I'm Losing it!

The View From Grandma's Front Porch Blog

2010-09-19T16:26:00.003-05:00

Due to a lack of interest, (on my part) in doing what it takes to lose weight, as of late...I'm taking a break from my "Losing it" Blog and have started a brand new one. This will be a more general blog, called, "The View From Grandma's Front Porch." You can get there by clicking HERE. Check it out, and once I get my motivation back...I'll resume this one, strictly as an account of my weight loss. Thanks! Catch ya on the flip-flop.

Wordless Wednesday #38 ~ "Dogged Determination"

2010-05-19T16:25:00.002-05:00

CJ's first T-Ball game. He's on a team called the Blue Dogs.

Check out the closed eyes, and the tongue sticking out!

Thanks, Ray! You Made My Day!

2010-04-30T07:00:00.002-05:00

Earlier this year, the stackable washer/dryer we were using in our rented farm house, gave up the ghost. First the dryer, (after months of a very noisy squealing noise while in use), and then the washing machine decided it shouldn't have to work anymore either. I guess it figured if the dryer was retiring, they might as well go together.

Anyway, for WEEKS now, we've been hauling about six loads of laundry to the local laundromat each week. That's only for 3 of us. If I did Jessica and CJ's too, it was more like nine loads. The washing machines cost $1.75 per load, and the dryers could be bribed to go a whole 8 minutes for a quarter. It was quite an expense, not to mention the chore of hauling it all out to a vehicle... and into the laundromat...and back to the vehicle... and into the house... Ugh! To say that I hated laundry day was a gross understatement. Some would say that it should have been the landlord's responsibility to repair or replace the appliances, but they've been very kind and patient with us, and besides, we had a perfectly good washer and dryer sitting out in one of the out-buildings here, from the house we lived in before.

So...first of all, we had to move the freezer from this corner, to where the stackable unit had been, so we could vent the dryer out the wall. Then Ray bought a laundry tub, which he later assembled and installed.

Notice there is no plumbing, gas hook-up, or electricity in this corner...
(Pay no attention to the hideous, filthy linoleum, circa 1930. It doesn't GET any cleaner)

Next, he cut a hole in the wall to put the dryer vent hose through...

And a week after I took the first pics, he had the electricity, LP gas and plumbing all ready to go. There was even hot and cold running water in the laundry tub!

Ray then hauled in the dryer, and I cleaned it up and set it in place, just to see what it would look like. It was finally starting to seem like this project might actually come together!!

But first, my old dryer had to be converted from natural gas to LP.
After that was done, he brought in the washing machine and hooked that all up...

And voila!! My laundry room was finished! I was pretty excited. No more traipsing to the laundromat! Yay!! We tried it out with a small load and it worked just great. The next day, I was happily doing my laundry, and had even brought a small TV in the room to watch while I was folding. Here's the thing that I DIDN'T expect to happen...
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*
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*
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*My grandson, CJ thought it was a great place to hang out, and he (along with the two dogs) sat in there (in a laundry basket of course), watching cartoons for the remainder of the afternoon.
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And to top it all off, when Molly came home, she promptly made herself a PB&J sandwich and joined him in there. She's sitting on the table amongst the folded clothes...Silly kids.

Oh, and if you're wondering how I took a picture from over the laundry tub...since this room was added after the rest of the house was built, there is a window between my laundry room and the living room. Quaint, don't you think?

"360* Life - Ten Ways You Can Live More Richly, Deeply, Fully" by Billy Joe Daughtry ~ Book Review and Giveaway!!

2010-04-29T23:10:00.005-05:00

What if you only had a few days to live?

Would you love?

Would you laugh?

Would you give?

Would you live differently than you do right now?

--Billy Joe Daugherty

That's how this book begins...
The idea of a 360* life, is that we start with God, enter the world, touch others during our brief stay here, and then finally complete the circle to enter eternity with God!

The really interesting thing about this book, is that the author did not live to see this book in print. Sadly, his own brief journey here on earth was over before it was published...which is in itself, a testimony to the fact that this earthly life, is only temporary.

I took my time reading this book, and was once again struck by the way God chooses to get my attention while I'm reading...with everything else going on in my life at the same time, (He tends to do that a lot with me). One of the first times I sat down to read this book, I ended on page 65 where the 23rd Psalm is printed in its entirety. The very next day, I went to a tea party at church, (a REAL tea party, not one of those political ones), where the pastor's wife opened in prayer. She read us the 23rd Psalm! Of course many of us have heard that psalm numerous times in our lives...I was just struck by the "coincidental" timing of it.

A couple of weeks ago, I started a new bible study, "Becoming More than Just a Good Bible Study Girl." The night before, I'd been reading page 21 in this book, about David and Goliath and "Rising Above Your Circumstances" and facing your own giants. There is a video that goes along with this study...yes, in the video that day, she talked about the story of David and Goliath. Imagine that.

Chapter 6 is called "Hearing God's Voice" and talks about learning to hear His Still, Small Voice. The topic of our sermon LAST SUNDAY, was "Be Still and Know That I am God," and was about that very topic. In fact, on page 91 the book talks about 1Kings 19:12, where God sent a strong wind, a violent storm, an earthquake and finally a fire. God's voice was not contained in any of those things...but in a still small voice. Yup, that's what we heard on Sunday too. Coincidence??

So what am I hearing God telling me to do these days? He's telling me that I have been put here on this earth for certain specific tasks...and that I need to learn to listen to Him, and hear His voice, so that I know exactly what it is I am supposed to be doing. He wants me to know that not only did he create those works for me to do, but that He also created ME to do them! He wants me to know that I am loved my Him, and that I should trust in Him, and not worry or be fearful about things. He wants me to pray for my needs with faith and thanksgiving. Believing in my heart that He will provide...

As a matter of fact, I believe I'm going to read this book...one more time. I know there are things in it that I have already forgotten... My memory has never been great.

If you would like a preview of this book, you can download the first chapter here. 360* Life is available at WaterbrookMultnomah.com, BarnesandNoble.com and ChristianBook.com. I would also like to give you, my wonderful readers, an opportunity to win this excellent book. All you need to do, is leave a comment after this post. You can come back and leave one comment each day for more chances to win. I will do a random drawing on May 15, 2010. Make sure to leave me a valid e-mail address, so I can contact you in the event that you are the winner. Good Luck!
Include the FTC disclaimer: This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group

Happy 2nd Blogoversary to ME!

2010-04-18T19:47:00.004-05:00

Okay. It took a total stranger, to leave a comment on one of my posts today, and wish me a happy blogoversary, to alert me to the fact that it WAS my blogoversary! Thank you, Teena in Toronto! I knew that I had started some time in April, 2 years ago, but haven't really been posting a whole lot lately, and didn't remember the exact date. I'm not even exactly sure how Teena knew it WAS my blogoversary today. Unless she went all the way back to the beginning of my posts or something. I DID have a countdown thingy on here, but for some reason, it hasn't been updating correctly, and says there are 162 days to my 2nd blogoversary.

Since it has come to my attention, and I have been planning on recommitting myself to what this whole blog of mine was started for 2 years ago...I will take that as a sign that I have detoured off of my journey to fitness long enough and I'll start my diet tomorrow...

Wordless Wednesday #37~March in Minnesota??

2010-03-31T14:25:00.004-05:00

The Return of... Pod-Molly!

2010-03-31T10:28:00.005-05:00

Now, my 13 yr old daughter, Molly has never been remotely organized, (and of course, she gets it from her mother)....so this was a nice surprise. She has rarely gotten out of bed for school on her own, in fact, we have usually had to yell up the stairs numerous times to rouse her each morning...and then you never knew if she was actually going to get up and catch the bus. Well, for whatever reason, the night before St. Patrick's day, she wrote this on the white board in our kitchen:

And she's been using this check-list daily, ever since then, changing the date and info each night. She's been getting herself up every morning, and has not missed the bus even once during that time. I used to have to bring her to school at LEAST once a week. Ray brought her to school this morning, but that was only so she could pick up some stuff for a lunch for her field trip today. Otherwise she's gotten on the bus every morning before 7AM. This is huge for her...and a welcome change.

She's made some other steps in a positive direction too. Last Friday night, she offered to babysit for free for a young couple, so they could go out with us. She did say that "free will offerings" would be accepted...but I'm pretty sure she was joking. She also decided to join the Youth Drama Team at church, which I think she will really enjoy. She's always been a natural ~~drama queen~~ actress, and a very good narrator. I can't wait to see the skits they will put on.

I'm very excited about these positive changes in my daughters life, and I hope that she will keep up the good work! Good job, Molly!!

Good Golly, Miss Molly Was Even There Too!

2010-03-23T16:53:00.003-05:00

Last Friday, Molly was extremely excited to participate in another "All-City" Choir Concert. This is where all the choir students from 4th grade through 12th grade come together in the H. S. gym and sing as one mass choir. Before they all sing together, they sing a song or two with their own class. Molly is a seventh grader this year, and here they are singing "Splish Splash." She especially liked the parts of the song about her. You know, "good golly, Miss Molly was even there too...and then there was something about Molly "dancing on the ceiling." That was kinda fun.

After listening to each individual choir; middle school, 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade, H.S. and Concert Choir, was the best part of the night. This is approximately 600 students singing a song called "Look at the World." I really enjoyed that song. Molly is in the front row, way to the right -hand side. She's standing next to two H. S. students, and her friend Nevynn, who coincidentally ended up wearing the same exact white shirt as she did.

The kids did a great job, and for the most part, I enjoyed the concert...other than the fact that we were smashed into a gym with all the rest of the parents/grandparents/siblings etc. of the 600 students that were singing. Hopefully, there will never be a fire during one of these events....I fear there would be several people trampled if we ever had to evacuate the gym during one.

Wordless Wednesday #36 ~ "Hey There, My Little Chickadee..."

2010-03-03T00:01:00.007-06:00

"Mind if I hang with you awhile??"

Angels: Who They Are and How They Help ~ What the Bible Reveals ~ A Book Review and Giveaway

2010-02-22T23:19:00.006-06:00

There have been a lot of books written about angels over the years, just go to any site that sells books, and type in "Angels." I just did that, and came up with over 5,000 entries. There are all kinds of myths and folklore about these beings too, perhaps because of the mystery and romance surrounding these heavenly creatures, we seem to want to know all we can about them. I have one book about angels, where someone claims to have met Gabriel, and another angel that is not even mentioned in the bible. While it is POSSIBLE, I can't prove his story. That book was definitely entertaining to read, but I'm not sure how reliable the information in it is, since it's not in the bible. I have to take his word for it.

On the other hand, Dr. David Jeremiah's "Angels" book is completely based on biblical facts. Do we each have our own "Guardian Angel?" Can we call on angels any time we need help? These and many other questions are answered purely based on what the bible tells us about the subject. I found it to be a very interesting and informative book, and highly recommend it.

Summary:

What are angels? What is their role in God’s plan? Are they present? Do they appear? Do they give us personal insight about our work, our worship?

Many contemporary beliefs about angels are based on misconception and myth. Dr. David Jeremiah uses scripture to unveil the remarkable truth about these agents of heaven, and their role and work in our world—and lives.

More than 60,000 units of this powerful book have sold in two past editions. This repackage of the original 1996 paperback will surely capture the attention of readers of all ages who seek a broad and thorough survey of scripture that clearly separates fact from fiction as it relates to angels. The book will appeal to the thousands who follow Dr. Jeremiah’s books, and radio and TV broadcasts.

Relevant, little known biblical facts help readers sharpen their knowledge and sensitivities toward the spiritual reality of angels. Dr. Jeremiah’s enlightening findings are supported with illustrations and insights from Billy Graham, Corrie ten Boom, C.S. Lewis, and more.

Biography
Dr. David Jeremiah is the senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California, and chancellor of San Diego Christian College. He is also the founder of Turning Point, a ministry committed to providing sound Bible teaching through national radio and television broadcasting. Dr. Jeremiah has authored numerous books, including the best-selling "Captured by Grace," "Life Wide Open," "My Heart's Desire," and "Sanctuary."

This excellent book is available from Random House.com and other booksellers. To win a copy of "Angels" by Dr. David Jeremiah, simply leave me a comment after this post. You can leave one comment per day for more chances to win, and I will leave the contest open until March 14th, and then a winner will be chosen by a random drawing. This contest open to all residents of the continental U.S. that are over the age of 18. Please leave a valid email address, so that I have a way to contact you, in the event that you win. E-mail addresses are not used for any other purpose. Good luck!

This book and an extra giveaway copy, were provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Jannessa and Drew, Who Knew??

2010-02-18T23:31:00.007-06:00

About a year and a half ago, I blogged about the "small world" we live in, in a post called, Coincidental Connections. One of these "coincidences" was the fact that my niece, Jackie at one time had a little boy named Joey as one of her first foster children, along with his younger sister, Kryssy. Joey eventually went to live with his father, here in P-town, and about 10 years later, I met him again at my church, after I moved here...but I didn't put two and two together at that time. Well, Joey just HAPPENS to be very good friends with Drew, who is the son of one of my very good friends, Lisa, (QTPies7).

And now, you're thinking, "Okay, but you've told us all of this before, you really ARE losing it now, aren't you? What's the big deal??" (I'm TRYING to make a long story short...but it's not working). Stick with me... after having had Joey and his sister, Kryssy in her care, my niece took in a set of three siblings, Tiffany, Jannessa and Timmy...and then she adopted them all, along with (eventually), Joey's two biological half-sisters, Kryssy and Lily. Anyway, before Joey left for the Marines, in July of 2008, Jackie had a party for him, and invited his friend, Drew. Here's a picture from that party:

For reference, the guy bending over, comforting the little girl in this photo, is my brother, Bob. Directly behind Bob, is Lisa's son, Drew. Then L to R, Kryssy and Joey. In the right-hand corner, (with the date across her chest), is my great-niece, Jannessa. I don't know if this was the very first day they met, (I think Jackie said Joey had brought Drew to their place for dinner before this), but it was right around that time. Now....the big deal is... almost exactly 1 year and 11 months later, Drew and Jannessa will become HUSBAND and WIFE!! Therefore, my friend, Lisa and I will soon be related...sort of... Here's the happy couple:

(I borrowed this pic from Lisa's blog)

Lisa is having a lot of fun helping the bride and groom get everything ready for the wedding, and I think it's pretty cool, knowing the entire wedding party myself. They're having all of their siblings involved in one way or another, and since I happen to know them all, it should be a very fun wedding for me to attend. Now, just one question...which side of the church do I sit on, the bride's, or the groom's??? Lol!

LANO!!! (Ladies' ALL Night Out)

2010-02-17T14:43:00.005-06:00

Friday night was our monthly Ladies' Night Out at church. This is always a good time for the women of our church to get together and talk, eat, play games and just get to know each other better. There is a core group of us that have been meeting monthly for quite some time, and there are others that come occasionally too. We're happy to have anyone join us, and it's always the second Friday of the month, in the fellowship hall.
Here are Cindy, Regina, Jody and Christina, playing "Things" along with Lisa, Sarah, Anna and me. It was a fun game, but because there were so many playing, and we were getting tired, it was really hard to remember who had already asked whom, what questions...if that makes any sense.

The littlest "lady" there, was Jody's brand new baby, Tessa, (held here by Sarah), who was born January 8th. She was born a few weeks early, and is just a little peanut, but is absolutely perfect and adorable.

Here's Anna, holding little Tessa. They were both wearing the same shade of pink, and I just had to take a picture of them.

This last one was one of our "later" LNO's with 5 of us staying into the wee hours of the morning...we left the church parking lot at 4:00AM. I was about a mile from home, when I received this text msg from my husband. "Are you COMING home?" I called him and assured him that I was indeed almost home, and he said, "I knew it was called Ladies' Night Out, but I didn't realize it was going to be Ladies ALL Night Out!" So...I think we have to change the name of our monthly outings at church to "LANO" now, whatdaya think??

Wordless Wednesday #35 ~ My Froggy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-17T11:17:00.004-06:00

Molly found my little froggy in the van, I hadn't left him behind after all...so I took a new picture, and switched them. ;-)

A Beautiful Winter Wonderland Morning!

2010-02-13T12:00:00.003-06:00

Having gotten home from our monthly Ladies' Night Out at 4:00AM on Saturday, the trees were already coated with a very thick hoar frost. It was absolutely beautiful, so I attempted to take a couple of pics as soon as I got home.

When I woke up later, (noon?) This is what I saw outside:

CJ looked out the window at this pretty little tree, and said, "That tree is BEAUTIFUL, Grandma! I think we should KEEP it like that!"

These first two were taken through the window, and also through plastic that covers them to keep the cold out!

I opened up the side door to get these two. The pictures honestly never do the beauty of God's masterpieces justice though.

Happy 78th "Snow Day" Birthday, Mom!

2010-01-12T08:59:00.005-06:00

For her 78th birthday, (01/10/2010), my mother decided she'd like as many of her kids, grandkids, great grandkids etc. to come out and play in the snow. Most were happy to oblige. There would be snowmobiling, sledding, plenty of food, hot cocoa and a toasty fire in the garage's parlor stove to warm up, on this cold mid-January day. I believe the temp was somewhere around zero, which almost felt balmy compared to what it had been the first part of the month.

Below is the cake I decorated for the occasion. I thought I'd stick with the snow day theme.

Since at Mom's house, every day at 3 O'clock in the afternoon is ice cream time, we decided to surprise her with an ice cream "bar" at precisely 3:00PM.

(I "borrowed" this pic from my sister, Kathy)

I know, I know, only hearty Minnesotans would have ice cream while snowmobiling...but on the bright side, it saves room in the freezer, if you just put it all on a table outside!

My dad has lots of excavating equipment, from years of being in the business. Just because he is retired, doesn't mean he doesn't like to get it out and play with it once in awhile. Here is the sledding hill he made for the kids to play on.

This is my grandson, Christian going for a ride...whee....

