It is better to give

I came across these verses this morning as I was reading in Proverbs 11:

24 One man gives freely, yet gains even more;

another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty

25 A generous man will prosper;

he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

These verses jumped out at me because we had just been discussing generosity and giving FREELY with our kids. Yesterday we had a chance (through Missio and Interfaith Works) to bring gifts to a refugee family from Burma. The kids are pretty good at being generous, and they were excited to meet the kids we bought gifts for. We knew that this family had next to nothing, and we never expected anything in return for the few small gifts that we brought...

The family we visited has been in America for 3 months. There teenage daughter spoke the most English, and even that wasn't much. But they invited us into their home and gave us their couch (while they all sat on the floor). The kids had such big smiles on their faces as we handed them the gift bags. And the mother was beaming.

The mother motioned for us to take our coats off. Then she said something about rice and ran to the other room. She came back and started handing out shirts to all of us. "Kopi shirt" "Kopi, Christmas, shirt" When we put the shirts on, she decided some of us needed different sizes and settled on a bag for Cadence since all the shirts were far too big for her.

Once she was satisfied with the shirt situation, the mother said something to her daughter and ran out again. This time she returned with a bowl full of food and two spoons. ?? Being an American, I wasn't quite sure what to make of this - but of course she motions for me to sit on the floor and hands me the dish. The light was broken in there living room and it was getting dark outside. I couldn't have identified what I was about to eat if I wanted to. And I wasn't sure I wanted to... if you know me at all you know I am a super picky eater.

Grinning and nodding all the while I grabbed a spoonful of what almost looked like bugs and took a big, smiling bite. I was kind of holding my breath while I chewed in hopes that I wouldn't gag. It was crunchy - really crunchy. I noticed it didn't taste too bad! It turned out to be some kind of nuts with some spices or something. It was really very good, and I was so grateful for that. I proceeded to pass the bowl around to my family and everyone but Cadence had a little.

As we were leaving, the mother kept hugging me and telling me "You make children very happy" "You come back here" "You are family now" "Thank you". It must have been nearly all the English she knew. I wish I had thought to bring the camera with us, but we didn't know how the outing would go. We were told these families normally won't open the door for anyone so we half expected to hand them the presents at the door and then leave. But I did get some pics of us in our gifts when we got home.

It's too bad you can't really see Todd's jacket behind the kids. He is planning on wearing it to church Christmas Eve, so maybe I'll get a better picture of it then.

Christmas Tree pics

We went out last weekend to get our tree, and got it decorated this weekend. This is always a stressful thing for me (I just don't like Christmas very much) but it went really well this year. The kids were all involved and excited about the whole thing.

It was snowing pretty hard when we got to the tree place, so once we found a tree we all liked the kids found shelter under a group of trees. They would have been happy to play there for hours.

After the decorating, we did some family pictures in front of the tree. This was my first ever attempt at using the timer on a camera. Not the greatest picture ever, but not the worst...

Then I got down on the floor to take some shots of the kids. The dog kept running up to me and licking the lens of my new camera!!! But when we tried to get her in a picture, she refused to sit and be photographed. I'm quite sure she has brain damage. At least she's cute.

But they are much cuter!!!

A poem by Gabriel

I was going to type it out here, but I thought it would be better to let him read it to you. He wrote this yesterday during quiet time. He didn't spell yeah right, he spelled it "ya" but it was good other than that.

I don't know what possessed him to write a poem, but he said he is writing another one today. Sorry it is sideways, I couldn't figure out how to rotate a video...

Accidentally Wonderful

This week we went down to spend some time with Todd's family. While we were there, we were lucky to be able to slip away for a night without the kids. We started our date by checking in to our hotel. Our original plan had been to stay at a bed and breakfast, but all the cheap rooms were gone... The hotel we picked had great reviews online, but the first thing we noticed was that there was a lamp missing - just the lampshade remained sitting on the floor. When Todd got the lights on I saw that there were 3 or 4 cigarette holes on the bed spread. I was starting to worry that this wouldn't be such a hot date.


