Laura's New World

Insect Encounter at Callaway Gardens

2009-04-10T21:16:00.003-05:00

We grabbed a quick bite to eat after our Cockatoo Encounter, and then it was back to the Butterfly Center for the Insect Encounter. Connor has said he wants to be an entomologist when he grows up, so this was right up his alley. Noelle was not at all scared of all the critters, and held her little hands out to hold every one after Connor. The super nice lady who ran this event was so good with kids (and with bugs), and just rattled off tons of interesting facts.

This is a hissing cockroach, which really did hiss.

I was just hoping it wouldn't crawl up Connor's sleeve.

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Noelle held it briefly before dropping it on the floor.

It was quickly recovered and seemed not to mind the adventure.

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This was a Giant Brazilian Cockroach, and since it had wings and could fly away, the lady kept a firm hold on it while Connor held it.

These emit a smell, kind of like chili pepper and garlic; quite tasty if you close your eyes and forget your smelling a giant flying cockroach!

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This frog would be poisonous except for the fact that it is only fed crickets.

The lady told us "you are what you eat" and the reason the frog is normally poisonous in its natural habitat is because of its diet!

I've actually been thinking about this in relation to my diet...

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I would say that I cannot remember what this is, but I don't think I ever knew what it was called. I don't think it's a scorpion, although its tail curls up like it. Noelle did not hold this one.

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We don't have any photos of the butterflies, but you can see the Butterfly Center in the background of this picture. It was full of beautiful flowering plants and hundred of amazing butterflies.

Cockatoo Encounter at Callaway Gardens

2009-04-09T17:45:00.005-05:00

They call this event the "Parrot Encounter" at Callaway Gardens, but the bird was actually a cockatoo. It was the sweetest bird I've ever been around, and very pretty. It was so tame that it would step over onto our arms very easily, liked being petted, and especially loved being called a pretty girl.

Birds of Prey Show at Callaway Gardens

2009-04-06T22:42:00.005-05:00

One of the first things we did at Callaway Gardens was attend the Birds of Prey Show. We were a little late, but still got to see a red tailed falcon and two different owls. They would perch in front of us, then on cue fly to a perch behind us. It was cool to see the owls turn their heads so far around, and to experience how silently they fly.

Spring Break at Callaway Gardens

2009-04-04T21:08:00.006-05:00

A couple of weeks ago during our kids' Spring Break, we went to Pine Mountain, GA, to Callaway Gardens (and then to the to nearby Wild Animal Safari!). We had a great time, and were impressed with how many things they had for kids. We want to go back when it is a bit warmer, and rent their bikes, because there are so many beautiful bike trails throughout the gardens. Here are a few pictures we took:

Thanksgiving 2008

2009-01-26T21:06:00.003-05:00

We had a very special Thanksgiving in 2008, because we were able to celebrate it with so much of our family. All the "local" family was there, of course. My brother & his 4 kids were able to drive up from Atlanta. Trevor was home from college, and best of all my grandmother was able to join us. (Trevor drove all the way to Memphis to get her.) My mom cooked - so much that no one could even sample everything she made.

Of course we missed my dad, and there were some sad moments, like when my mom said that the corn we were eating was planted and harvested by him. I think we're just barely starting to reach the point where we can talk about him without having to immediately stop because we get too emotional. For me, thinking about the corn brought back memories of my dad being so happy to pick & shuck corn - who is happy about that? He would get home from work, change, and ask who wanted to join him picking corn? I remember taking Connor, when he couldn't even walk, and he sat in the grass and tried to eat the raw corn that we had just picked & shucked.

That is a trait I wish I had more of - doing what needs to be done with enthusiasm and happiness. My dad did that. I want to do a better job of it.

Here are a few pictures from the day:

This is Noelle & Hannah (the two youngest cousins) collaborating on their Scrabble game. We think they are the smartest (and cutest) in the family.

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It wouldn't be a trip to Nana's house without jumping on the trampoline. Noelle loves to jump!

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And here we all are. I hope I have a lot of my grandmother's genes, because doesn't she look fantastic for being one week shy of 90 years old???

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Fall Creek Falls 2008

2009-01-19T20:20:00.003-05:00

In October of 2008, we went hiking at Fall Creek Falls. It was beautiful, and we hope to go back as soon as the weather warms up. Here are a few photos of the day:

Photos from Noelle's party

2008-12-21T18:43:00.003-05:00

My mom made her a little pillow with some soft pillow cases, and Noelle had to try it out.

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Connor with his creation he built from Noelle's new toy called "Superstructs pinklets."

Noelle turns 2 years old!

2008-12-20T23:09:00.004-05:00

I can't believe it's already been 2 years since Noelle was born. She is such a delight in our lives. She went for her check up yesterday and in addition to a perfect health report, her doctor raved about her verbal skills. She is quite a talker. She weighed in at 28 pounds, and was 35.5 inches long - right around 75th percentiles for both height and weight.

Brain cell totally looks like the universe

2008-12-08T22:51:00.002-05:00

Amazing.

Voting was beautiful

2008-11-04T13:34:00.003-05:00

I had the nicest time voting this morning. When Noelle & I showed up to our voting location, there was a very small line out the door. So, we stood in the cheery morning sunlight and were completely blessed with the most beautiful fall colors. Oh, the trees right now are brilliant shades of yellow, orange & red, and these beautiful woods surrounded the parking lot. I wished that we could have stayed outside longer than the 5 minutes it took us to make it inside.

Noelle was so good, staying right with me. Behind us in line was a nice retired couple, and the lady was wearing a pretty fall sweater that had a little pumpkin hanging from the zipper. Oh how Noelle loved that little pumpkin.

Since I waited until late morning to vote, most people who voted with me were retired, stay-at-home moms, or disabled. The volunteers were delightful. I was so happy, not only to be living in our country where I have the right to vote, but to be living way out here in the "country" where there are such nice people. Everyone was so nice & friendly, I almost was sad that I was there only a short amount of time.

Happy Halloween 2008!

2008-11-01T20:50:00.005-05:00

Hope you all had a safe and happy Halloween. This year Noelle wore Connor's old giraffe costume (which I think came from my sister-in-law Chrissy - thank you!), and Connor was Spiderman. April came over to go trick-or-treating with us. My mom brought a good book, so she stayed in our house, read, and gave out candy to the trick-or-treaters while Lance & I took the kids around the neighborhood.

We tried to get a picture, and while we took several, here are a couple that give you an idea what they all look like. This is the first one, where Noelle is not in the mood for a picture, and Connor wants to be a pumpkin-head. And then the next one I like to call "everyone cut your eyes to one side or another."

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Lance took our kids to a Trunk-Or-Treat thing at a little church right around the corner from us. They had a bounce house there that Connor & Noelle enjoyed (as you can see from the little 3-second video below).

Noelle's Honey

2008-10-18T16:07:00.002-05:00

Noelle is almost 22 months old, and her language and vocabulary are growing rapidly. One of my favorite things she is saying right now is ending a request with "honey." For instance:

"I wanna walk, honey."
"I wanna drink, honey."

Lance & I don't really think we say "honey" all that often. We feel like we call her sweetheart, darling, baby, or stinker much more than honey. And if we do use it, we usually start our sentences with it, like "Honey, I'm sorry but you cannot have any more."

Made cuter is that sometimes Noelle stresses the "honey" at the end of her sentence when she really wants something. Many times in Walmart, she repeats "I wanna eat pepperoni, honey" until she is tired of asking nicely and starts saying "I wanna eat pepperoni, HO-NEEEE!!!" I can't help but laugh.

Connor and the Tooth Fairy

2008-10-16T19:58:00.005-05:00

Connor lost his first tooth two Saturdays ago. It was his bottom front right tooth. It was wiggly for only a few days before it fell out. On one of those days, he asked me if I could take him to the doctor to get the tooth pulled out because its wiggling was bothering him. I told him that it would probably get looser and looser until it just fell out (and it did).

The Tooth Fairy left him $1 under his pillow for the tooth.

The next night, as we were saying goodnight to him, Lance happened to reach under Connor's pillow almost accidentally and found a note that Connor had written - all by himself - thanking the Tooth Fairy. He signed his name, and had taped a quarter on it.

Evidently, the Tooth Fairy thought that was so nice that she took the note that night and left Connor another dollar!

Connor was asking me whether it was a one dollar bill or a five or ten, and I showed him how our paper money has the number value written in the corners.

Lance & I were wondering if this was going to go on, because we felt the Tooth Fairy should not continue to give dollars to Connor, but we waited to see what he would do next.

The next night as I said goodnight to him, I looked under his pillow and there was a little book he had made at school where he was practicing his writing. Before he had put it under his pillow, he had written the number 10 in each corner of every page. I asked him about the 10's, and as you might have guessed, he said he wanted to give the Tooth Fairy lots of 10 dollar bills. Of course I explained that money has to be the special money printed by our government and we're not really allowed to make our own. Besides, the Tooth Fairy would probably be more impressed with his nice penmanship in the book.

I also had to explain that the Tooth Fairy may not continue to come back night after night because she has so many teeth to collect from little children all over the world. He insisted on putting the book under his pillow anyway.

The book was still there in the morning, and it seemed like the Tooth Fairy had not come. Connor was a little sad, but now he's looking forward to loosing his next tooth.

It's Lovely! I'll Take It!

2008-08-29T19:51:00.003-05:00

Oh my, I've discovered this hilarious blog called LovelyListing. It features "a collection of poorly chosen photos from real estate listings." They are all from actual listings, links provided, where if you are so inclined, you can view additional poorly chosen photos of the same property.

I don't know exactly why, but this site has had me laughing so hard. The blogger (Sara) provides witty titles and comments for each photo. I certainly feel a little better about my own home now.

Yearbook Your Husband

2008-08-28T19:12:00.005-05:00

Here is a photo from Yearbook Yourself of Lance (using a current photo of him) as he would have looked had he graduated in 1988 (with my class). I love this one, because he looks so much like the guys I remember from my high school class.

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Here is his actual senior picture, taken in 1979, for his 1980 graduating class. (Now you see where Connor & Noelle get their blonde hair!)

Yearbook Yourself

2008-08-27T21:26:00.008-05:00

What fun! I highly recommend you hop on over to Yearbook Yourself and see how you would look had you graduated in different years. Above, you see their version of me (my face is from a recent picture) in the classes of 1960, 1966, 1972 and 1984. Thank you Keri for the link.

