I am interested in piano, art, school and anything out of the ordinary. In the past, I have taken speech and debate. I really liked the Jane Austen-era balls and contradances that I have attended in Pennsylvania. I plan to go to Geneva College but am still undecided about my major. Madeline I am a sixteen year old homeschooler just starting my junior year. My interests include sewing, Old English country dancing, contradancing, photography, writing and acting. I hope to go to Geneva College in Beaver Falls, PA. I am considering a career in education. Andrew I am twenty and about to return to Geneva College for my junior year, where I'll be the Discipleship Coordinator for my dorm. I have a double major of Linguistics (focusing on Biblical Languages) and Pre-Seminary. I plan to attend seminary and become a pastor, maybe going on to be a seminary professor eventually. I love games and spend most of my free time hanging out with my family or talking to my girlfriend in PA. I, too, really enjoyed the balls and contradancing we did in PA. *(Andrew said the only thing he might not have included if he had written his own was the dancing.) Wendy I majored in German with a Russian minor in college. But for the past 15 years, I've been a homeschool teacher and I love it! It works well for our family. We enjoy each other a lot - playing games, watching movies or just talking. I love to read, cross stitch and walk. I also scrapbooked until all my materials were lost in our recent move. But my most favorite activity is spending time with my best friend, Jay! Jay I was a podiatrist in Pittsburgh, PA for about ten years before I went back to medical school to focus on family practice. I now work in the Medical Center in H. I am very family-oriented and spend nearly all of my free time with them, though I hope to be able to take up golf again now that I actually have free time! I also enjoy bad puns and religious discussions. *(Jay wants to correct "bad puns" to "good puns". I maintain that there is no such thing as a good pun!!) |
It took about 3 weeks after we moved in before we felt settled enough to have a Killer Bunnies night in our new home. We eagerly took our seats with all our munchies (there is no such thing as playing Killer Bunnies without food!), only to discover that many of the necessary cards had been lost in transit!  By now, we own the original set and 5 booster packs ( we KB!). Since we were missing cards from each deck - I had consolidated the cards to save room - we would have to buy all the sets new just to be able to play again (a cost of about $80)!! We were so disappointed. I felt especially bad as I was the one who separated the decks. So I emailed the company and explained our circumstances and asked if they would please consider selling us only the missing cards. And this wonderful company did just that!! And they only charged me $6 total, and they sent them immediately so we got them in just a couple of days! I cannot say enough good things about the game and the company. You all know how lost we would be without KB. It is our favorite family activity!And now you have to sit through some quotes from the weekend KB game night (or just quit reading right here ). It was one of the most fun games that we've had so far. I attribute that to 2 reasons - 1) no one was ever "bunnyless" for more than one turn (so no one had to just sit and watch) and 2) Alexandra was at her zany, random best and the rest of us followed her lead, as the following quotes will illustrate. Keep in mind, all of these were totally random, she just pops out with the strangest comments out of nowhere!Alexandra: My eyeballs are oozing out of their sockets in a "pus"-y red mush! Andrew: Keep your "pus"-y red mush to yourself! ****** Alexandra: Hey, I haven't asked you yet - don't you wish you were stupid, fat and lazy like the rest of the world?! I do! Then I wouldn't go on these cleaning sprees. I hate that! ****** Alexandra: Daddy, whenever you lean back and scratch your side, you always say something philosophic! Madeline: It's his thoughtful spot! ****** Alexandra: If you're starving in the desert, suck on a pebble! er- I mean, if you're dehydrated! Andrew: Ew! You don't know where that pebble's been! It could have tons of germs on it! Madeline: Yeah, from the last guy who was dehydrated in the desert! Alexandra: Noooo. *said slowly as if talking to a very small child* If he needed it, he would not have spit it out. And if he sucked on it to begin with, he would only get rid of it if he didn't need it any more. And he would only not need it any more if there was a settlement near by, which there isn't or you wouldn't be dying of thirst! Madeline: Or if he died. Alexandra: In which case you'd see his skeleton. Andrew: So don't suck on a pebble found near a skeleton. Alexandra: Ex-act-ly! If I ever go on an airplane, I'm going to have a pebble in my pocket just in case we crash. See - silly and random! It was great. I know these don't translate well here - not funny now. You had to be there! We laughed and enjoyed each other and just had fun. ****** ****** And on the bad news front -- we have unpacked everything and now know for sure that we are missing at least one box, with desk/foyer stuff. In addition to school books (and the missing KB cards), the missing box also contained all my scrapbooking supplies! On the one hand, that is a real bummer because I had a lot of recent photos there, waiting to be scrapbooked, as well as years-worth of scapping "stuff". On the other hand, overall, the move went so very well and I can imagine 100s of other scenarios which would have been much worse. ****** And lastly, if you hear about a crazy lady running through her yard in the middle of the night, dodging water drops as she tried to turn off the still-running-sprinkler-that-she-had-forgotten-about, all in her nightie -- just pretend you don't know me... er - her! |
