What can I say.... it was surreal, it was a long drive, it was a short time, it was priceless, it makes me cry thinking about it.

We took Max on a trip to the sea. 

He had the idea, I found a beach, Josh found a condo, he raised the gas cash, we scrimped and saved, God kept our van running, we did the driving, God gave us perfect weather, we spent almost the entire time on the beach, we found a thousand shells & 1 live crab, we learned a lot, God united our family closer together and sealed in many things He taught us at Faithwalkers.

We went to Gulf Shores, Alabama.  I chose this place because: it was closest (we wanted to drive it in 1 day and we're OLD, no 24 hr drives for us!), it had been a while since a hurricane hit (Ivan in 2004, Katrina in 2005, and since we weren't going to help we didn't want to get in the way), it had a Sea Lab (so in theory, no matter what, we would have sea creatures to touch), we could take a ferry to an island nearby, and those commercials late at night on Fox made it look beautiful! 

But let me tell you though, I was honestly expecting the worst... terrible weather driving, terrible weather there, a car accident, bugs in the condo, no picturesque beaches, crowded places, getting sick from FW, expensive gas... however, we were determined that even if we had to buy ponchos for the family and be drugged up on NyQuil, this was our shot to go the sea.  Even still, I honestly had to continually trust that no matter what happened, God continued to be good and He knew it all.

The location was a huge blessing too in that Josh found a super cheap (but surprisingly beautiful) condo on Craig's List (thanks to it being "winter" and temps were to be low 40's, high 60's) and outside of the ocean, touristy attractions were closed (we are not into that kind of thing) and there were no massive crowds.

We got great gas prices the whole way down, leaving MO at $1.36/gal.  On average we paid $1.46 for gas and got 24.8 mpg in the van (the cheapest paid was $1.31 and most expensive $1.56).  Josh had Max pay for gas every time from his piggy bank which brought mounds of smiles out of people who normally don't.  The kids traveled great, sans this one hour of complete loopiness coming home through Mississippi, and didn't complain about the long time in the car.  The rainstorm that was suppossed to hit the Thursday and Friday we were going to be there held off till Saturday and the weather was absolutely beautiful.  We actually made the drive in 14.5 hours down from MO and 17 hours up to IC, oy! 

How did he like it? 

He loved it!

He couldn't get enough of the ocean and the hunt!  He was up and dressed and ready to GO each morning as soon as possible and he stayed out as late as possible each night.  He was continually smiling and looking at me saying, "Mom, we're at the sea!"  "Mom, look at this!"

He learned a ton about the sea when we were at the Sea Lab that we didn't know before and got to touch all the creatures we couldn't touch due to the water being too cold to dive under.  He got to experience the power of the sea and play in the waves.  He found barnacles and oysters.  He got to see a pod of dolphins swimming in the ocean just a stone's throw away (we just happened to be in the right place at the right time).  He got to see two kinds of jelly fish up close and personal.  He got a dead, but in one piece, ghost crab.  He got to eat fresh grouper, mahi mahi, alligator and oysters.  He brought home a TON of shells and 1 live tiny sand crab (though sadly, the crab died last night). 

He was literally and figuratively swept away by the ocean and all its power. 

I know there are more beautiful places in the world, I know there are more beautiful shells in the world, I know there is more beautiful weather in the world... but honestly, we could not have asked for a more perfect time for our little clan of five.  The excitement of the kids far outweighed all the other factors and they (and us) soaked up each and every minute of it to the fullest. 

Without a doubt, he wants us to go back and without a doubt, we would love to take him there.  It may not be for a long while, but if the Lord wills, we will.   And like this time, no matter what our circumstances may bring, we will praise the Lord for He is good!

Mama is about to make good on her deal...

With final cans, bottles and plastics being returned today, Max made it to 77 gallons!  Woo-hoo!!!  77 gallons will take him from the middle of MO to the Gulf of Mexico (and then back to the middle of MO)!

Look at those dance moves!  He couldn't have done it without so many of you giving of your empties and piggy banks!  Thank you so much from the bottom of Max's Big Heart!

We checked on Gas Buddy and in MO today gas was $1.49.  I think as soon as he sees signs anywhere saying a buck-fitty he will be bouncing out of his seat.  I at first was praying for it in IC of a buck-fitty but now I am praying for MO to do the job! 

AHHHHHHH!!!!  We're going to the sea!  (I'll write another blog soon to tell you the who's-it's and where's-it's.  AND!  We did save up all our funds and have used part already for a deposit on a place located RIGHT ON THE SEA!)

Update to the update of the original deal!!

Empties, empties and more empties!

We have been totally floored lately with cans, bottles, and plastics!  Oh my!  (And I am beginning to think that ours friends must not like returning empties as much as me, :)!)

Notes, notes, and more notes!

Max has been receiving notes, dollars, and coins from you dear friends!  Those unexpected gifts are blowing us all away, you all are too kind!

Gas-O-Meter!

As you can see on Josh's Gas-O-Meter - Max has only 16 gallons to go!  (And that is not counting the empties we are picking up today!) 

Smarty Pig!

There are deposits made into the Smarty Pig but they take forever and have not been cleared yet, but if they were and it was, then you could sea that we are getting our end done too!

AHHHHHHH!!!!!!

We're going on a sea star hunt! 
We're gonna catch a big one! 
Oh no, we're not scared! 

(Just praying IC will catch up with the rest of the world and lower their gas prices already!)

UPDATE on Max's Trip to the Sea!