Just for the fun of it, here's my real high school graduation picture (class of 1988):

Tanya's Visit

2008-08-24T20:02:00.005-05:00

We had a great month with Tanya. We were very blessed to host a mature, well-mannered, very intelligent, happy girl who spoke quite a bit of English! I feel like it might not be fair for me to so heartily recommend this program, because I know our experience was exceptionally good. But, it's a great way to be a missionary while staying at home. Chattanooga has a great Chernobyl Children's Program and being a part of it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Here are some photos to help describe some of our adventures with Tanya. There were so many; I'll have to break it up in several posts.

Here we are swimming at my mom's house on the 4th of July. Notice how Tanya is using a floatation device, as she does not yet know how to swim. By the end of the month, not only did she no longer need any floatation device, but she was jumping off the diving board and swimming to the ladder! We swam at least 3 times per week, so she got a lot of practice!

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The group went to the Chattanooga Railroad Museum and the Chattanooga Choo Choo. Tanya really enjoyed the train rides and museums. It was soooo hot that day. I tried to get a picture of Tanya and my kids together by one of the trains, but this was the best I could do.

Tanya is standing with the couple who lives across the street from us. They are super nice folks, and were very interested in Belarus and the Chernobyl Children's Program. They donated many items for Tanya's family, and gave her a gift card to Target so she could get some school supplies and other things for herself. That was a fun shopping trip, because she had never been to a store like Target before. She loved it!

Welcome Tanya

2008-07-04T13:31:00.009-05:00

We are having a great time with our Belarus daughter-for-a-month, Tanya. Connor absolutely adores her and wants to play with her every waking moment. She has had some English classes, so we can communicate better than I expected, although there are many times she wants to tell me something and cannot find the words.

We looked up how much her call to Belarus was the first night and discovered, causing our mouths to fall open, that it was over $5 per minute. So, after a recommendation from a neighbor and some online research, we downloaded Skype for free and now she can talk to her parents for around 22 cents per minute (a little better, don't you think?). If her parents had a computer, internet, and downloaded Skype, they could talk for free, with video & sound!!! What a cool age we live in. But, her parents do not have a computer or access to one. So, we just use our computer to call her parents' home phone.

Here are some photos of her over the last day and a half:

Wednesday in Skagway

2008-07-03T20:58:00.006-05:00

Wednesday we spent in Skagway, riding the White Pass train and dredging for gold!

White Pass Railway

Noelle on the train

Lance's mom taking a little nap

Shallow river

Looking back at our train crossing a bridge - best shot of the day

Getting the mountain in the shot

The valley

A waterfall we rode by

I wish Noelle had slept a little longer

Gold dredging machine

Panning for gold demonstration

Back to the ship

Goodbye Skagway

Tuesday in Juneau

2008-06-30T21:43:00.006-05:00

On Tuesday of our cruise, we docked in Juneau. Our excursion was whale watching, and we did see some humpback whales. We even saw one breach, or jump all the way out of the water! The guide said that is very rare in Alaskan waters; it usually only happens in warmer waters when the whales are mating (the breaching is showing off for a potential mate). They come to the cold Alaskan waters to eat. I kind of think the whale just enjoyed breaching, and maybe was showing off for our boat. We saw a couple of whales together, and the guide said that was rare, too, but these whales are together every season. We also saw many bald eagles and a big group of sea lions. Our tour boat served complimentary hot chocolate and we each got one cracker with smoked salmon on it - very tasty. We loved our tour guide - he was a 24-year-old Alaskan native with enormous knowledge of wildlife and some great stories.

We woke Tuesday morning up to see this beautiful view of Juneau out our balcony window:

It was a busy port with a few other large cruise ships arriving the same morning. This first photo was taken from our balcony as we were pulling into the port.

This picture was taken a few minutes later, also from our balcony, but the view is from whence we came - isn't it beautiful.

Here's a picture of the rare pair of humpback whales I mentioned earlier.

Here's the sea lion colony - they were noisy. the guide told us how they like to be trouble-makers, like knocking over kayakers for no reason. He also told us that sea lions have hips, while seals do not.

Here's Noelle & I braving the rain up on the outer deck, hoping to get a good look at some whales. I'm glad we went up there, because it allowed us to see the whale breaching. We couldn't stay out there very long, though, because it was so cold!

We thought this ship looked pretty against the sunset as we were leaving Juneau.
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"Goodbye Juneau," we call as we sail away.
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Fabulous sunset sailing away from Juneau. As you can imagine, it was even better in person.
~

Monday on the ship

2008-06-29T21:29:00.005-05:00

Back to our cruise...

Monday was our day at sea, so we explored the ship and watched the cousins bowl (the ship had a two-lane bowling alley). It was fun to watch the balls roll to the side as the ship rocked.

Connor & his cousins had a great time swimming in the heated pool, going down the spiral water slide, and warming up in the hot tubs. No one else in our group swam that day, because it was really cold outside!

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Connor in the pool

Connor & Dan coming down water slide
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Connor & Dan in hot tub, with Lance behind them
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Connor & Dan in hot tub with the yellow spiral water slide behind them
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Connor splashing at the base of the slide
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Ryan, Noelle, Aunt Lisa talking to Dan (who is in the pool). This shot gives a good view of the pool area.

I interrupt this trip...

2008-06-14T18:10:00.003-05:00

I must pause in my long, drawn out string of pictures & posts about our cruise to Alaska. I am just too sad right now.

My friend Crystal has been told some bad news. Her cancer has spread to her brain, and the tumors in her lungs have grown. They are stopping the chemo, and starting radiation in order to shrink the size of the tumors and give her some relief. She should be going home from the hospital in the next couple of days under hospice care. I have prayed and prayed; I have cried and cried. She is such a wonderful Christian mother with seven little children to raise!

Tomorrow is Fathers' Day. I need to get my act together and get or do something for Lance, but instead I'm just grieving over not having my dad. I'll read a little article about creative Fathers' Day presents, and just think about how my dad would have loved them.

I guess death is supposed to be sad. We're not supposed to like it. I feel for Tim Russert's family, because I know the shock and grief they're experiencing right now. Tim was born the same year as my dad, and it sounds like his death was just as sudden.

My dad had so many people depending on him. Crystal has so many people depending on her. As much pain as I have felt over losing my dad, thinking about the what Crystal's family is experiencing right now is just unbearable.

Sunday on the ship

2008-06-12T18:34:00.005-05:00

After our ship set sail from Seattle, many of us went up to deck 12 for the send-off party. Here's cousin Dan in the white jacket and Connor showing his usual energy level:

Here we are trying to get a good picture of all the cousins on board. They are each about 3 years apart: Dan is 13, Ryan 10, Brandon 7, Connor 4, and Noelle 1.

Here's the view from that afternoon, of sun rays breaking through the clouds onto mountains in the distance. Beautiful.

Lance took a few shots of the ship. Here's the front (I'm sure there's a more accurate, nautical term for it):

Here's the highest part of the ship (again, I'm sure there's an official term):

And here was what our room looked like (this is a stock picture from the cruise line, but our room looked exactly like this):

The Norwegian Pearl

2008-06-11T21:26:00.007-05:00

We sailed from Seattle on the Norwegian Pearl. Since I have never been on a cruise before, I have nothing to compare it to, but we were very impressed with our ship. I think there were over 2000 passengers and over 1000 crew.

Here's our first view of the ship from the pier in Seattle (we don't know who those people are):

The first thing we did once on board was eat lunch! They had a nice buffet we seemed to frequent since it was easier to find something to please everyone there. Nice of them to have high chairs for Noelle; even nicer that they were on wheels. Cousins Brandon & Connor entertain Noelle.

We had an awesome room on deck 11 (out of 14) with a balcony. Many beautiful pictures were taken from this balcony. If you ever go on an Alaskan cruise, I highly recommend getting a room with a balcony. This is Connor & Noelle playing on our balcony as we are sailing away from Seattle.

Here's Aunt Lisa in our view looking forward out our balcony as we sail away.

Goodbye, Seattle. You were a little rainy, but pretty cool.

We're home!

2008-06-10T23:26:00.012-05:00

We are home from a fabulous vacation - a couple of days in Seattle, and then a 7 day cruise to Alaska! It was beautiful. We went with Lance's parents, his sister Lisa, and her 3 boys.

As an aside, I must mention that last night Lance played softball with our church team, even though he felt tired from the traveling, and a little sluggish from all the yummy cruise food. But, something must have hit the spot, because he hit a home run!! An over-the-fence home run!! He doesn't think he's ever done that in an actual game (only at practice). Yea, Lance! I'm so proud of you!! Now, back to our vacation...

I'll start with some pictures of our stay in Seattle. We had a great view of the Space Needle from our hotel room:

Noelle loved looking at the Space Needle out the window of the hotel. Her excitement was so amusing we tried to capture it:

Here are the cousins outside the Science Fiction Museum (what a great place to visit):

Noelle napped during the first part of our outing, so on the way back she was full of energy while Connor was tired. Push, Noelle, push:

A little bit about her

2008-05-28T05:25:00.002-05:00

We had our family interview last night with the Chernobyl Children's Project, and we were given just a little bit of info about the girl who will be staying with us in July. We will get a photo and bio tomorrow night, but I wanted to share what we know so far.

Her name is Tanya, and she will turn 10 in a couple of weeks.
Her hobbies are reading, drawing, crafts, dancing, and bike-riding.
She cannot swim or roller skate, but wants to learn.
She is cheerful, sociable, mischievous, and likes to make people laugh.
She likes Barbies, trying on clothes, and fixing her hair.

Oh, doesn't she sound like a typical American 10-year-old girl?

Also, the Visas were obtained from the American Embassy in Moscow, so it looks like they are definitely going to come!

Trevor graduates high school

2008-05-20T13:41:00.008-05:00

My how time has flown by, and now Trevor has graduated from high school. He's not sure what he's going to do this summer (I would like him to get a job), but he's counting down the days until starting college this fall at the University of Tennessee. I think he's going to start out as an undecided major, and right now he's considering becoming a doctor, psychologist, or something along those lines.

Trevor's friend Hannah came all the way from Columbia, SC, to join him on this special day. I was happy to finally meet this young lady whom Trevor met at church camp.

Connor & Noelle soon tired of the long ceremony, especially since they had to sit on our laps. Lance took them out to the lobby, which allowed them to play, and allowed one lucky person among the hundreds standing to sit (they really should have had more chairs available). So here are some pictures of Connor & Noelle entertaining themselves while Trevor was graduating:

Trevor goes to the prom

2008-05-03T21:38:00.001-05:00

Head over to Lance's blog to see some pictures of Trevor going to the prom.

http://lancespot.blogspot.com/2008/05/senior-prom.html

Free Rice

2008-05-02T06:28:00.002-05:00

Here's a neat little site where you get to pick the definition of a word and if you are correct, there will be grains of rice donated to the UN World Food Program. I'm having lots of fun.

http://www.freerice.com/index.php

Pretty Amazing Grace

2008-05-01T10:03:00.002-05:00

I like Neil Diamond. I know many people don't, especially if they are under the age of 40 (which I still am). But I like him, and his music.

