Here it is, the middle of April, and we are living in a whole new state, as new missionaries, with a whole new schedule, doing life with a whole new circle of friends. That about sums it up.

Back in February, we made our move to New Orleans working with an organization called CrossRoads Missions. Bruce is the field project manager here. And basically, as self-supported missionaries,  we are hosting short-term mission trips for volunteer teams from all over the nation. Each week, we house, feed and put to work in the community, up to 125 individuals that come from churches, schools and universities. From a local standpoint, we are partnering with evangelical organizations by providing the manpower to help them accomplish their goals of furthering the gospel in the Greater New Orleans area.

Much of this is fleshed out by building new homes, renovating existing homes, clearing lots of debris and over-growth, and doing yardwork for those that aren't able to do it themselves. By investing time into a particular neighborhood week after week, we are able to meet folks, build relationships with them, and introduce them to the love and hope experienced and given through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

We have yet another reason for appreciating the fact that we homeschool. What a blessing it is to have the flexibility to go and work with the teams each week. And to use the diverse setting to educate our children in a variety of ways,  We have been trying out a four day school week for the last month, seeing if we can try to go to the worksites atleast twice a week. Plus, we usually meet back at CrossRoads most evenings for dinner with the crews. Wednesday afternoon we set aside for family time. Friday night is the final sharing time and good-byes. The volunteers normally take off early Saturday morning. We'll continue to tweak the schedule until it works out the way we need.

I am very interested in how other missionary families homeschool in the field. Would love to hear any input...

I've been thinking long and hard about ending this blog all together. When we started our ministry blog back in November, I have found little time to maintain both. And I feel like Five to Go is a "must" right now for us and our supporters. However, I'm thinking that once we've settled into things around here, I'll be able to get back in the groove of blogging on Home For Him atleast a couple times a week. Lord, please help me do Your will with this.

It's very nice to be coming off of a two and a half week vacation for Christmas. We really needed it. Things can get too crazy around here sometimes and we fall into bad habits, like not following through, or not finishing projects, or not keeping to a good routine.

I really believe that a good, healthy routine does wonders for anyone. I know it does for me. It's too early in the game to claim any "new habits" but we do seem to be more determined than usual. =] 

Today being our first day of the new year went rather well. We accomplished everything we set out to do. We seriously started our Spanish curriculum....again. I hate that that gets put on the back burner too often. But, with some new friends from El Salvador, our desire and motivation is back to learn the language even more.

We met the Morales' a couple weeks before Bruce went to El Salvador. They own a grocery store in the front of our subdivision. They speak very good English and don't seem to mind our humble attempts to converse with them in Spanish. They appreciate it I think. Before Christmas we went over to their home for dinner one evening....an all authentic Salvadorean feast! Pan-fried tilapia, cheese and pork papooses (unique to their country), some type of shrimp and tomato saucy mixture that went over rice (it was delicious!), and a type of coleslaw that you put on a large corn tortilla chip and then smother with homemade salsa. Yum!!! It was wonderful!!

Throughout the evening we got to hear the story of how Jose and Maria came to America back in 1989. Rosa (Maria's niece) and her two children arrived in 1995. They have since developed a commercial and residential cleaning business with over 45 clients. And took over ownership of this hispanic grocery a little over a year ago. Their perseverence and hardworking spirit are quite admirable. Although we've been telling them ever since we've met them that they need more time to enjoy life. They work entirely too much!!

One last thought....we were blessed to talk with Adri and her family on New Year's Eve (their NY's Day). It was so good to hear from them. Adri has been diligent about calling us about every 4-6 weeks. We miss her so much and I know she misses us too. She's talking about making a trip to New Orleans and Louisville....perhaps over the summer. That's a sweet thought to look forward to.

As you might've noticed down the right margin, we have become Affiliates for Amazon.com, SpiritualCinema and Textbook.com. Our purpose for this is too generate more funds to go toward our budget as we enter into the mission field of New Orleans. If you plan to shop at Amazon or any of the other affiliates, please consider entering their website through the link on our blog. We will receive 8-15% of the total sale. And it would ultimately benefit our ministry and the work God is doing in NO. We soon plan to add more to the list.

Bruce made it back home safely last Saturday night from El Salvador. There's always something exciting about going to the airport late at night to wait for your loved one to emerge from the terminal. Watching the big planes up close as they jet off the runway and then others landing gently by the guidance of the blue, red and white lights. The kids all bouncing off the walls.  We were glad to see daddy home safe and sound. He spent the whole week telling us about every experience he'd encountered. You can read more about his trip soon on our other blog.