We didn't really have a plan once we got into Charleston, and Todd kept saying "Just trust me." I don't know exactly why, but when he says those words it makes me want to turn tale and run! We walked around the historic district looking for a place to eat. Nothing really looked that good. We were accosted by Chris from the "Vacation Station" who wanted us to come to his sales pitch. The sun was setting and it was getting cold. I was wondering if trusting Todd was really such a good idea.

Then we stumbled upon Jestine's Kitchen. It looked charming, so we decided to give it a try. I think it is fair to say we were both a little apprehensive.




Todd ordered the fresh catch of the day and I ordered some fried chicken. The service was great, the food was great, and we loved the atmosphere. I thought that the desert was worthy of a picture. We felt more than a little silly busting out our camera to take pictures of pie, and were trying to be discrete about it. But the ladies behind us noticed, and then they took out a camera to snap pictures of the fried green tomatoes. It was very good. Todd was quite pleased with himself.

We finished our meal and came to the realization that it was dark (and cold) and most of the historic district was closed up but we still had time to kill. We didn't want to go bowling or catch a movie, since those are things that we can do anytime at home. But we couldn't really think of anything better to do. We headed back toward the hotel, and missed a turn. With the one way streets and us not knowing the area, we ended up more than a little off coarse and not exactly sure how to get turned around.

Todd pulled off to let an aggravated driver pass, and we saw that we were on S Battery Street. Todd's face lit up when he remembered his dad telling him that Rainbow Row was located in the part of town called the battery. We had been hoping for chance to check out this well known strip of houses. We parked the car and walked around. We walked a long time, down several different streets. It was beautiful and somewhat intimate (there was hardly anyone else around) but we weren't finding what we were looking for. Just when we were ready to call it quits, we found Rainbow Row. Since it was night time, the pictures didn't really come out well...

At the end of the night, Todd asked "Why can't you just trust me? Wasn't that a great date?" And I conceded, it was wonderful. Accidentally wonderful. I love you, Todd ;)

American History

Todd pointed this study out to me, and then told me to take the test myself. It is a test of your knowledge of American history and government.

From the story on 9WSYR's website...
Earlier studies focused on college students but this one included Americans with all types of educational, economic, and political backgrounds.71 percent earned an F on the test. 164 people included in the study have held elected office, their average score was 44 percent.

Of course, I scored well above the average elected official. Maybe I should run for president when I'm old enough. Do you know how old you have to be to run for president? I do. If you want to take the test yourself, you can do it here. Click the link that says "take the quiz" near the bottom on the right. If you have a PHD in American history(you know who you are), I expect you to get a 100. If you don't have a PHD, and want to take the quiz, leave a comment with your score. It will be fun, I promise.

Revolution '08

Last night, there was a concert at the Palace Theatre. Among the performers, my very own Missio worship band. I say "mine" because I am very possessive of them, even though I am just their sound tech most of the time. And I am especially partial to the lead guitarist.



Despite a lot of craziness, the show came off well. There were 4 rap artists, Missio, and a band from Buffalo called Relevant Worship. My favorite of the rap acts was Sonz of Thunda. Aside from putting on a great show, they are really sweet guys. I ran sound for a rehearsal for them and they the most polite, considerate guys you could ever meet. Relevant also put on a good show - lots of energy and they were really tight.



I tried to get some pictures of Missio's performance, but my camera sucks. It has no zoom and a lousy flash. So these pictures aren't very good. The first picture is Jim, our worship leader and Jeremy on the drums. They did a great job in spite of lots of craziness and very limited practice time.

And here is the lead player. He is really good, and he's cute too! Unfortunately we had to set up behind Relevant's stuff so I couldn't get a good shot of the amazing mirror finish guitar (yes honey, there is a little sarcasm in there). You can't really tell what Todd is doing back there but I assure you he was playing some face melting leads (no sarcasm here).