So, I enjoyed American Idol this week, with the contestants singing two Neil Diamond songs each. I thought Jason Castro's voice was well suited for the songs, while David Archuleta'a voice was a bit too young and smooth. David Cook was awesome, as usual. I had to fast-forward through Syesha's performance because even though she is beautiful and has a great voice, it's just not my cup of tea. (Funny, because other people loved her the best yet they can't stand Neil Diamond.) Then there's poor Brooke who got voted off this week. I really like her as a person (and would love to have her as my kids' nanny). Her voice is more suited to folksy ballads (which I love).

What drove me to blog about American Idol is the song Neil Diamond sang last night - Pretty Amazing Grace. Yes, it is what I hoped it would be - a testament to God's very amazing grace extended to him. Neil wrote this song for his new album about to be released, and he said the songs are very personal. I am proud that Neil wrote the song, and that American Idol had him sing it. I think I will be buying his album.

Check out the song, I think it is very good -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7RiNHCSpyI

Too much stuff!

2008-04-24T10:32:00.002-05:00

Have you watched the 20-minute movie entitled "The Story of Stuff" yet? I just did.

I already had an aversion to stuff. I know I have amassed a bunch of stuff over the years, despite the fact that I really don't like to shop. Every few years we "purge" some of our stuff, and we absolutely cannot believe how much stuff we have that we need to get rid of.

I'm glad I watched the movie. I think the maker is pretty left-wing, and even though I am pretty right-wing, I still agree with much of what she says, especially about how we became a nation of consumers. I also agree that it would be best if we consumed a bit less.

Don't we all remember when we were kids and it seemed like we had a lot of stuff, but it was nothing compared to what kids have today?

Check it out:

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Flour Power

2008-04-19T11:21:00.004-05:00

I want to share with you a very educational post about flour. It seems I thought I just had to pay attention to whether I was using all-purpose or self-rising flour. I've seen pastry flour in stores, and even noticed terms like durum wheat, hard wheat, soft wheat, etc., but now I feel so much more knowledgeable having read the Nourishing Gourmet's following post. It's great to know what type of flour to use in certain recipes so your food does not fall apart (too little gluten) or be too tough & heavy (too much gluten).

http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2008/04/q-pastry-flour-vs-bread-flour.html

The Thrill of the Chase - and Mixed Messages

2008-04-18T18:28:00.002-05:00

The thrill of the chase. It is thrilling to chase and to be chased. My children love it, my dog loves it, the squirrels around my house love it. Aspects of it lie in most sports and playground games. There must be something very natural about it. You've heard the saying "you should play hard to get," meaning that the other person (usually the guy) enjoys the pursuit and yawns when there is none.

I've been thinking about this concept a lot lately, as Connor chases Noelle around. He always loves it. Most of the time she does, too. In fact, some of her best laughter comes during their games of chase. Connor is learning to notice the fine line between fun and frustrating. Noelle lets him know when she's frustrated by screaming very loudly.

I'm glad that Connor gets these learning opportunities, because I want him to know when to stop because he's about to cross a line, and when to continue because it's fun for all. What a great lesson for a young man to get.

However, occasionally I notice Noelle giving mixed messages. She is just about 16 months old, and cannot completely understand what she is doing. I believe there is something natural about what she's doing. I see the look on her face that says, very clearly: "come and get me!" I see the coy smile she flashes - sometimes at the beginning of the chase (where it's expected), but sometimes right after she's screamed and Connor has stopped. As if she has noticed her power in the situation and is enjoying it.

Now I see that as she grows older, I need to really teach her about mixed messages, and the dangers in them. I feel sorry for the guys, as mixed messages are very confusing.

Traveler IQ Challenge

2008-04-14T21:14:00.002-05:00

This site makes you feel smart sometimes and not so smart other times. Very fun, and a little educational, too. You are clicking on a map where you think particular places are located.

Traveler IQ Challenge

Easy Homemade Pizza

2008-04-12T08:40:00.005-05:00

I have to share with you a new favorite of ours - Easy Homemade Pizza. I have always been a bit daunted by the thought of homemade pizza, mostly because I don't have the time or patience to make homemade pizza crust dough.

A couple of weeks ago we were invited to Ms. Betsy's home as part of a small dinner party. She let us each put our choice of toppings on - - - a tortilla! At first, we thought: that is so wrong! A tortilla is for Mexican food and pizza is Italian food. But the kids (and adults) had fun spreading the pizza sauce on their tortilla, and sprinkling their choice of toppings on top. Into the oven it went, and then when the toppings were sufficiently cooked, out it came, and it was delicious! The crust was a lot like a thin-and-crispy crust.

Of course, we had to try it at home, since pizza is a favorite, and we each like different toppings. So I bought some pizza sauce & pepperonis at the store next time I was there. We almost always have cheese, tortillas, and other toppings at home. I use the whole wheat, low-carb, high fiber, high protein tortillas, which makes it a bit healthier. I put the tortilla pizza straight on the wire rack in the toaster oven, and toast on the medium setting. Voila! Easy homemade pizza.

Each person can pick their own toppings, and kids can help make their own. Once you bring it out of the oven, lay it on a cutting board. Let it cool a few minutes, and cut it with a pizza cutter.

Thank you for your prayers

2008-03-28T16:58:00.003-05:00

I just want to thank everyone for praying for me and for my family. I have felt much more peaceful today than I thought I was going to.

Lance took the day off and spent it with me. We walked over the Walnut Street Bridge, where my dad took his last step, last breath, one year ago this morning. It is so beautiful, I know why he loved jogging across it.

We went to the Riverpark and let Connor & Noelle play, remembering all the fun times there with my dad, and appreciating the hard work he put into that park and walkway along the river.

We went to the cemetery. His space seemed so small to me. I am glad he's there by the duck pond where so many children have fun. And he's a stone's throw from the softball field where he played for so many years.

Now we're going to spend the evening with my mom and siblings.

I want to leave you with a link to Lance's beautiful post about time spent with my dad:
http://lancespot.blogspot.com/2008/03/in-memory-of-mike-howard-gifts-of-time.html

Bernard the Gerbil visits

2008-03-25T11:27:00.005-05:00

Last week we volunteered to take care of Connor's class pets while the school was on Spring Break. We had Bernard the Gerbil and Sammy the Salamander. The salamander was a little boring, as pets go, and he mostly stayed hidden under a rock. Bernard, on the other hand, was lots of fun to watch.

Bernard is an active gerbil, and he seemed to be eating, adjusting his bedding, or exploring his cage almost all the time. Whenever I caught him napping, I always looked closely to make sure he was breathing. When Connor would give him a little snack, Bernard would grab it with his cute little hands and scamper off to eat it. Noelle loved to watch Bernard - she even called him "Baapa."

About 10 years ago, Trevor had a pet gerbil named Cosmo. It was a small type of gerbil, and I was warned that it would not have a very long life expectancy. Sure enough, Cosmo died one day while Trevor was away on spring break. When he returned, we told him what happened, in the gentlest way we could,but tried not to make a big deal of it. Then one day a neighbor was over and asked Trevor where Cosmo was. Trevor said "he went to that place all gerbils go." The neighbor asked if Cosmo died, and Trevor replied "no, he just went to that place, you know, where all gerbils go." Lance & I just smiled at each other as we realized we didn't quite explain the situation completely to Trevor. We waited until the neighbor had left before we made things a little more clear.

Ahhh, fond gerbil memories...

The first anniversary, without

2008-03-21T20:41:00.017-05:00

Today was my parent's wedding anniversary. This day was very hard on my mom. Last year, my dad got finished with a meeting early, called my mom, and they went out to eat. She said it was such a nice dinner; the food was perfect, their conversation perfect. They had no idea it would be their last anniversary.

My father's father died in his sleep at the age of 62. After his death, my father began exercising passionately. He was always active, but this was when he really began jogging. That was in 1980, and he exercised just about every weekday since. I think he didn't want what happened to his father to happen to him. He didn't want to leave his family early, he wanted to live a long time. He loved kids, and really loved his grandkids. Of course, they loved him too!

My dad really enjoyed exercising. He jogged, swam, did the resistance circuit, took aerobic and spin classes. He was great at water skiing. He loved playing tennis, basketball, volleyball, and softball. He had regular checkups. Sometimes with a death there is something to blame - another person, an unhealthy lifestyle, a disease. With my dad, there is nothing to blame. In fact, what weighs heavily on my mind is how hard he worked to keep himself healthy, to be there for his wife and family.

Of course, I am thankful that I did get to have him in my life as long as I did. And, on this anniversary, I am grateful to my parents for showing me a loyal, committed marriage. I hope you all enjoy these photos taken at my parents' wedding, today's date, so many years ago.

Decorating Easter Eggs

2008-03-19T13:36:00.005-05:00

Yesterday we decorated Easter eggs.

First, we boiled a dozen eggs. Then we ate 5 of them (Noelle's first boiled eggs, and she ate almost 3)!

Second, we drew designs (flowers, swirls, etc) on the eggs with crayons.

Third, I mixed up three shades of egg dye powder, vinegar & water.

Fourth, we gently dipped the eggs in the little bowls of dye. Aren't they pretty?

During this process, Noelle became very impatient, so I put her in her high chair with a measuring cup of crushed ice, a baby spoon, and another cup, so she could transfer the ice chips back & forth (and eat some, too). I've tried this set-up with other items, like cereal, but ice chips are so much easier to clean up.

Connor has really been into Easter egg hunts this year. In fact, we've "practiced" almost every day by taking turns hiding a little plastic egg or a tennis ball and letting the other person find it.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2008-03-17T16:30:00.003-05:00

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, and Lance's Irish heritage (25%), and Lance's fond New Mexican food memories, tonight we are making Sheep Herders for dinner: corned beef, diced green chilies, green chili sauce, shredded Monterrey Jack cheese, and sour cream rolled up in (whole wheat) flour tortillas. Bake, covered, just until warm. Mmmmm.

My ear talks to me

2008-03-10T13:45:00.003-05:00

Here's my most recent conversation with Connor. I have to document it because I want to remember it (and maybe use it against him one day).