For our Thanksgiving celebration, we traveled up to MI to see mom and dad's new home. My brother, sister and their families were all there. The cousins had four days to run and play and explore the woods around the house. We had a blast playing Catch Phrase and euchre. Ofcourse by the time Diane and I got warmed up, we'd lost more than we'd won. But, who's counting?? We had fun anyway. LOL

It's hard to believe Christmas is around the corner...only 23 days! My dear sister Diane LOVES decorating her home for Christmas. This year, they found the tallest tree on the farm....a whomping 15 feet high!! Unfortunately, they had to hack off a couple feet due to that darn ceiling!! As well as having to anchor it to the wall on both sides. It is a beauty though!! Kudos to your creatively rich decorating talent Sis!! Your home is a sure Southern Living photo shoot in the  making. :)

Myself on the other hand, is a different story. This year, as much as I'm looking forward to enjoying the season of Christ with my family, I just can't seem to get into getting everything out. I know. It doesn't seem right. I just feel like we've been so busy for so long that I'd rather not do one more thing to make it any busier. No, I'm not being a hum-bug....really! It'll come. After our house guest this week and the Christmas Tea at church on W, Th and Fr.....we'll go cut a tree on Sunday. I do look forward to that. :) 

Well, after 8 lonnnnggggg days, we finally have power. Last Sunday, a "tropical depression" from Ike left our city with nearly 300,000 without electric. It was a long week to say the least. And a very quiet one without the phone ringing either. And, I'm afraid that I've discovered that I have a semi-addiction to the internet and email. LOL I just felt like I couldn't get anything done!  Isn't that terrible?

We are thankful that we atleast had hot water, and, being the campers we are, the means of cooking out on our back porch all week. It wasn't so bad. We (I) enjoyed not having the TV going in the evening. I caught up on some much needed sleep. What else can you do when it's dark by 8:30pm? I tried to read by candlelight, but my aging eyes just can't do it.

All kidding aside, it was a pretty bad storm. There was so much damage done everywhere. Trees down. Lines down. And it really took the power company by surprise. Many of them were gone helping Texas. We ended up having help come from all over the place...working 15 hours a day from the time they pulled into town. I think as of this afternoon, they were still working on about 15,000. Today when the power came on the kids and I stood out in the front yard hooping and a hollering for a job well done. It was funny to hear it coming from all over the neighborhood.

One thing we can recognize for certain is that God has used this to prepare us just a little for our move to New Orleans. I know that this was nothing in comparison though. But it was good to see the kids respond with a good attitude. Each day our desire builds more to be down there helping to restore their community and their hope and faith in God. We just continue to pray for his Sovereign Hand over our mission and purpose and that our move date will come quickly, but in His timing.  

Crazy, crazy, crazy .......CRAZY......last two months. We are now in the thick of preparing our family for our new calling.........missionaries to New Orleans. SO MUCH has happened!!

Jun '08 - We emailed our close friends and family asking for prayers for direction. Should New Orleans be the place we go to serve?? Within just a few short weeks, we knew in our hearts that this was it. We accepted God's call with excitement and anticipation.

Aug 9-15 - I attended Team Expansion's LAUNCH training for us. A week long line up of about 20 different seminars designed to train and equip us to GO.

Aug 20 - We need to raise a team of 100+ Prayer Warriors to help in laying a solid foundation and a road laid out to NO that with invite God to go before us in all things. Sent out an email to 50 + close friends and family asking for prayer commitments.

Aug 20 - Present - We have raised 92 partners in prayer!!! Yey God!!! We've now decided to keep going to 200!!

Aug 30 - Have sent support packets to two churches that have have integral parts in our faith walk. Waiting to hear from them.

Sept 10 - Had a good meeting with our home church. Have also enlisted two individuals to be our two "Representative Elders" from our home church.

Sept 11 - Printed our first 200 Prayer Cards to be sent out to our Prayer Partner team soon.

Sept 11 - Bruce attended an all day meeting for CrossRoads/New Orleans field to make plans for remainder of the year and the beginning of 2009. Found out we already have a financial supporter down there that will cover almost one-third of our first year budget!!!  Yey God!

This week - We are developing our new family blog....it should be ready for viewing by the end of next week. We are also writing our first support letter to be sent out within the next week. We are setting appointments with close friends to meet with here....gearing up for the next phase of our mission -- raising financial support.

LOTS happening here!  I will try to keep you better informed. As soon as we get our other blog up, I'll set up a link here for NOMission Updates.

Please pray for us!! More info on becoming a Prayer Partner in the next post.

God Bless,

Deborah

We thank God for giving us a perfect, 12 day vacation this year. We got to spend time in the mountains and on the beach.

It's my mother-in-law's 75th birthday this year (everyone say Happy Birthday Dori!!) so we all went in together and rented a rather large cabin in Gatlinburg, TN....complete with gameroom, hot tub, and access to three pools. About 20 of us spent five days driving up and down the steep roads that led about two miles outside of town to our cabin. We had a great view of the Great Smoky Mountains and OberGatlinburg. If you've never been to the 4th of July Parade at 12:01am in Gatlinburg, you have to try it atleast once. They boast of it being "the first Independence Day Parade in the nation".  I've never seen so many patriotic floats in one place. And LONG......it was soooo looonnnnngggggg. LOL But it was fun. And now we can say we've been.

During our stay, I talked Honey and the kids into going on a hike in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. We've been on the paved 2-miler to LaureL Falls. That was a piece of cake. This time I wanted to hit something a bit harder. So, we trekked up the 1,700 feet ascension to Chimney Tops. It was two miles up and two  miles back. And it was HARD!!!! Honey was about ready to kill me half way up.....I thought he was going to have a heart attack. It was very scenic and beautiful and steep and hot and humid. It had just rained the night before, so the bugs were out. I was thankful though...I think the rain cooled it off a little from the high 90's we'd seen the days before. When we got to the top, it was utterly amazing!!! A perfectly panoramic display of God's beauty and creation. The giant rock-top jutted out with straight drops down both sides. You literally had to crawl and climb out on your hands and feet. With the kids, Honey decided that we weren't going out that far, so he stopped the train after about 20 feet up the rock. The team staged a minor revolt, but to no avail. He wouldn't budge. So, we stayed there sitting where we stopped to take in the gorgeous view and discuss the many things that could happen if we fell off the side of the mountain.  You know how it is with two boys and a tomboy-wanna-be.