Video coverage from news 10 now is http://news10now.com/Video/video_pop.aspx?vids=81048&sid=1001&rid=1013here

Sensory Update

After a lot of back and forth, we decided to try a weighted blanket for Jacob as our first "big" investment. The thinking was, if he starts sleeping better it make lots of other things better, too! His therapist suggested we try a 10 pound blanket. And after lots of research, I bought one from eBay (affordable therapy solutions) that is weighted with poly fill pellets.

Jacob knew that we had ordered a blanket, but I didn't tell him anything else about it. I think he was expecting it to be very clinical - like the one at therapy. He was excited about it coming, but when he opened it and saw it he could hardly contain his excitement! I did snap a picture of his face as he opened the box, but my camera shut down on me and didn't save it. He really was more excited than he looks.

Aside from having a cool camouflage design, it is also very soft. And it is machine

washable. It's small enough that he can bring it down to the couch for school time but big enough that it will just about cover his body when he lays down.

Quarter Report

Well, we are now officially one quarter of the way through a new school year. The report has been typed up and sent off in the mail. And I'm still standing (yeah, yeah, yeah).

I have to say that my boys are loving early American History. Thank you Sonlight!!! Gabriel (my 4 year old) was reading a Junie B. Jones book about a Columbus Day play and he came to tell me that the book was wrong because it talked about Queen Elizabeth but spelled it wrong and Elizabeth didn't have anything to do with Columbus. Because he knows that she was the queen a hundred years later when Roanoke was settled. After a minute I realized that it must say Isabella, and reminded him that she was queen of Spain when Columbus sailed to the new world.

Not all subjects are going as well as history, but I think that we are off to a good start none the less. Latin is going fairly well. I am seeing improvements in Jacob's spelling even if they come slowly - I think switching to a true mastery approach for spelling has been a good thing. His writing has matured significantly this quarter.

It is math that really concerns me. He is good at math concepts. He understands new stuff quickly. But he can't remember math facts to save his life and he never works carefully through the steps of a problem. And so now, Mr. Math Whiz says he hates math! I am in the process of stepping back and trying to fix that, but I don't have complete confidence in myself here.

And lest I leave Cadence out, at three and a half she can finally count consistently to five, and sometimes even gets to ten. That is after us counting with her several time a day for months. She also has learned to recognize the letter "m". It is the only letter she knows, but knows "big M, little m". I think Super Why taught her that, 'cuz I decided to give up on letters until she figured out how to count.

I hate Sensory Disorders!!!

I just have to say that well therapy seems to be going well, and I am oh so thankful to finally have a diagnoses for my oldest and most troubling son, I HATE SENSORY INTEGRATION DISORDER! The last week or two has been rough. And with the weather turning colder, my options for appropriate therapeutic activities are dwindling. I have found that things like a long walk with Jacob pushing a stroller work well to calm him, but if it is cold Mr. Sensory will be flipping out the entire walk because it is cold outside.

Nothing calms him down and gets him focused like some intense swinging. You should see the kid when walks out of therapy. I wish I could bottle it and keep that boy all week long. We don't have a swing set and aren't sure that getting one would help... would he go out to swing in the cold? And a normal swing is no good. He likes to spin and twist (think tire swing). We could maybe mount a swing to the ceiling, but then he would likely destroy some walls or something because he is such a maniac.

I did fill an old pillow sized stuffed Bob the Builder with marbles for weight. He has been sleeping with that on top of him the last few nights, and he seems better rested in the morning (and he is sleeping later). At first Jacob was very resistant to the idea of a weighted blanket, but I figured out that the one at therapy is just too heavy for him (it's 20 pounds) and he is interested in a lighter one.

One other really great thing that I have found is that he loves to scrub walls and appliances. Any kind of scrubbing or cleaning is good proprioceptive input for him. One of the books I read specifically mentioned a spray bottle, and Jacob will use a half bottle of Windex in a day, but he happily goes around and cleans (sort of) off all the dirt that he put all over my walls. And after a wall or two, he is more calm but it isn't as lasting as some of the other activities. I think I will teach him to scrub the bathroom floor with a scrub brush next...

Happy Halloween?

You decide...