Connor: "Mommy, when I drink water, if I'm completely silent, while I'm drinking my ears talk to me. Really. I'm not kidding."

Me: "What do they say to you?"

Connor: "I know, but I can't tell you."

*********
I don't know why I find that so funny. I'm still giggling just thinking about it.

100 Things We Didn't Know Last Year

2008-03-06T18:26:00.001-05:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2008/01/100_things_we_didnt_know_last_3.shtml

For example:
3. Adding milk to tea negates the health-giving effects of a hot brew.

5. Cloudy apple juice is healthier than clear, containing almost double the antioxidants which protect against heart disease and cancer.

31. There is mobile phone reception from the summit of Mount Everest.

A child from Belarus

2008-02-29T17:26:00.003-05:00

Today I mailed in our application to host a child from Belarus this summer. Lance & I had little to no hesitation that we should do this, so I'm not sure why it took me so long to get our application in (okay, I know why: we're procrastinators).

I'm really looking forward to it! I was involved in several international exchanges when I was a teenager. And I loved it. I think everyone should have the experience. Especially when you grow up in a relatively small suburban city that is not very diverse.

I know I was impacted profoundly by the realization that "different" doesn't mean "not as good." Had I traveled and stayed with a group of American teens, I don't think I would have benefited quite as much. I had to be thrown into a foreign home by myself, to feel the isolation of being the one who was a minority.

This summer we will host a girl, probably around 10 years old. She will have studied English in school, but most likely will not be able to communicate with us very well. This will be our major challenge, I think. I hope to be able to use the computer and some sort of free translation site to communicate with her when I feel we need it. I would like to learn to speak some of her language, but mostly help her speak English better.

I remember feeling very far away from home when I first traveled overseas, and I was much older. I pray that we can be warm and loving and welcoming enough so that our little Belarus girl will not feel sad & homesick. There are others at our church who will also be hosting, and I am very excited that the children will be able to hear a familiar word when we go to church.

To read more about the program, and why it exists, see these sites:
http://www.ccpgc.org/
http://www.ccpusa.org/chernobyl/

Hello real world

2008-02-19T22:44:00.002-05:00

Since Noelle has arrived, Lance has been the one who takes Connor to movies. Monday, however, I talked Lance into letting me take Connor to a movie. I was looking forward to spending time with Connor & to seeing a movie in a theater (I can't remember the last time I did that). I was in for a few shocks!

First of all, since Lance normally pays for everything, I had some serious sticker shock at the ticket counter and especially at the concession counter! I had to ask the girl to confirm the prices a few times because I could not believe how expensive the popcorn and drinks are. What a scam!

Okay, we got our (small yet still expensive) popcorn and water, and settled in to watch The Spiderwick Cronicles. The theater is full of children, mind you. At one point in the movie, the dad says to his son "I love you." During the brief silent moment that followed, someone in the audience yelled out "Bull sh**!" I could not believe it! With all the kids sitting around. What can you do? Only watch movies at home, I suppose. (We would save quite a bit of money that way.)

Connor was well behaved and seemed to enjoy the movie. There were many times I thought he might be scared, but he wasn't. I enjoyed the outing with Connor, although next time I think I'll take him to a playground.

Delicious blog

2008-02-13T19:42:00.003-05:00

I have just discovered the most delicious blog ever - Full Bellies, Happy Kids! There are lots of tasty recipes along with gorgeous photos! Check it out!

My son speaks Binary?

2008-02-13T06:51:00.003-05:00

I don't know where he got this, but Connor has started speaking in Binary Code (kind of). Instead of responding to a question with yes, he says 1 (or holds up 1 finger), and instead of no, he says 0 (or makes his hand into a zero). We were acting a little confused as to why he was answering with either a 1 or a 0, and Connor explained to us (in the tone of voice a teacher would explain something), that 1 means yes and 0 means no. We asked him how he learned that, and he said he just thought of it.

Paisley and Pepper

2008-02-08T17:12:00.001-05:00

My cousin Hallie is so creative and talented; she has an online boutique where she is selling hand-painted baby gifts and personalized children's art.

"I have been painting personalized art for my family and friends for years. I have always been encouraged to market it- so here is my offering. After selling art in several local boutiques, I decided to start my own online store. God has blessed me with a steady hand and and an eye for detail. I cannot wait to see where this road takes me. All my artisitc inspiration comes from my two beautiful children. I have always loved creating art for my babies and for their rooms as they grow." - Hallie

I am so proud of her! Here is a link to her site:

I am also going to keep a link in the right-hand column of my blog.

To be a kid again

2008-02-01T19:28:00.000-05:00

Connor was watching a cartoon where the grandpa was temporarily turned into a kid again. That started me thinking about how cool it would be to be turned back into a kid - or even a teenager - again, with our current level of mental maturity and knowledge. To be given bodies with no arthritis or backaches, with super energy levels, and no real responsibilities! Oh, the things I would do. I would apply myself in school more - just for the sheer pleasure of learning. I would soak up the time with my parents - I know I did not do this when I was young. I would not waste as much time being upset about trivial matters.

I know it's impossible, and if you really think through it, not a good idea. But still, it's kind of fun to think about being so young again. What would you do?

Oh how my baby loves blueberries

2008-01-31T21:41:00.000-05:00

Noelle loves blueberries. She can eat a whole pack in one sitting if we let her. We have to hide them in the fridge, because if she spots them then she must have them. I'm currently letting her have quite a few every day, because they are healthy, they have vitamin C which helps her body absorb the iron suplements, and they prevent her from having constipation that the extra iron can cause. I kind of think the cold blueberries must feel good on her new molars, too.

Sleep is not going well for Noelle right now. She has started staying up very late (past 9 pm), and screaming for me every time she wakes up in the night. She outlasts us. I let her cry for about 10 minutes, and then I go up and nurse her, then lay her down. She almost always wakes up as soon as I lay her down, and then Lance is the one who goes up and rescues her after she has screamed for a while. He walks her around until she falls asleep. I'm wondering what will happen when he goes out of town on an upcoming business trip - will we go back to the cry it out method simply because I get so exhausted in the night? It is harder to do the cry it out method now because she screams so loud! And usually ends up throwing up. So, I weigh the trouble I'll go through changing her and the sheets with the benefit of her going to sleep on her own, eventually. Her screaming wakes up Trevor & Connor, too.

Let me post some about how cute she is during the day. She is a great walker now, even running around. She loves to run around with Connor, and that is when we hear lots of laughter from her. She is very good at putting wooden puzzle pieces back where they go, and also loves other activities where she gets to put objects in a slot or hole (this is good for her future Montessori lessons, so I've been encouraging it). She also loves to brush her hair. She "loves on" all kind of things, not just baby dolls. One of the cutest examples is one time she was sitting on the ledge right inside the refrigerator door, and took out the Dale's Steaksauce bottle, "loved" on it, then put it back. She did it a few more times, and it was so sweet, even though I was stressing about the cold air leaving the fridge (or the warm air entering, I never can remember how that goes).

She's not really talking yet. Her most clear communication is when she wants to nurse: she does the sign language movement for nursing (or milk), and she says "mama mama mama." She says "Hi" and waves hello. She knows sign language for "more" and makes the "mmmmm" sound when she wants something to eat. I really want to take her to a baby sign language class, because it seems she does best when she can combine signing with speach.

Happy Birthday Lance!

2008-01-21T22:41:00.000-05:00

Today was Lance's birthday. I won't tell you how old he is, but he's getting on up there (he he). We are a little boring in our old age, I guess, because there was no big surprise or party or presents; he ordered what he wanted/needed on the internet a couple of days ago. We did go out to eat breakfast in honor of his birthday, and had my mom & siblings over for a steak dinner! And, I made a cola cake. I haven't made one since I was in Home Ec. class in 9th grade. There is quite a bit of sugar in one of those - sugar, coke, & marshmallows in the cake; and cola & powdered sugar in the frosting. Well, at least I made it with my new white whole wheat flour!

Here's a funny conversation from today in the minivan:

Connor: I spilled some again.
Me: What are we going to do with you?
Connor: Put me in jail?
Lance: Good idea. Let's drive on by the jailhouse on our way home. Connor, do you think we should leave you there one week or two?
Connor: Um, I was just joking.

When my mom was over tonight, I told her that we were considering hosting a child from Belarus (Children of Chernobyl) this summer. I wanted to know what she thought about it. There are many times I feel overwhelmed with my own children and household, so would this be a good thing or not? She felt strongly that it was exactly what I should do. So... we will be looking into it more...

Best Healthy Pancakes Ever!

2008-01-19T08:32:00.000-05:00

2 C white whole wheat flour*

2 T brown sugar

2 T splenda

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 T wheat germ

1 T oat bran

2 T oil

1 tsp vanilla

2 C milk

2 eggs

1 C sweet potato puree

* I substituted 1 scoop of protein powder for 1 scoop of flour (meaning I put 2 cups of flour in the bowl, then used the scoop from the protein powder container to return 1 scoopful back to the flour bag and add in 1 scoopful of protein powder). We use whey protein and love it.

Mix up and cook like you would any other pancakes.

I was feeling adventurous this morning, and Noelle was being happy playing in the kitchen, so I decided to make some healthy pancakes for breakfast. I used a recipe for pancakes from Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious cookbook, and one from the It Coulda' Been Worse blog, combined & altered until I had made my own version. I am really bad about always tweaking recipes. These were so delicious, I had to share with you all. Everyone in our household loved them. We could not get them cooked as fast as they were eaten! I felt like I was eating a combination of light fluffy pancakes and a pumpkin pie. They were good with or without syrup. I'm sure you could substitute pureed pumpkin, butternut squash or carrots for the sweet potatoes.

I had to include this sweet picture of Connor feeding some sweet potato puree to Noelle. I love how they are looking at each other.

Visited States

2008-01-15T17:12:00.000-05:00

These are the states I have visited (in red).

My map looks a little bottom-heavy. I can't believe I lived in CT and never got around to visiting Maine or New Hampshire! I have driven through and/or changed planes in Delaware, Indiana, Ohio & Maryland, but didn't really feel like I visited them.

I would love to go to Utah next, and explore the beautiful canyons.

What states have you visited?

create your own visited states map

Noelle at one year

2008-01-12T16:36:00.000-05:00

Noelle's first birthday party:

Noelle went to her one-year-old check up this week, and weighed in at almost 23 pounds (75th percentile) and measured 30 inches (again 75th percentile). She was fine in every way, except she is slightly anemic. So, I need to try to get some iron supplements in her (I haven't tried it yet, but the doctor said it tastes pretty nasty), and increase the iron in her diet. I'll take her back in a month or so to have her blood rechecked, and hopefully it will be better.