Would you believe that I forgot my camera???? I was so mad at myself!! Aunt Deb said that it must've just meant to be a great memory. She has a good point. There is a difference when you're sitting there in the middle of this miraculous scenery able to just sit, and breath it in, and think about how amazing our Great God really is, AND when your looking at it all through the lens of a camera. Yes, you get to keep the memories forever, BUT I'm sure God was thinking that Deborah likes to take pictures so much that she will surely miss the whole point of being there....PLUS she's bound to fall off from not paying attention to which rock she rested her foot on. Ha!!!

At any rate, it was a great bonding adventure for our family. It was hard going up, but worth it. It was also a good opportunity to talk about hard times and trials in life and how they compare to climbing a mountain. If we always stuck with the easy way out, we'd never see the blessings and benefits that promise to come with a little blood, sweat and tears. 

We ended up leaving on Sunday morning and continuing on to our own family vacation to Charleston, SC.

Next entry is on our time at the beach! Stay tuned....

The kids and I have spent about 12 hours this week at church filling up water balloons for the Massive Middle School Water Ballon War that is taking place this evening.  Would you believe we filled 5,700 balloons this week???? I can't believe it. My fingers are aching from turning nozzles on and off and tying balloons.

Yesterday was the last day for filling and we celebrated with a mini-water fight of our own....myself, Micah (one of our MS interns) and about 8 kids. I held my own for a while in a prime stragetic location under the steps where the spicket was, until everyone ganged up on me, overtook the hose, and dumped a rather large trash can of water on my head.  LOL  It was pretty fun. Tonight the war takes place from 6:30-8:30pm with our 150 middle schoolers and all their closest friends.

Other news this week  ~

• Adri's transcript that was supposed to be returned apostilled by the Secretary of State was returned without its stamp. Apparently, we wasted about $20 getting the thing "certified " at the County Clerk's extension office and sending it on with self-addressed stamped envelopes. They should've told us to go down to the main office for a "blue and gold" seal of approval before sending it on. Now we have to go through the whole process again.....lovely.
• Talked to Adri over the phone last night....she had her English test yesterday and is starting her summer school today. Poor girl. After working so hard all year long. She does miss us. =] We can ditto that 100 times.
• Our friend Jean from the DR is emailing us again. He has joined the church since our visit there almost two years ago. Praise God!! He is very excited but is really struggling in life right now. It would be so cool if he could come visit us. =]
• Connor and I are taking guitar lessons. This is a piece of cake for him since he's been taking informal lessons from our neighbor on and off. For me, this comes as a GREAT challenge. Don't forget I'm 42 here....forging brand new brain paths for me. I don't think my fingernails have been this short since I was 5 years old.   But, it does seem to help. Sweet Connor tells me last week, "Mom, just think. If we keep learning guitar together, maybe we could start our own band and go on tour like Third Day!!" Ha! Ha!  Oh, bless his heart!!  I'm just thinking it would be fun to be able to sing songs together at family functions and retreats. =]
• Okay, I'm already behind on my Summer To-Do list.....I've had this crappy cold for about 3 weeks and it's driving me crazy!! I feel worn-out all the time. Pray for me please??  The kids are shooting to do three math lessons each week and a couple reading programs. Ofcourse, without me reminding them, they're happy as clams to play outside all day long........which on the other hand I don't mind either. That's what we used to do all summer long, right?? And for that matter, the summer is cut so short these days!!   Just pray for me....thanks! =]
• Hangyul, our next exchange student from South Korea, is scheduled to be arriving on July 31st. Big project this summer: paint the boys room, move Connor to his own room downstairs, move Briar upstairs. I also need to get his transfer app into the school some time next week (since it didn't happen this week.)

Okay, that's all for now. I am working on my "crazylove ~part 2" entry. I can't say it enough.....this book is life-changing.

More to come....

We said "good-bye for now" to our first foreign exchange student, Adriana. Family and friends came together on Saturday for a really fun combination "Adios Amiga" party for Adri,  and "Happy Birthday" to both Adri and Briar, who turned 13 on Monday. We had alot of fun.

Sunday morning we got up at 6am and left for the airport at 7am. She had a connection in Cincy on her way to New York. Stayed there for 7 hours after being delayed 2 hours due to a severe thunderstorm coming through JFK. She said when they finally let them go there was still lightning in the clouds and alot of turbulance. "It was VERY scary." she said.

Since Monday, Clara has retaken her room...cleaned it good....and moved back in. I should take a picture now, since it's the cleanest it'll ever be. LOL

We went to see IronMan for Briar's birthday on Monday night. That was a pretty cool movie, I must say. And I think it's Robert Downey Jr.'s best part ever.....in my opinion ofcourse. The story was pretty good and I liked how it brought in some current happenings in the world. His sense of humor and "special relationship" he had with all his robots was the funniest. Clara and I decided "Butter Fingers" was our favorite. LOL  And yes, I am NOW the mother of a 13 year old.....a REAL teenager....I don't want to just skim by that one.  Please keep us in your prayers. =]  He now has the "I am a man, here me roar." attitude.

