Odds and Ends

Well finally the end is in site. This weekend is the state wrestling tournament in Wichita. Again this year the in-laws are meeting me there so I get a nice break and a mini vacation in a hotel. The down side? It is in Wichita. They are bringing my niece and nephew with them for the weekend so even more babysitters since the kids are 12 and 9.

Je has had an ear infection this week. We went to the doctor for an ear infection in January, and thought it cleared up. Thursday morning she woke up in pain. I don't mess with ears so as soon as the doctor's office opened at 8 I called to get her in. Fortunately we could see the doctor at 11 so that wasn't so long to wait. Je was already out of school for parent teacher conferences so that was easy. The doctor gave her a stronger antibiotic and hopefully that will help.

Our first pastoral candidate came earlier this month. I thoroughly enjoyed getting better acquainted with them. We had them to lunch and their kids are about the same ages as ours so they really hit it off.

We have had more than our fair share of snow this winter. We've just gotten slammed. I love it. Snow is my friend. If I could convince my whole family, I would move to somewhere that gets snow in feet rather than inches.

I haven't been real productive lately. The winter blahs, I guess. Or it could be that wrestling season is SOOOOOOOOOO LOOOOONG! But it is almost over!


Of course, Shan is taking a class right now so he will still be very busy. And it's time to gear up for VBS!

Snow Shoveler

Shan spent almost 4 hours cleaning the driveway with a little help. She came in a couple times to warm up, have hot chocolate, eat lunch, dry off. Daddy worked steadily from 10-1:30 -1:45. The driveway looks great, and the kids helped. They enjoyed their snow day with Daddy.

It's Over!

The Streak is O!V!E!R! After 24 long years, K-State finally beat KU at home. Bramlage Collesium is no longer simply Allen Fieldhouse West, but a place where KU can lose. AND DID! This makes the sad football season last fall almost bearable. We can be happy fans now. It certainly felt like more than two years since K-State beat KU, but it's true, I looked it up. We won in Allen in 2006. But to lose at home for 24 straight games is embarassing. Reagan was president, cell phones were brand new. None of the current players were even born yet. I better stop, that isn't a good memory, it makes me feel old.

Mood Music

Did you notice the new atmosphere on the blog? I found a site that allows me to compile a playlist and then attach it to the blog. Right now I have it set on random but another blog I read, puts a theme song to go with some of her posts on top so it plays first whenever someone opens her blog. If you want to create your own playlist click the link above or the one on the player. You don't have to have a blog to post to, just open it up from any internet connected computer and background music. It doesn't have all the music I've searched for, or Mom or Shan searched for. It seems to find songs posted on websites and then play them from there. It has quite a selection so I think it works pretty well.

Inheritance

Do you read Antique Mommy? You should, she cracks me up, and sometimes makes me think. Like this post on inherited faith. I agree with her that I don't want my children to take on my faith and do it just because I do. It would be like the generations of Christian sermon I heard a long time ago. It isn't just that we pass our faith on to our kids, we must also pass on a desire for faith of their own. We want our kids to have a saving faith, and we want them to want that too. So we have to let God work in them rather than push them: show them and live before them, and tell them why.

The wonderful side to all of this is that Christian parents present the truth as an accepted fact. As a child, I never wondered if God existed or searched for the truth. The truth was always there, lived out before me in my parents. Yes, I had to make a decision on my own, and each day I have to seek Him on my own, but I didn't have to search for something to seek. I knew where to go to find what I needed. I pray that I am providing that for my children.

"I'm Okay"

Loud crash heard in next room.

Jo: "I'm okay"

A four year old trips over the vacuum hose:

"I'm okay"

She falls out of bed:

"I'm okay"

She runs into her mother and knocks her over:

"I'm okay, Mama"

It is real funny around her...but she is okay. At least that is what she says.

Tenderhearted

We use Keys for Kids for our family devotions. It is a bi-monthly publication that has been around for a while. My folks used to get it when we were growing up and it has updated a bit, but for*** the most part is very much the same. On Wednesday, we were reading it with the girls in shifts due to other things. I pulled up the right day and read through it as I waited for Je to get dressed after her bath. My first thoughts were that I couldn't read this with her, and can we skip it tonight...