Noelle is a walker! She can really get around now, and prefers walking to crawling. She falls a lot, but it doesn't seem to bother her. She just gets right back up and tries again. I hope she continues with that attitude for the rest of her life, because don't we all have to continually get back up from one type of fall or another.

Noelle loves to climb. Her favorite places are the steps and the cabinets. I don't think she says any words yet, but she waves "hi" and "bye" and can use sign language to tell me she wants to nurse. She does say "mama" quite a bit, and "mmmm" when she wants to eat something.

She does already have a bad habit - when she gets frustrated, she bangs her head on the floor. Just one time, but still, I wish she would drop this habit. I suppose she has inherited from me this quick, knee-jerk reaction when she doesn't get what she wants. Hopefully, as her communication improves, she will stop the head-banging. Oh, and of course, like me, she will probably have to work on her patience for the rest of her life.

I'm okay with this kind of creature crawling in my cabinets:

Noelle's favorite climbing structure at Gramma & Grampa's house:

Really, really good news

2008-01-10T10:39:00.000-05:00

I wanted to share with you the email that was passed on to me this morning. It is from Steve, who is Crystal's husband. I am overcome with emotion - thankfulness, joy, praise...

I just wanted to let you know that Crystal's lung x-ray showed almost complete resolution of tumors. The oncologist took me aside and told me that he believed he has seen a miracle. They did not expect her to respond as well as she has to her treatments. She is now free of oxygen and not tied to a hospital bed anymore. She will have a minimum of 7 more rounds of chemo and then they plan to do a complete hysterectomy to eliminate the source of the cancer.

I can't tell you the relief and joy we both experienced yesterday.

PRAISE GOD!!!!

Thank-you for all your prayers and concern. May God bless you all this new year!
Steve

Satisfied

2008-01-07T22:29:00.000-05:00

Yesterday at church I we sang a song called "Satisfied" that I just really loved. The words were awesome, and something about the tune struck a chord in my soul. So, last night I went online to search for it. I was sure it was a new contemporary praise song, and you can imagine my surprise when I saw it was written by Clara T. Williams in 1875. I listened to an old recording to what was probably the original tune, and I was a little disappointed. I went to bed sad that I couldn't find it, but amazed at how relevant the words are 130 years later.

I tried again today, and found it! I guess this group of musicians, associated with Red Mountain Church in Birmingham, Alabama, puts old hymns to new musical arrangements. I have listened to several of their songs, and love every one. Their website gives the music, so we printed it out for the song "Satisfied", Lance quickly learned it on the guitar, and we have been singing it tonight.

Here is the link where I found the song "Satisfied" on the album "Depth of Mercy":
http://www.redmountainchurch.org/rmm/alb/dom.html

Here is a link to their myspace page, where you can listen to several of their new songs and see when they are touring:
http://www.myspace.com/redmountainmusic

And the best part; here are the words to "Satisfied" as relevant today as they were in 1875:

All my life long, I had thirsted

For a drink from some cool spring,

That I hoped would quench the burning

Of the thirst I felt within.

Feeding on the filth around me,

Till my strength was almost gone,

Longed my soul for something better,

Only still to hunger on.

Poor I was, and sought for riches,

Something that would satisfy,

But the dust I gathered round me

Only mocked my soul's sad cry.

Well of water, ever springing,

Bread of life so rich and free,

Untold wealth that never faileth,

My Redeemer is to me.

Hallelujah! He has found me

The One my soul so long has craved!

Jesus satisfies all my longings

Through His blood I now am saved.

Happy Birthday my baby

2007-12-20T15:04:00.000-05:00

Here we are at December 20th again. One year ago I went to what was to be a quick prenatal checkup, and because of Noelle's sustained rapid heartbeat, we walked over to the hospital to be induced right away. There ended up being nothing wrong with her heart; her heart rate fell back into the normal range at some point during the labor and stayed there. When asked what could have caused the rapid heart rate earlier in the day, the neonatologist joked that she just must have been ready to be born.

My dad came to the hospital as soon as he heard I was in labor, and stayed the whole time (when it was time to push, he went to the family waiting room). If you knew my dad, you know we had great conversations throughout the day - perhaps what made the labor go so well.

We still had not decided on a name, although Noelle was at the top of our list. My labor nurse was named - - Noel; the first one we had ever met. So, I guess that sealed our decision.

I had the best labor ever, and with the help of the pitocin drip and epidural, it was relatively quick and painless. I still can't believe what our bodies go through to have a baby!

I was so hungry by the time it was all over, and they weren't serving dinner any longer, that my dad went to Panera and brought me back a sandwich. I will forever hold dear the memories of my dad on that wonderful December 20th day.

Happy First Birthday my dear little Noelle. I love you so much.

Good news and bad news

2007-12-11T13:19:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was difficult for me, because I received both good news and bad.

The good: Trevor was accepted to UTK, which is is first and only choice. He's been checking his status online every day after school, and yesterday it said he was accepted! Yea!! I'm so proud of him.

The bad: Our friend Crystal was told she has an aggressive cancer. She is a wonderful, Christian, home-schooling mom of seven great kids, the youngest of whom is only 6 months old. Please join me in praying for her, that the treatment she'll start today will be successful. Pray for her husband, children, and the rest of her family. She's in for a hard fight, but if anyone can beat this, she can.

First Steps

2007-12-09T22:47:00.000-05:00

Noelle took her first steps tonight! She took one step at church, and then later at home she took two full steps before falling. I suppose she's not officially a walker until she can really walk around, but we hit a big milestone tonight!

She has started drinking whole milk from a baby sippy cup, but still nurses pretty much the same as before the cup. Maybe she needs more? Her favorite foods are yogurt, crackers, Eggos, and Chic-fil-A soup. Oh, and my chicken & brown rice was a big hit with her the other night.

I can't believe she's almost one year old!

More on The Golden Compass...

2007-12-07T07:06:00.000-05:00

As I was surfing some mommy blogs, I came across one recommending we read something that Albert Mohler wrote about The Golden Compass. I didn't really know much about Albert Mohler (from reading his bio on the site I see he is Southern Baptist), but I do agree with most of what he says here:

http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=1065

Particularly this exert:

"The Christian faith is not about to be toppled by a film, nor by a series of fantasy books. Pullman has an agenda that is clear, and Christians need to inform themselves of what this agenda is and what it means. At the same time, nothing would serve his agenda better than to have Christians speaking recklessly or unintelligently about the film or the books.

"This is about the battle of ideas and worldviews. While Christians will not celebrate the release of this film, we should recognize the mixture of challenge and opportunity that comes with millions of persons watching this film and talking about the issues it raises. When the movie is mentioned in the workplace, in school, on the playground, or in the college campus, this is a great opportunity to show that Christians are not afraid of the battle of ideas.

"We should recognize that the Christian Church has some very embarrassing moments in its history - moments when it has failed to represent the truth of the Gospel and the love of Christ. Authors like Philip Pullman take advantage of these failures in order to paint the entire Christian Church as a conspiracy against human happiness and freedom."

What Dreams May Come

2007-12-03T13:46:00.000-05:00

Last night I had such a nice dream -
I was seated in a restaurant, and the waiter brought me a paper bag of candy and said it was from Lance, and that Lance said it was a clue meant to help me find him. Lance wanted me to go find him right then. Immediately, I had such a wonderful feeling, one of excitement and anticipation. So, I rushed away, and somehow knew that I was supposed to go in the mall and find Lance in front of a candy store. I was rushing through this really large, maze-like mall, looking every which way as I went. As I rounded a corner, I glimpsed Lance out of the corner of my eye, and I knew he had seen me at exactly the same moment. He was wearing this really cool shirt that I had never seen before, but I knew was perfect for him. I was so happy to see him, and he was so happy to see me. We rushed towards each other and hugged & kissed.

I was awakened right then by Noelle, but still retained that amazingly happy feeling. I just felt so much love and thankfulness for Lance. I've felt that way all morning. I'm glad I had that dream, but I don't know why I don't feel this way every day.

A few years ago I had another dream, which was quite different, but had a similar effect. I was in my parents' pool with Connor, who was about a year old. All my family, Lance, and his family were there, too. Somehow it became known to me that Lance & I were not married, and Lance was actually married to a lady named Anne (she was also there, sitting by the pool, looking very unhappy). I said that can't be, because Lance & I have a baby - Connor. I wanted to raise Connor with him; I wanted to be married to him. Lance's sister tried to explain to me that I could never be married to Lance. I was so sad; I was in anguish. When I woke up and realized it was a dream, I was so happy & thankful to be married to Lance. I just wanted to hold him and never let go.

Have you ever had a dream that made you thankful?

10 Year Anniversary!

2007-11-29T20:45:00.000-05:00

Wow - today is our 10 year wedding anniversary. Yeah!! We seem to be too busy with little kids to do much to celebrate. I did get Lance some candy yesterday, and tonight we're going to watch a Netflix movie together after the kids are asleep. The day wasn't too special, as I pretty much just kept up with Connor, Noelle, and April (she spent the day here). But, there are many couples who cannot be together on their anniversary, so I am very thankful that we are together today.

There was a little excitement, though. While I was upstairs nursing Noelle, Connor came bursting in (he knows he's not supposed to do that, but I guess he couldn't restrain himself) to tell me I got flowers! After I got Noelle down for her nap (yeah!!!), I came downstairs expecting to see these flowers I heard about, but there weren't any. I asked Lance about it, and told him what Connor said, but Lance said that there were flowers delivered to our neighbor and Connor saw them out the window. (Lance was very convincing, because although it is our anniversary, I believed him.) But, poor Lance, April didn't quite understand what he was trying to do, and she started asking him, right there in front of me, "can't we show them to her now?" Lance was like, "what?" trying to act confused, because there weren't any flowers in our house, you know. But April persisted, so Lance gave in and had me close my eyes while he led me to my computer desk where he had the flowers waiting for me. There was the little note on the bouquet that said "Happy 10th Anniversary!" and a very sweet card from Lance that started "For the Love Of My Life..."

Poor Lance. The one time during the day I was unable to come to the door was exactly when the flowers were delivered, so that part didn't go as he planned. But, you know what? I will probably remember it better the way it actually happened.

I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful husband. He is gentle, loving, and strong in a way that is perfect for me. He always lifts me up. He is a great father. He also keeps me laughing. I could go on, but I'll leave it at that. I hope for many, many more years with him.