There were a few more modern motorized "sleds" out there that day, but this one is Mom and Dad's favorite machine I believe it's from around 1973:

Here's my Mom and Dad, cruisin' in the old Ski-doo...

I know, not your average septuagenarians...

Mom's turn to drive...I was busy watching the kids sledding down the hill, but apparently she had a hard time getting anyone to ride with her. My sister, Laurie finally agreed...but took her cup of hot cocoa along, to ensure that Mom wouldn't go fast enough to spill it, (or her out of the machine). I hear she's a pretty crazy driver!!

A beautiful end to an awesome day, as my sister Kathy takes ONE more ride into the sunset... and back again...

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

A "Killer" New Year's Eve Party!

2010-01-04T15:38:00.010-06:00

This New Year's Eve, we were invited to a murder. Well--a murder mystery party, anyway. Our good friends, Jody and Dan hosted it, with Dan participating in the drama, and Jody making sure everyone was well-fed...organizing the entire event, and keeping everything running smoothly.

It turned out to be the most fun I've had on New Year's Eve in a very long time!

The setting was in the Wild West town of "Roadkill" in the Wyoming Territory in 1881. We were all invited there for a good old fashioned hangin', but first...we had to determine who the guilty parties were...

Here's the cast of characters:

Left to right, back row: Yours truly, as "Dee Adela Muerte" (which apparently means "Day of the Dead" in Spanish), a Mexican beauty, who is plagued by bad luck and has been thrice widowed. Her first husband was a local politician, but since her second and third were the town pastor and the undertaker, she now performs both of those duties for the citizens of Roadkill, in her husbands' absence.

Next, (played by my husband Ray) is the former sheriff of Roadkill, "Wyatt Hertz" who is now retired, ever since a shotgun blast caught him in the "tender parts." He now runs a lucrative "Rent-A-Horse" business. What? You never heard of Hertz Rent-A-Horse?

On the other side of Ray, is my friend Lisa, (of QTPies fame), playing "Helena Handcart" matriarch of the Handcart clan. Sadly, Helena lost all 13 of her sons in a shoot-out at the "Parkay Corral."

Here's a close-up of "Elvira" and "Butch."

"Elvira Lynn Fection," played by none other than our own Sarah (Sassyfrazz), is the famous madam of The Pigeon Ranch, the best litttle you-know-what in Roadkill. Next to her, in the dungarees, is Anna, who is Moving Forward as the legendary "Butch Chastity. She's known for many train robberies, and can drink her fellow outlaws under the table, and has been known to kill a man, just as soon as look at him!

"P'Elvis Swagarin," was played by Donnie, (Mr QTPies). P'Elvis is a mysterious lone gunslinger, who recently rode into town. Solemn, poker-faced, and bowlegged, he's a cowboy's cowboy. Born Peter Elvis Swagarin, he's known to his friends as P'Elvis.

This is, (of course), the famous " Chief Breaking Wind" of the now apparently extinct Cowpai tribe. The Chief, is played by Terry, who is also known in bloggyworld as "Mr. Sassyfrazz." Don't you just love his braids?

Last, but certainly not least, is "Elias Truist Heath," (say that name out-loud a couple of times to catch the meaning), played by our host, Dan...also known as one of Jody's Joys. Elias is an up and coming heartthrob gunfighter, who was orphaned as a boy and raised by the honorable judge Waylon Payne. Ain't he handsome??

We were each given a booklet at the start of this adventure, and were instructed not to turn the page until we were told to. There were four "rounds" in which our booklets told us certain facts to keep hidden, unless we were asked directly about it, (in which case we had to tell the truth), and certain facts that we had to reveal about the other residents of Roadkill before the end of each round. This wasn't always easy to work into the conversation...but it was fun nonetheless.
I don't want to give away any more of the story, or reveal who the murderer (of Judge Waylon Payne) was, in case anyone wants to get it and do this murder mystery party game. Jody said she got it off of Amazon.com, where I see there are others available too. This one was called, "The Good, The Bad and The Guilty." if you're interested.

Thanks, Jody and Dan, for an awesome party and a great way to ring in 2010!

Happy 50th Birthday, To My Sister, Patty!

2009-12-17T00:46:00.006-06:00

We are supposed to be celebrating another big birthday in our family this year. While I'm sure that Patty is celebrating it in style this year, as she has for the past 6 years...in heaven with Jesus and her family and friends who have also gone ahead of us, (and I'm sure it's an absolutely magnificent party)...but she will be sorely missed here on earth today.

Patty passed away on April 27, 2003, after a valiant, 2 year battle against breast cancer. Since I was just a year and a half older than her, she and I were quite close. In fact, I have another sister, Connie, who was born exactly one year and 4 days AFTER Patty was, and the three of us were all very close, and were always referred to as the "three little girls" growing up.

I come from a very large family, having 4 other sisters and 3 brothers as well...and though I dearly love all of my siblings, none were ever as close to me as Patty was. We shared a room for a few years at home...where we told each other our deepest and darkest secrets...and swore we'd never tell a soul. We giggled the nights away, or at least until Mom or Dad yelled up the stairs to be quiet. Once we were over 18, we ended up sharing an apartment along with a friend of ours. During those days, we took care of each other. If we wanted to go out, or needed groceries, and one of us didn't have any money, the other would say, "That's okay, I'll buy." We never, ever kept track of who "owed" whom. We just didn't care. As adults, she taught me a lot about Christianity...even though she was the younger sister. I always knew where to go when I needed advice and an advocate, who would be in my corner, no matter what. Even though in later years, she lived a few thousand miles away from me, she was just a phone call away.

Patty was a wonderful sister, daughter, friend, wife and mother to 11 children. Yes, 11 children. I'm praying today for her entire family, for all of her children, for their health and welfare, and that while they remember and celebrate their mother today...that they would also remember the importance of staying together as a family, and lifting up and supporting each other. Happy Heavenly Birthday, Patty!

'Twas Two Weeks Before Christmas...

2009-12-10T11:14:00.003-06:00

...and the house was a MESS!

Christmastime is definitely my favorite time of the year--at least it should be, if it weren't for the extra work involved. There's so much to do, even before I get around to hauling out the holly, or hauling the artificial Christmas tree up from the basement, as it were. Maybe it would be nice if I just didn't have to do all the regular hum-drum everyday chores, along with all the extra stuff to do this time of year. I was thinking it would be wonderful to have one of those commercial janitorial services come in and take care of the stacks of dishes, the mountain of laundry, the dusting, (I could pretend the dust is snow, and set my little Christmas village up in it...), the vacuuming, cleaning the windows etc, etc. Wouldn't it be awesome to have the whole house clean at once, before I even get around to the decorating?

Just think, I could leave all this stuff to the professionals and take my daughter and my grandson out shopping. We could make a whole day of it. We could even find one of those ubiquitous "Santa's helpers" in the mall and get Christian's picture taken with him. They could each pick out a gift for the children's gift exchange that our family does each year, and then at least THAT part of the shopping would be done. We could have a nice relaxing day...and then...the best gift of all, would be coming home to a sparkling clean house. Okay...waking up from my long winter's nap now...guess I'd better get busy cleaning! Oh well, it was a nice dream while it lasted.

PEFC's Old Fashioned Christmas 2009

2009-12-09T10:16:00.010-06:00

Last Saturday night was our annual "Old Fashioned Christmas, at church. Several couples host tables, decorating them and inviting guests to join them. This year, we decided to do a table again, sort of at the last minute, because there were more church members that wanted to attend, then there was room at the tables for. I'm glad we did. It was a very nice evening.
This was our table. I used the lighted village I got from Molly and Christian last year, for Christmas. We had to set up near an outlet, so we could plug in, of course, but it worked out quite well.

This is our table lit up with candles. I found the cute little stockings the night before, for just 50 cents apiece and took them home and wrote names on them, and then filled them with candy. At that point, we only had 5 guests coming, so with the two of us, there were seven...but it was a good thing that I'd set the table for 8, (just in case) and bought an extra stocking. While I was doing them, we got a call from the coordinators, saying that one of the couples at our table was bringing the foreign exchange student that was staying at their house. Cool! Our table would be filled...and it was very nice to meet this young woman from Brazil, and she seemed thrilled to have a stocking with her own name on it. Try writing "Carolina" with glitter glue on a miniature stocking sometime! It's a good thing I have lots of practice writing with icing...it's kinda the same.

This is a close-up of my centerpiece. I thought it turned out pretty cute:

I was going to use a round piece of white felt to put the houses on, and was trying to think of what I could use to trace around...when I thought of my wedding cake base...and then I thought, why not use it to PUT the centerpiece on? That was one of my better ideas...

Before we had planned on doing our own table, we'd been invited to join some friends at their two tables. I think this is the third year that my friends, Jody and Lisa have gotten together with their husbands to do two tables...one for the girls, and one for the guys. I hated backing out on them at the last minute, but I figured if there were that many people that needed a place to sit, they could easily replace us. Well, it wasn't as easy as I hoped, but in the end...they filled out their tables too. Unfortunately, AGAIN this year, Jody's husband Dan was called out of town on business and wasn't able to attend.

Here's the ladies table. Lisa used her expert cake decorating abilities to make this gorgeous cake for her centerpiece. She's got a lot more patience than I do. She ended up making hundreds of snowflakes out of royal icing, to get enough unbroken ones to put on her cake. The cake itself was made of styrofoam, but the icing was real. The table turned out to be very beautiful and elegant.

Below, is a picture of it in the dark, with the candles lit, and an LED light inside of the bowlful of ornaments:

Meanwhile, their "better" halves were busy working on an interesting table of their own. Donnie and Dan had cut pieces of metal plating to serve as a table cloth, and fashioned a Christmas tree out of welded chains for their centerpiece. There were nuts and bolts all over the place, as well as tools and work gloves, all to give it that masculine feel. This table got a LOT of attention! Good job guys!

Hopefully, next year Dan will be able to actually attend the event and sit at the table he is hosting! Below, is a picture of the table lit up...and I do mean LIT UP! There table was right in our line of sight to the stage...and thankfully, Lisa saw to it that the tree lights were turned off, so as not to blind us! Thanks, Lisa!

Here are a few more of my favorite tables...

This one, done by Dave and Lori F. was very cute. They had dishes covered with berries, and an adorable bear nativity scene in the center. Below is a close-up of the centerpiece:

The sign says "Have a Beary, Berry Merry Christmas!" Clever!

This gold table, was decorated by the coordinators of the whole event. I love how it turned out!

Their table was very rich and elegant looking. Above it is pictured with the room lights on, and it was very pretty, but below, it was even prettier by candle light.

The table below, was decorated by our friends, John and Julie F. with a kind of a horse theme. Julie loves horses and has one of her own. There is an old fashioned lantern in the center of the table..

...and if you look inside the lantern, you'll see a figurine of baby Jesus, which confused me for just a moment...and then it hit me...

Jesus IS the LIGHT! Duh.

This is the Hobo table. We were thinking they should have started those beans a few hours earlier though...it's a good thing we had chicken, potatoes, salad and dessert served to us, those beans were taking forever!

Here are the head hobos themselves, John and Jackie B.

For entertainment this year, The Kingery Family performed. They are a local group from Minnesota, who play and sing bluegrass music. I've never seen so much talent in one family in my entire life! I was very impressed with their musical abilities and their awesome voices!

They have six daughters, and two little sons...and they are all very, very gifted musicians!

The Girls' harmonizing was amazing!

And then the little boys got into the act. The older of the two actually had to climb up on a chair to play his dad's bass! The little one played the harmonica. The family had recently been featured on Jason Davis's "On the Road" program, and the dad said that Jason Davis kept calling it a "harmonicker." I'll have to watch for that episode to be on again.

I'm already trying to think of what to use for a centerpiece next year. If you're in the area, and would like to attend as one of our guests, let me know...and I'll be sure to invite you next year...

"Treasured: Knowing God by the Things He Keeps" ~ A Review

2009-12-04T08:00:00.001-06:00

Does God speak to you? I sincerely believe that He does speak to everyone...we just need to learn how to listen better. Or maybe it's like Horton says in "Horton Hears A Who," perhaps it's because our ears are too small. Anyway, a few weeks ago, I started a bible study at church, that's called, Discerning the Voice of God. "Coincidentally," I was reading this book, "Treasured" during the first few weeks of the study. Instead of reading it cover to cover, I decided to just read one short chapter per day or so. Kind of like a devotional. Well...there is a chapter in this book called, "Balam's Riding Crop, The God Who Speaks." In that chapter, Ms. McLeroy points out that God, the eternal Creator of our universe, sometimes uses extraordinary things, (like Balam's donkey), but more often, He uses plain old every day things like a song on the radio or the book you happen to be reading. While I was reading that, I had to chuckle to myself, because God WAS speaking to me through this very book. You see, I'm a bit ADD and usually need to hear or read something numerous times to get it to stick in my brain. The funny thing was, I would go and listen to the video at bible study, hear something and then read the same thing that very night! We need to learn to listen better to the "Still Small Voice" of the Holy Spirit.

I really enjoyed this book, because like I said, it is set up so you can take your time with it, and read one short chapter at a time. Each chapter is about one certain thing that God tells us about in the bible, in order to know HIM better. For example, A Fig Leaf (Adam and Eve), A Fresh Olive Branch (Noah's Ark) or A Shepherds Harp String (David). The author talks about how we all save souvenirs in our cigar boxes, etc. to remind us of important milestones in our lives. She says God kept these keepsakes, tucked deep in the pages of His Word to tell His story and to help us understand our own. I would definitely recommend this delightful little book, perhaps as a stocking stuffer, for a loved one that you would like to make feel "Treasured" by you! You can find more information about "Treasured" or purchase it at RandomHouse.com for $14.99.

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Summary:

In Treasured, Leigh McLeroy considers tangible reminders of God’s active presence and guides readers in discovering evidence in their own lives of his attentive love.
“The idea for the book came from a cigar box filled with odds and ends of my grandfather’s life that arrived a few months after his death. Sifting through the objects in the box, I experienced him in a fresh new way. This made me wonder what treasures might be tucked away in Scripture that could frame God for me in an equally intimate, tangible way. This process also helped me uncover my own “treasures” of my walk with the Lord: objects that remind me of my history with him and his faithfulness to me,” says McLeroy.
Drawn from the pages of Scripture, the author considers twelve such treasures and personalizes their meaning for readers, such as a green olive branch that offers proof of God’s “new every morning” mercy and a scarlet cord that demonstrates his willingness to adopt “strays” of every sort.
Weaving these treasures together with scenes from her personal history, Leigh McLeroy invites readers to discover God’s heart for them and embrace their unique role in his redemptive story. Treasured offers readers a guided experience of God’s love and character and invites them to consider their own treasures that point to their part in God’s ongoing story.

Author Bio:

Leigh McLeroy is the author of The Beautiful Ache and The Sacred Ordinary. An avid collector and recorder of everyday moments, words, and wonders, Leigh’s keen eye for God’s presence in ordinary life infuses her writing and living with a deep, insistent joy. A frequent conference and event speaker, the author makes her home in Houston, Texas, and posts often on www.leighmcleroy.com and www.wednesdaywords.com.

"God Gave Us..." Books by Lisa T. Bergren ~ A Review

2009-11-30T08:50:00.010-06:00

Recently, I had the opportunity to review two awesome children's books by Lisa T. Bergren. She's written other "God Gave Us" books, like "God Gave Us You," "God Gave Us Two," and "God Gave Us Heaven." You may be familiar with them. If not, and you have young children (or grandchildren like me), you should really check these books out! They are wonderfully written and also beautifully illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. Since I often work in our church nursery, I brought them along with me on Sunday, to share with the little ones there.

I love the way the author has Mama Bear explains to her daughter, Little Cub, that God is so much more important than Santa...and that God gave us Christmas by sending His son to us...which of course, is the greatest gift ever given. She doesn't say there is no Santa, or put the tradition of him down in any way...she just points out that God is the one we should be seeking, instead of the jolly old elf, himself. That's a good reminder to all of us, this Christmas season. If you would like to read more about this book, you can check it out at RandomHouse.com.

The latest book in Lisa's "God Gave Us" series is, "God Gave Us Love." Again, this is a very heartwarming story with a biblical principal that we could all use a reminder of from time to time. In this book, Grampa Bear illustrates to Little Cub, how we all need to love others, even when they're not being very lovable...like those pesky otters who keep scaring the fish away while they're fishing...and even Little Cub's baby twin siblings at home, who can also be rather pesky and annoying at times. My grandson and the children I read these books to at church, really loved them. Do you have a young child or two on your Christmas list? I would highly recommend both books, and they would make excellent gifts for any child on your list. God Gave Us Love can be purchased from RandomHouse.com for $10.99.

These books were provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

In God Gave Us Love, Little Cub and Grampa Bear’s fishing adventure is interrupted by mischievous otters, and the young polar bear begins to ask questions like why must we love others . . . even the seemingly unlovable? Why is it easier to love those we like? Where does love come from? And why does God love her so much? Grampa Bear patiently addresses each one of Little Cub’s curiosities by explaining the different kinds of love we can share: the love between friends, the love between families, the love between moms and dads, and the love for God.

He also assured Little Cub that because of the love God has given her through his Son, there’s nothing she can do to make God love her any more or any less. Through Grampa Bear’s encouraging Little Cub to love others with a “God-sized love,” children will be inspired to love others and to be patient, gentle and kind, so that in every way, they too can demonstrate God’s love.

In God Gave Us Christmas, as Little Cub and her family prepare to celebrate the most special day of the year, the curious young polar bear has something on her mind: “Who 'vented Christmas?” she asks. “Is God more important than Santa?”
Her questions reflect the confusion of so many children during the holiday season. And this heartwarming story takes them on a wonderful journey of discovery—right to the heart of Christmas. Through Mama’s gentle guidance, Little Cub learns that God loves her and everyone— polar bear, moose, or human—so much that he gave us Jesus, the very best gift of all.

