Happy Birthday, Dad

Tomorrow, December 1st is my Dad's birthday. We chose some of the best pictures from the slide show above to give him as a gift. I realize that I talk a lot about my mom, but I don't mention my Dad as much. He is a wonderful father and grandfather. His love is so unconditional and I appreciate him so very much. He is amazingly generous with his money and his time. He has served faithfully in the church for many years. He goes to Russia (Siberia, in the winter, even) to help train Russian pastors to lead their churches. I get my love of books and school supplies from him. We call him "the Laminator" because he loves to laminate things. He has a cooler label-maker than I do.

He is one of the funniest people I know and he often surprises people who don't know him well because he comes across as a little formal until people get to know him. When I was in college in California he would always make several trips down to see me. He would take me to some cool sporting event. We went to baseball games, hockey games, and even a Raiders game once (during the strike season). I guess it is no wonder I ended up a sports fan. I have great memories of my Dad teaching me how to keep score for the 1980 Dodgers team.

I included this picture of him, not because it is the best one of him, but because it shows his joy of being a Grandpa to his two grandsons. Many times when Seth comes over for a visit he will have some crazy Olympics or game tournament set up for the two of them.

In the pool he is known as "the shark" and his "da-da-da-da" (think Jaws) sends the grand kids shrieking to the other end of the pool.

Happy birthday, Dad. I love you very much!!

Can you hear God speak today?

This was our sermon topic two weeks ago. This question has been floating around in the back of my mind since this sermon. The question is not a general yes-or-no question about whether God can speak today, but a personal question. "Can *I* hear God speak to me today?" Our pastor is doing a series from the minor prophets and it has been good. The key verse was Habakkuk 2:20 "But the Lord is in his holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before him." This is contrasted with the lifeless idols that the people were trusting in. (see Habakkuk 2:18-19). Basically God is saying to us, "HUSH!" I think this is timely advice during the Advent season. There are so many voices we can listen to that can take the focus off Christ. We just need to HUSH! One of the pastor's closing points was that "so often we desire for God to hear what is on our hearts; we need to be silent before God to hear what is on his heart for us."

The sermon was followed by a testimony of a couple who clearly heard God speak to them and tell them to adopt a very high-needs little boy who has half a heart. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house when they talked about how following God's voice is not always the easiest choice, but the blessings are so enormous that they would make the same choice again.

And we followed this testimony with five minutes of silent prayer where we were instructed to just listen. Do you know how LONG five minutes seems in a quiet auditorium? But it made me realize how much of an agenda I bring to my prayer time. My list. My requests. My time. But, I rarely just listen.

So, I challenge you sometime this week..."HUSH!!" and be silent before him.

Unit 1 Celebration Night

Here is a slide show of our Unit 1 Celebration. We had a Seder dinner and a museum of the artifacts that the kids had made. The kids each gave an oral report. If you are interested, you can read a little (a very little) bit more at my homeschool blog Magnum Opus Academy. I think these slide shows are pretty cool!

Things that make me happy.

I love the whole Christmas season. Everything! I got my decorations and trees up on Friday and they make me soooooo happy. Here are few other things that made me happy this Thanksgiving weekend.

1. The Williams-Sonoma Winter Forest dish soap. It literally makes me happy while I'm doing my dishes. It smells like a Christmas tree. And, since I am a fake tree kinda gal, I love having that scent around.

2. This also made me happy.....and more than a little nervous. But, the result made me happy.

3. Speaking of football, I watched three games yesterday. And I finished knitting my new hat. Don't all women love to watch football and knit? They were all very close exciting games. That made me happy. (Sorry Pam about Denver....I was actually rooting for them!)

4. Church made me happy this Sunday. They had a baptism/prayer service. Twelve people were baptized and shared these amazing testimonies of what God has done in their lives. It was so encouraging. One small group was all being baptized together. They shared in a sort of chain reaction how God had called them because of the people in this small group praying. Life changing stuff.

5. I made a huge pot of veggie soup yesterday. I used carrots and zucchini from our garden that I had shredded and frozen. It made me happy to be enjoying the fruits (or veggies) of all our labor this summer. Plus, we had some frozen raspberries and canned peaches as well.

6. I am thankful, as always, for my family. I read and hear so often about families who don't enjoy being together and I am reminded, again, what a gift I have. I know I say this a lot on my blog, but I treasure that gift every day!! They make me happy.