This is a hard week in my family. Eleven years ago, Shan and I were newlyweds. I was anticipating my student teaching semester, settling into our first home, and getting ready to return to Manhattan for part of each week for three weeks for classes. Friday night, the floor furnace in our $100 a month farm house wouldn't stay lit. Early Saturday we called the landlord. He was a teacher who farmed on the side, so he was already out working. It was January and very cold so we were concerned when his wife indicated that he wouldn't want to put any money into the house and maybe we should look for a new home. We did a little looking that day but didn't really find anything we liked. We decided to go to Shannon's folks for the rest of the weekend to stay warm. My mom had called while we were out, so on our way west, we called her. A letter had come, confirming my student teaching placement, and since Dad wasn't feeling well they were being lazy, watching basketball. I thank God that I called home that day. My mom knew where to find me at 2 am when she had to tell me that my father had a heart attack and died. We'd been married three weeks, my sister had been in DC for just two weeks working for our Congressman, and my youngest sister was a senior in high school.

...I powered through and read the devotional with Je the other night. The whole time tears streamed down my face. She sat close, snuggling up with me as we read. When I finished reading, I used the discussion questions to talk with her about it. She remembers when GiGi, my grandmother died last summer, so we have talked about death before. As we talked I was crying a little, explaining that one of my biggest regrets is that she and Jo will miss knowing my dad. (Who BTW would have been over the moon for the kids. I know he would have loved the girls so much but I also can say that he would have been really nuts for my nephews, one is his namesake and looks like him) Je ran off in the middle of our talk and I wondered what she was doing. She returned quickly with my little pillow. When she is sad she wants her bear, her lovey. She thought Mama needed her lovey too.





***If you scroll down you can read today's entry or select an entry to read. The one that made me cry was January 9. You can also sign up to receive it in the mail or print out a PDF version of the whole month.

2008

I always like a fresh start. Monday's always seem like a fresh start, a new beginning. When the new year doesn't begin on Monday, I usually wait until the next Monday to begin any new routines or plans. Any resoulutions are best kept when started at the start of a week. As I was saying in the previous post, Christmas lasts a while in my house, so I have to get it finished before starting a new year. This year I am going to meditate on two verses.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

I really like this verse. It is a great comfort to me as I impatiently want to know what that hope and future are and get frustrated not knowing and wanting the answers now, not later. I pray that I can rest in peace knowing that I may not know, I don't need to know, God knows.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14

I pray that I will live this. How many times do I say things or think things best left unsaid or un thought. How much happier would I be if I lived this?

Holiday Hangover

Christmas at our house lasts weeks, it seems. And this year was even longer since my brother in law's accident delayed their visit. They finally made it up from AK on New Year's Day so Christmas for us didn't end until Saturday when they went home. I finally got the tree down Sunday, when Shan could help. After Christmas, I bought a new artificial one at Sam's so the old one went to Goodwill. I would personally rather have a real tree every year. My husband doesn't like real trees, and since Christmas falls during wrestling season, the chances of getting a real tree are slim and slimmer. A few years ago, we went to get a tree and it was a bit later than usual, but not crazy late. For some reason, the only trees left at the lots were the $50 variety. That didn't fit into the budget so we were going to just use the little one I had in college. A friend from church had a full size one she didn't use and offered it to us. She didn't want it back so we've used it for several years. Last year, I talked Shan into a real one, but it wasn't easy. This year, I knew we would be gone over break so I didn't even try to get a real tree. My mom decided this year to get a pre-lit tree rather than a real one. Not sure why. I met her at Sam's last month and helped man-handle the heavy box into our van, then out again at her house. We put it up and it was gorgeous. It has 1500 lights. FIFTEEN HUNDRED. I was a little jealous when I looked at our sad tree. It is an older style, not pre-lit and not as tall or full. My sister, Mom, and I went to Sam's after Christmas to look at their trees. They didn't have any left in the aisle. They had a few back in the clearance section, but not the one she wanted. We were on our way out the door when my mom spotted one on a cart near customer service. We looked around for someone who claimed the cart. No one. We moved the cart towards the checkout and called our husbands to see who was going to get the tree. My sister's husband didn't want to haul the tree back to Texas so I used my birthday money, saved since October, to buy a tree. It will look fabulous next year. It is put away with all the other Christmas decorations and we are making our way to normal again. Maybe I can get caught up on laundry and cleaning this week.