Lisa Tawn Bergren is the award-winning author of nearly thirty titles, totaling more than 1.5 million books in print. She writes in a broad range of genres, from adult fiction to devotional. God Gave us Love follows in Lisa's classic tradition of the best-selling "God Gave Us You." She lives in Colorado with her husband Tim and their children, Olivia, Emma and Jack.

Holly and Hal Moose: Our Uplifting Christmas Adventure!

2009-11-22T18:58:00.014-06:00

Yesterday, a couple of blogger friends and I had an awesome opportunity! We got to go to a sneak preview of "Hal and Holly Moose: Our Uplifting Christmas Adventure," at the Mall of America theaters. We were each allowed to bring one special guest. My friends each brought one of their preschool age children, and I brought my grandson CJ, who lives with me at the moment.

BURBANK, Calif. (Oct. 15, 2009) – ABC Family and Build-A-Bear Workshop® are coming together to create a little holiday “hoofla” this season as the network debuts an animated special that marks the first time in the retailer’s 12-year history that its plush animals are brought to life on television.

"Holly and Hal MooseTM: Our Uplifting Christmas Adventure,” a one-hour feature movie, makes its nationwide premiere on ABC Family on Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 7:00 PM ET/PT (with an encore presentation on Saturday, Nov. 28 at 10 AM ET/PT). The television special is based on a book and series of webisodes that introduced Holly and Hal Moose last year and captured their holiday antics, powerful imaginations and love of adventure.

We arrived at the Mall and had to find our way to the movie theater. When we got there, we were surprised to find Holly and Hal there (in person) to greet us, before the movie!

Here's Sassyfrazz's little girl, giving Holly a big hug.

Here's the movie stars, Hal and Holly.

They were super excited to be starring in their very first film!

I even got a couple of pics of the movie itself. The kids really enjoyed the show. The story was mostly about following your dreams, (Hal has always dreamed of flying with Santa's reindeer),

But there are other good elements to this tale as well, for example, when Holly, (the older sibling) is asked to watch her younger brother after school, she's forced to make the tough choice between going to her friend's party and doing as her mother as her mother asked...you'll have to tune into the movie on Tuesday to find out what she chose...but of course, just as every good children's Christmas story goes...our heroes, Hal and Holly ultimately end up saving the day, when "the storm of the century" threatens to cancel Christmas!

Don't forget to tune in to ABC Family, Tuesday 11/24 at 7pm Eastern, 6pm Central. There will also be an encore presentation on Saturday, 11/28 at 10am. For those of you who do not have access to ABC Family (we don't), this cute new holiday movie will also be available on DVD, starting on Wednesday, 11/25. I'm sure we'll have to go pick up a copy. CJ just came in and told me he wants to watch it again!

Here's my grandson, CJ and me.

And below, is Lisa (QTPies) and Sarah (Sassyfrazz) with their little ones. Did you know that Holly Moose actually has her own blog as well? You can go to Holly's blog to get more info and previews of this fun adventure!

The movie was a very fun treat...but wait...there's more! Courtesy of Build-A-Bear Workshops, we were also invited to their store after the show, to make our own Hal and Holly Moose pair to take home! They provided the animals, as compensation for our reviews, but any clothing or added items, like sounds or accessories were extra.

Our experience at Build-A-Bear Workshop was awesome! This nice lady led our group through the entire process. First, we had to bring our mooses (meese?) to the stuffing machine.

Each of the children took their turn stepping on a foot pump to make the machine work. Below, is Maddie stuffing her "Holly" while CJ and Sam look on.

CJ's turn to stuff his Hal.

Next, our helper tightens up the pre-sewn threads at the back of each moose. Just before this happened, we were all instructed to pick out a heart for each animal, because after all...everyone needs to have a heart, right? Also, if you choose to put a sound into your creation...this is the time to put that in, as well. I chose to put the song, "Jingle Bell Rock" in Molly's Holly.

The next step, is "fluffing" our new little buddies...CJ seemed to take this job quite seriously.

There is another foot pump here, which causes air to blow on the animal, while it is being brushed. Next, we picked out clothes for them. We all decided to dress them in their signature outfits from the movie, but they have quite a large selection of clothing available for purchase.

At the movie premiere, we had each received a Build-A-Bear backpack too, (gotta love swag)...so we put our new little buddies in the backpacks for the kiddos to carry around, it was so cute!

Here's our little threesome in front of Build-A-Bear Workshop.

I love this picture of one of the huge trees at the MOA, with the three little ones looking waaay up to the top. The tree was humongous, it was at least 3 stories tall!

We had to stop and take a picture of Nickelodeon Universe, on our way to the food court for lunch. Shortly after lunch, we had a bit of a scare. As Lisa was throwing our garbage away, 3 year-old Sam wandered off...in a very crowded MOA food court at lunch time! This is an experience that many of us mothers/grandmas have had before, and we tried not to panic...but I think we all earned another gray hair or two at that moment. Thankfully, in probably less than a minute or two, mother and child were reunited! Whew!!

Here's CJ and his pal, Hal on the way home.

Molly was very excited to meet "Holly" and CJ has been carrying "Hal" around everywhere, ever since his good friend was made! He even attended church with us this morning. Thank you, thank you, Build-A-Bear!!

Fun Fall Fiction!

2009-11-13T11:31:00.007-06:00

I haven't been feeling all that well lately, whether it was just your old fashioned, ordinary common cold, a flu virus, or perhaps even the dreaded "swine flu." I'm not really sure, but I was thankful to have a couple of good books, Provided to me by Waterbrook Multnomah, for my reviewal, to read while I was resting and trying to get better.

The first one I read, was Melody Carlson's "Limelight." I found this book a little hard to get into, to begin with, but once I did, it was quite entertaining. Claudette Fiore' grew up in a small northern California town, with her sister, but eventually, she moved to Hollywood, and married a movie director. Because of that, she has known nothing but the finer things in life for the past 60 years, and has always had servants to do all the mundane daily tasks of life, such as, cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping etc. Until...for reasons I won't go into here, she finds herself living back in her childhood home, having to figure out things for herself. It's quite comical, in an "I Love Lucy" sort of way... Limelight is available from WaterbrookMultnomah.com.

Summary:
Claudette Fioré used to turn heads and break hearts. She relished the glamorous Hollywood lifestyle because she had what it takes: money, youth, fame, and above all, beauty. But age has withered that beauty, and a crooked accountant has taken her wealth, leaving the proud widow penniless and alone.Armed with stubbornness and sarcasm, Claudette returns to her shabby little hometown and her estranged sister. Slowly, she makes friends. She begins to see her old life in a new light. For the first time, Claudette Fioré questions her own values and finds herself wondering if it’s too late to change.

The second one, was "Leaving Carolina" by Tamara Leigh. This was a surprisingly fun book to read. At first glance, I wasn't sure it was anything I'd be interested in, but I found the author's witty humor, exceptional. She was very good at conveying Piper's thoughts, and self-talk, that I'm pretty sure we all do, in the privacy of our own minds. It was a very entertaining read...but it also highlights a lot of biblical truths along the way. I'm looking forward to reading more about Piper "Wick" and her family. To check it out for yourself, click here.

Summary:
Piper Wick left her hometown of Pickwick, North Carolina, twelve years ago, shook the dust off her feet, ditched her drawl and her family name, and made a new life for herself as a high-powered public relations consultant in LA. She’s even “engaged to be engaged” to the picture-perfect U.S. Congressman Grant Spangler.Now all of Piper’s hard-won happiness is threatened by a reclusive uncle’s bout of conscience. In the wake of a health scare, Uncle Obadiah Pickwick has decided to change his will, leaving money to make amends for four generations’ worth of family misdeeds. But that will reveal all the Pickwicks’ secrets, including Piper’s. Though Piper arrives in Pickwick primed for battle, she is unprepared for Uncle Obe’s rugged, blue-eyed gardener. So just who is Axel Smith? Why does he think making amends is more than just making restitution? And why, oh why, can’t she stay on task? With the Lord’s help, Piper is about to discover that although good PR might smooth things over, only the truth will set her free.

Shadow Government by Grant R. Jeffrey ~ Book Review

2009-11-05T23:27:00.008-06:00

All I could say as I read this book was, WOW! This is incredible! If what the author is saying in it is actually true, then everyone in the U. S. should read it. According to this book, if you think you have any privacy left at ALL, you are sadly mistaken. It was a real eye-opener for me. It talks about two different types of "shadow government," one being the officials that are standing by even as you read this, to take over our country in the event that something catastrophic were to happen that would prevent the current government leaders from continuing in their positions of authority.

The author also, puts everything in perspective, as far as the biblical prophecies...the last days...the mark of the beast and so on. It really is a compelling, if somewhat scary book. If this is something you'd like to know more about, you can get your own copy at waterbookmultnomah.com.

Here is a summary of the book:

Security cameras, surveillance of private financial transactions, radio frequency spy chips hidden in consumer products, eavesdropping on e-mail correspondence and phone calls, and Internet tracking. No one is protected, and privacy is a thing of the past.
An ultra-secret global elite, functioning as a very real shadow government, controls technology, finance, international law, world trade, political power, and vast military capabilities. These unnamed, unrivaled leaders answer to no earthly authority, and they won’t stop until they control the world.
In Shadow Government, prophecy expert Grant Jeffrey removes the screen that, up to now, has hidden the work of these diabolical agents. Jeffrey reveals the biblical description of Satan’s global conquest and identifies the tools of technology that the Antichrist will use to rule the world.
Readers will have their eyes opened to the real power that is working behind the scenes to destroy America and merge it into the coming global government. Armed with this knowledge, readers will be equipped to face spiritual darkness with the light of prophetic truth.

About the Author:

Grant R. Jeffrey is the internationally known prophecy researcher, Mideast expert, and author of Countdown to the Apocalypse, The New Temple and the Second Coming, The Next World War, and twenty other best-selling books. He is also the editor of the Prophecy Study Bible. His popular television program, Bible Prophecy Revealed, airs weekly on TBN. Jeffrey earned his master’s and PhD degrees from Louisiana Baptist University. He and his wife, Kaye, live in Toronto.

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Wisdom Huner by Randall Arthur ~ Book Review

2009-11-05T08:21:00.005-06:00

If you're looking for an exciting read, this book is for you! It was originally released in 1991, and became a best seller at that time. It was not a book that I likely would have chosen myself, but I enjoyed it. The main character in this novel is Pastor Jason Faircloth. He's been a pastor of the North Metro Church of Atlanta for 11 years, and has a master's degree in theology. However, he is very much caught up in legalism, and because he is so hard on his teenage daughter, she decides to run away from home. Pastor Jason prays fervently for her for over a year and a half, asking God to protect his daughter and bring her home. Meanwhile, we learn what is really going on with her in another part of the country...

Through losing almost everything this man has, and going through some very harrowing experiences, he comes to the knowledge that Christianity is not all about "religion", but that it has much more to do with having a personal relationship with Christ. I would recommend it to anyone who likes stories of suspense, but it also has a great message.

You can purchase your own copy from Waterbrookmultnomah.com

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Summary:

Pastor Jason Faircloth knows what he believes. His clear faith, in fact, is why he is one of the most prominent pastors in Atlanta. He relies on it to discipline his daughter, his wife, his church. He prays daily that others would come to see God's ways as he does. And it will cost him everything he has.

Groping for answers in the face of tragedy, Jason determines to find the one person left who might provide healing: the granddaughter kept hidden from him. His search takes him on an international adventure --and deep into his tormented soul.

A fast-paced suspense novel rich in spiritual depth, Wisdom Hunter explores what it means to break free of Christian legalism and discover how grace can make the difference between life and death.

Author Bio:
Randall Arthur is the bestselling author of Jordan’s Crossing and Brotherhood of Betrayal. He and his wife have served as missionaries to Europe for over thirty years. From 1976 till 1998, he lived in Norway and Germany as a church planter. Since 2000, he has taken numerous missions teams from the United States on trips all over Europe. Arthur is also the founder of the AOK (Acts of Kindness) Bikers’ Fellowship, a group of men who enjoy the sport of motorcycling. He and his family live in Atlanta, Georgia.

Opening New Doors!

2009-10-28T12:57:00.004-05:00

That's what we get to do every time we leave the house, or come back home now!

Our landlord bought 2 new doors for the house a couple of months ago. Ray was supposed to replace them, and deduct the installment cost from the rent. He replaced the side door shortly thereafter. However, he got busy with work after that, (PTL) and then we got nothing but rain...and even snow...for weather after that for quite some time. Finally, this past weekend, the weather cooperated, and Ray got a chance to replace the back door, which is the one we use most of the time.

This is what the inside of the old door looked like, after Ray removed the trim around it. It wasn't that bad looking...for an old door. However, there was so much cold air coming in around this thing last Winter that it was unbelievable! I'm not sure how much money went out that door, while the cold winds were entering in. We should stay much warmer (and richer) this year.
Here's what the new door looks like. He still needs to put the trim around it. I'm sure CJ will get after him about that. He told him last night, "Grandpa, you're NOT finished with your door project yet!!" That was after Ray had spent a couple of hours finishing the trim around the OUTSIDE! LOL!

As an added plus, the new door lets a lot more light in than the old door...which really helps, since there is no light in the entryway.

Here's the old door from the outside, Ray had to remove the canopy first, since it was attached to the old door frame. I was a little afraid those bricks were going to fall down on his head! I made sure he had his cell phone close, while CJ and I ran some errands...just in case!

Here's the brand new door with the new trim around it. Ray plans on adding another canopy sometime too...but that may not happen until we get some nice weather again for a few days. I think it looks great...except for the smudges that the dogs already put on it...stupid animals.

Happy 5th Birthday, CJ! (updated)

2009-10-18T12:35:00.005-05:00

My grandson turned 5 today! Finally. At least in his eyes...he's been waiting for this birthday for a long, long time and counting down the days. I woke him up this morning, by singing Happy Birthday to him. He opened his eyes and said, "Is it REALLY my birthday?" Like it was too good to be true. And then he said to his dog, "Finn, can you believe it's my birthday?"

Unfortunately, his mother can't be with him today, because she's in Texas, doing some training for the Air Force Reserves. But she sent him a couple of presents. CJ really likes the "PS man" because he brings him stuff all the time! Anyway, we let him open one of them the day they came...he just couldn't STAND to wait to open both of them. It was a video game for his V-motion. He's waiting for Mama to call him right now, so she can watch him open the other one via webcam. Ahhh...the wonders of modern technology!

This afternoon, we have a party planned with his cousins at "Space Aliens." That should be fun...I'll have to post more pics later.

(update 10 days later)

Well, I'm finally getting around to adding the pictures from his actual birthday party. Unfortunately, in my rush to get to the party, I forgot to grab my SD card, so I was only able to take as many pictures as my camera's internal memory could hold.

It was the first time I'd been to Space Aliens, and it was not a bad deal. For $75, you get a party package for up to 6 kids. They have a party room, aptly called "Area 51" where they set up the party. Each child gets their own indivdual pizza, a small drink, a prize bag including 25 tokens for the game room, and ice cream. It's $10 extra for each additional child. I just wish I'd included Molly and her friend Liz as extra kids...I spent a lot more than $10 on each of them.

Tiegen, Elizabeth, Katie, Christian, Molly and Liz

Katie, Christian and Molly

Time to open presents!

First, was a GI Joe ninja sword and mask from Shelby and Tanner

Christian was thrilled with it--that's Shelby watching him open it.

Here's what he got from Tiegen & Grayson...Shelby looks like she's thinking, "Oh brother!"

Coincidentally, he got another K'nex semi truck from Katie and Liz! GMTA!

I think Katie decided to bump a balloon up in the air, just as I snapped this one.

Ray and I got him this walkie-talkie set with a base station.

Thanks to everyone who attended, and made Christian's 5th birthday a very special one!

"Extraordinary" by John Bevere ~ Book Review and Giveaway!

2009-10-15T10:25:00.006-05:00

Wow! I just finished reading "Extraordinary: The Life You're Meant to Live" by John Bevere. There is a lot of great information in this book. In some ways it reminds me very much of the Beth Moore bible study that I participated in a few years ago, entitled "Believing God." Both Beth Moore and John Bevere, basically say that there is much more to "Grace" than most Christians even realize. Yes, it is our free gift of salvation...but it's so much more than that. We all need to understand that grace is "God's unmerited empowerment, which gives us the ability to do what truth demands of us." We have been made new, and need to start living that way. We have the power that raised Jesus from the dead, available to us. We just need to tap into it through faith. This is a book that every Christian needs to read...in order to live the full and God-pleasing life that was meant for us to live.

This incredible book is available for purchase from RandomHouse.com

Summary

There’s a question that troubles many believers: “Why am I not experiencing more joy, more hope, more satisfaction, more intimacy, more power, more everything in my Christian life--didn’t Jesus promise that?”

He did promise an abundant life, but too many people are trapped by the curse of “the ordinary.” They have accepted the wrong idea that following God means losing individuality, creativity, and a passion for achieving lofty goals.

Nothing could be further from the truth! John Bevere builds a convincing case, straight from Scripture, for a way of living marked by extraordinary experiences and accomplishments—the life God always intended for his children.

Here is a guide to understanding God’s incredible plans, and how to enjoy a life where he adds the “extra” to “ordinary.”

Author Bio:
John Bevere is an internationally popular conference speaker, teacher, and author of bestsellers, including The Bait of Satan, Drawing Near, and Driven by Eternity. His award-winning curriculum and books have been translated in over sixty languages and his weekly television program, The Messenger, is broadcast around the world. John and his wife, Lisa—also a bestselling author and speaker—reside with their family in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Visit his ministry website at http://www.messengerinternational.org/.

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, and they also provided me with an extra copy to give away to one of my readers!

Win! Win! Win! Win Win!