Next step in the summer schedule is to prepare for our next student coming from South Korea at the end of July. Connor will have his own room this time, which I find very interesting since he hates to sleep in a room by himself. I asked him the other day if he really wanted to have his own room. He said "Sure I do!!" So I asked, "How do you think you'll do sleeping on your own?".....he paused....looked up at me....and said...."I'm not sleeping on my own. What do you mean???"  The implications never occurred to him. LOL  Well, we'll have to figure it out. Briar is dead-set on sharing a room with Hangyul.

And speaking of Hangyul, the latest news is basically no news. Ballard (our area High School) is refusing to give us a definite answer until the end of the summer. Which means we have to go ahead and apply to transfer out of our area to Easter High School.....a good school, but even bigger then ours.....a get an acceptance from some school.  They couldn't believe Ballard was putting us through this....especially since we have the only f.e. student for next year right now. Go figure.  One way or another, he's coming. We just won't know which school he'll attend until the end of July. Yippee!! 

I'm slowly letting out a sigh of relief this week. We're finishing up everything but math (to be continued through the summer). And the extracurriculars are coming to their end.

We had our last two fieldtrips this week  ~ a visit to the nature preserve and a showing of Treasure Island in an outside amphitheater.  We lined up four workshops at the nature preserve that the kids rotated through in four different age groups (PK-8th). They learned about Native American games and medicinal plant, wetland ecology and metamorphasis, and global warming. It turned out to be a perfect day so we had a picnic under the trees and later went for a long hike. The kids were even able to do some creek walking. =]

Stage One had a terrific showing of Treasure Island. It's funny because we've been able to see four different stage presentations this year so now the kids are starting to recognize certain actors that they've seen in different parts. They really did a great job. The story was complete with sword fighting and singing pirates! LOL And ofcourse, ended with a suspenseful battle scene and uncovering buried treasure.

Last night we had our last pack meeting of the year. Connor "crossed over" to Webelos. He was so excited and fun to watch as he stood up on that stage. They wore their new shirts under their old ones until the Cubmaster told them to all take them off. Needless to say, old shirts went flying. And the boys were beaming. =] We also came in first place for collecting pull-tabs this year. That means our den gets a pizza party sometime over the summer. Ya-hoo!!! The pull-tabs are a fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House.

Tonight is our last official gathering for the Girl Scouts. We like to have our Bridging and Award Picnic at a park closeby. They have the perfect setting for a bridging ceremony.....a new bridge that crosses over a stream. We decorate the bridge and make it look real festive. We also have a big pitch-in dinner and KFC. It's  been a while since I've mentioned that this is a homeschooler's multi-level Girl Scout troop. We have different patrols from Daisy's to Cadettes. I lead my daughters Junior troop. We will be receiving nine new girls that will be bridging from Brownies. My girls decided to make little felt bookmarks as gifts for them. They sewed them together and decorated with stitiching. They turned out really good.

Last week was our last CBS gathering. They call it "Sharing Day". We had a pitch-in brunch and then anyone who wanted to, could come up and share about how God had worked in their life over the last year through the study. It was a very special time.  The gals in my group were so sweet. I was blessed to have a group that was so diverse in age and walk. They were a treasure chest of wisdom and insight. We had three hsing moms in our group including myself. The other two gals are actually going to go on our girl's retreat weekend coming up in a couple weeks.

Okay, it's time to go....Bri Guy and I are having QT together in the mornings now.

A few weeks ago we found out that we would be hosting another student in the fall. He is a 15yo boy from South Korea. His name is Hangyul. We are very excited for him and looking forward to his arrival. He seems to be a perfect match for our family.

He likes to hike and camp (like us) and is very interested in joining Briar's Boy Scout troop. He plays soccer (like the kids and I) and guitar (like Connor). He loves to listen to all kinds of music (like Bruce and Briar). And he SAYS he likes to cook (like me).  He says he's looking forward to making us "real Korean cousine". We've been emailing and IMing back and forth. So last week he sent us all these pictures of typical Korean dishes. It was so cute!! I think I'd try all of it except for the soup with the blood in it. Ugh!!    That's not my cup-o-tea....or cup-o-soup rather. =]  But I recall Adri telling me that blood soup was delicious in Spain too.

We have hit a small glitch however....atleast we're praying it's small.  Yesterday, we found out that the high school in our area, is refusing to take a new student through us. It appears, and I'm not kidding here, that since we homeschool and don't have children going to the high school (even though they aren't even of age to go to high school AND even though we've had a foreign exchange student attending there all year!!), they would rather use the spot for a family that IS using the school.

Now, a few questions occur to me....like....don't we pay taxes? And don't a portion of our taxes go to supporting our public schools? And what would they say if we didn't have any children at all? Let alone homeschooled children? And, what does that have to do with a foreign exchange student anyway?  Isn't there some policy on this??

I could go on and on, but for now, I have to figure out what I'm going to say to the school when I call them tomorrow. Our exchange organization wants me to call first and see if I can make any difference, before they go to the school board.  I'm feeling strongly that there is some sort of an injustice going on here. I just hope I can communicate it well. You know??  This just seems really unfair.