Wordless Wednesday

2007-11-28T15:29:00.000-05:00

Innovative Definitions

2007-11-27T13:52:00.000-05:00

I received an email with these cleverly made-up definitions, and thought I would share the humor with you all:

"New" Words:

Cashtration: The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

Bozone: The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.

Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease.

Karmageddon: It's when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, and then the Earth explodes, and it's a serious bummer.

Decafalon: The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you

Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

Arachnoleptic fit: The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

Beelzebug: Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

Caterpallor: The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

Alternate meanings for common words:

coffee: the person upon whom one coughs.

flabbergasted: appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained.

abdicate: to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

esplanade: to attempt an explanation while drunk.

willy-nilly: impotent.

negligent: absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown.

lymph: to walk with a lisp.

gargoyle: olive-flavored mouthwash.

flatulence: emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller.

balderdash: a rapidly receding hairline.

testicle: a humorous question on an exam.

rectitude: the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

pokemon: a Rastafarian proctologist.

oyster: a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

Frisbeetarianism: the belief that, after death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

circumvent: an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

Mary B's Parker House Rolls

2007-11-26T09:03:00.000-05:00

I must blog about the showdown we had on Thanksgiving Day -

Sister Schubert's vs Mary B's Parker House style yeast rolls.

I thought they were both delicious, but everyone else voted for Mary B's. Cody observed that Mary B's had more of a buttery taste that caused him to choose hers. So, I thought I would share with you, just in case you are shopping for some frozen yeast rolls and wonder if Mary B's can compete with Sister Schubert's.

I went searching the web for a photo of Mary B's, but couldn't find one. I did find a blog post where someone was raving about Mary B's Dumplings. I might have to try those next!

Christmas Giveaway

2007-11-25T20:17:00.000-05:00

There's a nifty Christmas giveaway contest going on, but hurry & enter because the deadline is tonight at 10 pm EST.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-24T07:56:00.000-05:00

What a nice Thanksgiving we had this year. My mom went by herself to Memphis to visit her parents, April stayed with us, and Cody & Nick stayed home. I had Cody, Nick, & Andrew over for dinner on Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday! My mom was back in time to join us on Friday, and we finished off all the leftovers from Thursday.

Here's what I fixed for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday:
Turkey
Ham
Dressing
Mashed potatoes
Turkey gravy
Green beans
Shells & cheese
Parker house yeast rolls
Grapes & oranges
Celery with cream cheese
Cinnamon baked apples
Vanilla ice cream
Pumpkin pie (Mom's homemade from homegrown pumpkin!)
Brownies with fudge icing

It was delicious! Andrew brought the ice cream, and he also rented some movies for us to watch after dinner - Spiderman 3 for all, and Ocean's 13 for the over 16 crowd. Friday after dinner, we all played charades - something Cody, April, & Connor had never played before. It was fun having the family time.

It was good that we experienced this holiday in a slightly unusual way, so it wouldn't be so obvious that my dad was gone. My mom needed a break and a chance to visit with her parents. With all the kids here, I didn't have a chance to think about much else besides kids, food, & cleaning up.

I need what???

2007-11-09T14:42:00.000-05:00

Wednesday I went to the dentist. I really like my dentist (Dr Mary Beth Peaks), and the visit was going very well until the hygienist told me we really should schedule the root canal I need. WHAT??? I was in shock, and told her so. The hygienist I normally see has never mentioned this to me, nor has the dentist. I asked which tooth, and she showed me. I asked her to describe exactly what needed to be done, and she showed me, using the Xrays and a little model. Oh my, I was trying very hard not to cry. I couldn't believe I let my teeth get so bad. I always had great teeth, but with each baby, I end up skipping the occasional morning or nightly flossing and sometimes even brushing! I really couldn't understand why I was scheduled next for some surface treatment that included that tooth. Why bother if I was going to have this other thing done.

So, I said go ahead and remove what's currently scheduled and let's make an appointment for the root canal. The way she described it, the longer I waited, the more painful it was going to be. She kept trying to do the rescheduling, but the computer wouldn't let her. I sat and watched her try again and again. Finally, she nonchalantly said, "oh, you're right. I was looking at the wrong Xrays."

"What??" I wanted to make sure I understood what just happened correctly. "You mean you were looking at the wrong Xrays and I do NOT need a root canal after all????"

"That's right," she said. "You don't need it at all. I was looking at someone else's Xrays."

I wasn't the least bit angry with her. I was VERY happy that the computer had some sort of checks built in and wouldn't let her schedule the root canal needed on one Xray for another person. I also felt like I had been given another chance to save my tooth!

I floss and brush with renewed energy now. And I've added an extra little thank you into my prayers.

Wordless Wednesday

2007-11-07T22:21:00.000-05:00

Bath Time Fun

2007-11-05T20:53:00.001-05:00

Connor & Noelle love to take a bath.

On a side note...

Noelle is doing very well going to bed now. My new routine with Noelle flows like this: dinner, bath, PJs, dark room, soft music, nursing, crib. She is doing so much better falling asleep. I think all kids are different and you have to find what works best for your baby (and family). Connor did okay with co-sleeping, and I thought I would never be a cry-it-out mom. Noelle was simply not getting enough sleep when co-sleeping with me, and neither was I. I somehow survived the week and a half of long cry-it-out nights. I learned that going in periodically to lay her down or pat her back just prolonged the agony. Every time I left she got mad again. So, for us, leaving and not coming back is the only thing that worked. She is now doing very well going to sleep. Tonight she had 20 minutes of crying, but most nights she cries less than a minute before falling asleep. Yea!

Now, back to my bath time topic...

Tonight, Connor was having fun in the bathtub serving us his make-believe refreshments. He loves to make up his own names for the pretend drinks he was serving us. Our favorite was something called "chance-a-ray" and we said no-thank-you to something called "bum-chocolate."

Happy Halloween everyone!

2007-11-03T12:29:00.000-05:00

Connor went trick-or-treating dressed as the original Spiderman. Here are a couple of photos of before & after.

Noelle was still a little congested, so she stayed home, helped to hand out some candy, and was asleep by 7:30. Poor Trevor was sick in bed all afternoon and evening.

We didn't have as many trick-or-treaters as we thought we would have, which means we have a little too much candy left over. Mmmm... frozen Reese's cups...

What to blog about first?

2007-10-26T20:18:00.000-05:00

I have gone weeks without blogging, and now that I have a chance to post something, I don't know what to talk about first. Maybe I'll just give a few highlights:

Bad news: Test results show that April has lupus. It is a genetic type of lupus that has caused her kidney damage. Please pray for her and for my mom. More about that later.

Good news: I have been so stressed out over trying to get Noelle to sleep in her crib, what with the lack of sleep and heartache of listening to her cry it out. Finally we seem to be reaching the light at the end of the tunnel. She was asleep tonight by 8:30 pm, and only whimpered a bit when I laid her in her crib. Of course, watch this be an anomaly... but still - I'll take it.

Interesting news: We piled in our new minivan and took a road trip to Albuquerque this month. We visited Lance's family, and took in the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta and a challenging corn maze.

Concerning news: Have you heard about the new Nicole Kidman movie coming out called The Golden Compass? I haven't researched this on my own yet, but I've been told that it's based on a children's book series by atheist author Philip Pullman whose purpose in writing the books is to "kill God." Evidently the movie is very mild and can trick parents into thinking it would be okay to let their children read the series.

Local news: Don't miss out on the current Just Between Friends consignment sale at the Camp Jordan Arena. It's happening right now. http://chattanooga.jbfsale.com/

Name Tag

2007-10-02T20:11:00.000-05:00

Keri tagged me for this, and I have been trying to come up with something ever since. Describe yourself using each letter of your name:

L oves to hear my children laugh
A wake way too often during the night with baby
U sually running late
R eally enjoys hiking
A lways tweaks recipes

Don't miss the All About Kids Sale

2007-09-25T11:48:00.001-05:00

Don't miss the All About Kids Consignment Sale this week!
http://www.allaboutkidsconsignment.com/

Progress report on April

2007-09-21T18:44:00.000-05:00

I am happy to report that April is doing well. She is not in any pain because she is on lots of medication. I was able to talk to my mom a little more about the situation, and I was also there when the doctor came in, so I was able to hear what he had to say. I feel I know a little more about her situation now.

Today they went in and took cell samples from three different areas of her left kidney. The doctor knows she has some type of nephritis, but he needs to know what type in order to treat her. The theory about strep infection causing the deterioration of her kidneys is still a theory, but not an absolute. He said we may never know the exact cause, so now he's focusing on how to treat her.

Because so much protein and some blood cells are leaving her body in her urine, the doctor thinks that has caused her lack of physical growth over the last 6+ months. Those of you who know her have noticed how thin she has gotten. Hopefully once the doctor gets the results of the biopsy, he will be able to treat her so her kidneys heal completely and begin functioning fully again. Then she should start growing!

The tissue samples were sent to Vanderbuilt, so we won't know anything for a week or two. April is not to do anything strenuous for a week, and nothing where she could fall or have an impact for a month (like no sports, climbing, bike riding). There is a risk of bleeding after an impact.

Thanks everyone for your prayers!

Prayer request for April

2007-09-18T13:47:00.000-05:00

Please pray for April, my adopted little sister, for she is undergoing a kidney biopsy this Friday. She is only 9 years old and has had many difficulties already in her life, most I could not have even imagined when I was that age.

A few months ago my mom took her to the pediatrician for a routine physical which was required before church camp. Her urine had unusually high amounts of protein and a little blood, and she was immediately referred to a specialist. The specialist has spent most of the time since then running many tests (April is very tired of having her blood drawn), only to still be a little puzzled as to what is causing her kidneys to function so poorly, and how to treat it.

I think the current theory is that at one time April had a strep infection that settled in her kidneys. She does not have the strep infection now, but it seems her kidneys have suffered permanent damage. I think the biopsy will help the doctor determine what can be done to help her.

The biopsy is schedule for 1pm Friday at TC Thompson's. They will keep her over-night. Please pray for peace for April & my mom. Thank you!

How smart are you?

2007-09-16T17:23:00.000-05:00

Finally a test that makes me feel smart!
(Inspired by Virginia)

Try it out - I dare you!

Enough with the screaming already!

2007-09-16T13:10:00.000-05:00

Noelle is currently in a screaming phase (at least I hope it's a phase). When she wants attention, or she's unhappy about her situation, or she wants something to eat, or she's very excited, or just when she feels like it, she screams. She screams so loudly that my ear drums hurt. I try to ignore her or to give negative feedback, because I want to discourage it. But, of course, when a baby lets out an ear-piercing scream, people stop & look. So, she gets attention. And I'm worried that will encourage her.