All you need to do to enter, is to leave me a comment after this post. I will choose a winner by random drawing on November 1, 2009. This contest is open to residents of the continental U.S. only. Please make sure to include an email address, so I can contact you in the event that you win. Good luck!

And the winner is....Sarah H! Congratulations, Sarah! I'll get your book to you ASAP. I know you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

Global Warming?!?!

2009-10-10T19:42:00.006-05:00

Yeah....riiiiiiiiight. I, for one refuse to believe it. We have had one of the coldest Summer's on record, and after a rather nice (but short) Fall...we got SNOW on October 9th this year. I suppose that's not unheard of here in MinneSNOWta, but the first snow of the year generally melts as it hits the bare ground, and even the white stuff sitting atop the grass, normally melts by days end.

We had our monthly "Ladies' Night Out" at church last night, and as someone was leaving around 1 am, they came back in to warn the rest of us that our vehicles were covered with snow. I think partially because the rest of us didn't want to go out and face the cold facts, we settled in and chit-chatted for another two hours. Finally, at about 3am, we wandered out into the parking lot...and found this:

Luckily, I did have a scraper in my vehicle...most of the others ended up using credit cards to scrape their windows...but none of us had gloves...and it was c-c-c-cold! A couple of the girls even had a little 3 am snowball fight...but i didn't participate. I took this picture of my van, thinking that the snow would be melted by the time we got up this morning, and no one would believe it was even there. I was wrong.

Of course, when CJ woke up this morning, he was pretty excited about going out to play, and wanted to put his new winter coat, hat and mittens on to try them out. Fortunately, last year's model of boots and snow pants still fit him. He was having a blast just running around in the white stuff, despite the bitterly cold wind...so I guess he stayed warm enough.

I think he was trying to do the hand signs that the big kids always do in the picture above...but it kinda loses something with his fingers inside the mittens!

Despite my dislike of the cold and the early snow, I was struck by the awesome beauty of the brightly colored leaves intermingled with the sparkling whiteness, and the still-green blades of grass peeking out between them.

CJ was running around being silly, and "posing" for me. I wanted to get his attention for a close-up, so I asked him how many days there were until his fifth birthday...

I'm guessing he's holding eight fingers up underneath those mittens!

Oh well, I just hope this snow has not quite moved in for the season...we've got things to do before then. Ray put in a new door on the side of the house about a month ago, but he's either been busy working elsewhere, or it's been raining out ever since that time. We NEED to get the new back door installed. I was reminded just how much cold air comes in around the old one today, while the frigid winds of winter were inviting themselves in.

"If God is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil" by Randy Alcorn ~ Book Review

2009-10-02T10:19:00.007-05:00

Wow! This review is about a week late in coming, but I wanted to make sure I read at least MOST of this incredible book. The size of this book alone is a bit overwhelming, but once you start reading it, you won't want to quit. The author does not claim to know all the answers, and in fact, says that our finite minds are obviously too small to even comprehend the ways of God, which is something I just said to my husband a few days BEFORE I read it...(GMTA), but he does attempt to explain WHY evil exists in the world. He offers many different compelling reasons, including the fact that God is the ultimate author, of the greatest story ever told. We humans, (who are made in His image), would not enjoy a book or a movie that had absolutely no conflict, and no hero riding in to "save the day", so why would God write the stories of our lives that way? We will not know the ending or the reasons for everything that occurred in our lives until we get to heaven.

There is so much in this book, (and I still have not read it all), that it absolutely boggles the mind...but it has many compelling arguments as to why the existence of evil does not mean there is no God, but on the contrary...it actually proclaims His very existence and glorifies Him by the fact that He is great enough to conquer it all! He says it much better than I ever could though, so you'll just have to read it for yourself. The book is available from RandomHouse.com for $24.99 and is WELL worth it!

Here is a summary of the book:
Every one of us will experience suffering. Many of us are experiencing it now. As we have seen in recent years, evil is real in our world, present and close to each one of us.In such difficult times, suffering and evil beg questions about God--Why would an all-good and all-powerful God create a world full of evil and suffering? And then, how can there be a God if suffering and evil exist? These are ancient questions, but also modern ones as well. Atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and even former believers like Bart Ehrman answer the question simply: The existence of suffering and evil proves there is no God.In this captivating new book, best-selling author Randy Alcorn challenges the logic of disbelief, and brings a fresh, realistic, and thoroughly biblical insight to the issues these important questions raise. Alcorn offers insights from his conversations with men and women whose lives have been torn apart by suffering, and yet whose faith in God burns brighter than ever. He reveals the big picture of who God is and what God is doing in the world–now and forever. And he equips you to share your faith more clearly and genuinely in this world of pain and fear. As he did in his best-selling book, Heaven, Randy Alcorn delves deep into a profound subject, and through compelling stories, provocative questions and answers, and keen biblical understanding, he brings assurance and hope to all.

Author Bio:
Randy Alcorn is the founder and director of Eternal Perspectives Ministries and a bestselling author. His novels include Deadline, Dominion, Edge of Eternity, Lord Foulgrin’s Letters, The Ishbane Conspiracy, and the Gold Medallion winner, Safely Home. He has written eighteen nonfiction books as well, including Heaven, The Treasure Principle, The Purity Principle, and The Grace and Truth Paradox. Randy and his wife, Nanci, live in Oregon and have two married daughters and four grandsons.

Crazy Happenigs ~ And Book Winners announced!

2009-10-01T11:06:00.006-05:00

I know I said I would draw names for these books on our anniversary yesterday, but due to some crazy things happening around our town, I got a bit distracted.

Unfortunately, some sick soul decided to plant numerous incendiary devices around town. One at the high school, one at the post office and one at the public utilities building. Apparently, they turned out not to be extremely dangerous, but the person or persons that did this went to great lengths to make them LOOK like they were. Meanwhile, police and fire departments from neighboring counties came to help, two bomb squads were called in, the FBI and the ATF were called in too. It was a little scary...They sent all the school kids home at 9:30AM, and thankfully, no one was injured or anything...but it was definitely a CRAZY day.

Now, on to my winners...the book "Stray Affections" goes to Carol G! And for "The Book That Made America" I have two copies to give away. One goes to Lisa of QTPies7 and the other winner is Debbie from Deb's Desk! But wait...that's not all, Debbie...you also win a copy of "Stray Affections" since I have an extra copy of that book, donated by my friend Daisy, who also reviewed this book but had no takers. It's your lucky day! I'll get those books out to all of you just as soon as I can. Congratulations!

Nine Years, Side by Side...What a Roller Coaster Ride!

2009-09-30T00:03:00.009-05:00

Oh, we ain't got a barrel of money,

Maybe we're ragged and funny,

But we'll travel along,

Singing a song,

Side by

side...

Ray and I were married nine years ago today. In that nine years, we've had a lot more "poorer" moments than "richer," but I do have to say we've also had a lot more "health" than "sickness" too...and for the most part, there has been much more "better" than "worse."

In the past nine years, we've been through...5 of our 7 children graduating from High School, (one had already), several of them attending college, with 1 of them graduating and becoming an RN! Two children serving in the armed forces, (including one doing a tour in Iraq). Four of our kids getting married, (and one eventually getting divorced). We've been blessed with three beautiful grandsons (so far)! Suffered a miscarriage of our own, and a stillborn grandson. Endured open-heart surgery (mine), we lost his mother and my sister in the same year...lost our home to forclosure, moved TWICE in the last 3 years...(while staying in the same town). I would say we've literally been through "thick and thin," but unfortuately, we aren't quite to "thin" yet! We did both lose a lot of weight last year, but I've let a lot of it creep back on. He lost more than I did, and has probably kept more of it off too...the struggle continues...

We've definitely had our ups and downs --in more ways than one over the years, but I know that we will be together for as long as we both shall live...Just as long as we remember that it was God who put us together in the first place, and keep our eyes firmly focused on Him... Then we can get through anything, and... "We'll travel the road, sharing our load...Side by Side!" Happy Anniversary, Honey!

Molly's Science Lesson: The Broom Stands Alone

2009-09-24T10:29:00.010-05:00

My 12-year-old daughter, Molly heard on the radio, about how you are supposed to be able to stand a broom up on its bristles twice a year, during the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes. She decided to give it a try last night, and was pretty excited when she was successful. She borrowed my camera to document this strange phenomenon, and this is what I found on it this morning:

Pay no attention to the messy bathroom ;)

I couldn't quite make out what this last one was on my camera.

After I uploaded it, I figured out that she must have climbed up on top of the vanity, and taken this shot looking down from the end of the broom handle. Clever, don't you think?

Here's her video documentary:

"You Were Born For This" ~ Book Review and Giveaway

2009-09-22T11:28:00.005-05:00

Bruce Wilkinson, author of the popular book, "The Prayer of Jabez" has come out with a brand new book, with a fascinating concept behind it. What if we are missing out on being a part of someone else's miracle? He says that even though we know that God doesn't NEED us to make a miracle happen, He LIKES to use people in that way. And it makes sense.

We have experienced many of these types of miracles. A lot of people would call them "lucky coincidences", but we KNOW that they have been orchestrated by God. One of the things that the author asks us to do, is to have a "God Pocket" in our wallet or purse. This is a separate place, where you stash as much money as you feel God is leading you to put there, and consider it "God's money" (it IS ALL HIS after all), until you encounter the person that He will tell you to give it to. Hmmm...interesting. We have actually been on the receiving end of this. A couple of years ago, there was an envelope in our church mailbox with our names on it. There was a note in it that said something like, "I've been carrying this around for a very long time, waiting for God to tell me who to give it to. He told me you needed it." In the envelope was a $100 bill! Yes, we DID need it, and very badly. We never did find out who it was from. We have also had money appear "out of nowhere" on many other occasions, when we LEAST expected it...but MOST needed it.

Summary:
His New York Times phenomenon The Prayer of Jabez changed how millions pray. Now Bruce Wilkinson wants to change what they do next.

Anyone can do a good deed, but some good works can only happen by a direct intervention from God. Around the world these acts are called miracles—not that even religious people expect to see one any time soon. But what would happen if millions of ordinary people walked out each morning expecting God to deliver a miracle through them to a person in need? You Were Born for This starts with the dramatic premise that everyone at all times is in need of a miracle, and that God is ready to meet those needs supernaturally through ordinary people who are willing to learn the “protocol of heaven.”

In the straightforward, story-driven, highly motivating style for which he is known, Wilkinson describes how anyone can be a “Delivery Guy” from heaven in such universally significant arenas of life as finances, practical help, relationships, purpose, and spiritual growth.

You Were Born for This will change how readers see their world, and what they expect God can do through them to meet real needs. They will master seven simple tools of service, and come to say with confidence, “I want to deliver a supernatural gift from God to someone in need today—and I expect to!”

Author Bios:
One of the world’s foremost Christian teachers, Bruce Wilkinson is best known as the author of the New York Times #1 bestseller The Prayer of Jabez. He is also the author of numerous other bestsellers, including A Life God Rewards, Secrets of the Vine, and The Dream Giver. Over the past three decades, Wilkinson has founded several global initiatives, including organizations that recruited and trained thousands of Americans to address hunger, AIDS, and poverty in Africa. Bruce and his wife, Darlene, have three children and six grandchildren. They live outside Atlanta.

David Kopp has collaborated with Bruce Wilkinson on over a dozen bestselling books, including The Prayer of Jabez. He is an editor and writer living in Colorado.
Here is a link to Bruce Wilkinson introducing his new book: Click HERE

How can you get this book and find out how to be part of God's miracle? Go to RandomHouse.com.

For a chance to WIN a COPY right here, just leave me a comment after this post. I'll enter you into a random drawing to be held on October 5, 2009. You must be live in the continental US to enter and leave me a valid email address, so I can contact you. Thanks, and good luck!

Ugg! Winter is Coming...Win a Free Pair of Whooga Ugg Boots!

2009-09-16T23:39:00.010-05:00

As Summer fades into Fall, can Winter be far behind? It seems like we barely HAD a Summer here in Minnesota this year. It was a very cool one, that's for sure. This past week or so was warmer than most of the entire season...but it's supposed to turn cooler by the first part of next week. And then, who knows? We could get an "Indian Summer" or two before Winter rears it's ugly head once again, (we usually do), but one thing's for certain. Winter WILL be upon us...in the near future. Are you ready? I know that I need to find myself some new boots this year, before the cold and snow hit. I really like the looks of these Ugg boots from Whooga. They come in many different styles and colors to choose from, for both women and children. In fact, Whooga is giving away a pair of these cool boots every month! I'm going to try to WIN some "Whooga" boots for FREE myself, And YOU can TOO!

Here's all you need to do to enter:
1) Go to: Free Ugg Boots and copy and paste their button on your blog, mySpace or any other website.
2) Fill in the blanks with your entry information...and voila, you're entered! That's all there is to it!

"Stray Affections" ~ A Book Review and Giveaway!

2009-09-10T11:29:00.006-05:00

In Stray Affections, the last thing that Cassandra expects out of her Sunday is to be mesmerized at a collectors’ convention by a snowglobe. She’s enjoying some shopping time, with husband Ken at home tending their brood of four young boys, when she’s utterly charmed by the one-of-a kind globe containing figures of three dogs and a little girl with hair the color of her own. She can’t resist taking the unique globe home—even if means wrestling another shopper for it!

The beautiful snowglobe sparks long-dormant memories for Cassie, of her beloved Grandpa Wonky, the stray she rescued as a child and the painful roots of her combative relationship with her mother, “Bad Betty” Kamrowski. Life in Wanonishaw, Minnesota is never dull, though, and Cassie keeps the recollections at bay, busy balancing her boys, her home daycare operation, and being a good friend to best pal Margret. But after a strange—flurrious, as Cassie deems it—moment happens with the remarkable snowglobe, Cassie and the people she loves are swirled into a tumultuous, yet grace-filled, and life-changing journey.
“As a believer, I know the power of forgiveness and new beginnings, and of a God, and family and friends, who love me the way I am,” Charlene Ann Baumbich says. “The heartbeat of change flows through those wonderful gifts.”

With the quirky, close-knit Midwestern small-town feel that made Charlene Ann Baumbich’s acclaimed Dearest Dorothy novels so popular, Stray Affections invites readers to experience the laughter and the healing of second chances.

About the author:

Charlene Ann Baumbich is a popular author and speaker and an award-winning journalist. In addition to her Dearest Dorothy series of novels, she has written seven nonfiction books of humor and inspiration. A bungee-jumping, once motorcycle-owning grandma and unabashed dog lover, Charlene lives with her husband and rescued dog Kornflake in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. She loves telling stories, laughing whenever possible, and considers herself a Wild Child of God.

Click HERE to watch a video clip of the author reading her book!

If you'd like to learn more about "Stray Affections" or to purchase this book, go to Random House.com.

WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN!

I have also been given an extra copy of "Stray Affections" to give away to one of my lucky readers! All you need to do, to be entered in the drawing for this captivating book, is to leave me a comment. I will do a random drawing for it on my wedding anniversary, September 30th. You must live in the continental US, and may leave one comment per day for more chances to win. Good Luck!

The Book That Made America: How the Bible Formed Our Nation ~ Review and Giveaway!

2009-09-07T06:00:00.001-05:00

I just finished reading this book, and wanted to share it with all of my readers. At first glance, I thought it looked like something that I would sooner just skim through, and then save for a reference book...but once I picked it up, I read it from start to finish. I found some fascinating information in it, about the founding of this great nation of ours, how and why we became as prosperous a nation as we are, and what happened to turn our country into what it is today. Our forefathers came here to practice freedom of religion, (I did know that much), but never fully understood what was so important about that. The sad fact of the matter is, that today, there are many who have decided that they have the right to have a nation that is free OF religion, period. That is not to say that they do not have the right to believe what they want to believe...but we, as Christians should ALSO have the right to practice our own beliefs, without being censored and ridiculed for it. Jerry Newcombe has compiled many facts in this book, that show without a doubt that America was once indeed a Christian nation, and explains in detail the real reason behind "separation of church and state." I would highly recommend it every American.

The Book That Made America: How the Bible Formed Our Nation (Nordskog Publishing) by Jerry Newcombe is a definitive volume on the Christian roots of our nation. Those who want to restore knowledge of our Christian heritage have their work cut out. As secularism continues its stranglehold on American education, we move further and further away from retaining our Christian roots. The Book That Made America will challenge anyone to know the true origin of our Nation and to fight to keep it. Newcombe hopes to educate Americans by providing the facts of history, proving that America began as a Christian nation and American’s have every right to preserve and uphold that heritage.
All that is positive in our foundation can be traced back to the Scriptures. Recently, President Obama declared that America is not a Christian nation, while Newsweek announced the demise of Christian America. This book is the answer to America’s critics with the facts of history.

Jerry Newcombe, D. Min., is senior producer for Coral Ridge Ministries and has produced or coproduced more than fifty documentaries. The host of two weekly radio shows, he has also been a guest on numerous television and radio talk shows - including Fox Business News, C-Span, USA Radio and Moody Radio. He is the author or coauthor of twenty two books, including with Dr. Kennedy, What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?, How Would Jesus Vote?, and The Presence of a Hidden God.
Coral Ridge Ministries is a media outreach founded by Dr. D. James Kennedy. Its programming reaches a national television, radio, and Internet audience at www.coralridge.org.

For more or to purchase this great resource for only $18.95, go to: Amazon.com or
http://www.nordskogpublishing.com/

To WIN a copy of your very own, just leave me a comment after this post, and I will do a random drawing on September 30, 2009. Winners will be notified by email, so make sure you leave me a valid email address in your comment. I will not use your email for any other purpose. Winners must be over the age of 18 and live in the continental U.S. Good luck!

Help! My Brother Has Been Locked Up!