The Bible and Harry Potter...

are two of the books that I am currently reading. The other day I came across this passage in Luke that I don't ever remember hearing until this fall...
"Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat?' Would he not rather say, 'Prepare me my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' " Luke 17:7-10

Jesus is telling his followers that service to him should not be done in hope of gaining status or reward. It is simply our duty to serve him. This parallels something that I have heard Jordan say over and over. "God is deserving of our worship because of WHO HE IS, not what he has done for us..." I have been challenged by that thought, as one who previously ascribed worth God primarily as savior (of myself and the world). We are to serve him because is the boss. We are to worship him because he is holy, perfect, true and just. God does not have to give us anything in return for our service to him. I think we forget that sometimes, at least I do.

But what has Harry Potter got to do with it? I'm glad you asked! I am nearing the end of the final book in the series, and Dumbledore says something to Harry that struck a chord in me...
"Perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who , like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well."

It made me think back to the passage in Luke. The best leaders are the ones who aren't looking to gain anything from it. Because if you think you have something to gain, you will lead selfishly.

So, that is where I am at. Trying to learn to have the heart of an unworthy servant. That means I have to be content in every situation, even I can't seem to see any gain for myself in it. Sometimes, that really stinks!

Croup Attack

Gabriel gave me a good scare yesterday afternoon. He had been sounding a little croupy for a couple of days, but not coughing so much as just sounding hoarse. He was a little lathargic all morning, so I told him to lay down during quiet time. Being my sweet, compliant child, he did lay down and fall asleep.

When I woke him up to go get Todd he was still pretty lathargic, and his color was bad. His hands and feet were pale and cold. He was laboring to breathe and not getting enough oxygen. I took him into the bathroom and steamed it up for him while I called the doctor's office. I was pretty nervous about leaving him in the bathroom alone, but I couldn't hear with the shower running.

The Dr. said to bring him right in. So I grabbed some warm juice and a lollypop (some of the best croup remidies) and opened the car window for him. Then we sat in the office and waited. This was making me nuts. I pulled out of the steamy bathroom to bring him here, and we're just sitting here! His color was still bad, but his breathing was less labored so I just sat there, staring at him, waiting.

Finally, there was a knock on the exam room door. In walks a young girl I've never seen before. She explained that she was a P.A. student and asked to look at him before the doctor came in. I was torn here - if the doctor is sitting in his office doing nothing, I want him in here looking at my kid. It's not like we're talking about an ear infection or something non-threatening here...but if the doctor is still with another patient, than having this girl in here is better than nothing, and she should be able to tell if he needs a shot of steriods or not. So, I said sure, go ahead.

Well, it turns out that she couldn't tell much of anything, except that his ears look good. She kept asking me things like "So your real concern is his cough?" And in my head I'm thinking, "No, my real concern is the fact that he is bordering on turning blue!!!" But, like I said, he was breathing easier now so I was gracious and said "Uhh, yeah".

When she came back with the doctor, he started asking me questions about wheezing and his Singular. At this point, I was starting to question my own sanity. All my kids have breathing issues. They all get wheezy and they all get croupy and I can tell the difference...I used to be able to tell the difference...I pretty sure he's croupy...I think...maybe... But then the doctor listened to Gabe and had him cough. He turned to the student and said "That is all upper respiratory, you can tell because it sounds the same no matter where you listen, and that cough is definitely croupy."

So, I'm not loosing my mind. Yet, the doctor doesn't seem as concerned as I am about the attack. He then explained croup to me, very thoroughly. I was a little irritated (don't you think I already know this...I do have three kids), but I have to give him credit since he isn't our regular doctor and his explanation was pretty good.

At the end of his spiel, he made a point I hadn't thought of. If Gabe had such a bad attack at nap, we were probably in for a really rough night. He gave us some Prednisolone and told me to get Gabe's room all steamed up at least an hour before bed. He said hopefully by the middle of the night the Predisolone would be working and between that and the steam we might make it through the night okay.