Looking Back and Forward

I keep recalling what I learned in college and finding it continues to apply to my life even now, almost 10 years after graduation. Each semester, I would go to my new classes and listen as the professor would outline the coming semester and the requirements for the course. At least one class each semester would have projects and requirements that I would think were beyond me. "No way I can do that," I would think. Of course at the time I would know that I had no choice but to try, so I would dig in and do it as best I could. At the end of the semester, I would look at the completed project and find that I actually could do whatever the professor required. About halfway through college God spoke to me about it. He made me realize that new things are intimidating but nothing I am asked to do, accademically, spiritually, practically, etc, is beyond me if He wants me to do it. It is easy to get discouraged or afraid but God gives us what we need to do what He asks us to do. The wisdom God gave me in college to handle my coursework, has served me well in the life He has given me since. Teaching, parenting, marriage, housework, church work, these are all things that provide challenges to us and sometimes seem overwhelming. It has become important to me to remember that if God has given me a task He will give me what I need to accomplish it. Praise the Lord for his wonderful provision for us.

19And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ. Jesus

Philipian 4:19

Praise God

We are really feeling God's hand on us this week. He has been merciful and blessed us tremendously.

1. Seth and Mindy were in an accident, but were within a mile of the best hospital for head injuries in the area. They would have life flighted Seth to this hospital if necessary.

2. DS's injury was pretty minor and he seems to be doing well.

3. No one else was hurt.

4. My sister and her husband were already on their way to Arkansas when we got word, and arrived quickly to lend support and comfort.

5. Seth was moved out of ICU yesterday and into a regular room.

6. Today they had him up and walking around and he got along okay, making two laps around the square.

7. The CAT scan this morning revealed improving conditions.

8. Their house has been on the market for several months, and they put an ad in the paper recently to rent it, and this morning got a promising call, and the people who looked at it will probably rent it.

10. Shan and I went ahead with our holiday plans to his parents and made it ahead of the snow storm that hit our area today.

God is so good. May we all feel His peace and joy at Christmas.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Pray Please

I should have blogged this last night but didn't think of it. My sister and her family were in a car accident last evening. She and the kids seem fine for the most part, my nephew DS has a mouth injury but he went home last night. My brother-in-law Seth is in intensive care with a head injury. He has swelling on the brain and some bleeding. He is conscious, aware, and we are cautiously optimistic as to his prognosis. He was driving and has skull fractures in both temporal bones and the base of his skull. So at this point we are thankful that things aren't worse. We fired up the prayer chain at church and among family. It is amazing to see God's answer even to this point. Seth isn't out of the woods, but they are hopeful that he will be soon. Please lift him up this week and my sister Mindy as she is dealing with him and three kids six and under.

My kids crack me up

Me: I said add a little bit, that is more than enough.

Jo: Mama, did you know that I'm just little and sometimes I don't know what a little bit is?


Oh my goodness. That made me laugh out loud. Isn't she funny?



Letter from Je:

Dear Mom and Dad,

I have been good this ye!

Love Je***

Works for Me Wednesday Christmas

I have a few tried and true recipes that I can reliably turn out without fear. I inherited this recipe from my mom. I spent years hearing her talk about how easy it is. And she is right. I looks complicated and difficult, but if you follow the steps it is a snap.

We usually make this at Christmas but it is good at other times. It has a winter and a summer version.

Ice Cream Roll

3 eggs (1/2-2/3 cup)
1/3 cup water
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1tsp vanilla
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 gallon peppermint ice cream

Beat eggs until thick and lemony (5-10 minutes) Beat in sugar then blend in water and vanilla. Gradually add dry ingredients, beat till smooth. Line a jelly roll pan (11x 15 inch) with wax paper, pour in cake. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes. Sprinkle kitchen towel with powdered sugar. When the cake comes out flip it over onto the towel, then peel off wax paper carefully, and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Roll cake up from one end. Let cake cool for at least an hour. Unroll, spread with peppermint icecream. Reroll and freeze. This a great thing to make ahead and have ready. Stores nicely in the freezer for a while. I wrap it in foil and then put in a ziplock if I want to save it for over a week. I usually get about eight slices per cake. To serve, it looks good to drizzle chocolate syrup on the plate and then put the cake on it garnishing it with whip cream. It looks nice with the chocolate cake swirl and pink peppermint ice cream


It takes half of a half gallon box. So I usually make two cakes at a time. The square package works easiest, you can slice off thin slices to lay on the cake. I used about six slices of ice cream per cake. I usually only mix up one cake batter at a time, and bake one at a time. The most important step is beating the eggs. If you don't beat them enough, the cake is not spongy it is flat.