If you have any ideas, please feel free to share...

I'm posting the pictures that we took at the Indy Zoo. This was the fieldtrip I talked about taking during the trip to mom and dad's over spring break.

What is GREAT day it was!

Well, once again, time flies when you're having fun....or just being busy!  We are coming out of the final turn, and the finish line is in sight!! That's "derby" talk.....being the Kentucky Girl that I am, and Derby is just a week away. Ofcourse I'm referring to our school year. I have so much to catch up with in blogging!  I just put a pot a potatoes on to boil. So, I guess that gives me about 15 minutes worth of catchin' up to do. LOL

OKAY, Connor started spring Flag Football in the last month. They won their second game this morning. I think Honey is thinking of coaching his team in the fall....that's what happens when you're not satisfied with the way the present coach is doing things, but you don't want to step on anyone's toes. =] We're still deciding on whether he'll continue with Flag, or start tackle.

The kids and I spent a week at my mom and dad's over spring break. In a nutshell, my parents have bought a house up in Michigan across the street from thier present property and cabin. They both have retired and planned on moving up there in the next few years. When this house unexpectantly went on the market, they grabbed the opportunity. I think it's a God Thing. On the down side, they have less then a month to prepare, put their present house on the market, and move. Yikes!!

Long story short, my sister and I met at mom and dad's with the kids to sift through the closets, cupboards, drawers, bookshelves and attic to find Moving Sale items and condense for the move. It was a different experience.....hard work....a little stressful....a little depressing at times....but also neat to go through old memories. We managed to pull it off with a successful 3-day Moving Sale.

For the kids, we kindof felt like "all work and no play" wasn't a great idea for their Spring Break, so one day we went to the zoo, and one day my mother-in-law picked them up for a day at the children's museum.  The rest of the time they had a blast playing with their cousins around the house, and meeting all the kids their age in the neighborhood. In no time, they were pulling together kickball games, football games, and bike rides. =]

For Adri's Spring Break, she had the once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity to go on a highschool mission trip to New Orleans. (It was our hs group from church.) They had over 80 kids and chaperones going to work on building two houses and clearing debris from vacant lots. She had an amazing experience that we are so thankful that she could be apart of. She will remember it forever.

Sissy turned 11 years old on the 13th!!  She is killin' me with how fast she's growing!! LOL Everyone says she'll pass me up in the next year. She already has passed her older brother (he doesn't like that one bit). We had a great day together for the occasion. We went shopping for some new clothes for her, went to see Nim's Island (GREAT family movie BTW), and out to eat. Daddy presented her with two tickets to see the Lippazaner Stallions Show for just the two of them. They went out for their date on the following Friday night. =]

Spanish finished up last Monday night. That's Level II under our belt. I think we're going to wait until the fall to start the third level.

Gosh, I think that's all I can fit in for now. Potatoes are done. =]

More to come....

What a weekend we've had! I have to laugh when I think about how much the kids have been praying for snow. And it finally came!

Friday was a fun day as we awoke in the morning to word that "the snow" was coming. And not just a little snow, mind you.....I'm talking about BIG snow for our world. LOL We don't usually get alot of snow during the winter here.....it's more like alot of rain. But the forecast was music to our ears when we heard that we could expect atleast 12 INCHES by noon on Saturday. Hooray! Hooray!!

We decided to go to the grocery first thing Friday morning (along with the rest of the city) to make sure our weekend wouldn't be interrupted by a needless trip out for staples. We were determined that the only reason we'd be going out was for building snowmen and sledding in the park.

Sure enough, the snow and sleet started early and by noon we already had a couple inches. We made it to the store and back just fine, and Honey made it home from work around 3pm. We headed out to the hills around 5pm. There were a bunch of people there, but plenty of room for us. We stayed and played until about 9:30pm!! We were sledding by the light of the reflection of the snow. The sleet and wind stung our faces as we flew down the long and bumpt hill and climbed back up dozens of times!! It was so much fun!! By the time we left, it was almost blizzard conditions, with ice, slush, and rapid accumulation. We dared to stop for a late dinner at Skyline Chili and made it home around 10:30pm.  God was good!!

The fun didn't stop there. The snow continued through the night and didn't stop until about 1pm on Saturday. We made our way back over to the park (btw, I'm so thankful for our experienced DOT and their preparation and maintenance of the roads during this very serious winter storm.....they must've known there'd be thrill seekers like us!!) ha, ha ......we made our way back over to the park with two thermos's of hot choco, trail mix,  and a jug of water. Today was even better. By 2pm the skies were BLUE, believe it or not. The wind had died down. And the temperatures remained very cold. The slopes were packed!!

I don't even know how many times we went up and down those hills. I just know that my 40+ year old body is definately feeling it today!! I'm stiff as a board!! But, I wouldn't change it.....as soon as I get our pictures up, I'll post them. You couldn't of asked for a more perfect weekend.

Today we rest....and get a few things caught up.

We have a fun and busy week ahead....

• A fieldtrip tomorrow to the Creation Museum
• We find a prom dress for Adri. They don't have proms back home in Spain. This is a big deal!!
• Bowling with the Boy Scouts on Wednesday night.
• Blue and Gold Banquet for Connor on Friday. He gets his Bear rank!!
  