We had to buy a new vaporizer, which at $60 made me turn a little blue! We decided to put Gabe on the air mattress in our room to be sure that we heard him if had any trouble. We heard his little croupy cough on and off during the night, but it was never more than a little bark and he slept quite soundly. So in the end, I am glad that he had that nap time attack. Otherwise we may have ended up at the ER last night.

Photos

We went to camp last weekend. While we there I discovered that my mother, who is...shall we say....technologically challenged...had run out of room on her camera's memory card. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to deal with such an epic ordeal, I offered to take it home and burn all the pics onto discs for her. Here is some of what I found among the 735 pictures (after the 417 of their trip to Italy)

This first one is my mom out four wheeling with my grandparents - it's just kind of funny to me.

Don't worry, they don't really let Jacob drive!

Here are a few from the time we brought the BURROWS to camp with us.

The four wheelers couldn't make it through the path here, so the men had to do something. (It isn't every day that you get to rip down a tree with your bare hands).

There were also pictures from our last few trips to the NYS Fair. I was struck by how old Jacob looks in this group picture. And then in the VFW tent, one of the guys outfitted Jacob for war in Vietnam.

And finally, a picture from our hike in the woods last weekend.

Where have I been?

I know, it has been a long time since I posted. It is fall, and fall is pretty busy around here! I have managed to keep up with my blog reading (for the most part), but I rarely even take time to comment. I have to hurry up and read through them in the morning before this starts:

Daily Schedule
8:30 Morning Chores
8:45 Bible/History/Poetry/Lang. Arts
9:30 "Preschool" (Cadence)
9:45 Math Lesson/Spelling Power (Jacob)
10:25 Reading Lesson (Gabriel)
Work alone (Jacob)
10:45 Latin/Typing (Jacob)
11:30 Read aloud
12:00 Lunch
12:30 Quiet Time (my chance to read, play gutiar, plan for school, practice Karate, pay bills, return calls, and maybe play Dr. Mario)
2:00 Typing (Gabe)
2:30 Review Math, reading and vocab (Jacob)

Then I have to correct work and think about dinner. Sometimes, if Cadence wakes up early enough from nap, I can get some laundry put away before I go get Todd (or he comes home). It's not unusual for me to finish correcting work while I eat dinner.

I am trying to get back into the swing of posting...but right now I need to go teach!

Red Letters

I am about half way through my second reading of Red Letters by Tom Davis - I'm reading it to Todd this time. We read a chapter here and there, and then discuss it. This book has really made me stop and think. While Davis' main focus is on the AIDS crisis in Africa, he speaks generally of suffering, poverty and injustice around the world. I have been challenged to look for ways to really "live a faith that bleeds".

One point that really struck me as I read and re-read it was the way in which the early church responded to the needy. I know I have read other things about how the early church was known for caring for the sick and needy when no one else would, but Davis quotes some documents written to instruct the early church. " Didache (perhaps written around 100 CE), instructed Christians to 'Give to everyone who asks thee, do not refuse'."

Especially since my husband works with the local homeless population, I would (and do) undoubtedly refuse to help the guy on the corner with the sign. Because I know that if he wants a place to sleep and three square meals a day he can walk over to the Rescue Mission. I know he won't go to the Mission because he is supporting an addiction that he doesn't want to give up. If I give to him, I am feeding his addiction. But the heart of the early church was to give "without asking doubtfully"! And how did Jesus respond to people? Matthew 9:36 (NIV)says

• When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Remembering that there is nothing new under the sun, I have to assume that some of the people Jesus was having compassion on were, like the addict on the corner of Hiawatha Blvd.., perpetuating their own troubles. But he didn't judge or worry about enabling them. He had compassion.

One other place that Davis takes Jesus words and uses them to cut through indifference of my heart is when he examines Matthew 25:41-45... It is a familiar passage to many - Jesus is telling his followers how one day he will separate the sheep from the goats. The sheep go to heaven and the goats roast in hell. And what is it that determines who goes where? The people who "asked Jesus in their hearts" get to go to heaven, right? I mean, that was the core of what I was always taught. Say the magic prayer to get into heaven. As I grew in my faith and understanding, I came to understand that far beyond the magic prayer one must live a life that bears fruit consistent with following Christ (patience, goodness, self control, etc). But even this is not the determining factor according to Jesus.