She is adorable, though. She's trying to crawl, and it's so cute. She is good at rolling, and pushing from the crawling position into a sitting position. In getting into a sitting position, she has to have her weight on her arms while she scoots her legs up. So, soon she will be crawling. She doesn't have any problem getting something she wants, and somehow moves all over a room.

Chicken & Cheese Enchilada Casserole

2007-08-31T05:45:00.000-05:00

Chicken & Cheese Enchilada Casserole

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 tortillas (I used the low carb, high fiber ones)
1 can Progresso Chicken Cheese Enchilada soup
1 pkg sliced Pepper-Jack cheese

- Cook the chicken in the oven @ 350, covered, for at least an hour (I put them in still frozen, and cooked them for about an hour & a half)
- Leave the oven on when your doing the next steps
- Take each chicken breast and quickly shred it - with a fork - in a big bowl
- Open the can of soup, pour it over the chicken, mix it together
- In a round or square pan (I used the same one I cooked the chicken in), layer a tortilla, some chicken mixture, & cheese. Repeat until you're done. The way mine ended up, I had a top layer of cheese, tortilla, cheese.
- Bake, uncovered, @ 350, for around 20 minutes - you just want all the cheese to melt.

Now, this is a little spicy, even the soup itself, so use a milder cheese if you prefer. Trevor, Lance & I could have eaten more than I fixed. Both Trevor & Lance couldn't stop saying how much they loved this. Lance said, "this is a keeper; fix this anytime." Trevor agreed. Usually Trevor is not that excited about anything I fix, so it made me very happy to have him rave about a meal I fixed (so I thought - I must share this on my blog!).

I like many things about this meal - 1) there are very few ingredients, 2) since you're just cooking the chicken until it can be shredded, you have a lot of leeway on the initial cooking time, and I need that with my kids, 3) it is tasty & spicy, 4) it is low-carb, high protein, high fiber.

Consignment Sales

2007-08-29T18:59:00.000-05:00

I first stepped foot in a children's consignment store in Connecticut, where I went in search of maternity clothes and left with all I needed plus a car seat and some baby clothes. Here in Chattanooga, I was a little disappointed in the local consignment stores (okay, to be fair, I've only been to the one on Hixson Pike near Ely Rd.). Then, some very nice friends at church let me know about the local semi-annual consignment sales. The first one I attended was the Jack & Jill sale at EastGate Mall, and I was hooked! I bought the bassinet and infant swing I needed, and lots of cute baby girl clothes. I think I'm even more excited about them since I have a cute baby girl to dress! I don't see why I should spend $30+ on an outfit when I can spend $5 or less and it looks the same as after I wash the new one.

In an effort to help me keep up with when the sales are, I have added a section to my blog (on the right) where I have links to the sales' websites. A few are coming up soon, so check them out! Oh, and if you know of any that I have not listed, please let me know and I will add them.

A father's love

2007-08-15T11:04:00.000-05:00

I hope you all have read Lance's latest blog entry about Noelle. My first thought after reading it was that it was a bit too sappy. But, the more I thought about it, the happier I was that he wrote it. I think there is a special love a father has for his daughter, and our culture does not really encourage men to write about it. I know my dad loved me so much, and not that I need it, but I would really treasure something written by him about me. So, all you dads out there, I encourage you to write periodically about your children, and how much you love them. Keep it somewhere safe and they can have it after you're gone.

Hip Hip Hooray!

2007-07-10T08:28:00.000-05:00

Three cheers for Trevor & my grandfather!

Trevor returned safe & sound from his mission trip to Africa. Sounds like it was a success on many fronts. I am glad that they were able to reach out to those who are sooooo much less fortunate, and at the same time be mature enough to be touched deeply by the African children's great joy and faith in the midst of poverty. I can't wait to hear more. Hopefully I can post a few pictures soon.

My grandfather (mom's dad) was scanned yesterday and all his cancer spots are gone! He has just finished about 5 rounds of chemotherapy. His battle with cancer over this last year has been painful, but nothing short of miraculous.

Slipping into the past

2007-07-07T22:17:00.001-05:00

Something I'm struggling with right now is the way my dad is slipping into the past. He's becoming part of history. I know this is how it works, but it's difficult to process.

Thinking of family members who are alive is so different from thinking of ones who are not. It's like when I finish a really, really good book and I don't want it to end because I want to know more about what the characters do after the final words. My dad's book is over, and it ended so suddenly, without a nice wrap-up. Like someone snatched it out of my hands while I was in the middle of reading it.

Big Baby

2007-07-05T09:38:00.000-05:00

While still precious in every way, Noelle is a very big baby (just like her big brother Connor was)! She went for her 6 month well baby check-up this week, and weighed in at 18 pounds 1 ounce, and measured 26 inches in length. That is 80th percentile for weight and 50th for height. She was perfectly healthy in every way.

Let's see... what is she doing right now?
She is making more and more sounds, she is sitting in the highchair (where she loves to eat her favorites - fruits), she is sitting briefly without support, she is squealing to get attention, and she is a mommy's girl. She is very used to her mommy being around all the time, and doesn't much like anyone else to hold her (or for her mommy to leave the room). When she's in a good mood, though, she does love to play with her daddy. Connor makes her smile most of the time, laugh sometimes, and cry sometimes when he is just too much. When she is playing with something special and drops it, she starts crying until we hand it back to her. She loves to shake rattles and bang things, but sometimes she accidentally bonks herself in the head or face, and that makes her cry. She still hates tummy time, although she can go a full minute or two before the protesting begins (this is better than the few seconds she used to go). She spends a lot of time in her exersaucer, which is how mommy gets to do laundry, and cook & clean in the kitchen.

Noelle & Connor

2007-06-28T05:09:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple of photos of Noelle in the family baptism outfit - my grandfather wore it, my mother wore it, I wore it, and now Noelle wore it! These pictures were taken on May 29th.

And, here's one of Connor -

Credits & Thanks go to Amber on the photography.

What's your anagram?

2007-06-20T21:46:00.000-05:00

This site allows you to enter something, like your full name, and it creates an amusing anagram.

I had to try it. My name anagrams to
'Hardier, adult old woman.'

And, that is exactly how I feel these days.

So, what's your anagram?

Happy and Sad

2007-06-20T10:59:00.000-05:00

I am often asked how I am doing. You probably are frequently asked that also, as it is a very common question to ask and be asked. But now, the people asking me really do care how I am doing (not that they didn't before), and the question is asked with more feeling and emphasis. It is hard for me to answer, because I know what they are asking (How are you coping? How is your grief? How can we help?), and because there is not a simple answer. Some moments I am just so sad. Other moments I am happy. I have many, many things to be thankful for and be happy about. Wonderful memories with my dad make me so happy, but also make me cry because... that's it -- the end has come to making memories with him. What I have is what I have.

I am mentioning this because I think I will start blogging about both the happy and the sad, the funny and the painful. If it becomes too much, I will stop; but I want to see if it will help me. Not only to communicate with you all, but also to have this little journal to be able to look back upon myself.

So, prepare yourselves for the unexpected when you check my blog. You may read about something happy with cute baby pictures, or you may read something entirely different. To some extent my blog has already become that way, so perhaps this entry is my way of explaining it.

Father's Day

2007-06-17T17:17:00.000-05:00

I have thought a lot about what to write today.
I think I'll keep it brief.

I am so thankful that I had a dad who:
Loved me unconditionally;
Instilled a strong work ethic in me;
Taught me to turn to God and His Word in times of distress.

What I am missing the most:
Daddy laughing so hard during card or board games with us that tears stream down his face;
Daddy dancing and acting silly in the kitchen;
Daddy telling stories that made everyone laugh;
Watching him play with my children with complete enjoyment;
Seeing his smile, hearing him say my name, being hugged by him.

I love him so much and I am so proud of him. Someone said to me: "I heard about your father's promotion to Heaven" and ever since, that is how I view it. I can't wait to see his smile again.

The First Roelle

2007-06-13T22:29:00.000-05:00

There was much rejoicing today, as Noelle rolled over for the first time! From her tummy to her back. We documented the roll, so you can see her cute chubbiness in action:

Is she adorable or what?

Mom My Ride

2007-06-11T11:41:00.000-05:00

I suppose this is in honor of Lisa's new minivan. Julie showed me this video a few months ago and I've been meaning to post it here so you all can enjoy it. It will mean the most to those of you with children.

Cutting Teeth

2007-06-02T18:54:00.000-05:00

Well, Noelle's first little tooth has appeared - her bottom left. Not the whole tooth, just a little white dot. But we can feel and see it. I tried to take a picture just now, but she was too tired. We knew she was acting like she was teething for the last two weeks, and we tried to feel her gums every time our hands were clean, but tonight was the first time we felt a tooth! Lance was the discoverer.

Noelle has also started eating. She's been eating for about a week now, mostly pears and sweet potatoes. She is a great eater. I have just started mixing in a tiny bit of rice cereal. With Connor, I remember when he was so interested in watching me eat, and I felt he wanted to eat, too, but the doctors were big on waiting until the 6 month mark. When Connor finally turned 6 months, he would not eat. When he was 7 1/2 months, I called his pediatrician to ask if I should be worried that he refused to eat, and they sent over a speech therapist and an occupational therapist (in case there was something wrong with his tongue or mouth, I guess). Those nice ladies determined that he was actually advanced orally (he could make so many sounds), but he did not like the texture of baby food or cereal. They offered him a Cheerio (I was worried he would choke on it), and he loved it. He ate Cheerios for a while, then slowly started eating baby food (he never ate the baby cereal, and still doesn't like oatmeal). As you can tell by his plump baby pictures, there was no chance he was malnourished.

Well, Noelle's doctor is less strict about the 6 month mark, and said I could start solids any time between 4 and 6 months, whenever I felt she was ready. Right around 5 months old I noticed her showing the same interest in my eating as Connor had when he was around the same age, so I decided to start. She loves to eat! She is not averse to cereal texture. It does not seem to hamper her nursing, either.

I suppose the only other news we have is that Trevor made 3 A's and a B on his report card this semester. The numerical grades were 97, 97, 94 & 90. We are very proud of him. He's been helping my mom out a lot these past few days, doing lots of yard work and some house cleaning. We're proud of him for doing that also. Next year he will be a senior in high school; I can't believe how fast time flies!