We ran some numbers for both mileage and gas... took into consideration the fact that we will be south after Christmas... considered that we already have a plethora of travels planned for December... made note of the fact that this month is Christmas... grimmaced at the thought that our economy is in a recession... did not forget that we are in the midst of a fundraising campaign at church... and took into account Josh's work schedule... and... and... gas has not technically hit a buck fitty in IC... yet.

BUT we are not about to crush Max's dream based on a technicality (just don't tell him that yet!).

We came up with two plans to get us to the beach after we considered the cost of the whole trip... one on our front and one on Max's.  Our's is "simple" - we will squeeze and scrimp as much as we can to get the funds out of our budget.  And in essence, our's is to match every penny of Max's.

Max's is to find ways to raise funds to pay for the gas - 77 gallons specifically.

How does a six year old raise funds?  Good question!  We're still figuring out all the specifics of that one... he has used some of his spending money and got a check for his first gallon from his awesome relatives (you Q's are too cute!) and is doing extra chores around the house and asks politely for any spare change we have here and there and in the laundry room and (his main bread winner) returns cans for cash. 

Now let me tell you something... I HATE returning empties!  YUCK!  I don't care how well I clean them, they are always gross to me.  I would rather give away my empties (which, quite hoestly, is what I generally do) than collect from others.  And, I HATE the empty return places because they are always so sticky and smelly and noisy and who knows what you are going to touch and with kiddos in tow around such conditions... AHHHH!  I am not a notorious germ-a-phobe but empty redemption places are about as nasty to me as they come.  Thankfully, Josh has been the one to return so far!

Thankfully too, I love my son more than I despise empty redemption!

Today, we returned 2 (yes 2!) shopping carts full of empties we were given from a friend.  (Thank you ladies!  Thanks you Gates'!)  The boys love the thought that each can gets them 5 cents closer to the sea and they love the auto machines that eat the cans.  True, they had to jump up to reach the hole and in the process got all sorts of sticky liquids on their hands and down their sleeves and on their coats BUT they did not care!

No amount of stickiness was able to deter their utter satisfaction and beaming smiley faces of watching the $ go up by 5 cents each time.  No amount of germ-a-phobia will now stop me from helping them and their joy of doing empty redemption.

Because seriously, you should've seen Max's face coloring in 9 (yes, 9!) gallons on his gas bar graph!

It's amazing when 9 years feels like hardly 1...

... though technically, when you do start taking into account the little cuties on our heels, 9 seems like a good number.

Speaking of numbers, this year in celebration of our marriage I wanted to write about numbers, or specifically numbers with dollar signs and decimal places.  They say love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.  They say you cannot serve both God and money.  They say 1 in 2 marriages end in divorce and most marriages end because of money.  They say the odds of lasting 9 years in your marriage is... yeah, I looked for a stat on that one and didn't find it (though we all know 42.7% of all stats are made up).

Josh and I didn't marry for money, we married "negative money" when we married each other - dragging along the bags of school loans and high interest college sanctioned credit cards.  (Oh, if we would have been told 5 years earlier not to do such things!)  Negative money, starting a business from scratch, medical bills, ugh!  BUT even though in lack, we never fought about money.

That is until almost 2 years ago.

Josh wanted to take this financial class and he wanted me to go with him.  Personally, my first response was, "What a dumb name for a class."  My second response was a combination of anger, angst, frustration, etc, etc, etc and sadly I took our those emotions on Josh.  The only obvious reason being my pride.  (Ex. I don't need to go to a financial class, I know it all and I have everything under control.)

It saddens me to admit it, but I need to be honest - I let "money" cause a rift in our marriage.  And once again, it proved that having God at the center of my life was the most important thing to keeping our marriage together.  Though my heart was not in it fully and I couldn't smile, dragging my feet even, I choose to love God more than myself and loving God helped me to love my husband and... I went.

Now, I could go on and on about the class itself and what a blessing it has been to our finances and how subsequently being on the same page with our finances has made our marriage that much stronger, but the class isn't my main point* - us choosing to love God first is.

This year, the most important number to me is 1 - one God who united Josh and I as one for the last 9 years... Hooray!  Happy Anniversary Honey!  I love adding one every year with you!

*Though I would make it my second point and if you haven't been to this class before you should go!

We're gonna catch a big one!  Oh no, we're not scared!

Ummm... remember this guy?  The one in the scuba suit?

Max, I am currently convinced, will be a cross between Jacques Cousteau and Christo, blending his art and his love of God's creation of marine biology into a perfect combination.*  It came as no shock to me during the summer, when he started researching the sea, that he would want to go to the sea to see it for himself someday.  Sadly, I had to explain to him the location and logistics and the cost and that with gas prices so high ($4 then) going anytime soon would be near impossible for our family.   (Though I said it in much gentler words.)

Then gas prices started lowering and they were sitting around $3 when I made some comment about how gas was "cheaper."  To which Max replied, "Cheap enough to get us to the sea?"  To which I replied, "It'd have to get WAY cheaper to get us to the sea."  "How cheap?  If it is $2 can you take me to the sea?"  "I don't think so."  "How cheap?" I considered the possibility for a moment and said, "Max, if gas prices get to a buck fifty, I'll drive you to the sea."  A triumphant, "YES!"

For me, I like saying the words "buck fifty" over and over again... kind of like the person who sits and watches the drinking bird for hours on end and never grows weary... buck-fifty... buck-fitee... buck-fit-ee...

Did I think gas prices would get down to a buck fifty?  Nope.  Did I think I would have to pony up and drive Max to the sea anytime in the near future?  Nope.  Was this around the time when McCain had said, "The fundamentals of our economy are strong?"  Probably.  Has Max told me the price of gas every day since I made this agreement?  Yep.  Am I nearing the point of eating my words?  Yep.