2009-09-04T00:50:00.007-05:00

I just got an urgent message from my brother Bob. He's being locked up and needs help to post bail! It's all good though...he's doing it to raise money for Jerry's kids, you know, the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
If you click on the link below to donate, there is a funny little "newsflash" video to watch. Here is the message I just received from my brother:
I'm proud to tell you that I'm being locked up...that's right, I'm going behind bars to help Jerry's Kids© and MDA. To be released on good behavior I have to raise bail and I need your help!
All you have to do is click here to make a secure, online donation before 10/22/09. Your donation will help families
living in our community and help guarantee me
an early release.
I can't wait to add you to my list of contributors. Thanks in advance for your help.
Together we'll make a difference, Bob
P.S. Thank you, click here to donate.
Shared via AddThis

What's Black and White and Red All Over?

2009-09-01T07:38:00.005-05:00

A "blushing bride" (or maybe a little sunburned?) in a black and white dress! My niece, Crystal is getting married on 9/25/09. She and her fiance had a combination shower/golf outing/bachelorette/bachelor party on Saturday. The guys went golfing, while we women were told to wear our "little black dresses". Alternatively, we could dress in black and white with red accents. Since I do not own a black dress, (and it certainly would NOT be little if I did), I wore the black and white sun dress that I got for my other niece's wedding in May.

Here are a few of the "little black dresses" All the ladies looked lovely.

One of the games we played, was to design wedding dresses out of really cheap toilet paper, that would rip if you looked at it too hard. We split into 4 teams by the tables we were sitting at:

This is my sister-in-law, Rose and my mother, Lenore working on my niece, Holly's dress. Holly just wore her REAL wedding dress a few months ago, in May. Looks good so far!

Above, was my team's model, my grand niece, Desiree. My sister, Connie is putting some of the finishing touches on her creation. I didn't do anything but watch, laugh and take pictures.

These are the 4 finished products. Don't they all look stunning in their new gowns? Crystal was the judge, and chose the 3rd one from the left. I believe it is her SIL-to-be. Maybe she was just making points with her new family?? BTW, those are rose petals on Holly's dress, that they took off of the table decorations...she's not actually wounded!

And then of course, there were gifts to open. Here, she's opening the "Slap Chop" that Jessica and I gave her. Now she can remember us every time she chops onions...but she won't have to with tears in her eyes!

After the games and gift opening were over, the guys joined us back at Crystal's for dinner. There were alcoholic, and non-alcoholic versions of punch to choose from at the shower...
My brother Bob, decided to wear the "alcohol" name tag from the punch. He also stole the clothespins that we had been using earlier for a game...Looks like he'd already had enough alcohol while out golfing, don'tcha think? JK, Bob is always kinda silly like that.

We took a picture of my mother with all of the granddaughters that were present, those that are pictured here range in age from 32 down to 12. L to R: Jenny, Mom, Holly, Crystal, Lacy, Jessica, Molly and Amber. Molly wasn't actually at the shower, she and her cousin Tanner were watching CJ and Shelby at my sister's house a couple of blocks away, and then they all joined us for dinner along with the guys.

Here's one of me and my sisters, sisters-in-law, and my mother. Unfortunately, two of my sisters couldn't make it. L to R: sisters, Connie and Sue, me, Mom, my sister Kathy and SIL's, Lori and Rose. Notice how Rose is standing on her tippy-toes. I didn't even see that when I took this picture.

After dinner, the "party bus" showed up. Some of the guests decided to participate in this part of the day's activities. We opted to play it safe and take Molly and Christian home after dinner.

Here, Crystal and Kathy pose in front of the bus. I'm pretty sure this is one of those things where, "what happens on the party bus STAYS on the party bus"... and I'm not even sure I WANT to know...so I'll just leave it to your imaginations ;-)

Wordless Wednesday #34 ~ How Do You Like Them Apples?

2009-08-26T23:34:00.003-05:00

Our apples appear to be ripe for picking...They're a little tart, should be great for baking! Whatd'ya think??

Good Night, Sleep Tight...

2009-08-20T16:58:00.008-05:00

And don't let the bed bugs bite! That saying brings back mixed feelings for me. Growing up in the 60's, I recall my favorite aunt saying this to my siblings and me, whenever she was visiting us, and it was bedtime. I never actually knew what a bedbug was at that time, but I was scared to death that they were going to come and bite me in my sleep. I loved my aunt, and I miss her dearly, but I remember thinking it was a rather scary thing to say to a little kid! I would lie awake, imagining these huge bugs crawling out from under my bed, or out of my closet, to get me. As I got older, I never heard anything at all about them and decided they were just a myth.

As it turns out, I was wrong. They are NOT a myth at all! In recent years, I have learned that they not only exist, they are becoming more and more prevalent right here in the good old U. S. of A. Which is why Orkin would like to get the word out about what to look for if you think you may have them lurking in your house, and what to do about it if you do. About three years ago, I developed a mysterious rash on my arms and legs, at that time, I researched bed bugs, along with other possible causes of my rash. I never did determine exactly what caused my own itchy problem, and thankfully, it eventually went away...but meanwhile, I learned a lot about these tiny creatures, that for years I had thought to be nothing more than folk lore.

What are bed bugs?
Bed bugs are flat, light tan to brown and oval-shaped until after they feed; then they fill out and turn a reddish color. The adult is approximately the size of an apple seed. Adult bed bugs can live for more than one year without feeding and can sustain extreme temperatures, making them difficult to kill.

For more information, or for a free inspection, visit http://www.orkin.com/ or call 1-800-800-ORKIN.

Look (Grand)MA, No Training Wheels!

2009-08-13T08:57:00.007-05:00

About a week and a half ago, my grandson Christian, who will be five years old in October, learned to ride his bike without training wheels. Here he is on his tiny 12" bicycle.

After a few days, with the seat up as high as it goes, he and his mom decided he was ready for a bigger bike.

Jessica is in the Air Force Reserves, and will likely be going to TX for training for 10 weeks, starting October 1st. If she does, she will miss Christian's birthday again. While she was in the AF, her 5 month tour of duty in Iraq just happened to be over his FIRST birthday...and though she did get to spend his 2nd with him, she was once again sent to do some training (I don't remember where) over his 3rd birthday. We celebrated early at a water park, before we took him home with us for 6 weeks that year. Okay, so she was able to spend his 4th birthday with him last year, but now, since it appears they will again be apart for his birthday, Jess decided to get him an early birthday present. Besides, he will get a lot more use out of it for the next couple of months than he will the months following...here during our Minnesota winter anyway.

She ordered a brand new bike online, and it arrived yesterday evening...

with "some assembly required"

Jess was able to get it all put together, before Grandpa Ray got home. She had him check it over, just in case she hadn't tightened things up enough. After inspection by Grandpa...and a bit of initial hesitation on CJ's part, he got brave enough to try out his new big bike (all 16" of it). Yay, CJ!

ROCK of AGES! ~ Original Broadway Cast Recording Review

2009-08-10T23:58:00.006-05:00

New Line Records just hammered the in-store release of the Original Broadway Cast Recording of five-time Tony Award nominated "ROCK OF AGES." For those of you not in the know, Rock of Ages is the new Broadway musical starring American Idol finalist Constantine Maroulis. Set in 1987 in a legendary Sunset Strip rock club, a small-town girl meets a big-city dreamer and they fall in love to the greatest metal songs of the 80's. The musical is an arena-rock love story told through the mind-blowing, face-melting hits of Journey, Bon Jovi, Styx, Reo Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Foreigner, Twisted Sister, Poison, Asia, Whitesnake and more.

Personally, this wasn't exactly my "cup of tea," but then...I was busy raising my oldest three children in the 80's...and not really listening to these songs, "back in the day." I do remember them, but I suppose I'm more of a product of the 70's myself...and if you like Broadway musicals, you're sure to love this cd. Here are the great 80's songs you'll find on it:

Just Like Paradise / Nothin' But A Good Time

Sister Christian

We Built This City / Too Much Time On My Hands

I Wanna Rock

We're Not Gonna Take It

Heaven/More Than Words / To Be With You

Waiting For A Girl Like You

Wanted Dead Or Alive

I Want To Know What Love Is

Cum On Feel The Noize / We're Not Gonna Take It (Reprise)

Harden My Heart / Shadows Of The Night

Here I Go Again

The Final Countdown

Any Way You Want It / I Wanna Rock (Reprise)

High Enough

I Hate Myself For Loving You / Heat Of The Moment

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Can't Fight This Feeling

Every Rose Has Its Thorn

Oh Sherrie

The Search Is Over

Don't Stop Believin'

To see a video of the making of the soundtrack click here.

You can order a copy for yourself from Amazon.com for only $12.99!

Winning It...Again! Way to go, PEFC!

2009-08-08T10:10:00.006-05:00

Last year, I blogged about our church's softball team playing in their tournament and "Winning it." That same week, the kids' softball team also won first place. Unbelievably, both teams repeated that feat this year, with the kids winning on Tuesday night, and the adults taking home their 1st Place trophy on Thursday night. Here are the guys, (there was one girl playing this year also, but she was not present) posing for a picture BEFORE the game. The local newspaper was there taking pictures of them, since they were obviously going to (at least) place at this point. I took advantage of the already-posed team. Notice how clean and un-sweaty they are in the above photo.

Since I am not a sports fan myself, (understatement of the year), and wasn't paying a lot of attention, I borrowed my husband Ray's commentary from Facebook on the following pics:

"Joel O. has been our coach and mentor for a few years and he led us to our second championship in as many years - he deserved our accolades ....

.... and the ice water shower to follow"

"Umpire Don presenting the First Place Trophy and game chart to commemorate our victory."

"We beat a good team from (a nearby town) 8 to 7 coming from behind in the 6th inning with a rally started by Nathan S. I present to you the 2009 "P-town" Free Church adult Championship softball team. We were also awarded the first ever Sportsmanship Award, which will be presented at next years organizational meeting."

Congratulations guys! Especially on the brand new "Sportsmanship Award," that's pretty cool! The Ump told them after presenting the trophy, that he and another umpire had decided to initiate such an award just the night before, and it took them both about 5 seconds to blurt out, "PEFC" in unison, as the first winners of it. That speaks volumes about what godly men and women they are...even when they're not actually in church, and is an awesome reflection of God's love. They won't receive this award until next Spring, but the ump told them that until then...they have "bragging rights." Of course, all glory and honor goes to HIM!

Wordless Wednesday #33 ~ Where Does My Grandson Fall Asleep??

2009-08-05T02:42:00.005-05:00

On the stairs...

On the chairs...

Aw..who cares???

Festivities For A FIRST & A FIFTIETH!

2009-08-04T10:00:00.004-05:00

Last Friday night, my friends and I were once again "partying" at church. We had a couple of good reasons to celebrate, this time though: This is my friend Jody, with her littlest "joy", Miss K. who turned ONE year old that day.

This is her Barbie cake, made by our friend, Lisa! Didn't she do a great job? She made a small cake for little Miss K. to dig into too.

We also had another friend, Miss Pam, who shares the same birthday...she just happened to be celebrating her "Big 5-0" that day.

This is the cake that I decorated for her. Being of the "over 50" crowd myself, I prefer not to be all morbid about it, and chose the much more upbeat "It's Beautiful Over the Hill" theme.

I thought it was interesting that we both put little pink flowers with yellow dots on the cakes, as if we'd planned it that way. We hadn't.

Some of the guests, waiting for the Pam to arrive...to yell, "SURPRISE!"

Meanwhile, the other guest of honor decided a little nap was in order.

Here she is digging in to her own little birthday cake.

"Mommy, is this REALLY okay?"

Singing "Happy Birthday to You"

The two "birthday girls"

Birthdays can be MESSY!

...But it's always fun to get PRESENTS!

Wordless Wednesday #32 ~ Dogz In The Hood-ie

2009-07-29T17:32:00.004-05:00

Finn, rockin' his new hoodie!
"What up, Dawg?"
"Punk Barker"

A Little Summer "Ketchup" ~ Highlights of the Past 2 weeks!

2009-07-22T08:53:00.030-05:00

I've gotten a little behind in my blogging...I needed to "ketchup!"

On Friday, July 10, 2009 as we were packing up for a camping trip with a group from our church, my niece, Jennifer was in the hospital, preparing to give birth. They hadn't wanted to find out if it was a boy or girl ahead of time, so I was hoping to find out something before we left. After all, I wasn't going to have a computer with me at the campground...I couldn't even check facebook! Well, as luck would have it, I got a phone call, just as we were going out the door...it was a BOY! His name is Alex Michael, and he weighed in at 8lbs. 9 oz. and was 20" long. I have not yet seen him in person, since I wasn't around to go visit them in the hospital, but I'll go visit soon. Here is a picture of my sister, Sue (who is FINALLY a grandma), my niece Jen and of course, little Alex.

I have a grandson named Alexander James too, so now Sue and I each have a grandson named Alex. Welcome to the "Grandma club" Sue! Congratulations on your sweet little bundle of joy, Jen and Jason! Welcome to the world, baby Alex!

Okay, on to the camping trip. We didn't have far to go, just about 20 miles, in fact. That doesn't mean though, that you don't need a lot of stuff! I snapped this shot of CJ while we were waiting on the side of the road, to meet up with my stepdaughter, Sarah and her husband Brad, who were joining us.

He looks pretty cozy in there, don't you think?

Anyway, we had a great weekend, although it was a little chilly at night. Who would have figured it would drop down into the 50's in mid-July?? For those of you not from Minnesota, even around here that was a bit odd. We also had a couple of showers, the first being while we were eating our supper on Friday night. A friend lent us a tarp to throw over the picnic table, and we finished our meal UNDER it. Ahhh...the joys of camping.

But the real joys of camping, are the little things. Just hanging out with friends on the playground...

A little game of basketball...

Playing "Chubby Bunny." If you've never tried it, you take turns seeing how many marshmallows you can stuff in your mouth and still say "chubby bunny."

It was my friend, Padma against the teens and "tweens."

Here's Padma. Ain't she cute??

And a good friend of Molly's, Hope-Anne...she's also one of the famed "QTPies 7."

But the winner was my Molly...with SEVEN marshmallows! She makes a mother proud, (sniff sniff). Molly neglected to put sunscreen on her face and not enough on the rest of her either, and as she hung out in the pool most of the two days...she ended up much redder than the above picture. Ouch! She was hurtin' for certain, and peeling for the whole next week!

Some of the youngest campers played a rousing game of "Duck, Duck, Grey Duck" or "Duck, Duck, Goose" for those of you who didn't grow up in Minnesota. This was being discussed at the campfire next door, while the kids were playing.

After "chubby bunnying" the older kids decided to play "spoons" on the ground...with plastic spoons...and believe it or not, after that...they all went for a good old-fashioned "Snipe Hunt!"
It's amazing what they can find to entertain themselves with, when the TV, computer and the Wii are not available, isnt' it?

The Saturday night fire was a BLAST!, (if not a litte dangerous at times). See all that black grass around the fire ring?

The fire kept escaping the ring, and it was up to Donnie (Mr.QTpies7) to put them out. It was a good thing we were over in our own little corner of the campground...there was a lot of loud laughter emanating from this group. I cannot go into details, since we've decided that what happens at the campfire...stays at the campfire ;0)

Now, fast-forward to the following weekend...

This past Saturday, was my good friend Lisa's daughter, Kaytlin's grad party. Of course I was one of those enlisted to help out. Another friend, Jody and I went grocery shopping with her on Thursday, Anna I helped her decorate some cakes on Friday, and three of us kept taco ingredients filled during the party on Saturday, although Jody and Anna (more bloggy friends) were pretty much on top of that.

We did some of the set-up for this party the night before, during our monthly Ladies' Night Out, and since my grandson was up way too late with Grandpa and Auntie Molly, he was quite tired and crabby. I made him lay down for a "rest." A few minutes later, this is what I found.

Last, but certainly not least...This past Sunday, was our church picnic. For the past few years, it has been held at the home of one of the families from our church, Chad and Andrea P. They've also added baptism in the river, for those of our congregation who haven't yet been baptized, and choose to publicly proclaim their faith.

Here's a couple of pictures of people enjoying each other's company and the kids waiting for a "hayride." There was no actual hay...but they had a great time anyway. (The following pictures look small, but if you double click on them, you can get the big picture and check out who's in them.)

Some wonderful people donated the food and their time and talents to prepare it...

We enjoyed pork chops, coleslaw, beans, lemonade and rootbeer floats...along with a plethora of desserts brought by everyone to share.

Then it was time to "Gather at the River" Here's the procession going down...

There were 7 or 8 people baptized in the river that day. They said the water was very cold...but none of them got "cold feet" except maybe Pastor Al, who was out there for quite some time...

Thanks, Chad and Andrea, for hosting and everyone else involved in making this a special day!

The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn ~ A Book Review

2009-07-21T11:18:00.003-05:00

I've never been one for reading so-called "romance novels." It always seemed to me that they'd be boring. However, when Liz Johnson (who is one of the publicists that I've been receiving books from to review on my blog),contacted me and said she'd like me to review her very first novel, I thought it sounded like a fun opportunity. Wow! This book was definitely NOT boring! It was a very well written story, that was really quite hard to put down.

It's got everything, romance, intrigue, suspense, action and adventure. Congratulations Liz, I wish you well and hope you will keep writing these. I'll buy them! They are available from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Booksamillion.com, Borders.com, or CBD.com.

Here is a summary of the story:

Myles Parsons is just another inmate in Kenzie Thorn’s GED course until he kidnaps her, offering only a feeble explanation–that he’s actually FBI Special Agent Myles Borden. Terrified, Kenzie doesn’t want to believe his story of being undercover to protect her. Moreover, she can’t believe that someone might really want her dead.
But just when Myles thinks he has her out of harm’s way, his plans start to fall apart. He attempts to take Kenzie to a safe house—but the stubborn woman won’t go! So together they must uncover the clues that will reveal a most shocking perpetrator. All the while Myles tries to keep his distance from Kenzie … but finds himself falling in love.