Twister Yoga

2007-05-31T13:53:00.000-05:00

Connor is at the age where he wants to try to play all the games we have in our game cabinet. We have games from our childhoods as well as when Trevor was younger. Some Connor can play, like "Don't Wake Up Daddy" and "Don't Break the Ice." Most he's way too young for, but the interesting ones are those we tweak to make them more fun for him. So, in "Connect Four" we play until we have put all the chips in, and then find and count the ones in a row (no winner or loser). In "Battleship" we make some really cool designs with the red & white pegs. What we played a long time today was Twister. Connor would spin and I would do what the arrow landed on (right hand on blue, left foot on yellow, etc), until I fell. Then I would spin and Connor would do the mat work. I highly recommend it to you all; I got some great stretching and strength work in - just like yoga! Next time we play I may put on some peaceful music and dim the lights.

Lost & America Idol

2007-05-22T13:04:00.000-05:00

My posts have been too serious - how about some fluff?

I can't believe they have the season finales of both Lost and American Idol on at the same time tomorrow night! I like to watch both shows, so I will be recording Lost and watching American Idol live. I remember last year when the power went out in our area during these same finales (Lance was watching an NBA playoff game). Neighbors were outside, and everyone was so upset about missing American Idol; I was the only one on our block watching Lost. Scott & Donna "saved the day" by buying the episode on iTunes and letting me watch it on their laptop (thanks!!).

Who are you rooting for on American Idol? I was hoping Blake & Jordin would be the final 2, although I also liked Melinda and LaKisha. I think Jordin should win, but I like Blake the best (and have all along).

And do I have any fellow Lost fans reading this blog? I think the last couple of episodes have been very exciting - Jacob??? Have you seen him? I didn't even know they flashed an image of him in that dark cabin until I read about it (and saw it) on an online message board. I am in the camp of people who think he's from the Black Rock (19th century clothing), and perhaps Richard is, too (he also had on old-fashioned clothing when he encountered young Ben in the jungle). And I don't think we've seen the last of Locke, do you?

Turkey on my mind

2007-05-03T07:52:00.000-05:00

- and not the Thanksgiving dinner kind.

Perhaps my mind is seeking some sort of diversion (you would think my family could provide enough), but I am astounded by how many times this last week that the country of Turkey has come to my attention. I have not been seeking it out, but it has come up nonetheless.

First, I regularly read the Six In The World blog (http://www.sixintheworld.com/) because I think it is fascinating reading about this family's adventures as they spend a year traveling the world. Their current postings are on their stay in Turkey, and I have enjoyed hearing about the people, culture, politics & history. Both the family's posts and some comments left by others have brought up the country's current struggle between secular and Islamic controlled government, and the history behind it.

Second, I was emailed a very disturbing story about three Christians who were tortured and killed by Islamic extremists two weeks ago in Turkey. Here is a website showing their pictures and telling a bit of the story (http://www.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&length=long&lang=en&idelement=4836).

Third, both yesterday and today Yahoo news has had headlines regarding some serious political battles between those who want to uphold the country's constitutional mandate that the government remain secular and those who want the country to be controlled by Islamic parties (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070503/ap_on_re_mi_ea/turkey_elections). I find it very interesting that the Turkish military has warned that they will do what is necessary to defend the constitution, ie. defend secularism, but both the US and the EU have warned Turkey's military to not defy their civilian leaders. So, in essence we are telling them that if Islamic extremists are elected and appointed by the elected, they must allow it. Our separation of church and state is upheld by our courts, not our military. Turkey does not have that luxury.

I feel that what is happening in Turkey is very important. Turkey is surrounded by Islamic states, and is in the midst of an internal battle to become one or not. Christian missionaries and converts were tortured and killed by young men who said "We did this for our country" and "We did it for our religion (Islam)." Finally, I cannot help but make the connection to the fact that the seven letters John wrote in Revelations, during a time Christians were oppressed and persecuted, were to seven Christian churches, all in modern day Turkey.

4 Months old already!

2007-04-30T08:40:00.000-05:00

Noelle is a healthy four months (and 1 week) old. She went for her checkup Friday, and weighed 14 lbs, 9 oz, and was 24 3/4 inches long. That charted her right at the 50th percentile for height and 75th for weight. I followed the advice from many friends and her doctor, and gave Noelle some infant Tylenol 30 minutes before her shots, and every 4 hours until bedtime. Boy did that make a difference! She was not fussy like last time, and we sailed through the day and night.

Now that the weather is so nice, Noelle & I enjoy getting out for walks, so any of you who are local, let me know if you want to meet one (late) morning for a walk!

One day we'll get around to taking pictures of the rest of us, but Noelle is the most frequent object of the camera because she is changing so much! Here's a current picture of her:

Fear Not

2007-04-18T21:03:00.000-05:00

What is death? What happens after death? What exactly happens immediately after we die? How does God answer those questions in the Bible?

As you can imagine, I have been thinking a lot about the topic of death. A very dear relative of mine attends First Presbyterian Church (PCA) of Jackson, MS, and amazingly they are currently doing a special series on this very subject. They have something called podcasts of this series on their website, and I have been listening to them. They are so wonderful.

Here is the link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/FirstPresFearNotHeaven

As of today, there are three sessions posted:
1) What is Death?
2) What Happens After Death?
3) What Happens When Christ Returns?

The second session - What Happens After Death? - was as if God heard my questions and sent this message just to me. I wish everyone who has ever lost someone could listen to this. It has made me so happy for my dad, for where he is, for what he is experiencing right now.

Listening to these podcasts is as simple as going to the link and clicking on one of the the mp3 files. It will play for you right over your computer. You can also right-click on a file and save it to your computer.

My heartfelt wish is that you set aside time to listen to this short series. I promise it will be worth it.

A Sudden Loss

2007-04-06T09:30:00.000-05:00

Most of you who read this blog already know that last Wednesday I suddenly and unexpectedly lost my dad. All the sadness and troubles I've experienced previously in my life cannot compare to this. He was so young and healthy. He had so much energy and life. I am still in shock. The waves of intense sadness and grief still wash over me. I love him so much and miss him so much. He has left a huge, gaping hole in our family, as well as our church and his office.

I am so thankful that I moved back to Chattanooga in August of 2004. My main reason for moving was to be near my family, but I never dreamed something like this would happen. I am so thankful that I got to spend so much time with my dad, and that he was able to spend time with us. Here are some wonderful pictures of my dad with Connor when Connor was just a year old, at the Hamilton County Fair. As you can tell from the pictures, my dad thoroughly enjoyed showing all the animals to Connor.

Fire Ants Invade

2007-03-27T11:30:00.000-05:00

We have battled fire ants (in many spots) in our yard ever since we moved here about 2 years ago. This weekend they decided to come into our house! Of course, we have had other ants in our house before, and after some treatment with Terro they quickly disappeared. These fire ants are not interested in the Terro nor in fire ant bait. [As as aside, Lance folded a little piece of paper and taped it over the fire ant bait, so our dog wouldn't be able to easily lick it but the ants would still crawl right through the bait. After checking out that situation, Connor described it as the ants going into the tent and pretending they're camping and eating the poison. We thought that was very perceptive and creative of Connor.]

By last night, the ants were so bad that they were crawling along every "line" in our kitchen and breakfast areas: along the floorboards, along the grout lines in between every tile on the floor, along the doorstep areas, etc. Some even ventured outside the "lines." Connor was bitten several times last night on his heel. It was a nightmarish situation for me, because I do not like bugs, especially not in my house! Especially not aggressive biting fire ants in my kitchen!

Now, compound the fire ant problem with our air conditioner ceasing to work yesterday. And, Lance had soooo much business work to do, especially involving phone calls that ate up his time. So, last night as I lay in bed (with all our windows open for the cool breeze), I could not sleep. Blessed little Noelle slept a record 10:00pm to 5:15am, but I only slept 10:30pm to 12:30am. The rest of the night I could not get the image of crawling ants out of my mind. I tried to pray without ceasing for peace. I tried remembering my blessings and how we were safe and sound and the ants were not the worst pestilence or problem in the world. I tried doing some extra hard Sudoku puzzles that usually help me fall asleep. Nothing worked.

Well, this morning we called the air conditioning repair man and he will come Thursday. We called the pest control people and they will come tomorrow. Lance has dedicated his day to our two problems, and has helped quite a bit. He discovered the problem with the air conditioner (a water pump is not working) and can do something to get our air conditioner to work. He would like to try to fix the problem, and if so we can cancel the repairman's visit, so that is what he's working on now.

Also, Lance came up with a creative way to reduce the volume of ants in the kitchen. We were getting nowhere with killing them one by one with a tissue, and Windex seemed to only temporarily stun them, so Lance started getting them with tape. He uses fat heavy duty masking tape strips, picks up many ants at a time, folds the tape on itself to trap and smash them, then tosses the strip into the trash. We still have hundreds of ants, but I am able to go into the kitchen again. I do have a wonderful husband.

New Noelle pictures

2007-03-18T16:31:00.000-05:00

Here are some current photos of Noelle. She wore the green outfit that was Connor's in honnor of St. Patrick's Day.

Dutch Butter Cake

2007-03-16T14:41:00.000-05:00

Last night was International Night at Connor's preschool. Each class chooses a country (usually a child or parent is from the country) and the class learns about the country, makes crafts representing the country, the sponsoring family displays things from the country, and they serve food and drink that you would eat in the country. It was so much fun to visit each classroom and taste the food and see the interesting pictures and things. Each child gets a little passport (with their picture in it) that gets stamped at each "country."

Connor's class choose The Netherlands, as his friend's father is from there. Our job was to make Dutch Butter Cake and bring it in. We were given the recipe and it was so simple and so delicious, I thought I'd share it. I like that it is very easy to do with children. (As you can see by the ingredients, it is not low carb or low fat.)

Dutch Butter Cake

1 Cup butter
1 1/3 Cup sugar
1 Egg
- Mix well
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
- Mix well
2 Cups flour
- Mix well
Pat into 2 round cake pans
Bake 18 minutes at 350 degrees.

Cool websites

2007-03-15T20:38:00.000-05:00

I have found a couple of websites where I have recently spent a bit of my time, and I thought I'd share:

Time waster:
www.blogthings.com has all these crazy quizzes you can take. I don't know why they are so addictive, perhaps because they are really short and I feel I can take just one more, or perhaps because some of them are so bizarre I want to know how I'll do on them.

Useful:
www.dietfacts.com has the nutritional info for all kinds of foods, by brand or by restaurant. I just read about this site in Newsweek. I have been wanting to find a place to look up how many calories (and fat, carbs, protein, etc) are in particular food items we buy at fast food or sit down restaurants. I know that some of those delicious meals in nicer restaurants are swimming in butter and/or cream sauce, and sometimes wonder just how bad they are for me. Now I can find out.