Calling all Knitting Experts!!!!!

Please help me figure out how to make my octagons not look like breasts!! I am using dpn and I know I'm following the pattern correctly, but I'm not very experienced with the dpn's. Am I doing the center too tight or too loose?I have tried it both ways and it still seems to concave like that. I really love this pattern, but.....well, I think you see the problem. I was hoping when I blocked the pieces together they would flatten out a bit, but it doesn't seem to be helping. What should I do?

Thanksgiving Thoughts

I am thankful for so many, many things!! Today after a long day of moving my sister-in-law and family back into their old house, I am thankful for a healthy body. Sure, I had to go to physical therapy for my massage-chair-neck-injury, but I can lift things, stand for a long time and work hard. That is something to be thankful for. Last week, Danny tore the muscle in his calf and is in such pain. The physical pain is bad, but when the doctor told him it was a "typical middle age injury" the emotional pain was worse! So, we are acutely aware of the blessings of healthy bodies around here.

I went back to link to the post where I told you about my massage chair injury, but I couldn't find it, so maybe I never told you that I am the only person in the history of the world to ever injure themselves in a massage chair at the Sharper Image....in July!! I finally got tired of waiting for the pain to go away and went to the physical therapist a couple weeks ago. I gotta tell you, I was hoping for a few more sessions. He put ultrasonic on it and massaged it, and then I got to lay in a quiet dark room with a vibrating current on my neck. It was so relaxing!! I was kinda sad to have it be done, but glad to have it feeling better. I had to give up my exercise time (6:00 am) to do it. Let's see, exercise or relax? Which would you choose? I think I feel my neck acting up again!

A Star is Born...

Here is the theater where Annsley is performing. Some of the plays are performed in schools or churches, but it is very fun to be in a "real" theater. This has a balcony and everything, so it feels very theater-ish.

This is a very scary picture of Annsley and her friend Rachel. For some reason they look like they are starring in Night of the Living Dead, but at least you can see Annsley in costume.

Here is the group doing prayer and a "power squeeze" before the show. They see how fast they can squeeze hands around the circle. It gets their energy up a bit. Look how teeny-tiny Annsley looks next to all those big kids. (She is on the right.)

Little Women

Annsley is in her very first musical. We participated in our local CYT (Christian Youth Theater) last year, but I was too busy for her to try out for any shows. The show is Little Women, the Musical. If you have never heard the music I highly recommend getting the CD. It is beautiful music and a wonderful show. I can not believe how much I have enjoyed being a part of the show. Quite honestly, Annsley is no more than a "live prop." She in only on stage for 3 scenes, has no lines, no solos, and sings in the chorus on a couple of songs. But, she has a great attitude about it and is thrilled to be a part of it. (And she looks pretty darn cute up on stage...pictures next week!)

All parents in CYT have to volunteer to be on one of the committees and I chose backstage. The kids do most of the set moving, but they need a parent backstage to make sure things run smoothly. The kids are so much fun and I remember how much I love working in a theater. (I taught drama before I had kids and directed a couple of plays/musicals.)

But, the greatest part for me is watching the older kids with the younger kids. They take an interest in them and actually include them in things. The girl who plays Jo (and has an AMAZING voice) actually takes time to talk with Annsley. Jo is in *every* scene and has so much to think about, and she still takes time to include the cast members who have small parts. There is no primadona attitude. As a mother this impresses me WAY more than her amazing vocal talent.

I love that they pray before every show to give glory to God for the performances. I love that the atmosphere is family friendly. It is a safe place for kids to experience theater and develop their talents.

It has been such a positive experience for Annsley and even though it has totally consumed out last two weeks it has been worth it.

My baby is 9 years old.

He has spent half of his childhood with us. Danny and I could potentially be empty nesters in the same time that he already been alive (Does that make sense?) What I'm trying to say is....9 down, 9 to go. :-) That makes me sad. It really is going too fast!! Maybe he'll live with us until he's 30. Why doesn't that thought give me comfort?

Here's a picture of the little 9 year old, candy-grubbin' ninja.

Happy Birthday, Seth!!

Early Halloween...

Every year, the retirement home where my Grandma lives has a Halloween party where kids come in and trick-or-treat and play carnival games. I remember thinking the same thing last year, but I was once again reminded that my kids are no longer cute. I gazed longingly at the lady-bugs waddling cluelessly along and I remembered back to when my kids were Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andyand other costumes that I tirelessly stitched and planned.