Here's a little about Liz, herself:

After graduating from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff with a degree in public relations, Liz Johnson set out to work in the Christian publishing industry, which was her lifelong dream. In 2006 she got her wish when she accepted a publicity position at a major trade book publisher. While working as a publicist in the industry, she decided to pursue her other dream-being an author. Along the way to having her novel published, she wrote articles for several magazines and worked as a freelance editorial consultant.
Liz lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she enjoys theater, ice skating, volunteering in her church’s bookstore and making frequent trips to Arizona to dote on her nephew and three nieces. She loves stories of true love with happy endings. The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn is her first novel. You can find out more about Liz, by going to her website http://www.lizjohnsonbooks.com/

How to Make a Big Splash with your Great-Grandson

2009-07-08T22:19:00.013-05:00

The Sunday before last, my mom and dad met us at Silver Nickel Farm (which is just a little over 8 miles from our house), for an "antique tractor and old car show." We weren't exactly sure what to expect, but it sounded interesting. As it turned out, my dad actually owns a lot more "antique tractors" himself than they had on display, and the 1963 Ford convertible that my parents drove to the event was one of the oldest cars there too. It wasn't exactly impressive, but it was okay. We had Molly and CJ with us, and they enjoyed petting the animals in the petting zoo, and riding the train around...well, at least CJ enjoyed the train ride. He wouldn't get on it the first time, without Auntie Molly. She pretty much had to be a contortionist to get in the train car...and I wasn't exactly sure we were going to get her and her long legs back OUT of it once they were done.

And after CJ's first ride, we couldn't get him out either...just because he was having such a great time. They had a little "store" there, which was pretty much a garage sale, other than the fact that they also sell organic food products and some Amish-made crafts. They had a few larger used items outside. My mother found this Little Tykes slide for $5 and asked if I thought CJ would like it. I told her yes, and she bought it for him. There was only one problem. We still had all of our karaoke equipment in the van from Friday night, and had no way to get it home...or so I though. Ray came up with this brilliant idea:

It worked! We got some twine from one of the gals that worked there, and tied it to the top of the van. We drove the 8 miles home rather slowly, and after a couple of miles it collapsed and we heard a big boom! It stayed up there though, and had we known it was collapsible, we would have done that in the first place...but we made it home eventually.

Later on that week, the weather got pretty hot. We thought it might be fun to try the slide out in the pool. CJ LOVES his new "water slide." And that's how you make a big splash with your great-grandson:

CJ says, "THANKS, GREAT GRANDPA & GRANDMA!!!"

Adventures in Babysitting Part II~ July 4, 2009

2009-07-06T10:37:00.008-05:00

To start the holiday weekend off, we made the 1 hour trip to my hometown for the big Fourth of July parade. Here is a picture of my two nieces, my two nephews and my grandson enjoying the parade and waiting for the "candy throwers."

Liz (3), Katie (6), Tiegen (5), Grayson(3) & Christian (4)

After the parade, we had a picnic lunch and then headed to my sister Connie's house to pick up my niece, Shelby for the weekend. We came home for a couple of hours and the kids played in CJ's wading pool, sliding down the slide into it. Shelby had a great time doing that. Next, we went into P-town for the festivities there. They had kid's games and a "jumpy thing" set up. What fun!

I caught a picture of my grandson, CJ while he was airborne! Shelby is in the back in the red.

Here's the two of them having a blast! It wasn't easy getting Shelby out of there, she loved it!

Later on, we had a pork chop dinner, and there was karaoke. While we were waiting to sing, I asked Shelby if I could take her picture. This is her being dramatic and posing. What a nut!

And finally, on to the fireworks!! Here is Shelby, CJ and "Uncle Grandpa Ray" as we were calling him. He's Uncle to Shelby and Grandpa to CJ...so it all works out. Ray had been wearing a hat earlier in the day...thus, the hat-hair.

A few shots of the fireworks...they were pretty good, as usual here in P-town! They've been doing this for 8 years here now, and hopefully they'll be able to continue them.

Everything went great with Shelby...until she started telling me that she "needed to throw up"...wonderful! I didn't know whether or not I should believe her...but she wasn't kidding. I had a light blanket over her, and decided the best thing to do, was to let her barf into that...at least I could wash the blanket. Shelby wasn't really sick, she gets acid reflux, which was the cause of her needing to vomit, but I felt sorry for her. I felt her forehead, and she said, "I'm sick, I have a fever." I didn't want to try to carry her down out of the crowded bleachers in the dark, during the fireworks display...so I just held her, bunched up the pukey blanket, and waited for the fireworks to be over. Meanwhile, Ray had no idea what was going on and got some great firework pics.

We did get the kids home and settled in...and eventually, they were asleep. We had to get up early on Sunday and get the two little ones, Molly, her friend, Liz and ourselves all to church by 8 AM.

Ray and I were singing, so Molly and Liz watched Shelby and CJ for a couple of hours in the toddler nursery. They did a pretty good job keeping the two of them occupied. Everything went pretty well...until after church...when I lost Shelby for a few minutes. The big girls walked out of the room, and (since I was talking to a friend in the doorway), I didn't immediately notice that Shelby had followed them. Apparently, they hadn't noticed either. She didn't actually go very far, but since she had taken off her shoes at the top of the stairs, I wasn't sure which way she had gone. Was she downstairs...outside? I enlisted some help from some people who happened to be there in the hallway, and after a few minutes she was found. She was just sitting in a chair in the library...reading a book. As I said, she hadn't gone far at all...but the chair she was in was in the corner of the room, and I couldn't see her without actually stepping into the library! She seems to love to play these little tricks on people.

After church, we did our usual "Chinese" for lunch. Shelby didn't like much of anything they had to offer, but she did enjoy dipping her sugar donut in the ketchup...mmmm...good. While we were eating, I asked her how she liked the fireworks the night before. Her response was, "Boom! throw-up!" I guess that about summed it up for her.

Sunday afternoon, after we'd all taken a nap, Shelby was outside with my daughter, Jessica. She saw the wading pool and decided she'd like to go for another dip...a skinny-dip that is! Before Jess could stop her, she was stripped completely naked and sitting at the top of the slide in the front yard! It's a good thing we live out in the middle of nowhere, and no cars happened to be passing by. I grabbed her, brought her in the house and got her dressed. Shortly after that, we took her home.

On the way to her house, I took a picture of her playing her Hanna Montana guitar. This is Shelby's rock star pose:

While she was sitting behind Ray in the van, she pointed to him and asked, "Is he Christian's dad?" to which I replied, "No, Ray is Christian's Grandpa." Shelby burst out laughing and said, "Oops, my bad!" Can you tell she has older brothers and sisters? All in all, it was good weekend, and Shelby can be a lot of fun...I just probably have a few more gray hairs now, than I had before she came to visit.

Happy 233rd Birthday, America!

2009-07-03T11:54:00.005-05:00

I'm pretty sure I won't get a chance to blog tomorrow, so I thought I'd say it today. It should be an interesting, busy weekend. We're going to my home town for the big parade in the morning, and then bringing my 6yr old niece, Shelby home with us for the rest of the weekend. Shelby was born with Down Syndrome, and is quite a character. The other day, her mother said she put on a hat, grabbed her guitar and said, "See ya, I'm going to Mexico, my band is there." And then she came back in and asked her if she'd give her a ride.

We had her last year for the Fourth too...that's when Shelby locked herself in the bathroom at ShopKo, and I had to crawl in after her...while she proceeded to crawl into the next one...

This year, I'll also have my 4 yr old grandson, CJ. Molly is having her friend Liz join us for the weekend as well, so hopefully the big girls can help us keep an eye on the two little ones. After the parade, we're going to come back to P-town for the festivities here. They've got kid's games, a pork chop dinner, karaoke, and then fireworks to top off the weekend. And then, I'll have to try to get all the kids up on Sunday morning to get us all to church by 8AM, because Ray and I are helping lead the worship. Hopefully, Molly and Liz can keep Shelby and CJ entertained while we sing. I'll let y'all know how it all works out. Happy Independence Day!!

Wordless Wednesday #31 ~ An UnBULLievable Birthday!

2009-07-01T09:40:00.002-05:00

Something I can cross off of my "bucket list"

It's My Birthday and I'll Blog if I Want to!

2009-06-30T15:22:00.004-05:00

So far, I'm having a pretty pleasant day. The weather is very cool today, for the end of June in Minnesota. I'm not complaining though, because as much as I LOVE summer, I can live without the sweltering heat and humidity we've been having the last couple of weeks. Having just turned 51, (I guess I have to update my profile), I've begun having frequent hot flashes the past few months. They're much worse when the weather is hot too.

Anyway, today is not only MY birthday, but also my cousin Bonnie's and my youngest sister Kathy's. Bonnie and I were born on the same day, 51 years ago. Here is a picture of the two of us when they were visiting Minnesota last September:

My sister, Kathy was born on our 11th birthday. Although you wouldn't know it by looking at her, she's celebrating "the big 4-0" today. We had a party for her on Saturday. She kinda figured her husband "Fuzz" was bringing her to her surprise party, but thought that was going to happen somewhere else after they went to have dinner and drop off her boys at our parents' home. I guess we fooled her... the party was right there at their house. Here she is in her white-tiger- print- birthday-cowboy hat that our sister Laurie got for her:

I'm hoping to go see "My Sister's Keeper" and maybe have dinner with my hubby tonight, and then possibly meet up with Kathy for a birthday drink somewhere. I'll let you know how all that goes. Happy Birthday, Bonnie and Kathy!!

Wordless Wednesday #30 Wildly Beautiful!

2009-06-24T11:11:00.002-05:00

I don't know what kind of flowers these are, but found them growing wild between our backyard and the row of pine trees. Does anyone know what they are?

Fun With Finn!

2009-06-18T10:39:00.004-05:00

After the tragic loss of my grandson CJ's dog "Bart", all he could talk about was getting a NEW dog. His mother, Jessica searched on Craig's list for one that would be a good fit for our family. She wanted one that was not too big, not too small, one that loved children and was okay with not being the only dog in the house...and one that wasn't going to cost a whole lot of money. At last, the search is over. She and CJ and I went to go pick up "Finn" yesterday, while Molly was gone to Valley Fair with her youth group.

We surprised Molly with him last night when we went to pick her up at church. He's about 2 1/2 years old, and is a purebred Papillon. "Papillon" is the French word for butterfly, and these dogs are so named because with their ears erect, their faces have the look of one. They told us that he's actually on the large side of the scale for the breed, but that's okay. He's about the same size as Bart was...which makes him quite huggable for a 4 year old boy.

Jessica was able to adopt him for FREE and his previous owners even threw in his bed, crate, toys...and a "Coach" collar. The couple that had him had two little girls, ages 5 and 3 and had just added a baby boy to the mix 4 weeks ago. They decided that with the new baby and all, they just didn't have time for Finn anymore, and they were pretty excited that his new owner was a rough and tumble 4 year old boy that would love to play and wrestle with him.

So far, Finn seems to be a pretty good dog, and I have heard that as a breed they are very smart, good with children and are known to be "eager to please." We shall see. The thing that I do not like, is that he seems to have taken a liking to my bed. I am NOT really a dog person, I mean, I can tolerate them living in my house, I just don't want them in my bed! The worst thing was, he decided to jump up there right after his bath last night! Eeewwww, wet dog smell, not my favorite "oderant". I stripped the bed and washed everything. He's going to have to learn not to do that again, if him and I are going to get along. I'd just close my bedroom door...but it's hard to lock a curtain.

(Finn, laying at his master's feet)

Two Family Birthdays This Week!

2009-06-18T08:50:00.008-05:00

My step-daughter, Sarah turned 28 on Tuesday of this week. It's hard to imagine that I've known her now for 10 years! I watched her graduate from H. S., and then she was off to college...earning her L.P.N. and finally her R.N. She married Brad a little over 4 years ago, and they live in northern Minnesota. They are enjoying their life together with their dog Buster, and waiting on God's timing to be blessed with children. Happy Birthday, Sarah!

The other one with a birthday this week, is my son Joel. He turned 26 yesterday. I was due to give birth to him on May 19th...but he was evidently not too eager to come into this world, and hung around for an extra 29 days! He was not my biggest baby...but he was close. He weighed in at 9 lbs .5 oz and was 22" long. He is now somewhere around 6'4" and probably weighs close to 200 lbs. He is living and working in a town just about 30 miles to the west of us. He's still single, but maybe one of these days he'll meet the right woman...and start working on a family too. Hey...I can dream, can't I?

This is Joel on his 4th birthday, with his new Big Wheel. Do you think just maybe he looks a little bit like his nephew, CJ in this picture?

This is what he looks like in a more recent photograph. Happy 26th Birthday Joel!

Depending on what time of the year it is, we either have 2 girls the same age and 2 boys the same age...or we have 4 of them in row. Now that these two have had their birthdays for the year, our childrens ages are 30, 28, 27, 26, 25, 21...and 12.

Wordless Wednesday #29 There'd be no Rainbows without the Rain!

2009-06-17T08:55:00.002-05:00

SISTERCHICKS in Wooden Shoes ~ Book Review and Giveaway!

2009-06-13T14:42:00.004-05:00

SISTERCHICK n: a friend who laughs with you till you cry and cries with you till you laugh; a gift from God.

I have a few "sisterchicks" in my life, some of them being actual blood sisters, and others that are ascloseassisters to me. I have never personally had a pen-pal, but do have a few cyber friends, that I have subsequently met in person after getting to know them online. For that reason, I could totally relate to feeling like you've known someone for years, the first time you actually meet them face to face.

In SISTERCHICKS in Wooden Shoes, "Summer" goes to the Netherlands to meet her longtime pen-pal, "Noelle" after getting some not-so-good test results from her doctor. Instead of waiting around for further test results, she plans to take some time out of her life to finally meet this friend from afar...just in case it's her last chance to do so. They have a wonderful, crazy time during their week together. I found this to be a fun book to read, it didn't take long, and there were some funny parts, as well as some rather emotional ones.

Summary:
When a mammogram result comes back abnormal, midlife mama Summer Finley makes a snap decision to relegate fear to the back burner and fulfill a lifelong dream. Summer heads for Holland where she meets up with tulips, wooden shoes, and her best friend, Noelle.

Pen pals since fourth grade, Summer and Noelle have never met face-to-face. Through decades of heart-level correspondence, they have sustained a deep friendship. A week of adventure helps both women trade anxiety for a renewed and deeper trust in God. When Summer confides in Noelle about the abnormal medical report, Noelle finds the freedom to share a long-held heartache, and both women discover they needed each other more than they realized.

Women ages 35 and up, readers of Christian Boomer Lit, and fans of books such as The Yada Yada Prayer Group will enjoy Robin Jones Gunn’s humorous and uplifting style. True-to-life characters and moments of poignancy bring a deeper understanding of the value of life and the gift of true friends. Readers guide and bonus material included.

Author Bio: Robin Jones Gunn is the best-selling and award-winning author of over seventy books, including the Glenbrooke, Christy Miller, Sierra Jensen, Katie Weldon, and Christy and Todd: The College Years teen series. The Sisterchicks® series has sold more than 300,000 units, bringing her total sales to more than 3.5 million books worldwide. A Christy Award winner, Robin is a popular speaker, both at home and abroad, and is frequently interviewed on radio and on television. www.robingunn.com www.sisterchicks.com

Win a free copy of this book, by leaving a comment after this post, about one or more of your "Sisterchicks". I'll randomly draw a name from comments that are left on my birthday, June 30. Feel free to leave one new comment each day for more chances to win. My contests are open to readers over 18 years of age, who are residents of the continental US. Thanks and good luck! To purchase a copy of this book, go to Randomhouse.com

Wordless Wednesday # 28 ~ How Tall is a "Typical" American 12-year-old Girl?

2009-06-10T19:16:00.006-05:00

About this tall... (the one on the right is actually 4 months OLDER)

V.B.S. Takes Its Toll on Everyone!

2009-06-08T17:24:00.008-05:00

Today was the first day of Vacation Bible School at our church. This year's theme is "Studio Go Game Show." It will be every morning this week from 9AM to 12:15. My grandson, CJ is attending with a lot of his friends. I'm helping out with the babies in the nursery, with my good friend Lisa, (QTpies7), and Molly is helping out by leading the worship etc with some other older girls. So far, so good. There were over 100 kids there this morning, not counting the 6th and 7th graders that were there helping out! Everyone is having a great time, despite the rainy start to the week today.

However, ever since school got out last Wednesday, we've been pretty lax about what time anyone goes to bed around here. Hence CJ and Molly...and I were up a bit later than we should have been last night. After we got home this afternoon, I made lunch and sat down to watch one of my favorite shows, and fell asleep on the couch. Molly had been on the computer and CJ was running around playing. I woke up after a few minutes and it seemed rather quiet in the house. I assumed CJ was upstairs with his mom in their bedroom...until I saw a little head lying behind the recliner in the living room...

CJ curled up next to his "trumpet" that he made in VBS

And then I walked into my bedroom and found this...

Molly had decided to take over my bed. I guess I'll call her "Goldilocks" from now on. I tried to get her out, but there was no budging her. It is now after 5:30 and they are both still asleep! I'd better go wake them up, so they don't stay up half the night tonight and repeat this behavior tomorrow!!

Why Yes, It Actually IS Rocket Science!

2009-06-03T16:19:00.005-05:00

At least, it's middle school "rocket science". Molly was studying rockets in her 6th grade science class, and they sent home a form for us parents to order rocket kits for them to launch at school. The options were: a) buy a kit that could only be launched once, b) upgrade to the more expensive one that had a launch pad and 3 extra engines, or c) choose not to buy one at all, and have your child paired with another student that has one. I left the decision up to Ray, and being just a big kid at heart...he chose option b, so that he could play with it at home.

The sixth graders did this on Monday morning at school, and so when Molly got home that day, she and her 4 year old nephew were pretty excited to launch it again here. I told them they'd have to wait for Ray to get home, and when he finally did, we walked to the field next to the house and this is what happened:

The rocket went off without a hitch...after Ray took care of a few minor technical difficulties, and I caught it on video! The only thing was, I thought I had stopped recording after it went off..when I couldn't find the rocket in the camera's viewfinder! (That's why you see me aiming the camera it at my feet, because I was looking to see what I had captured.)