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It will come as no surprise to most of you if I just flat-out say, "Andrew's a great guy!" (Some of you will probably agree more heartily than others. Hi, Sarah! ) So what has he done lately to merit this praise? He taught Ethan to ride his bike! And this has been over several days immediately after returning from his 6-2 job, which involves manual labor in the heat. I know he'd much rather crash for a couple of hours or IM Sarah for a while, so I am especially grateful for his consideration and selflessness. Thank You, Andrew! Do I even need to add that Ethan has been thrilled with his big brother's undivided attention and his own new-found prowess! [Honesty forces me to add that they are still working on starting and stopping!] And Alexandra has been an enormous help to me here, as she frequently undertakes cleaning tasks (and sometimes projects) on her own initiative. And she joyfully dashed to the kitchen for a rag and then for the carpet cleaner to scrub up the spaghetti that was spilled during last night's dinner. (Strong aside here --- what kind of people put light carpeting in the dining room when they have children?!! *shakes head in wonder and dismay* This will need to be replaced/ripped up soon, I foresee.) All of the children are adjusting very well to our move. They visit the library every other day - it is a wonderful library!! - and have made good friends with the Children's Librarian (who has been there 36 yrs.). We are enjoying the fruits, literally, of a real, paying job again. The children were amazed at the "extras" in my grocery bags today - plums and pickles and waffles. "These don't even look like our bags!" they marveled. Thank you, Lord! And, figuratively, as we just signed up Madeline and Alexandra for piano lessons. They will have to practice on the full-size electronic keyboard that we have for a while, but the lessons themselves are a luxury we can finally afford. |
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One of the unusual things about our new town is the size of the squirrels. They grow to be as big as cats. I mentioned in an earlier post (from about April) that a friend had come in from NJ to inspect our housing choices. He was the first one to notice this oddity and brought it to our attention. Alexandra says that she still has not seen any of the large squirrels. That must be because there are so many young ones running around. Anyway, on Sunday, several of us were greatly entertained for a while watching one of these interesting creatures. We all stood at one of the enormous living room windows and watched this squirrel engage in what we thought was decidedly unsquirrel-like behavior! He was digging furiously under our big pine tree. (Concerning which I will be soliciting opinions later in this blog.) None of us had ever observed a squirrel dig at all. We were fascinated. Imagine our surprise when the behavior got even stranger. The little guy dug a hollow just big enough for him to lay in, then rolled round and round in it! As we gaped and smiled, he jumped up and stood on his hind legs, with his little paws shaking as he looked around. Then he moved over another foot or so and repeated the bizarre behavior. This time we laughed out loud as he turned his tail end at us, lifted the tail high and shook his bottom! The underside of the tail, by the way, was a beautiful auburn, while the rest of the body was gray with some red highlights. By this time, I was a little nervous with all of our talk about the strangeness of this squirrel. I had in mind the little homeschooled girl I had just read of who had had a rabid squirrel attack her. I watched ours carefully and saw no signs of madness per se, but wondered if unsquirrel-like actions qualified. Did rabies drive a squirrel to roll in the dirt and shake? In the meantime, this one had taken to the trees. (One of the many things I love about our new yard is all the trees! Just beautiful!) And Alexandra swore that he did not climb like a "normal" squirrel but rather moved just like a human! "Look at him! He climbs a little then stops to look around - like he's enjoying his environment! 'Oh, my! What a nice view!' Now he's looking down! Squirrels never look down! That is the oddest squirrel I have ever seen. He is not normal!" That word kept getting tossed around, always with a negative. So I continued to worry about him, even going so far as to warn the kids not to play in the yard if there were any squirrels about. Silly mama! He was really no danger. I did look up this strange behavior on the web. But I only found 2 sites that mention it. (the second site is referenced in this one:) http://en.allexperts.com/q/Wild-Animals-705/gray-squirrel.htmNo definite answers, as the ground squirrel discussed in the expert (2nd) site is very different from the one we saw. But just knowing that someone else has witnessed this (and saw 2 squirrels doing it) has totally reassured me. The children have chosen to believe that what we really saw was Wart! (Disney's The Sword in the Stone). Anyone else ever see such a thing? I bet my dad, who is a great animal watcher, will tell me he sees it all the time and all I had to do was ask him! ****** Sunday morning, our kitchen ceiling started dripping! Leaky shower floor. So we are a little stinky around here. Jay fixed it (we pray!!) but we cannot use it until tomorrow morning. So, of course, when Jay & I went for a walk with the 3 youngest yesterday, and I was looking my worst, we ran into another stranger who recognized my husband! We chatted for quite a while. He shocked us when, in response to his query, Jay told him where we went to college and the man actually spit 3x on the ground! I was only taken aback for a second and then realized that he must have gone to the rival school. He soon confirmed that, though it was actually his sons who had gone to the other school. The spitting was just "an automatic response", he said. Turns out, he had also lived many years in Jay's hometown. So we had much to talk about. By the end of our little visit, he said, "I am so glad that you are here. We really need a good doctor!" That made me smile, because, actually, he has no idea what kind of doctor Jay is! But I guess he liked us anyway. Another very friendly neighbor! The people here have been very kind to us.****** I am feeling very chatty today. This entry keeps getting longer and longer. That's probably because McDonald's gave me regular coffee when I ordered decaf this morning! Zowie, I'm hyper now! ****** Now for the "poll". This is not formal, but I'd just like opinions. We have a large pine tree in the yard. Jay surprised me by saying that he plans to have it totally removed next year because pines are dirty trees that make a mess and kill the grass beneath them. I am reluctant to part with it. It provides all of our privacy from the southeast. We will be very open to the public when we're on our patio if that tree goes. As the patio is raised, a fence would have to be very high to provide the same seclusion. Any ideas on a compromise? I thought maybe I could find some bushes that like shade, to plant under the tree, to at least address Jay's concern about the bare area. But he thinks the pine would kill anything at its base. ****** During Sunday's dinner, Ethan announced that he would be singing during next week's service. Jay: That's great, Ethan! Will you be singing a solo? Ethan: Uh, not exactly. Kinda between that and soprano!! |