Currently the national gas average is $2.14.  The People's Republic of C I C currently sits at $1.89, which stats say is one of the more expensive places to buy gas in IA.  Josh found that Kansas City has gas for $1.47... Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas all have good cheap gas... all the way to the sea.

Needless-to-say, I now have to start doing some real logistical research.  I have no idea if we can even pull this off in our budget but now that I have a real possibility it may hit a buck fifty, I need to get the facts - stat.

Lessons learned? "'Never get involved in a land war in Asia' - you'll wish you were at the sea" and "Don't make flippant, goofy, outlandishes promises with your kids based on word sounds - they won't get your joke and they will hold you to your promise" and "Make sure you always prepare a way of escape - as in an escape clause" because I don't know yet how we are going to get our way out of this one if the budget doesn't allow (Seeing how our dishwasher broke today, OY!  It's gonna be tough!).  I trust if we can't do it, Max will be understanding - but OH how I curse the day I heard those words...

Buck-fit-ee.

*Of course we desire him to be pressing hard after the Lord as an adult, don't worry, we're on it.

Generally I prefer staying off the beaten path, but sometimes you just have to do something IF you happen to find yourself a block away...

While in NYC I remembered that there was an Indian restaurant that had been featured on FOX's Kitchen Nightmares.  Now I know what you are thinking, "Why go to a once dump that could still be or have turned back into a dump?"  Welp, sometimes the risk is worth the story.

To note: Josh and I love Indian food, we have recently found this Indian food joint in town that we have fallen in love with the food / owner, and when it comes to food, we love to try out new places.

The latest Revisited episode from KN showed that the restaurant (http://purnimarestaurant.com/) was still doing great and had kept their cleaned up act, even inviting diners to tour their kitchen and storage.  I was confident on the food quality but it was definitely the sanitary quality that scared me the most. 

As seen on TV?  The place looked like on TV (though the wide angle lens used during filming definitely made the place look 3 times as large).  TV made the decorative elements shine like an actor's face through cheese cloth (meaning, though beautiful - in person you could tell the decor was built in a day).  Thankfully too, the place looked clean and tidy.

What about the food?

One thing I like to do is ask the waitstaff what is their favorite dish (generally, this bites me in the behind as they will just tell me what they think I want to hear or what most people order) and our waitress played along.  We got the Channa Chat, per her suggestion, to start and Josh got his favorite Korma and I tried her "favorite" Tikka Masala.

Waiting for our food Josh was quizzing me on the episode and I am filling in all the details about Chef Ramsay, the restaurant, the new chef... when who should come out and deliver our starter than THE chef himself.  He was as smily as ever and we were the only ones he personally delivered a dish to the whole evening. (The first photo below was taken as fast as possible but it was so delicious we started eating and messed up the presentation before we got the shot off.)

To note: I actually had the thought that the waitstaff was trained that if someone OBVIOUSLY looks like an out-of-towner they are to tell the chef and he will show his face... hmmmm...

In any event, the food was delicious.  One thing Chef Ramsay always stresses is fresh food, nothing canned or frozen and the food here was definitely fresh and crisp.  Another amazing treat was how you could taste each spice - it wasn't a blend / mush of flavor.  Have you ever heard a food columnist say a dish has very delicate tastes or distinguished flavors?  Honest, when you would take a bite you could taste each sliver of spice in different places throughout your mouth... it was unbelieveable. 

To top if off (a favorite of ours), the waitress brought out extra things we did not order - raita for my tikka masala and the most delicious dessert, an iced mango treat of some sort (no idea on the name).  Our entire visit was an absolute treat and it doesn't bother me they played us like country bumpkins.  For me, it is more about the company than the location and any date with my husband is deliciously entertaining and wonderfully memorable. 

To note: Our waitress asked how we liked it and we said very much and commented how we love Indian food to which she asked, "Oh, so you eat it once a year?"  To which we said, "No, once every week or so."  You could tell by her expression, she did NOT believe us.

What a beautiful little girl!  (With her beautiful cake she and Max decorated!)

Oh so, early this morning, she squeezed in between Josh and I, made herself at home and fell back to sleep.  We were both looking at her and commented that she is now 4... 4... really?  That old? 

Over the last year she truly has started to become her own little person... her own little person who loves to make new friends, loves to compliment people's puppies, who loves to play with ponies, who loves to constantly make up her own songs for any occassion and about anything...

Looking at her this morning, I was reminded again how I take it for granted.  Not the "it" of spending the day with our kids, loving them, teaching them, guiding them... yes, those all are true and wonderful, but it is more than that.  The "it" is the actual gift of having them with me - today, here, now, right now, their gift of life.

Having lost a friend this year and having watched many friends lose their little ones over the years, I am continually grabbing all our cuties and holding them tight in my arms and I, honestly, never want to let go.  It's cliche, people say it all the time, but darn it, it is so true... each day is a gift and oh, how I could take advantage of it more.

Happy Birthday Miss Miriam!  We can't imagine life without you!  I can't imagine my life without you.

A Trio of Cramer Cuties!

Jedi Anakin Skywalker - Zeke must be getting older as he did not want a really involved costume.  He still wore it with pride!  His may also get the most use as he likes to wear it as a morning robe, :)!

Scuba Diver - Max went all out.  He really wants to go to the sea and if gas gets around a buck fifty, we're gonna take him.  I may have sewed this, but he did all the design... tightness, details, lengths, star fish, etc.  He did not last long walking in the flippers though, :)!

Golden Princess - All Miriam wanted was a golden princess dress and this is what $2 of fabric turned into.  She actually did wear it, which was very surprising to me! 

(BTW, this is for all our family who is not on Facebook... We love you all if you are on FB or not!)