But the funniest thing happened AFTER I thought it WASN'T recording... If you listen closely, you can hear Christian say, "Whoa! Molly's rocketship goes that far?!" Jessica tells him, "Yep." If you can't understand his next comment, my grandson says, "That's a little SCARY!" And then I start giggling. It's a good thing I decided to watch it on my computer, because I realized I actually DID get the rocket coming back down with the parachute...and I had also forgotten all about Christian's comment at the end. We get to launch it two more times now...yay!

Book Winners Update!

2009-06-03T11:25:00.002-05:00

I just drew the winner for the book "Dear Mom". And it is...Nicole D! I also need to apologize for not getting the last couple of giveaway books out in a timely manner. They are sitting in my entry way, ready to go...but with not having a vehicle for the past five months...it gets difficult to get them to the post office. I'm so, so sorry! I NEED to remember to send them with my dh tomorrow!!! I will send an email out to Nicole, and if I can get her mailing address yet today, I can send her book along with the rest.

Look for my next book giveaway right here, next week! It's called "Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes" by Robin Jones Gunn.

My Seven Year Open-Heart Surgery Anniversary!

2009-05-30T10:00:00.003-05:00

Seven years ago today, I was lying on a table in an operating room, with my heart (literally) in the hands of another person. Thankfully, he was a very skilled surgeon, so I got by with a mitral valve REPAIR, instead of a replacement. It was a definitely one of the scariest things I've ever had to go through in my life, but I also put my life in God's hands, and He brought me through it.I was trying to make these pictures as tasteful as possible, while still showing most of my scar. I belong to a wonderful online community, called Valvereplacement.com. A few years ago, someone on there, started a forum entitled "TOOTS", (The Order Of The Tawdry Shirt). They've been passing shirts around the world for everyone to take their scar pictures in, but I didn't want to wait for that. My husband has a few of his own "tawdry" shirts...which is why I took these pics in this one. I have posted them over on my heart valve site too.

You can see that the scar has faded somewhat over the years, but the one thing that's always bothered me, is that it's NOT straight, and it's NOT exactly in the middle of my chest. For that reason, I generally don't go around wearing anything very low-cut, but here it is, in all its glory.

Bart The Wonder Dog just ran out of Lives

2009-05-28T14:19:00.007-05:00

Back in January, I posted about my daughter's Corgi, Bart, miraculously surviving being hit by a car on the road. After that accident, we had kept him tied up in the yard for quite some time. But after it got nice out, and people were going in and out of the back door quite frequently, Bart would sneak out from time to time. It seemed like he had learned his lesson about chasing cars...so we kind of let him run around the yard with his buddy, our Chocolate lab/Springer mix, Jake.

That was all well and good for a while, with just one problem. You see, Welsh Corgis were originally bred to herd cows. Bart was a bit confused, and had recently taken to herding CARS instead. It was like he never wanted anyone to leave, and instead of just barking when someone came, he would bark when anyone left as well. And if he was outside when anyone was coming or going, he would run as fast as he could in circles around their vehicle. Well, on Tuesday, Ray had just come home from town, and Bart was running around the truck, as usual...but this time, unfortunately, he didn't get out of the way of the wheel. Ray felt sickened as he realized he'd just run over our grandson's dog, but Bart was still very much alive. He was limping, and not moving very well, but he wasn't bleeding or anything. We were hoping it was just the one paw. Later on that night though, he started looking worse and worse, and his breathing became very labored. Jessica gave him some pain meds that he had left over from his other accident, and sat with him in her lap. Bart's injuries were apparently much more serious than any of us realized, because within an hour or so, Bart breathed his last breath...right there on Jessica's lap.

In all honesty, I can't say as I've always been fond of Bart. Yes, he was a cute little thing, but he could be rather annoying at times. When they arrived in December, he wasn't completely house trained. And then, he was just getting pretty good at that when the first accident happened. Either it was brain damage, or the drugs he was on, but we basically had to start all over in that department, and he was once again, pottty trained. He also had some other weird little quirks...he hated the vacuum cleaner and would attack it whenever we used it, not just that, but pretty much anything used for cleaning, the broom, spray bottles, mops whatever. Anyway, he was finally starting to be a pretty good dog again, just a short time ago. My grandson CJ and my daughters, Jessica and Molly loved him very much, and Ray and I were just beginning to at least tolerate him living with us.

We had a "funeral" for Bart after Molly got home from school on Wednesday. Molly dressed in a black dress and read the eulogy she had prepared. Everyone said their goodbyes to him, including his 4 year old master, CJ. He seems to be taking it very well, even though he didn't believe that Bart was dead at first. Can you blame him? He'd been told just a few months ago that his dog was dead, (we all thought he was until Ray went out to get him), and then he was all of a sudden NOT dead again. Yesterday, CJ told me that maybe he would name his next dog "SpongeBob". We'll see. RIP Bart.

Memorial Weekend Happenings

2009-05-27T14:50:00.008-05:00

Our Holiday weekend started out nice. Sarah called on Saturday morning, to ask if it was alright for them to come down for a visit for the weekend. They had planned on camping in Northern Minnesota, but the weather up there was not cooperating. We told her that would be just fine, we had planned on grilling and having our first campfire of the season that night anyway, so it would be great to have company for it. We invited my son Joel and Ray's other daughter, Ruth and her husband too, but unfortunately, Joel had to work and we never heard back from Ruth.

Meanwhile, while Sarah and Brad were on their way, I got Ray working on my "Honey-do" list. They were just minor little things that I wanted done, like hanging the American flag out on the front porch, putting a lock on the bathroom door, fixing my chair and attaching our bed to the headboard, so it wasn't always trying to fall on us in our sleep. He did end up getting most of that accomplished. I have one more project for him to do, but he said that one was a little more "involved" than he thought it would be. Of course, this is the same project that was left over from th last time I gave him a list of things I wanted done.

After Sarah and Brad arrived, we took them with us to the first grad party of the season. It was a beautiful day for an outdoor party, and CJ had lots of fun playing with his friends, Caleb, DJ and Charlie, who all happened to be there at the same time we were. When we got home, we made brats and hot dogs on the grill and got ready for our campfire.

Here are Jake, Molly (with Bart in her lap), Sarah, Brad, Buster, and Jess with CJ in her lap.

Here we are, enjoying the fire and roasting marshmallows for S'mores. You gotta have S'mores to make it an official holiday weekend, don't ya think?

Here is Molly, posing with Jake, Bart and Buster. We had ourselves a real "Three Dog Night"

On Sunday afternoon, we all headed out to my mom and dad's house for another "work day". Most of my siblings were there, and some of the grandkids. They were all doing odd jobs around the place that needed doing. Some of us were painting Mom and Dad's bedroom, while others were doing some painting outside. They even painted the basketball/flag pole! That's my brother Bob in the orange shirt, and the other one is my BIL, Steve. I believe my brother Mike is operating the equipment here:

While they were doing that, my sister Kathy was busy painting the old basketball backboard, too. She did a very nice job on it, but we were thinking it needed the script, "Don't even think about parking here", along with a painting of Felix the Cat playing basketball...or something like that. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if actually did that. She's one talented lady.

Monday morning, we all got up and Ray made his famous omelets for everyone. Sarah and Brad packed up and headed North around noon or so. Ray, CJ and I took a ride out to the campground that our church is going to for a weekend in July. It looks like a nice place, and is only about 20 miles from town, so even if some people didn't want to stay, they could still come out to visit for a day. The lady from the campground told Ray that he had to show me the "outhouses". I thought that was interesting. I'll post more about the campground later.

Wordless Wednesday #27 ~ "Apple Blossom Time"

2009-05-20T01:25:00.006-05:00

Key Problems

2009-05-18T19:23:00.005-05:00

My niece, Holly got married on Saturday. She and Nate had been dating for approximately seven years, and it was a beautiful wedding. I have pictures that I'll probably post later, I think my camera is in Ray's truck at the moment. I just wanted to share an interesting story. Last Thursday, I had driven Ray's truck into SC to meet him there, after he and his daughter had gone to a funeral in another town South of there. That way, Sarah was able to continue North to her home in Bemidji, without bringing her dad all the way back here.

Anyway, up until Saturday morning, I had my set of keys (with my house key on it), and the extra set of truck keys both in my purse. That is, until I was looking for something in there, and emptied most of the contents out of it, onto the table. When we were leaving for the wedding, I looked at the two sets of keys, and even though I felt a bit of a "nudge" to pick up both sets and put them back in my purse, I decided that would just make my purse heavy, and seemed stupid. Why in the world would I need the extra set of truck keys anyway, when Ray has a set himself?? I have decided over the years that when I get these little "promptings" to do something, I should obey them and just do it, as long as it's nothing that will hurt anyone. Silly me...I ignored it this time. Well, I kind of half ignored it. I did pick up my set of keys.

The wedding, reception and dance were all held at one place on Saturday. My daughter, Jessica was with us, but had driven separately. After dinner, we were sitting and chatting and I was enjoying some coffee. If you know me, you know I love my coffee. I had just received the nice coffee mug that Jess had ordered for me for Mother's day in the mail that day, so it was in the truck. I said, something to the effect that I should go out and get it, wash it out and fill it up, so I wouldn't have to keep refilling the small cup. Jessica offered to go out and get it. Ray gave her the keys to the truck, and out she went. At about 8pm, she left the wedding dance to go to Minneapolis and celebrate her best friend's birthday with her. Ray and I stayed and enjoyed watching the dancing, limbo and all sorts of other fun stuff, until approximately 11:00 PM.

We said our goodbyes to my brother Dan and his wife, Lori and also to the newlyweds, Holly and Nate. We walked out to the parking lot and Ray asked, "Where are my keys?" "Do you have my keys?" I'm pretty sure the realization hit us both, as it sunk in that we'd given the keys to Jess...and they were now with her in Minneapolis! I called her, and sure enough...that's exactly where they were. She felt terrible about it, but what could she do? It would take her a couple of hours to get them back to us, so I came up with another plan. I wondered if there was anyone there, who was planning on taking a cab home, because they'd perhaps had a bit too much to drink...this was a wedding after all. We went back in and talked to a couple of people...it turned out that my brother Bob and his wife Rose were planning to do just that, and they were gracious enough to lend their vehicle to us to drive home. We were ready to go...after Ray figured out where all the controls were etc...we just started to roll...and there was someone pounding on the driver's door window! It was Bob. He'd left HIS keys to their house and his other vehicle on the seat of this one. They were behind me on the seat and I hadn't even seen them! It would not have been good if they'd taken a cab home, only to realize they couldn't get into their own house!!

Speaking of house keys, it was a good thing I'd grabbed the ONE set of keys and put them back in my purse, or we would have had to break into our own house! Before I went to bed, I hung the extra truck keys and my house key up by the back door. Sunday morning, I got into my brother's car to go to church, and Ray came out and got in. He asked me if I had my purse, I said "Yes, why?" He said, because then we have a key to get in the house...I just looked at him. "No, we don't. I used it to get in last night, and then hung it by the door", I told him. All through church, I was trying to figure out if there was any way we could get into our house. Did I leave the side door open? Did Molly have a key with her at her friend's house?

It turned out that she did not have a key, she said it had come off of her school bag and she THINKS it is is in her school locker...but thankfully, she had unlocked the side door earlier on Saturday...and we were able to get in, and grab the spare truck keys, so we could pick up the truck and return my brother's to him later that day! WHEW!! Thanks again, Bob and Rose!!!

Wordless Wednesday #26 ~ Our Little "Armed Guard", Asleep on the Job!

2009-05-13T22:55:00.006-05:00

(CJ asleep with his dart gun while listening to KidzBop)

Mother's Day 2009

2009-05-11T20:39:00.015-05:00

I had a very nice Mother's Day this year. To begin with, my husband brought me a dozen roses on Saturday. They're a very pretty yellow-orange color. He had also bought me a rechargeable battery pack and charger for my camera last week, because I told him that's what I wanted for Mother's day. Ray, Molly and I went to church on Sunday morning, where Molly and I took our turn watching the toddlers in the nursery. There were no kids in there to begin with though, so I was able to participate in most of the worship part of the service...which is my favorite part. There were also two baby dedications on Sunday. One of them was a little guy we watch in the nursery on Wednesday nights, "Little C." He's the Youth Pastor's youngest son, and is a sweetie!

(Little C, being pushed by Middle C last Wed)

After church, Jessica and CJ met us at "Shooters", which is a local bar and grill, but on this Mother's day morning, they had a special brunch set up. It was very good food, and the price wasn't bad. The cost for kids 12 and under was only $6.95, and I was afraid we'd have a hard time convincing them that my 5' 9 1/2" Molly was actually only 12 years old...but thankfully, they took my word for it.

(my 5' 9 1/2" 12 year old)

When we got home, I got a Happy Mother's Day phone message from Ruth. She was the first of the kids who don't live with us to call me. I felt bad that I missed her call and I wasn't exactly sure what number she had called from, since it had come up on my phone as "no number." Molly bought me a package of cantaloupe seeds...she's always loved cantaloupe!

My daughter, Jessica got me a gift from ebay. She hasn't received it yet, but she sent me an email of what it is. A couple of years ago, she had gotten me a blue Starbuck's travel mug that I just loved...but I lost it. She found one on ebay for me, to replace it. Everyone seems to think I collect travel coffee mugs, I really don't...I'm just always in search of the "perfect" one. The most important thing to me, is that if you happen to knock the thing over, it would be really nice if it wouldn't spill...or even slowly leak, like most of them do...even the one I got from Tupperware, but this one didn't. I can't wait to get it! After a bit, it was time to make my pasta salad and then head out to Mom and Dad's to celebrate with the rest of my family.

Jessica, Molly and CJ had driven out slightly ahead of us to my parents' house . This is what CJ was up to when we arrived. He was having a blast driving around in my nephew's battery operated "Gator." Here he is in the passenger seat with Tiegen doing the driving.

My siblings and I had all chipped in on a couple of things for my mom. We got her a large coffeemaker for when she has get-togethers, and a gift card to the nursery/greenhouse where she likes to buy her plants. Here she is opening the coffeemaker:

My mother watches my sister's two little boys, Tiegen and Grayson quite a bit, and Mom and I took a walk out to the "fort" they had made to look for something. I thought the fort was so cute, that I had to take a picture of it. The boys are 3 and 5 years of age. It looks pretty comfy, don't ya think?

While we were there, I got a call from my oldest son, Jeremy. He lives in Phoenix, AZ with his 6 year old son, Alex. He said they were doing fine, and that Alex is learning how to read and even doing some math! I was very happy to hear that. My grandson was once diagnosed as mildly autistic...so it was great news! Jeremy said that they and his cousin, Tonia (who lives near him), are thinking about coming to visit us in September this year. I can hardly wait! I haven't seen Jeremy or Alex since August of 2006! It sure would be nice to get to know my grandson again.

On our way home, at approximately 10:30 PM, my son Joel gave me a call, to say Happy Mother's Day. I told him he got in "just under the wire." Joel said he'd been having car trouble, and therefore didn't come out to his grandparents' house to join the party. However, he lives in a town that is on the way out there...so we could have picked him up if he'd called earlier. Oh well, I did get to see him a few weeks ago, and it was thoughtful of him to pick up the phone and call...even though the day was almost over.

Mother's Day Blog Tour Book Review & Giveaway!!

2009-05-10T15:13:00.008-05:00

This book is written from the viewpoint of a teenage girl, it even includes a section in the front telling us moms why we shouldn't read it. I thought it was very well written, and did bring back some memories of how I felt at that age...which was quite a few years ago. Since my youngest daughter is not quite technically a teenager, some of it didn't quite fit. However, since she is over 5'9" tall and has started experimenting with make-up, and is going through that lovely "It's Wonderful Being a Girl" phase, a lot of it did fit her...to a T. I haven't actually read the entire thing yet, but I am going to keep it handy for a quick reference when she does things I don't quite understand.

Here's the summary:
Every mom knows how communicating with a teenage girl can be difficult, even impossible at times. One-word answers. Defensive conversations. Daily arguments. How typical for teens to put up such barriers. All the while, moms truly long to know what their daughters really think.
Best-selling author Melody Carlson, whose books for women, teens, and children have sold more than three million copies, bridges this chasm with trusted insight. She speaks frankly in the voice of the teen daughters she’s written for and she tells it like it is: struggles with identity, guys, friendship, and even parents—it’s all here. The straight-talk to moms covers such things as “I need you, but you can’t make me admit it,” “I’m not as confident as I appear,” and “I have friends. I need a mother.”
Instead of focusing on outward behaviors, Dear Mom looks at a young woman’s heart and reveals to moms:
· how to talk to teens so they hear,
· how to connect despite the differences of perspective or years and experiences,
· and how strengthen the bond every mom and daughter ultimately wants.
The lively chapters in Dear Mom can be dipped into topically or used as a read-through tool by moms and daughters alike to understand what motivates or deflates, troubles or inspires—and just in time for Mother’s Day and all the Mother’s Days ahead.

Author Bio:
Melody Carlson is the award-winning author of more than one hundred books for adults, children, and teens, with sales totaling more than three million copies. Beloved for her Diary of a Teenage Girl and Notes from a Spinning Planet series, she’s also the author of the women’s novels Finding Alice (in production now for a Lifetime-TV movie), Crystal Lies, On This Day, These Boots Weren’t Made for Walking, and A Mile in My Flip-Flops. A mother of two grown sons, Melody lives in central Oregon with her husband and chocolate lab retriever. She’s a full-time writer and an avid gardener, biker, skier, and hiker.