This year we decided on the way home from CYT and soccer practice. "Seth, I don't care if your ninja costume from last year is too small. I'm not buying you a new ninja costume." It wouldn't matter what they wear. They just are not going to be cute. My 2-year old nephew was Tigger. Now *he* was cute! But, my kids are just candy-grubbers. They had a game plan this year. No wasting time standing in line for silly carnival games that will win you a plastic prize. Go straight for the candy. If you loop the hall twice the elderly people will never remember. And, if you look at them in the eyes, smile sweetly, and say Thank-you loud enough for them to hear they might stick extra candy in your bag. Those little candy-grubbers!!

Poor Seth

I finally took Seth to get an x-ray on his purple swollen toe. It is broken. This means he will not be able to play in the last game of the season. Both he and his coach (Daddy) are pretty disappointed. How did he break his toe, you ask? During his exciting soccer match on Saturday where he played one of his best games ever? No! It was kicking the nurf soccer ball in our family room. (Or, more accurately, missing the nurf soccer ball and kicking the floor of our family room.) It sounds much cooler to say it is a soccer injury. That's our story and we're sticking to it.

The Love Story-part 1

Since Ree has told such a gripping account of her relationship with her hunky cowboy husband "Marlboro Man" I thought I would endeavor to tell you how my hunky civil-engineer and I got together. My "MM" reminded me that twenty years ago today we went on our first date.

I was an eager (oh-so-obnoxiously eager) freshman at Biola University. He was a homesick freshman and notsomuch eager to be a co-ed living in a dorm. Our eyes met across a crowded room.....OK, so it was a calculus class. It was my very first college class ever. I'm not sure if we really noticed each other or not, to be honest. He was also in my next class (English something), and in the next one as well. Are you anticipating the destiny here, people?

My first thought: He's kind of obnoxious. (He was.)
His first thought: She's such a typical freshman girl. (Oh boy, was I!)

We were drawn together by the fact that the other people in our calculus class all had pocket protectors and we began to give them sweet little nicknames. There were the Plumage Brothers and a boy we called Henry dot-dat. (This was before computers and dot-com were household word and he was also in our programming class.) I think the plumage brothers were named after their bird-like qualities and their propensity to wearing brown. (Brown was not in-vogue in 1986). I would skip class (it started at 8:00 am) because I had taken a great calc. class in highschool and knew the material. He would leave mean notes in my mailbox asking where I was. I think you can all see the writing on the wall. We were destined to be together.

If I were Ree at this point, I would leave you hanging....wondering what happens next.....checking in daily for the next installment of my love story. But the story is almost over and my blogging regularity is sketchy at best.

We became great friends and went out with groups of friends often. We did not actually mean to go on a first date together. It was an accident. A bunch of us had made plans to go to see a movie. Everyone else canceled that night. So, we went alone. And then we came home. End of date. It was only later that we decided it made a good first date. The movie, you ask? What romantic movie did we see? Nothing other than Fatal Attraction. Great movie for a first date, eh?

The rest, as we say, is history. It was a slow transition from friendship to love. Oh, there were some bumpy times along the way where the love part was confusing, but the friendship never was. There was the summer we broke up forever. There was the time where he was going to kiss me for the first time and chickened out. But I'll have to save those stories for another time.

Beauty

Today could not have been more beautiful. WOW! Sun shining, warm but not hot, gorgeous fall colors. It is times like these where I wish I were a photographer or an artist. But, alas, I'm just a mom cheering for her son playing soccer on the most gorgeous day of the year.

It was a great game. The boys were passing and playing so well. They won the game, but more importantly, they were playing great soccer against a pretty good team. The kind of game that makes a coach come home happy. And when the coach is happy, everyone is happy.

Symphony field trip

Today we went to the most delightful symphony concert. All the 5th graders in the whole district (there are 34 elementary schools in town) bussed in to the Opera House and the symphony put on a concert especially for them. I got to go along with our co-op as a chaperon. I was so impressed, both with the thousand plus children that were there and with the concert itself. The conductor, who was a guest conductor from Washington State University, was marvelous with the kids. They did a wonderful variations of Yankee Doodle with 5th grade narrators to introduce the different sections and instruments of the orchestra. They taught the kids how to conduct and even called one girl from the audience to conduct the symphony. We had about twenty homeschooled kids and I was very proud of their behavior and enjoyment of the concert. We discussed favorite moments all the way home. Plus, it was impressive how they got all those kids from all those schools onto all those different buses. It was highly organized and impressive. The music was so beautiful it made me cry.