   

Well, this month is coming to a close and I have to admit, it's been a doozy. If you visit even semi-regular, I feel like I've left you hangin' out there this month. I apologize. I can only say that sometimes, as much as I'd like to sit down and blog.....it's about the last thing that I'm remotely able to do.

We've had some major events going on in February. Some, I touched on here and there, but I never really got to expound upon.  Let's see if I can sum them up in a few bullets....

• In the midst of our 40 Days at church, I was privileged to be apart of the planning team that organized a Prayer Journey to be held on the 16th. This was a first for our church, at church. We've done this a few times in past years at our annual Family Campin the summer, but this was a whole new experience in our building. Although we were expecting about 500 more, we had a good show of around 200 that Saturday morning. We started with an awesome time of worship, confession and thanksgiving in our present sanctuary. Then we dismissed the body throughout the church facility to go out and pray over all of the specific prayer requests submitted by the 20+ areas of ministry. An hour later we joined again in the parking lot where the new sanctuary is to stand and heard an excellent message based on 1 Peter 2:4,5......about what it means to be "living stones" for Christ.  Oh, it was such a blessed day to remember! I thank God that we were not only able to come together like that, but also for the lives that were changed that day!
• Last weekend, on the 23rd of February, was the culminating day of our campaign.....the final day of the 40 Days of Prayer, and the day that we would make financial committments for the new building, renovation, and church partnership. This coming weekend we should hear how close we are to meeting our initial goal of 8 million. All things are possible through Christ!! Amen!
• I was sorry to not get  my "love story" submitted to SmallWorld for Valentines Day.....I reeeaalllllyyyy wanted to! This week I decided that I'm going to try to do it anyway. It's a good story, if I do say so myself.   So, stay tuned....lol
• Today was a sad day for us....my kitty of 18 years died last night. He and his brother who died a couple years ago were my first pets when I got my own place a couple years before Bruce and I were married.  We will miss him.
• Adri and I went to see a play at her school a couple weeks ago....the Shakespearean Much Ado About Nothing. Believe it or not, that was my first! I've read a couple of his plays, but I've never actually seen one. These highschoolers were very talented too. They did a terrific job. And I loved the story too. I think I'm hooked now....

Well, I believe that catches me up for now. I pray you have a great day! Thanks for stopping by!

Home For Him,

Deborah 

The weekend was quiet, and a pleasant surprise. 

Friday night Adri went to a movie with some friends and then to a get-together. Honey, the kids and I went to Chick-filet for dinner with a "thank you" giftcard from one of my public speaking students. That was a nice treat. Afterwards we went to Regis to get Briar and Clara's hair cut....Briar's was about to drive us crazy with this whole "skater's look". We found an acceptable compromise. =] On the way home we picked up some movies from Hollywood Video and enjoyed the rest of the evening at home.

On Saturday, I did something that I NEVER get to do.......Honey woke me up a little early for a Saturday (for me....9am!) - and said I should get a head start and go shopping for my birthday all by myself!! (I turn 42 on Tuesday the 15th... I can't believe it....=])  Wow!! I have to admit, that "by myself" thing was a real motivation. How often do we get to go ANYWHERE by ourselves, eh?? LOL

So, only because he told me to (tee hee), I got up, got dressed, brushed my hair and teeth, grabbed some coffee, and I was gone!  It was really nice to be able to mosey my way through Kohl's without having to hear "Moooooommmmm, can we hurry?? Moooommmmm, I'm hungry....Mooommmmm, I'm tired......Mooommmm, can we go somewhere else? This place is boring....."  God love 'em!! They're awesome kids, but they have no patience for stuff like that.....most kids don't. 

Anyway, after trying on a g-jillion pairs of jeans and tops, I whittled my pile down to what was within my budget, stopped by the shoe department for a pair of boots, and...........four hours later...........I was hopping back in the van and heading to the grocery for a quick stop.  I was feeling pretty good!!

I arrived back home around 2pm. The kids met me in the driveway with news they just couldn't wait to tell. They had spent the time that I was gone cleaning the house! WELL, this day just keeps getting better!! I walked in the front door to the fresh smell of lemon scented cleaner with a side of bleach. They had vacuumed, cleaned the bathrooms, started the laundry, straightened their rooms and mopped the floors. Wow, I thought, this birthday thing is really starting early this year! And Honey was just pulling my van out into the street to give it a bath! I like this!!

In the evening, Clara and I went to church to serve in Club Jr. We got home around 6:45pm and I made pork steaks, garlic potatoes and corn for dinnner. All three kids went to the neighbors house to spend the night.

This morning we went to church early for a Youth Volunteer Orientation meeting for the kids. They like to serve in the 2yos room. This is their second year. Afterwards we had donuts in the lobby and went to the 11am service. This weekend is the kickoff for our new stewardship campaign. Tuesday, my birthday, will be the beginning of 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting for our church....I'll write more about that this coming week.

Today was relaxing. It rained all day....a good day to nap. Plus, the playoffs were on.....that makes it even a better day to nap! LOL For dinner tonight: ham quiche, salad, biscuits and cinnamon rolls for desert.

Lord, I pray for your protection and guidance over our family this week. Help us to follow you with all our hearts and love eachother well. Please be with Honey this week with his crazy work schedule....my friends Anna and Julie who suffer from depression...the people of Nairobi, Africa.....our church as we pray for your direction and will to be done....our president, his staff, and our soldiers fighting for freedom and democracy in Iraq. 