I was able to have a conversation with the little boy who has been bullying our little girl.

We got to swim class just in time and I immediately saw the boy and an older woman standing near him.  I asked if she was his grandmother to which she said "no" and that she was just a family friend.  I asked her if he spoke English, to which she said "no" and asked if she could help and said his grandma was right here and she couldn't speak English either.

In as loving a fashion I could, I asked her if she could translate for me to the boy and his grandma the situation.  She said yes, however, as soon as she heard the things he had done to our Miriam, her voice got strong in her translations and the grandmother was talking in a loud strong voice and the boy just stood there with a face like, "What's wrong with what I did?"  Then his big brothers made some comments and the little boy started laughing and the translator and grandmother went on and on again. 

The grandmother did not say anything directly to me, as I was fearful would happen, because you could visibly see that she was incredibly embarassed by the situation.  For that I felt terrible, and wished I could've spoken Mandarin to let her know my true heart in bringing it up to them.

Thankfully, the boy must have learned a little something because for the most part, he kept his distance.  One time he did try to get in too close but thankfully Miriam shoved him away.

The sad part is he then started picking on this fragile little boy in the class.  This precious little boy is about the shyest, most inhibited little guy, who never interacts with anyone but his mom.  The bully must have realized that he couldn't go near our Miriam that halfway through class he starting doing the same terrible things to this other little boy and to top it off he kissed this boy.  Thankfully the mother came running over but so sad that this innocent boy now had to be caught in this mess.

My heart now aches even more about the whole situation.  There are two final swim classes next week, so I am praying for wisdom on what to do next.  I am also praying for the little boy, his grandma and his parents on how to appropriately help their son.  AND I am praying for the little fragile boy and his mom, that she can help him handle the situation. 

It's things like this that make me question if I was right to bring it up to the boy and family, though I tried as loving as I could but I fear, sadly, that something got lost in translation. 

"The Lord has rejected His own altar, He despises His own sanctuary. He has given Jerusalem's palaces to her enemies. They shout in the Lord's temple as though it were a day of celebration.

The Lord was determined to destroy the walls of Jerusalem. He made careful plans for their destruction, then He went ahead and did it. Therefore, the ramparts and walls have fallen down before Him.

Jerusalem's gates have sunk into the ground. All their locks and bars are destroyed, for He has smashed them. Her kings and princes have been exiled to distant lands; the law is no more. Her prophets receive no more visions from the Lord.

The leaders of Jerusalem sit on the ground in silence, clothed in sackcloth. They throw dust on their heads in sorrow and despair. The young women of Jerusalem hang their heads in shame.

I have creid until the tears no longer come. My heart is broken, my spirit poured out, as I see what has happened to my people. Little children and tiny babies are fainting and dying in the streets.

'Mama, we want food,' they cry, and they collapse in their mothers' arms. Their lives ebb away like the life of a warrior wounded in battle.

In all the world has there ever been such sorrow? O daughter of Jerusalem, to what can I compare your anguish? O virgin daughter of Zion, how can I comfort you? For your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can heal you?"

My friend calls this Truthful Thursday and I agree.  In my (self named) idiot bible (aka The One Year Bible) we started Lamentations yesterday and OH how I look forward to this book every year.  When I read it, I can't help but shout it alound... the pain, the anguish, the brokeness, the truthfulness.

"But I called on your name, Lord, deep within the well, and you heard me! You listened to my pleading; you heard my weeping! Yes, you came to my despairing cry and told me, 'Do not fear.'"

For me the whole book cuts deep to the heart... yes, to wounds as deep as the sea.

We have had some real eye opener experiences with interactions with other kids this year, the latest of which has been "the bully."  Instead of running and hiding, we have pressed on to face these issues and get on a positive side of each of them.

The second to last one involved Zeke and a boy from his flag football team.  Thankfully, Josh and Zeke talked through the whole situation, prepared a plan for Zeke to calmly and kindly earn the bully's respect and ultimately friendship, and thankfully, by their last game, the bully had stopped and was really a nice kid in disguise.  (Praise God!)

The last one involves our little Miriam and a bully in her swim class.  Say what you will about people trying to make gender a non-issue, but we are treating these two situations completely different.  In regards to the bully in Miriam's class we are NOT using our quiet voices and verbal negotiations, though we are following a calm 3 step process...

We don't like Miriam to scream "no" while playing with friends in a selfish way, but she has permission to scream "NO!" at a bully.  We don't like Miriam to be a tattletale over and over again, but we told her to tell her teacher EVERY TIME it happens.  We don't like Miriam to push or shove her friends, but we taught her to shove forcefully when a bully is involved.

Did I mention Miriam is almost 4 and so is the bully? 

I went to the coordinator to discuss the situation and what I came to learn was both infuriating and sad at the same time... it turns out this boy picked on a little girl in his last swim session, but he was kissing this little girl and the little girl was so distraught she left swim lessons.  They spoke with his caregiver but they were not sure if the family understood. 

Now the boy is back in a new class and he is picking on OUR Miriam (though thankfully NOT kissing her) ...  AHHHH!!!  Over-protective side of me wants to take our little Miriam out of the class and never go back again.  Mama Bear side of me wants to hunt down the bully and his caregiver and do my best to strongly communicate the seriousness of the behavior of this little boy.  The compassionate side of me, wants to cry and pray for this little boy and his family... something has to be going on in his little world that is giving him all these crazy thoughts.

Now, just so you know - we are not purposely subjecting our daughter to this situation.  Thankfully the boy has been absent most classes (weird, huh?).  But, he did show up on Monday and Miriam using her 3 tools of shouting "NO!," telling the teacher, and shoving the bully if he got too close was able to get her point across and she was not scared in any way. 