The litmus test, according to Jesus, is this: Did you feed the hungry? Give a drink to the thirsty? Offer a bed to the homeless? Clothe those who were cold? Visit the prisoners? Davis asks "What if a life of faith is all about what Jesus was saying here?...If this is true, then those heavenly transcripts that list what we did for the poor, the needy, and the suffering will show evidence of whether or not our Bible study, our discipleship groups, our quiet times, and our pew-sitting actually moved the short distance from our head down into our heart."

For most Christians in America, that thought must be terrifying. I know it is for me. We cling to excuses like "I don't have the time to volunteer, I don't have the money to give, I don't want to expose my family to those things...." But, what if that is it? We busy ourselves with church programs, filling our heads with Christianese while using our busyness as an excuse to ignore that which Christ has commanded us to do. We can afford flat screen TVs, gas guzzling SUVs, houses that are too big for us, and lots of fast food, but we can't afford to give to those in need.

Davis points to this quote from Richard Rohr's book From Wild Man to Wise Man: "It is the risk of 'acting' like Jesus acted that reconfigures your soul. We are converted by new circumstances much more than by new ideas... we do not think ourselves into new ways of living we live ourselves into new ways of thinking." (emphasis added) So Todd and I have been asking... "How can we live ourselves into new ways of thinking?"

MMR Circus Song

The Ranch, part 3

Okay, here is the last of the vacation pictures. Lets start with the swim cap, shall we? It was undoubtedly one of the highlights of our week.

It all started while we were watching Michael Phelps work his Olympic magic. I commented on the funny bathing suits that the men were wearing, which led to a discussion about how swim caps make you faster...and then Roger (my brother-in-law) put a swim cap on - to help him think faster or something. My niece, Nicole was kind enough to point out to her father that the swim cap made him look "special". From that point we launched into all kinds of politically incorrect jokes that included the short bus Roger drives around the ranch.

The swim caps kept reappearing all week long, on the heads of various people in the house. Now, some of you may not realize that Todd is something of a rock star at the ranch! Several years ago, he recorded an album ( Click here to get a listen, I suggest tracks 5 and 11), and that album has a hidden track. And, much to his mother's dismay... that hidden track is hilarious and catchy. Before they were on staff, Cathy and Roger had played the hidden track for some apprentices at the ranch. And then, every day for the entire year, that song would get stuck in someone's head.

While most of Todd's fans had graduated and moved on, a few stayed around for a second year. And of those remaining was the guy who announced the weather and told jokes (in character as Eustice the weatherman) to the whole camp each morning. He was beside himself with excitement when he realized he could sing the circus song with Todd accompanying him. And what did they wear for the performance? Swim caps! Someone took some video, but I haven't been able to get a hold of it yet.

Other than that, we experienced the confidence course and went to the beach. The first confidence course activity involved a whole bunch of tire swings, and the whole family was supposed to get across the swings without touching the ground. And you can't say anything negative to anyone else in the process. It is much harder than it sounds!!!

And, now for the picture Todd said I had to post - it really isn't as funny as he thought it would be...

The Ranch, part 2

A couple of different times we ventured away from the ranch - down the mountain and into civilization. We went into Erie by ourselves one day to visit the Maritime Museum and Presque Isle. We thought we would hike or walk the beaches at Presque Isle, but that morning I went for a run and had a little mishap with my ankle. I finished my run and thought I was fine, but by the time we got to the beaches, I was limping pretty bad and Todd kept saying "No, I don't need to ice my ankle, I'm fine".

Needless to say, we decided that a walk was a bad idea. So we rented a canoe! We've talked about canoeing before, but never actually done it with the kids out of fear (on my part). I couldn't possibly imagine my children sitting still in a canoe and not tipping it over. And then they would all be traumatized and never go in a boat again.... But Todd assured me that it would be fine. He took the boys in one boat, and us girls went in another.