In Jesus' Name, Amen

My Honey came home today from work and announced that next week he'd be starting a new project. He is a foreman at a local construction company. This new job is going to be a renovation of an existing hardware store. It won't start until the store closes each day......6pm. The first day is Monday.....he'll be starting at 6pm and getting home around 10am the next morning.  Ugh!!

It took a few minutes for the implications to set in..... and all of the sudden it occurred to me.....are you saying that you'll be home sleeping during the day??? Leaving right after dinner and not getting home until the next day after breakfast??? Well.....good luck with that!!!  (okay, I'm just kidding.....but I did think it for about 10 seconds.) In actuality, I was already kindof missing him.... 

Yuck!! I am not very pleased with this KINK in our lifestyle here!! BUT, I guess since he does such a good job of providing for our family and supporting me, I will do all I can to support this temporary inconvenience.  I love him.

For a moment, I'm going to have to boast.....he was in a meeting with all the foremen and project managers last week and one of the "big wigs" starting complimenting a certain foreman about the way he runs his jobs and the good relationships he keeps with his crew and subs.....really talking this guy up.... Bruce had no idea he was talking about him. LOL And then he announced who this great guy was and everyone looked at Bruce and said something like....how much did you pay him for that????  

That's really good, I thought. He's needed that little boost for a while from work.

You know our men need stuff like that sometimes. Especially from us. Not in a "high maintenance" kind of way, but just enough to let them know that they've been noticed, admired, and appreciated. They need some good 'ol attaboys! Somewhere I read about a survey that was done with men. They were asked what they needed the most from their wives. And above everything else, they said respect. I think the second thing was encouragement. And ofcourse, you know it'd have to be high on the priority list....sex came in third.

I have not always been able to fulfill the needs of my husband. Many reasons.....miscommunication....not listening.....pure selfishness.  But, when we finally did start really talking about stuff (somewhere around years 8-10) .....respect, encouragement and sex were definitely his top three desires (and that was way before I'd ever read about the survey!).  I don't think that's something that many wives want to hear. For a time, I know I didn't. But, thanks to Jesus, He has given me the desires of my heart. And, I have learned to accept the desires He has for me the be the kind of wife that Bruce needs. By no coincidence, it's made me a better person.....and a better mother.  Funny how that works, huh?

At any rate, I'm excited for him and the new unabound trust his supervisor has in his abilities. I could've given that speech at one of those meetings a long time ago!! 

Happy New Year!

I hope and pray that this greeting finds you healthy, joy-filled and encouraged by the prospects of God's purpose and grace for your life in this new year. I know that I am.

We had an eventful holiday season with traveling as well as Adri's family visiting for five days through the new year. I have many pictures to share from our time together as soon as I get them off my camera. My dh gave me a new digital camera for Christmas and I have to admit that I went a little crazy. LOL

We have only two more days left of our break and I am feeling the twinge of pressure to sit down and put some things in some resemblence of order before we start.....does anyone relate??? I am also feeling a sense of relief though too.....we don't have nearly the same full schedule as we did in the fall.....for that I am happy.  With regard to my blogging, I feel like I literally fell off the face of the earth!!!  But I don't think that I'm alone. Amen??

You may have noticed that I got another wild hair and changed my template again. I have to admit though, my love for variety and choice is leaving me feeling a little bored with our choices of templates. I half way thought of trying to learn to design one myself. Well, it'll be down there on that priority list. For now, I do really like this one. My daughter is using the same one....she'll get a kick out of me being a "copycat". LOL

Okay, enough blabbing for now. One NY's Charge this year is to blog atleast three times a week. Can I do it??? We shall see......I may need some encouragement though.  I definitely need to get back in touch with some friends around here. I'm sorry.....I'm a terrible blogger friend.....

Wow! I haven't had a morning like this for a while.....the house is quiet....it's going to be a cool, beautiful day. Bruce, Clara and Connor just left for our friend's barn to take care of some horses while they're away. Briar and his sleepover buddies are still "sleeping over". Adri is still in bed from staying up with me to watch a movie. =]  It's our first Saturday in two months that we haven't had soccer games.

I've been trying to formulate a plan for the day in my mind. I'm going to make a big dinner tonight....I've been skimpin this week.....I'll put some pork steaks in the roaster, baked potatoes, mixed veggies, and rolls....maybe I'll make a Derby Pie....that sounds good. I just started the laundry again. That won't be too awful since I did a few loads two days ago. I think I'll also get the kids winter clothes out today. I need to do that. Gosh, I'm wondering if Clara will fit into ANYTHING from last year....she's growing so fast!! Becoming quite a young lady she is.  Let's see....anything else.....call mom....call my sis. We serve at church tonight, go for church in the morning, and have Connor's flag football game in the afternoon. Okay, I think I've covered everything.