Thankfully, Miriam is oblivious about the negative way this whole thing could go.  However, I AM going to seek out him and his caregiver on Wednesday (if they come) and do my best to communicate with them and I am praying that God will give me some insight how to love them and "help" in some way.

But even though I watch her like a hawk at her swim class we did give Miriam one more trick for her bag - a strong right hook, taught to her under strict rules, guidelines and direction from her father.  Heaven forbid, any bully ever tries something to touch our daughter, but Josh felt that [all girls] have the right to punch any threat when it comes to their body being violated, and I agreed, and so our 4 year old knows how to lay a punch. 

Don't worry about your children around our little girl though, she knows the rules really well and how the punch and the rules go hand in hand.    

I still don't know what to think about this though... at the age of almost 4, our self defense days are starting.

I was speaking with my lil' sister the other day about politics and the issues.  I care about, and am passionate about, many different ideas and thoughts on politics (it is one of those fun things Josh and I love to discuss, agreeing and disagreeing, at length) but when it comes right down to it, I told her straight up, I will vote for x, and I said my "x" OUTLOUD (but then I got to thinking about it and it truly is x, y, and z).  I apologized for how closed-minded and narrow it may seem but when it comes right down to the nitty-gritty, those (3) stick out as deal makers or breakers.

She followed that up with this...

"There are two kinds of people... those who blow their nose in the shower and admit it and those who blow their nose in the shower and don't admit it."

Do you blow your nose in the shower? 

Some people honestly do go and vote based on party, or based on anger, or based on fear, or based on big issues or small issues.  The important thing is that they vote but honestly, we all do so with some "thing" in mind.

I do blow my nose in the shower and here are my issues. 

My "x" is something that I hold incredibly important yet neither candidate really holds on their platform, bummer!

My "y" is something I have only recently gotten more passionate about about have actually written more letters to my legislators this last year than I have in my entire life.  It is something that is threatened under Candidate Fred and not under Candidate Larry.

My "z" is something that could go either way under Candidate Fred and under Candidate Larry it is a non-issue from what I can tell.

I keep looking at ALL the issues though, going around and around and around and I always end up back at these 3 issues.  The end result leads me to Candidate Larry but that still leaves me with questions about ALL the other issues but then I always go back to my 3... but then I think about all the other issues and some of them do really matter to me, but then I go back to my 3 heavy hitters and around and around and around and around... I'm dizzy!

Once again, I was comforted...

Some may trust in elections, some may trust in candidates... but we will trust, in the Lord our God!

I keep reminding myself that God did not promise us easy times here on earth and that there are no promises on tomorrow and I am hoping for the best but also prepared for the worst - and that goes no matter who is elected president.

What really matters, gentle readers, is that you vote.  Every vote does matter and count.**

*A friend's tweet led me to this post by John Piper, something to talk amongst yourselves.

** Hoping that your county auditor is doing their job, even when people say he isn't though he says he is and you really hope he is and knowing that his job is on the line during this election, and hoping he is honest in counting those votes too as everyone "says" he always files our votes late and then they don't actually count afterall... Oh, for the love!

Oh, and this is the closest I have or will ever get to writing a political piece on my blog.  Yucky!  Never doing this again!

As you know, I regularly find myself stuck in old (or should have been) Seinfeld episodes: driving a car out of gas for no reason, having doctors question this and that and then write things on my files, friends hitting a pothole with your car leaving it to make clicking noises, waiting it out for repair men, battling it out with the laundromat over ruined shirts, even bandaids in food (well, that was the episode that should've been).  However, I recently find myself in this situation that UGH, keeps me feeling like I am stuck in a Seinfeld episode but I realized, it is not Seinfeld, it is The Office.

Being our company's group administrator for our health insurance, I get to constantly deal with the little dogs.  I say little dogs NOT out of disrespect but because I honestly have to remind myself that the actual people I am talking with, arguing with, fighting against, grring over, are not the ones who came up with all the rules and fees and hoops.  They are the messengers, it is not their fault, the fault goes to the big dogs who wrote the obnoxious rules.

Though I generally find myself wanting to pull my hair out from the insanity I am hearing over the phone, I have now decided to take solace in imagining the people I am arguing as being real people, not mere puppets.  Taking on the form of The Office, I imagine them with break rooms and office romances and birthday cakes and protocols and maybe (if they are lucky) a boss who likes to write his own songs and poems for them.  They are the person with the policy binder and need to do exactly what the policy binder says for each exact situation and then go home.  (It is not so much as me being in the episode, as me watching an episode over the phone, so to speak.)

That, my friends, is when it dawned on me. 

I am sure you have been baffling it as well, but let me fill you in... it wasn't Jerry or Bill's fault the 2 Microsoft extended commercials were not all they should've been - it was the director and accidentally, The Office's fault.

I have only watched a handful of The Office but I have watched every single episode of Seinfeld, twice SO let me tell you, it wasn't Bill and Jerry's combo that was bad, it was their director who was out of the loop.  My guess is their director hadn't watched a Seinfeld episode or Jerry's stand up routine in a while and had fallen in love with The Office.  While The Office is absolutely beautiful with its dry sarcasm, it is not what Seinfeld episodes are made of and it lacks the quick humor, quick conversations, face paced action that is Seinfeld.  Yes, Seinfeld was a show about nothing, but that nothing came in a beautiful package.  Call me old fashioned, but I think most people were expecting a more developed Seinfeld-esque interaction.

I say, the Microsoft folks turn over the film to a new director, add and chop and slice and dice, and maybe film a couple more scenes and give 'er another shot.  The concepts for each of the videos are hilarious and have so much potential but in their current state they are incomplete!!  Double explanation point!!