This made me cry....

This article about Mack Strong retiring made me choke up. He will be missed by the fans and, for sure, the team, but what a classy guy!!! I hope he has many wonderful healthy years with his family.

Meals on Wheels....

Here is the report after one week and one day of our family food co-op (which we have called Meals on Wheels).

I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!

I cook on Mondays and then I'm done (woot woot!!) Today I made four Aztec Quiches and (despite a minor spillage) things came out OK. And the best part is that I don't have to cook for the rest of the week. I just sit back and wait for the food to come to me.

Come on food. I'm waiting.

It almost makes up for the fact that my Seahawks were (sigh) shut out on Sunday!

The "cool" chapter in the Bible....

Conversation overheard by mom after Bible time:

Annsley: Noah was nine hundred and something.
Seth: Are you reading that really cool chapter?
Annsley: I'm reading the one where they tell how old they are.
Seth: I love that chapter!

Huh? He loves the geneology/age chapter? This boy always has loved numbers. He loves to report out to me exactly how old each of them were when they died and how old they were when they had children, etc... Go figure!!

Goodnight sweetheart, I love you....

These are the last words I have heard every night for a little over sixteen years. The funny thing is that Danny doesn't call me sweetheart any other time. He isn't a "sweetheart" kind of guy. It started when we were very first married and the term of endearment may have actually started out in jest, but somehow it has continued.

Some nights he hasn't felt like saying it to me. But, we do not go to sleep until we can both say I love you....and mean it. That means some nights we need to stay up late and talk things over. But this one little phrase has prevented us from ever letting the sun go down on our anger. As we were drifting off last night Danny said it to me twice. He forgot that he had already said it once as he was drifting off to sleep. And it caused me to think about what a wonderful thing it is to hear those words as I drift off to sleep.

And the last words he hears are, "I love you too."

This world has nothing for me....

Last night I was watching my little TV in my "office" which only gets two channels, and the only thing on was some Hollywood show. It just confirmed to me something that God had laid on my heart lately. So many Hollywood type people have very unhappy lives. I don't read magazines or follow the stars, but when I see the headlines I feel sad for these people. They are people who are searching desperately for happiness and trying to fill the void with everything but God. For some reason over the last couple of weeks I have felt compelled to pray for the stars that are on the covers of the magazines in the grocery stores. I pray that God would fill them with His peace and show them how to find true happiness.

This morning in church the message was also geared exactly to this topic. We are going through the book of Hosea and our pastor was talking about people filling their "cups" with everything other than God. Christ is the living water that people are thirsting for. Hosea is, by the way, a heartbreaking picture of how God feels when we reject Him.

We ended our sermon with this awesome song by Jared Anderson. The words to the song say it so much better than I ever could.

Rescue (click on free button to hear chorus)
You are the source of the life
I can't be left behind
No one else will do
I will take hold of You

I need You Jesus
To come to my rescue
Where else can I go
There's no other name
By which I am saved
Capture me with grace
I will follow You

This world has nothing for me
I will follow You
This world has nothing for me
I will follow You

It just goes to show that "having it all" in the world's eyes does not bring happiness. It more often than not brings pain. Power, fame, and riches seem to bring despair more often than they bring fulfillment.

Pharaoh, Pharaoh, woh baby, let your people go...

(Sung to the tune of Louie, Louie)

My four year old niece (my brother's daughter) joined us for history projects today. My brother, Loren, and his wife, Erica, are in Hawaii so their kids are staying with my parents. We had Katie over this afternoon and decided to include her in the history projects. The funny thing is that her mom doesn't really want to homeschool, but Katie announced to me that she was going to be homeschooled too. I asked her if her mommy knew that and she said, "No, she's in Hawaii, but I'll tell her when she gets back." I'm not sure I have her a totally accurate picture of what homeschooling is since all we did was make a cute little book about the ten plagues of Egypt and made a Pharaoh hat. She is pretty determined (you can see that in her serious Pharaoh face) and so maybe I should just apologize to Erica right now for planting the seed in Katie's head!!

Donna, to answer your question, we are studying the same history and science as the cousins, and we normally get together on Wednesday afternoons for history and/or science projects. Last week I also had her kids on Monday morning because she had a meeting. So, we don't school together every day, but once or twice a week.