Cadence was sure that we were going to get lost out in the water once the rental place was out of sight. But she sat on the floor next to me and didn't move, except when she was trying to paddle. The boys did great, too and we were out on the water for almost an hour without an incident. After canoeing we met Cathy and Roger in Erie (they had some ranch business in the city) and all went to PERKINS for dinner. We have discussed moving south just so we can eat at Perkins, we miss it so much!


On another day, we all went together to the Allegheny National Forest to go hiking and go to the beach. My pictures of the hike don't do it justice. Cathy had some great ones, but I forgot to get them from her before we left.


In this picture, Todd told us all to make muscles, and then Cadence busted into her Spider-Man routine and started shooting webs at me as Todd was taking the picture. There are a few more pictures I want to post, and one Todd told me I have to post, and of course the story of the swim cap, but blogger is uploading really slowly right now, and I have a house full of neighborhood kids, so I guess there will have to be a part 3.

Vacation at the Ranch

We had a great week at Miracle Mountain Ranch visiting my sister and her family. There were summer camps going on, which meant that we didn't see too much of Roger, but it also meant that there were lots of fun things going on at the ranch. The above picture is my three kids with Cathy's girls in the top of the hay barn. I would guess that the hay barn is at least three stories high and the kids loved climbing all the way up the hay stacks. (You can sort of see the ground outside the door in the picture of me, and I was almost at the top, but not quite) Gabe begged several times a day to go to the hay barn.

Critter Corral (the small animal barn) was another favorite spot. Nicole spent most of her summer helping with chores in the Corral, and several days Jacob got up early and went with Nicole to do barn chores. On Friday, he even got to milk a goat! He was surprised that the milk isn't cold when it comes out... My favorite part of Critter Corral was when the goat headbutted the dog and sent it across the barn. (And no, it wasn't my dog...)

Becca and Nicole showed us a little bit of what they have learned on the vaulting barrels (they have done it on a real horse), and then the kids climbed up to give it a try. I'm pretty sure that Cadence was born to vault. She did her best to mimic some of the moves that the girls showed her, and then she started doing some freestyle.

With all of the fun "ranch" things to do, the kids still spent hours and hours playing "olden days" in Cathy's yard. It was great watching them all play so well together!

That is about half of our vacation, and it seems that this post is getting long...so stay tuned for part 2 of "Vacation at the Ranch" where I will discuss the significance of the swim cap.

Totally Random!???

I wrote the Superman Peanut Butter post about 2 weeks ago. I was mad that it wasn't showing up on my blog...but I was tired and I wasn't going to put too much effort into a post about Superman Peanut Butter. And then, randomly, it appeared. Weird, huh?

I have vacation stuff to post as we have recently returned from the Ranch. Maybe I will get to that tomorrow...maybe.

Superman Peanut butter

Do you remember this? I don't know what made me think of it, but last night I was thinking about Superman peanut butter (maybe because Todd was eating peanut butter out of the jar while we watched a movie...)

When I was a little girl I really liked Superman peanut butter. I was convinced that eating it gave me strong muscles like Superman (now picture me flexing my huge three year old biceps) In fact, it was the only brand I would eat - or so I thought. I guess the rest of the family liked Peter Pan, so my mom would refill the Superman jar with Peter Pan peanut butter. The cruelty! Who would do such a thing?

The Best Honey

Todd is attending the Willowcreek Leadership Summit (via satellite) this week. Last night I drove out to pick him up. I love that the Mission sends him to these conferences because he always comes home with great insights on being a better leader (at work and at home). I could tell he was in a really good mood when he jumped into the van. I figured it was just because he had such a great day... but Todd was up to something.



There was one particular speaker, Gary Haugen of International Justice Mission that Todd thought I would be interested in. He took a bunch of notes from his session, which is huge 'cause Todd doesn't usually take notes at all. But he didn't think that he could do it justice, so he bought me something...one of my favorite somethings...

a book! Just Courage God's Great Expedition for the Restless Christian is about "engaging in the fight for justice". We might even read it together, after we finish Red Letters. He's the best!