Or, maybe like all things, it is time for Jerry to step down and pass the torch on to Steve Carell.  (Bill did an amazing job and it was wonderful to see him in a "natural" setting, so please keep him.)  Maybe it is time, like The Cosby Show, for now Seinfeld, to move over for the next guy / generation.

As for me, my life will continue as it's own episode of Seinfeld... where the nothing-ness of the everyday makes me giggle (and that is a hard thing to do).

OH!  And here are the videos from http://www.youtube.com/user/WindowsVideos so you can be the judge:

And...

EEK!  And it is all my fault!

I know, I know... we went over pet rules not too long ago, right?  And in there I said, "We do have this 'pet' home and so I figure we can continue to collect random creatures here and there and keep for 1 week and then release."  Welp, I stand before you eating my words.

THE STORY...
It was just after lunch and we were all helping finish up cleaning when my phone rang.  It was Josh, who was outside mowing.  It seemed all rather weird to me that he was calling from a distance of no greater than 15', so I picked up quickly, "Send Max outside with a container, quick!  I have a snake for him.  Quick!"

Without thinking I grab a container and Max and push them out the door, rambling something about a snake.  Zeke soon follows with a, "What?  What's going on?" and runs outside.  Miriam then follows with a, "I don't like snakes," and hugs me tight.

Miriam and I then proceed to watch through the window.  Josh, Max and Zeke are working together as 3 little boys trying to capture this baby garter snake, with all sorts of giggles and jumping backs and sticks to encourage the snake into the container and more giggles and jumps back and in the midst of all the giggles and excitement I then realize... This thing is coming in my house?!

They do catch the little guy and bring him quickly into the house and set him on the kitchen table to proudly show him to me.  The 2 boys are giddy with excitement and can't stop talking while Josh has to go back to the adult task of mowing.  I checked its markings to confirm it was only a garter snake.  I did remember my deal with the boys and I said if the snake is ok eating the protein-filled-dried-up-crickets, then he can stay for 7 days, otherwise, he's out sooner, as I didn't want him to die in our possession.  To which Zeke quickly replies, "That's perfect Mom because snakes eat only once every 5-7 days, so we'll definitely be keeping this guy a while!"  (What kinds of books does this guy read?)

We went online to the curious place that is Wiki, to find out what they eat and learn that they had recently been found to be contain a slight amount of venom, not enough to kill, just itch & swell.  Grand.  They also like their food alive, so I don't know if our dried-up cricket leftovers from the tree frogs will win him over and that means he will be evicted.

In any event, it is for the most part my fault this creature is in our home, living on a table in the living room, making my hair stand on end.  The boys have made him a perfect home and are doing a great job taking care of him.  They also continue to keep an eye on the dried-up cricket to see if it gets eaten so they can keep him longer than 5 days. 

His name is Snickers.  Not like the candy (they don't know what that is) but like to sneak which became sneaky which rolled off the tongue like sneaky-snicky which reminded them of  to snicker and to round it off Snickers. 

Snickers Cramer to be exact... their words, not mine.

(I love our kids!)

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA... *sigh*

I know my old friend meant no harm by the question, but since they asked me that, I quote it often while I am running around juggling life... *sigh*... no truer words have ever been spoken.

Why do I forget to clean the downstairs bathroom?  Why is my laundry always in piles or baskets?  Why can my husband not find the matching black socks?  Why have I yet to respond to your emails or voice messages?  What do I do all day?

I train our kids in the way they should go so that when they are old they will not turn from it.

You want me to be specific?  Here it goes...

We spend time in prayer. 
We pray for our day, Dad's day, others's needs that we know of, then a few more times for our hearts to obey.  We pray often throughout our day as needs arise for others or ourselves.

We spend time in God's Word and in memorizing it. 
We have a Bible lesson plan we read with our kids, as well as have an extra devotional book called, "Leading Little Ones to God."  I know there are a lot of other great tools out there that I am sure many of you have found.  Tis true - it is way easier for a child to memorize a verse than an adult. 

We train ourselves to sit quietly. 
For us this means to sit still in silence, either on a chair (without a desk) or on a small blanket.  This is good not only for them to learn self control but also when we go to church or doctor's appointments or simply waiting in line at Wally-World.  This is nice for me so that I can read my devotions when I oversleep, which often happens!  Also, we do this during our day when one child needs specific direction for school work or whatnot, so needless-to-say, we practice this A LOT.

We work on those glaring character issues that would be so much easier to avoid. 
Not being bossy or being antagonistic or sharing or lacking self control or working with a joyful spirit or whatever, we put ourselves in positions when we can work on those specifics.  After a day like the other day, I would say that we work A LOT on character and wisdom.  This is another grand perk to home school as I can more quickly see an area we need to work on and then we can address said area.  (This also means that God works on my character a lot during each day!)

We home school.
We think our kids are (and want our kids to be) geniuses, but we do not live like that is the most important thing in the world or let that desire / pressure control our days.  In addition, we do not limit what they learn and if they desire more, or are capable of more, we happily cater their learning to that school subject.  We can move ahead in grades more without any interruption or social awkwardness too.

We go way above and beyond the state requirements for our boys who are school age but we do not put those specific requirements on our 3.5 yr old.  Granted, she learns A LOT through being around her boys schooling since she has to sit with us for reading times (her understanding of topics completely amazes me) but we subscribe to a little different thought on this topic of when to start school.

My point is, we are not trying to recreate public school in our home - our family's life mission statement is different than that.