Direct my path according to your Word and let no sin rule over me.  Psalm 119:133

Adri had a pretty eventful week. She and her Theater Class put on a play entitled Dirty Work in High Places. It was a screwball comedy. They had alot of fun with it. She had five lines that she did VERY well, I must say. They spent the last two weeks after school practicing and painting the stage scenery and gathering props and such.  I think she enjoyed it. They had two performances for the public and then on Monday, they're going to do a day time performance for the school. By that time, they'll have all the kinks worked out. =]

Bruce, Briar and his buddies went to a Middle School Late Night event last night. It went from 9pm - 1:15am. They had it at the Basketball Academy....a new place in town. They have all kinds of crazy fun stuff to do like lazer tag, huge jumpers for big kids, sumo wrestler mat, and a ton more. They also have 5 basketball courts and 9 volleyball courts. This last month they started reaching out to the homeschool community offering league sports and PE classes. It's very cool!! Anyhoo, the boys had a GREAT time. I think they stayed up for another hour playing video games and then crashed.

Yesterday, we took our Homeschooler's Fieldtrip Club to see The Secret Garden on stage. The kids and I have been reading the book. We also have a copy of the old movie. They did a very good job with it. It was about an hour and a half long. We're going to do a short unit on it this coming week....lots of great themes to talk about. In two weeks we have a trip to Louisville Slugger Museum and Bat Factory. We're really looking forward to that one. I can't believe we've lived here for 16 years and have never been there before.

Our public speaking class has been a real challenge for the kids. I think Clara and Connor are kind of naturals at it, but I for Briar, he's been having to work harder to get over nervousness about presenting. I'm very proud of him. As much as he says he doesn't like it, he's continued to work hard on his assignments. The last couples weeks they've presented expository speeches, extemporaneous speeches and this coming week, they have a dramatic or humorous interpretation. Then a persuasive and then they focus three weeks on perfecting three speeches for their final presentation day. It's really been alot more work then we thought it would be, but really worth it. I've had several ask I'm going to offer the class in January again. I don't know. We'll see. I'm looking forward to bringing in some poetry and shakespeare in the new year....something we haven't been able to do with all the extra work for the BPS.

Well, this has gotten longer then I planned. =] The natives are stirring and I have to go make pancakes!!

If you're reading this, I pray for God's blessings on your day!!

Home For Him,

 Deborah

We've had a great beginning to our school year!! The kids seem to be loving all the changes, and I am too. In History we've covered Pentecost, the missionary trips of Paul, the evil emperor Nero, the persecution of the Christians, the tradgedy at Masada, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Pompeii, St. Valentine, and more. For Science, we are studying air pressure and wind this week. The MathUSee is working out great!! They love it!. Community Bible Study has been a wonderful experience for the kids and I. It's really nice to all be studying the same material. We're right at the part of Noah cursing Canaan. And we've had some good conversations this week about our words being a blessing or a curse to others.

Our schedule is working out rather well. We have our full days of school at home on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. On Wednesdays, we have Beginning Public Speaking (Communicators for Christ curr.), PE, and on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday, we have Girl Scouts from 1-3pm, after lunch. Thursday mornings are for CBS and a few errands afterwards.

Connor is playing Flag Football for the Y on Monday evenings, with games on Sundays at 2:15. Clara and Briar are playing soccer for the Y...Clara practices on Tuesdays, Briar on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Briar is taking a short break from Boy Scouts this fall. He plans to pick back up with it in January. He needs that....he's been in Scouts now for 7 years. Bruce and the kids go to Small Groups on Wednesday nights...that's my chance to go to the grocery on my own (yippee!!). And Thursday nights are Cub Scouts for Connor and I. So, everything is in full swing right now!! But, the sports will end the second week in November, and the BPS and PE will end the last week in November. Oh, one more thing, I am taking Spanish on Monday nights....I love it....especially with Adri here helping me with home work. =]

Adri, our foreign exchange student from Spain, has been a beautiful blessing to our family. She's been here since August 16th, and it hasn't taken her long at all to be a genuine part of the family. She is attending the local high school. She has homework nearly every night!! Hours of it!! Sometimes, she gets to come with us to a practice or something. But, if its a special thing, she always comes with us. Last week, she and I went to see Briar receive his awards at the BS COH.

We pray for her daily. I think the first few weeks were hard for her....culture shock and homesickness. But, she does talk to her sister and parents via email and chat about once a week. She's met a bunch of friends at school that she's beginning to go out and do things with...the mall, football games, the movies. And, in October, she'll be attending her first school dance for Homecoming. She and a bunch of girlfriends are going together. It is neat to see how excited she gets about doing new things. And at the same time, she seems to really enjoy just hanging out with us. It's a new experience too for her to have younger siblings....they work hard at keeping her on her toes...lol....but she loves it.....lol

One night they came into her room before going to bed to give her good night hugs. She was going to bed too. The kids had a really weird look on their faces and I was wondering what in the world they were up to. But, I quickly found out when Adri jumped in bed....screamed...and jumped back out. They had put this actual sized plastic iguana under her covers at the end of her bed. LOL I'm laughing out loud right now, thinking about how funny it was to see her barreling out of her room so quick, yelling at the kids, and throwing it into their room. lolol It was quite a site!!! And they couldn't stop laughing either!!

Anyway, life is good. God is great!! And even with a busy schedule right now, we are enjoying our family and time together. This weekend is two big events....the ladies retreat at church (different from our Girlfriends retreat) is Friday through Saturday, and we have a ton of family coming into town for our nephews wedding. Rehearsal is Saturday night and the wedding is Sunday.

If you're reading this, have a blessed day!!! And thanks for stopping by! =]

Home For Him,

Deborah