In the spring and summer, I leave out the cocoa and substitute cool whip or whipped cream and 2 cups sliced strawberries. It is fabulous.

If you can't find peppermint ice cream you can use mint chocolate chip. This is a great dessert for those heavy holiday meals, the mint is a nice taste and it isn't heavy. It also has the added bonus of looking fancy and difficult but it really isn't hard. If I can make it then anyone can do this. I promise.


Go check out Rocks in My Dryer for more works for me tips.

Mother of the Year Committee? Call me.

Oh yeah I absolutely deserve this. I had both girls crying at the same time. I am soooo good at this. NOT. After a daddyless day I snapped. It doesn't help that they are tired and were naughty. Maybe mama needs a nap. I would like to blame it on being alone with them all day, but my mother spent the day with us. We went to the mall. I am so glad I didn't need to buy anything, cause it was crazy out there. More incentive to start shopping early, like January. Seriously.

As I Promised

I have been talking about our redecorating at church some and finally we finished phase one of the plan (and maybe all of the plan) so I took pictures last night at the Christmas Program. In all we painted several rooms, and they look great, if I do say so myself. My mom was the decorator, she picked the colors and made curtains. We had help from others in the painting and more handyman aspects of the task. Gene and Jeannie, a retired couple came in several times to help as did another retired lady one afternoon. All of the rooms were painted linen white, which is a basic creamy white color. Eleven years ago we did that, thinking we would add color and decorating as we went. Now, no one did anything so it was time to do something.

We started in the secretary's office. It was cluttered and crowded with too many pieces of office furniture. We took out the cabinet, empty computer desk and long table. We will get some new low cabinets to work on but for now we we have a big open space. We moved the desk to the angled wall and it feels great. We had to get a new folding machine last month and plan a new copier next spring. Lots of changes really fast. In the pastor's office we took out an old battered file cabinet, and a metal bookshelf. We already had some pretty oak book cases and we moved them to the other wall. We painted the walls the same taupe color as everwhere else, but added an oak chair rail and crown moulding. beneath the chair rail we painted a dark navy color.
Mom made tailored curtains to coordinate the two colors. We discovered that Frank had a talent and interest in furniture refinishing so we asked him to refinish the desk top. It was battered and waterstained. Now it looks fantastic. We moved the phone line to another wall so that we could move the desk around. Now a person can see out the window from the desk without getting up.
We painted the youth room and
re-christened it the junior room. We hung posters and the parachute from last year's VBS. I missed getting a picture of it. We also painted the little bathroom next to the office. We got a bigger mirror and put up a border. We also put a larger lightbulb in the fixture and it looks so much brighter and less dingy. We painted the double classroom the taupe color and moved the cabinets around a bit. It is easier to move around the tables now when the class is full. We then painted the three sabbath school rooms. Two we painted taupe with a rusty red chair rail. In the open classroom we used a dark blue. We originally bought it for the study, but it wasn't dark enough so we got a darker navy color for it. Mom made curtains for the first red classroom. Right now the class is two boys so she tried to find a neutral pattern. The other red classroom has three girls and they wanted to be in the picture when I took it. They were playing dress up before the program. We moved the cabinet away from the traffic pattern near the door so it is out of the bonk zone. It feels good to have it updated, and it feels really good to have it done. It took a bit of effort, but we had such a nice group of people working that it was almost fun.

Works for Me Wednesday: Hair Things

I have girls. This is not new information I am sure but it is relevant. You see, girls come with hair. And my girls have a lot of it. Je's hair is very very thick. Even thicker than mine and that is saying something. It also has the same texture as her dad's which isn't as great for her but she has a lot of hair. Last year when she cut it for Locks of Love it was a big change, but her hair has grown back mostly. It isn't quite as long but we're close. Long hair is easier to do for me since I had long hair for probably 30 of my 34 years. It's what I know. Which is why I was less than pleased when Jo cut her hair last spring. It is finally growing out and I trimmed it recently to even it up. All this is a long winded into to the hair things. I used to keep our ever growing collection of hair ribbons, barrettes and things, in a basket on the counter in the bathroom. Then it grew to two baskets. And they were overflowing. Now maybe it is just me, but I like the hair things to coordinate with their outfits. I also love Gymboree hair things but they are way expensive. I will write another post sometime on making my own hair things. I still need practice, but they are looking pretty good.