We work on loving others more than ourselves and our schedule. 
This comes in being flexible.  Sometimes Dad has something we need to do for him, or sometimes there is a service opportunity or a moving family or a meal to be brought or a sick friend, and we are able to meet that need by being flexible in our days' schedule.  Again, we still meet the school requirements and we work on our character, but maybe we finish up later in the day than normal or start earlier than normal or whatever.  Again, my point, that we are not trying to recreate public school in our home.

We spend time in our community. 
While we do have to spend more actual time working on character and school this year than last, we still do our best to be out in our community through field trips, sports activities, etc.  Their timing in our days is later in the afternoons, but still possible and a great way to also see if the lessons learned at home work in the "real" world.  Sometimes this means we go through tough stuff too, like the other day at the park.  It was a tough and very scary experience for the kids and I, but at the same time, we learned a lot through the experience.

We work!
Wo/man does our house get messy in a day, half day, or even an hour!  The kids do chores both as a team and as an indivicual and we do them over and over and over, every day.  I must admit, our home is not nit-picky clean and that is due primarily to cleaning being a family activity not a mom-only activity.  I really had to come to grasp with it being ok that clothes weren't folded properly because it is more important that our child of 3 know how to fold clothes than fold without wrinkles.

We play!
We know how to play and play hard!  We get exercise, ride bikes, go to parks, design art projects, cook, garden, build airplanes, design cities, do puppet shows, write stories, sing songs then write lyrics of our own, design books, etc, etc, etc.  Suggestions from books or being creative as much as my brain can allow and then hopefully their creativity starts to piggy-back mine and we're off on some project or a field trip or whatnot.  We wrestle, tackle, create, destroy and create again.  Seriously, with 2 boys whose energy is endless and who learn so much better in doing rather than sitting, can you blame us?  It also helps that we have a little girl who is happy to do anything, from tea parties to dinosaurs and can go-go-go with the best of them.

All in all, we attempt to focus on character first and with that, the knowledge will come, and come more easily.  I am NOT saying we have the character thing down, far from it (we definitely understand our verb tenses and sentence structures better) but we are working toward those goals.

As our particulars, this is what works best for our family mission and our children.  As a principle, going before the Lord with our husbands to learn that mission statement is important.  There are families who live on a stop watch and others by the seat of their pants, those who never leave the house and others who spend time outside, all of whom love the Lord will all their heart, soul, mind and strength.  God calls us all to love Him first and love others second and then when we ask Him, He can show us what that looks like for our strengths and weaknesses, and to work through those strengths and weaknesses.

It would be so much easier if we as parents could coast through life, but we need to have our hearts ready to be shaped and molded along the way - God is not done with us either.

Don't let anyone fool you, the time goes by soooo fast.

Our little guy is growing up so fast...

Zeke at 3 days and unless you are constantly around newborns, you quickly forget their cute grunts.

Then at six months, there are those cute, "Ahhhh-uuuuu's" just to melt your heart.

Ten months and counting, the rolling of the r's... such talent!

And before you know it, they have grown into an amazing young mini-man at the age of 8... full of passion and intelligence, full of love for their family and friends, full of hope and joy.

We love you Zeke!  We are so proud of you and all the ways you are choosing to follow the narrow path, one step at a time!

Back in June, a sweet couple we know had their home burglarized.  I remember seeing them shortly after the event and both he and his wife were smiling and joyful and it wasn't until we got home from vacation that I was reading his blog and learned of the tale of the burglary. 

An aside: Now, one of the things the kids and I have done in the past when we get anxious in situations like this is sing this song taken from Psalm 20:7, "Some may trust in horses, Some may trust in chariots, but we will trust, in the Lord our God."  Then, we put our own spins on it, for example: during tornado warnings we sing, "Some may trust in shingles, Some may trust in houses, but we will trust, in the Lord our God."  Or when thinking about "scary things," "Some believe in ghosts, Some believe in monsters, but we will trust, in the Lord our God." 

Fast forward to a week or so ago... Laying down in bed one night, I was not worried per se, but thinking on a situation and just wondering if there was something else I could do to solve an immediate problem, go sleep at the location to prevent anything further from happening, add bigger locks, etc.

It was then, that I was reminded of the previously mentioned burglary and one part of the series of events... It was the day after their burglary, the husband had re-programmed the garage door (since the hooligans had stolen the garage door opener and spare car keys) and was in his house on the phone.  He then looked out his window to see his garage door opened and car gone.  The hooligans managed to get the garage door open and speed away in the car.*

Think about it... he was in his house, he had reprogrammed the garage door, AND YET the car was stolen.

This is a God-fearing couple, they had prayed over the situation a lot, they had done everything right to prevent further attacks AND YET the car was stolen. 

This ISN'T saying we shouldn't lock our doors or wear our seatbelts and this ISN'T saying we should not pray because everything is being carelessly weilded around by God, so who cares?  This IS saying, that when I lock my house at night, I do so trusting that God is who He says He is and He is in control and it always brings me back to God is God, omnipotent, loving, merciful, just (and so much more), and that He will work it for good (Rom 8:28 / my life verse).

So, last Sunday I was woken at 12AM to a police officer telling me our car parked on the street had its rear window busted out by hooligans.** Mind you, I was not happy it happened and our pocketbook was not happy it happened, but I realized that my response to the police officer must have shocked him as I was incredibly calm, trusting but not naive, faithfilled but not careless. 

Now that we have the car back with its fixed window (so crystal clear) and parked "safely" in our driveway (with its doors locked), I had the thought, "Is it really safe here?  Should we park it somewhere else, on another block?"***

And once again, I sang, "Some may trust in locks, Some may trust in driveways, but we will trust, in the Lord our God."