To purchase a copy of this book or for more information about it, go to: RandomHouse.com

I also have an extra copy of "DEAR MOM" to give away to one of my lucky readers. To enter, please leave a comment after this post, about how you celebrated Mother's Day this year, and I will randomly draw the winner's name out of a hat on May 31st. This contest is open to all residents of the continental US! Good Luck!

Book: Mama’s Got A Fake I.D.

Author: Caryn Dahlstrand Rivedeneira

Summary:
Formula for identity loss:
1. Take one multifaceted, intriguing human being.
2. Bless her with a child.
3. Mix with today’s cultural assumptions.
4. Add the demands of motherhood.
5. Presto! All identity except Mom disappears.
For every woman wondering what happened to the unique combination of gifts and abilities she was known for before kids came along, Caryn Dahlstrand Rivedeneira has good news: in Mama’s Got a Fake I.D., Rivedeneira helps moms reclaim their full identity as creative beings, gifted professionals and volunteers, loving friends, children of God—and mothers.

This inspiring and practical guide shows women how to break free from false guilt, learn a new language to express who they really are, and follow God’s lead in sharing their true self with others. After all, motherhood doesn’t have to mean losing one’s identity. Instead, being a mom makes it possible for a woman to discover a more complete identity as the person God made her to be.

Author Bio:
The former managing editor of Marriage Partnership and Christian Parenting Today, Caryn Dahlstrand Rivedeneira has been a trusted voice writing and speaking to women for more than a decade. Today she is the managing editor of GiftedForLeadership.com, an online community for Christian women in leadership. Rivadeneira works from home in the Chicago suburbs, where she lives with her husband and their three children.
To purchase this book, or to learn more about it, go to RandomHouse.com and place your order.

Book: Enduring Justice I like to actually read these books before I review them, and I was looking forward to reading a novel for a change. I was not disappointed! This was a very good book from beginning to end, and was a real page turner. I did have a little trouble getting into it at first, because there are numerous characters, and the author lets you see not only through the heroine's eyes, but also writes from the perspective of her FBI agent boyfriend, and even takes you into the twisted minds of the racist terrorists that they are trying to stop. I found it to be a very entertaining read!
Here's the summary:
In Enduring Justice, Hanna Kessler’s childhood secret has remained buried for over two decades. But when the dark shadows of her past threaten to destroy those she loves, Hanna must face the summer that changed her life and the man who still haunts her thoughts.

Crimes Against Children FBI Agent, Michael Parker knows what it means to get knocked down. And when the system fails and a white supremacist is set free, Michael’s drive for retribution eclipses all else.

A racist’s well-planned assault forces Hanna and Michael to decide between executing vengeance and pursuing justice. When the attack turns personal, is healing still possible?

This thought-provoking novel deals with healing from sexual abuse, the balance of justice and mercy, and maintaining mixed-race friendships in the midst of racial tension. Readers who enjoy investigative thrillers by Dee Henderson, Colleen Coble, and Catherine Coulter, and who watch crime dramas like Law & Order: SVU, Criminal Minds, and Without a Trace will love this book—and the entire series.

Author Bio:
Amy Wallace is the author of Ransomed Dreams and Healing Promises, a homeschool mom, and self-confessed chocoholic. She is a graduate of the Gwinnett County Citizens Police Academy and a contributing author of several books including God Answers Moms’ Prayers and Chicken Soup for the Soul Healthy Living Series: Diabetes. She lives with her husband and three children in Georgia.

To get more info about "Enduring Justice" go to RandomHouse.Com.

For more chances to win these three great books, visit my good friends who have joined me on this book tour: Daisy Crazy and SassyFrazz. I believe Daisy is giving away one copy of each of the above books, and Sassy is giving away a copy of the two that I'm not...so check out their reviews and sign up for their giveaways too!

Morning Has Broken ~ The View from my Front Porch

2009-05-06T14:31:00.001-05:00

A Shower With a Chance of Freezing...babies??

2009-05-04T11:48:00.006-05:00

As I said in my last post, I went to my niece, Jennifer's baby shower this past weekend. Very appropriately, it was sprinkling off and on outside during the shower too. It was held at the sports bar that her parents have owned for years, and where Jen also works. There were many of her friends and relatives there, so she receive a lot of very nice gifts. We played the usual baby shower games...and one rather UNusual one. Jen's sister, Chris had frozen a little plastic baby in an ice cube and suspended it from the ceiling on a string. The object was to guess what time the little plastic baby would be "born". It was pretty funny...

Here's the baby dangling above the bowl on the table. You can see it's feet starting to emerge...I guess it's coming breech!

Here's a close-up of the baby...I can't tell if it's a boy or a girl...can you?

After a while, since the ice wasn't melting as fast as anyone had predicted it might, Chris started to "induce" it by holding it in her hand to melt the ice cube.

Eventually, the tiny babe was born. People were leaving, so Chris just walked over and broke the ice...letting the little thing fall into the bowl! The time of birth was something like 3:47pm I think. I had guess 4:02...and I might have been right if it wasn't for Dr. Chris perfoming a C-section! I didn't get a length and weight on it...and I still couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl!! Oh well.

April Showers Bring May Weddings ~ May Showers Bring...July Babies??

2009-05-01T23:41:00.005-05:00

Last Saturday afternoon, I went to my niece, Holly's bridal shower. She's the daughter of my "internetaphobic" brother, Dan. I don't believe she has a problem with me posting her picture here...after all I swiped it off of her facebook page. Holly will be marrying Nate C. on May 16th. It seems like forever since we've had a wedding in our family...and this year two of my nieces are getting married. The funny thing is... they're BOTH marrying Nate. No, they aren't polygamists...both girls just happen to be engaged to guys named Nate. The other niece, Crystal is engaged to Nate B. They'll be tying the knot on September 25th.

This Saturday afternoon, I'm going to a BABY shower...for another niece, Jenny. She is due on July 2nd...but I'm thinking if she tried real hard...she could have it a couple of days early and Kathy and Bonnie and I could share our birthday with him/her too. No, they haven't found out the sex of the baby yet....because they don't want to know. We're all very curious!

It's 12:30 AM and I'm still thinking about what I'm going to put on her baby shower cake. It really WOULD help to know if it's a boy or a girl! LOL! Oh well, I'll figure something out. I'm thinking I should go to bed and "sleep on it" (no, not literally)...and get up and decorate it in the morning before the 4 year old grandson wakes up and wants to help. Goodnight.

The LORD Does Whatever Pleases Him

2009-04-27T11:24:00.008-05:00

Six years ago today, we lost my dear sister Patty to breast cancer. Patty has taught me more about Christianity than anyone else has in my entire life.

While she was fighting this horrible disease, at the end of November, 2002, my family put on a benefit for her to raise money for medical bills etc. Dad, Mom, all of my siblings and their significant others participated in this singing show and silent auction. As a thank-you gift, Patty gave all of her sisters a two-year planner. Here is a picture of mine, the verse is Psalm 135:6

At the time, I remember reading the verse and wondering if it had significant meaning...or if Patty just thought they were nice planners and bought them for us. Here is the verse in context:

1 Praise the LORD. Praise the name of the LORD; praise him, you servants of the LORD, 2 you who minister in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God. 3 Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant. 4 For the LORD has chosen Jacob to be his own, Israel to be his treasured possession. 5 I know that the LORD is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods. 6 The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.

Now, for a few years we've been purchasing beautiful calendars from our church's youth group at Christmas time, so in December of 2002, since Ruth was in youth group at the time, we bought one from her. I've always loved these calendars, because they have wonderful nature scenes with scripture verses written across the pictures. However, I didn't pay a lot of attention to the particular verse each month. Perhaps I should. Patty only survived another 5 months...she passed away on April 27, 2003. Here is the picture and verse from that calendar for the month of April, 2003:

Yes, it is the same exact verse, Psalm 135:6. "The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths."

I believe that this was God's (and Patty's) way of reassuring me that it really was His will to take Patty home to be with Him, and that He does do whatever pleases Him. As much as we would have loved for her to be healed... as much faith as Patty and her family had in the fact that she would be completely healed...as much as she loved her parents and her nine siblings...as much as she loved her husband of 21+ years and her eleven children...she loved her Lord and Savior most of all. And I truly believe that God honored that. And even though she prayed to be healed, that the deepest desire of her heart was to be in heaven with HIM...where she is today. Remember, that whenever we pray, we say, "Lord, not MY will, but YOURS be done," but our will is not always His will.

Come on, Grandma...Come on, God!

2009-04-25T09:28:00.005-05:00

Last night was our monthly karaoke night at church. After everyone else had left, (at about 11:30pm), Ray and I and my 4 year old grandson, CJ were left alone in a mostly dark church, finishing the clean-up and loading all of our karaoke stuff back in the truck. I picked up a toy that belonged in the nursery, and asked CJ if he'd bring it in there.

CJ (in his tough guy voice): "I'm not afraid of the dark, Grandma." But then a moment later he was back in the Youth room, still holding onto the toy. "I'm afraid of THIS dark!" he said. So, I told him that this was God's house, and there was nothing scary there...besides, God is bigger than the Boogie man and he wouldn't let anything happen to him. He agreed, and I went with him to put the toy away, as he said, "God and Grandma will protect me." Then he decided he needed a drink of water. We're walking through the dark hallway to the drinking fountain, (with CJ very bravely leading the way), and this is what he says, "Come on, Grandma...Come on, God!" He followed that up with, "God is walking with us", to which I wholeheartedly agreed...through my laughter.

On the ride home, as he is sitting in the little jump-seat behind me in our pick-up truck, he says, "God is sitting right there looking at me." I thought that was pretty cool...but the thought of God sitting there in the other little jump-seat across from him, somehow cracked me up. All the way home, CJ talked about God and Jesus and how Jesus is God, but he'd just call Him God...and I told him that God could be everywhere all at the same time...that that was one of His "shooper powers" (he had asked me a couple of months ago if God had "shooper powers.") And then we prayed that God would keep Grandpa Ray (who was extremely tired), safe as he drove home in front of us in my daughter's car, and that He would also keep his mama and her friend safe when they drove home from where they were, later on. He talked non-stop on the way home...while he got ready for bed, after he laid down...until he finally stopped talking for five seconds...and sleep overtook him. From the mouths of babes...

10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe ~ Book Review and Giveaway

2009-04-23T14:27:00.008-05:00

There is only ONE TRUTH. Your belief of what is TRUE, and my belief of what is TRUE could be vastly different from each other, but that does NOT change the fact that there is only one TRUTH. I have tried to explain this to several people in my life, and they usually don't get it.

I'm not talking about opinions here...I'm talking about BELIEF.

For instance...some people believe in life after death, and some don't. Does that mean that for those that do believe there is an afterlife, there will be...and that don't believe in life after death there won't be? Will they just disappear into absolute nothingness when they die? No. That would be absurd. Even if you do BELIEVE in some sort of life after death, you may not believe there is a heaven...or you may believe in heaven, but can't possibly believe a loving God would send anyone to hell. Our beliefs may also differ in the WAY to get to heaven, (or hell). I happen to believe that there is only ONE way to get to heaven. And no, I am NOT trying to shove my own beliefs down your throat...I'm simply trying to point out, that even though you may think I'm wrong, (and I could be), and I may believe that you're wrong, only one of us can be right.

I just read a book by Larry Osborne, entitled: 10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe. Just because "everyone believes it" doesn't make it true. It was a great book. The author lays it all on the line here, and like the little boy in the story of "The Emperor's New Clothes", he's not afraid to bust the widely held myths and "urban legends" that surround Christian's beliefs these days.

Here is a summary of the book:

Just Because “Everyone Believes It” Doesn’t Make It True
People don’t set out to build their faith upon myths and spiritual urban legends.
But somehow such falsehoods keep showing up in the way that many Christians
think about life and God. These goofy ideas and beliefs are assumed by
millions to be rock-solid truth . . . until life proves they’re not. The sad
result is often a spiritual disaster—confusion, feelings of betrayal, a distrust
of Scripture, loss of faith, anger toward both the church and God.

But it doesn’t have to be so. In this delightfully personal and
practical book, respected Bible
teacher Larry Osborne confronts ten widely
held beliefs that are both dumb and dangerous. Beliefs like
these:

• Faith can fix anything
• Christians shouldn’t judge
• Forgiving means forgetting
• Everything happens for a reason
• A godly home guarantees good kids
…and more.

To learn more about this book, or to purchase it, click on one of the links below:
Amazon.com
Christian Books.com
I have also received not one, but TWO copies of this wonderful myth-busting book from Coast to Coast Publicity to GIVE AWAY to my readers! To enter, simply leave me a comment regarding one of the myths this book talks about, and make sure I have a valid e-mail for you, in the event that you are chosen as one of my lucky winners. This contest is open to all residents of the continental U.S. and will be open until May 2, 2009. I will post the winners here on my blog on May 3rd. Good Luck!

A Few Fine Feathered Friends

2009-04-23T11:07:00.005-05:00

I'm finding (a bit to my surprise), that I'm enjoying a bit of birdwatching these days. Not that I would necessarily go out on hikes and look for specific species or anything, but since we've moved out here in the country, where we are surrounded by trees and ponds, there seems to be an abundance of them right outside my window.I've watched a few of these blue jays throughout the winter months, and have even been awakened twice by their tap-tap-tapping on my windowsill...the window happens to be situated smack dab in the middle of our headboard...so this is quite an effective alarm clock for me.

This morning, I had a couple of new visitors, the bright red color of this cardinal caught the corner of my eye, while I was on facebook this morning. This picture is a little blurry because I think the camera was focusing on the window screen.

He was very shortly joined by his wife. She is a little hard to see here, but I guess that's why God made the females so much less conspicuous than their mates...for their own protection.

They were both posed "pretty as a picture" for a few minutes, right in front of my window...but alas, that is when my camera decided it needed fresh batteries!! I did manage to get this one of the pair, (he is next to the tree, and she is in the foreground here), after replacing the batteries. Right after that, he hopped behind the tree.

I'm thinking that it might be fun to get a bird feeder to put right here outside my window, since they all seem to like to hang out here anyway. I'll also keep my camera nearby, to try to catch them...which is easier said than done...birds can be so "flighty." Just when I think I'm all focused in for the perfect picture...they jump to another branch or take off to the skies.

Oh Brother(s)!!

2009-04-22T10:03:00.004-05:00

I got together with some of my family last night because my brother-in-law from Phoenix was in MN for his grandma's funeral. It was the only chance I'd have to see him, since he is here for just a few days. Anyway...while we were waiting for Randy to arrive, two of my brothers, (who shall remain nameless, but it was not Bob ;) ), got on my case about my posting their pictures on THE INTERNET without their express written permission. Okay, they didn't exactly say "written" permission...but they were appalled by the fact that their sister would put their pictures out there for all the world to see. I have now removed the pictures of these two from facebook, there was only a couple of pics...so now, I guess I'll have to search my blog and see if I have any of them on here. I'm pretty sure there are some of them in some family group shots, sorry guys...they're staying put.

I did upload a 22 second video of my brother Bob singing, to YouTube, (only because it goes faster than uploading it to Blogger), and put it on my blog...which is imported to facebook, if that's where you happen to be reading it. Bob pretended to be upset about that...but then said he didn't care. Neither of the other 2 brothers even know how to get ON the Internet, (and they don't even want to know), but have heard from other family members that I put them online. For the record, I don't generally put anyone's full name on anything on my blog, and the pictures I had on FB were in a private family group, that you have to have permission by me or one of my siblings to even join. They were not accessible to anyone other than other family members.

Just so you know, the only reason I put pictures and or videos of them singing, is to show the world what good-looking, talented siblings I have!

Blogoversary Book Giveaway Winners!

2009-04-19T19:15:00.003-05:00

First of all, thanks to everyone that entered my contest. The winners are as follows:

Clutter-Free Christianity - Liane66

The Treasure Principle - Lisa of "Our 7 QTPies"

The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived - Julie of "Keepin' The Faith"
Julie is a missionary in Paraquay, but will be in the US for the Summer. I may have to hold it for her and send it to her when she gets to the states, but I will do that. If for some reason, I do not hear back from these winners after a few days, I will draw other winners.

I'm looking forward to another year of blogging...who knows where life will lead. The good thing is, at least I'll be able to look back at what did happen in my life the past year, since my memory is not so great these days.

It's My First BLOGOVERSARY! Help Me Celebrate

2009-04-18T07:30:00.003-05:00

It's hard for me to believe I've been a blogger for an entire year now! Time flies when you're having fun, I guess. I started blogging mainly to document my weight loss journey, and figured I'd fill in with funny/bloggable moments that happen along the way. I have done that, but somewhere in the middle of everything, my blog became less about weight loss, and a little more about everything else going on in my life. I've found that blogging is something I really enjoy doing...kind of a creative outlet for me. I can also look back to see what has all happened during the past year. I did that when I wrote my very first Christmas letter this past December.

I've also started doing book reviews, and love getting new books to read every so often, and being able to offer copies of those books to give away as prizes. Soooo...to celebrate this momentous occasion, I have decided to give away copies of the last three books I've reviewed here on my blog. They're all very good books. Here are their titles:

The Treasure Principle ~ Unlocking The Secret of Joyful Giving by Randy Alcorn
The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived ~ Secrets for Unparalleled Success and Unshakable Happiness From the Life of Jesus by Steven K. Scott
Clutter-Free Christianity ~ What God Really Desires for You by Robert Jeffres

I've had these contests open for awhile now, and I'll leave them open until midnight tonight. You can find out more about each book by clicking on the pictures in my right-hand side bar. To enter, simply leave me a comment after the review of each book, or easier yet~ just leave me a comment after this post. Just let me know which book/books you'd like to be in the drawing for. (US residents only please.) Winners will be posted tomorrow. Thanks, and good luck!

This Brings Back Memories...ouch!

2009-04-15T08:00:00.002-05:00

THE CUTE LITTLE ~~DEAR~~ DEER WITH THE ~~BARE~~ BEAR BEHIND!

(that's what it said on my dad's "spanking stick")