I went to Big Lots and bought one of those drawer things. It is a small Rubbermaid cabinet, with three drawers. I labeled each drawer, Barrettes, Elastic Bands, Scrunchies and Pretties. Then I put each hair thing in the proper drawer. I showed the system to the girls. Now the counter is clear of hair things. The really great thing is that my kids like to put their things in the right drawer. Je especially loves to do it. I will toss things on the counter as I walk by, to be put away later, and when I go back later, she has already done it. So it really works for me.

Go on over to visit Rocks in My Dryer for other tips.








(I didn't know I would want to do this so there are no pictures of the old way. I simulated as best as possible. It still looks better that before.)

I have been hoping for a sunny day to take pictures up at church to show you the finished project, but it has been overcast for the last week, so hard to show you the new look. I may just take them and be done with it!

What a Great Idea

Lori the Laundry Queen suggested that instead of complaining through this holiday season we should list three good things. I love this idea. She has decided that she will post three good things in each post this month, so that she can focus on them rather than her frustrations. And since it is the holiday season and a very stressful time, it is a good reminder to focus on the positive.

# A nice newish van that is comfortable and roomy for the traveling during this time of year. (Notice I am not complaining about 26 hours in the car in 5 days. Just kidding Sus)

## Sundays a day of rest, the only day my husband doesn’t have wresting practice or tournaments until Christmas.

### My BFF Ellen and her birthday on Sat. which compels us to have a girls afternoon, and thus help entertain my kids on the first Saturday of wrestling season. No Daddy = a very long day.

Random Acts of Kindness

Today I was in the restroom at Wally world waiting for an open stall. It sounded weird in one of the stalls. I couldn't tell if the woman was ill or if that was just normal for her. Then I heard her call out "Ma'am?" I wasn't sure who she was talking to so I didn't say anything. There was a Walmart employee in there so I figured she would handle it. She left seeming not to notice. Then the stall door opened and an elderly lady stood there trying to button her jeans and do her belt. She asked for help with the belt. She was a large woman and not very steady on her feet. She had her shirt pulled up exposing her bra so she could see her belt buckle. By this time I was the only one in line so when she asked me to help I stepped into the stall and knelt down to see if I could help. She had stuff twisted so I quickly could get her buckled and on her way. She kind of shuffled out the door. After I used the facilities I stopped at the sink to wash my hands. A woman had walked in just as I was fixing the belt and she was at the sink next to me. She stopped me to tell me how nice it was what I had done. She wasn't sure what I had done but thought it was very nice that I had helped the other lady.

That got me to thinking. Wouldn't anyone have helped if they had been asked? Remember a few years ago when the bumper sticker was so popular, "Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty" Isn't it sad that we notice that people are kind. Shouldn't that be such a common occurance that we aren't surprised when someone is courteous or helpful. Have you seen that commercial for insurance or banking that has a woman pull a man back so he won't be hit by a car and it starts a circle of kind acts which eventually loops back to her. We should all be doing it.

I spent the weekend driving (it felt like it anyway) We drove to Corpus Christi so visit my sister. So that is about 26 -28 hours in the car just getting there and back. It seems to me that if everyone followed the do unto others rule for driving maybe we would have fewer accidents and less frustration. Traffic might move better. We might be happier people if we let go of our me first mentality. Let the mini van in the lane she needs. You're not that much of an hurry. Seriously people.

A New Road

I've had to learn to take a new route to Bible Study this fall. A few weeks ago as we were driving down a certain street in town, my four year old asks me, "Mama, when are we going to that owl place?" I racked my brain to think about what she could mean. I don't know any owl places, and I couldn't see any that seemed to fit that description at the intersection. So I asked her to show me. Ya'll, she pointed to the H**ter's restaurant that opened in the past year or so. Seriously. How do you answer that one folks? I am sure the food is fine, and I doubt it is the den of iniquity that it is portrayed as being, but still. I told her that we weren't going to go there. And of course she wanted to know why. I stuttered and stumbled to come up with a good reason that would make sense to her. I think I said it wasn't a kid place. I didn't think any more about it until the next time we were going by there on our way to Red Robin, one of their favorite places to eat. She asked again. Shan was with us and he didn't have a better answer for that than I. This went on a couple more times as we went places. That intersection is on the way to the east bound interstate and softball games, etc. I no longer drive down that street if I can help it, at least with the kids. I am finding new roads.