*Their car was later found!  (Though I had not read if the police gave it back to them yet.)

**

*** So you also know, though my husband shares my faith, he would like to find who did this and is prepared to have a stakeout and use the Buick as a decoy.  Any others can join him in this I am sure, :)!

I was retelling this story to a friend the other day and was reminded that my husband always tells me to write these things down and I thought today, here would be a good place for that...

Last week hanging out with some friends, the mom turned to our oldest and said something along the lines of, "When you go away to college how many pet lizards will you have [implying when you move out of your mother's house, since she does not like pets, you can have a pet.]?"

Our son gave her an odd look for a moment and some silence, then he started rattling off the pets he'd like to have someday.

Now, I knew he had never heard of the concept of living in a home different than his parents.  And, I know when it even comes to high school he is not looking forward to leaving his family for a school day.  But at the same time, this was the first time a thought of, "Oh, if I did leave my parents THEN I could have all the pets I want" had been introduced to him.  I know how much he wants a pet lizard and I honestly was a little scared for this new seed planted in his mind.  He's only almost 8, I am not ready for him to move out yet.

On Monday morning eating breakfast, he looked really downcast and finally said,
"Mom, I don't want to go to college." 
"Why not?" 
"Because then I'd have to leave my mom and my dad and I don't want to move away from you."
"[mama's heart breaking]"
"And you said I could have all kinds of pets when I am 20, so I will just wait until then!"
"That sounds great to me."

Very true, I did say that.  I say that a lot.  When they are 20 they will have the resources and skills needed to take care of a pet and I have said they can all get pets when they are 20. (Though, I can see on one lizard it might be when they are a little younger than 20, but I am not ready to confirm that yet.)

Most importantly, I was so thankful to know that he loves us more than his love of pets and that he loves us even though we have silly rules like eat your vegetables, no laughing in the bathroom, and no pets until you're 20, and other rules that others allow their kids to do that we don't, etc. 

*Sigh* I love our family too.

OH MY!  That, is an Interjection.

Today, started at 12AM with quiet knocking at our door.  Drugged up from allergy medication, I stumble in my skivvies to the door to find a police officer telling me our car window has been busted out.  I will write more on that later... but there started our first day of school! Hooray!

Zeke summed it up best, "This was the best day of school EV-ER!"  Sweeter words to a home schoolin' mama have never been spoken in our house!  I am COMPLETELY attributing it to all my dear friends praying for me and this day.  Keep it up friends, hopefully tomorrow we'll continue this trend!

After school we trekked it out to the garden for some carrots and onions.  I must say, I have been so impressed by our onions.  I learned this year that all I did last year for them was wrong and doing things right this year has produced amazing results.  They still range in size from big to small, but their flavor is unmatched by anything I have gotten at the store.  Yummy!

Here's our boy (who writes his own fashion codes, :)!) ...

Then, the kids saw that the brussel sprouts were ready for harvesting and wa-la, smiles and brussel sprouts... who knew!

Let's see what happens at 12AM tonight!  If tomorrow goes like today, I am not worried at all.

Our group of friends noticed a common thread of wanting to eat healthy... and knowing it'll taste good... and, let's face it, be inexpensive.  We started this discussion over email and are now trying to turn it into a useable format, ie Lovely Ladies Dish on the Dish. 

We don't want to be controlled by the food we eat or have it be our major priority in our lives.  We want God, our husband and kid(s) to be our top priorities.  If this (or other distraction thing: tv, olympics, etc.) becomes too big a distraction for any of us, I pray we notice it and take a few steps back and focus on the things that truly matter. 

We do however, want to be wise (and not live in fear) with our bodies (and our families bodies), our time and our budgets (we have been blessed with).

Truth be told, it's new and under construction and an experiment in progress... what fun! 

(And maybe if this works and serves a good purpose, we can get switched to Markup Factory, hooray!)

Connecting three seemingly random thoughts...

1. I am roughly paraphrasing here, but part of a husband's role is to cover his wife with the Word of God, teach her and admoish her, love her as Christ loves His church. 
2. Again roughly paraphrasing, listening to a teaching yesterday about the Holy Spirit's work in our lives can show itself in (he had 5 points) one of them being a spirit of gratefulness and thankfullness.
3. I have an amazing husband.

Today, about to leave for the garden, I was kind of bummed and really didn't want to go because it has been taken over by weeds, creepy crawly insects, bunnies, blight, etc.  I was expressing this to Josh before heading out and he gently and lovingly brought me back to a spirit of gratefulness and thankfulness with simple words of Truth. 

Wo/man, did that do my soul good!  It took me out of a pit of destruction and into a spirit of thankfulness and a wonderful commune with God.  It also made me thankful, once again, for the amazing man God has given me that knows what to say to encourage me in a path of righteousness, not grumpiness.

And then, this is what I brought home...

First off, this is amazing and it is downright s-t-u-p-i-d for me to complain here.  (If only you could see how deep each of the bowls are!)  Second, this does not count all the frozen veggies still in my freezer, the countless tubs of salsa in the freezer and in our tummies, and the countless meals I have already made.  Third, this does not include the onions or carrots we harvested and all the hundreds of everything that still remains waiting to be picked.  I may have lost the battle with the beans, zucchini, corn, cucumbers & edamame, but really, I have so much to be thankful for this garden!

Hmmm... just so you know, regarding the whole crashing van into garage thing, worrying, being grumpy, etc... I do have a lot of joyful times as well, I tend to learn a lot from my mistakes so I write them out here.  (I keep most of the joyful goody-goody stuff in a seperate offline journal, :)!)

Did your parents have rules that you never understood as a child, but now, if you were to think about them you'd say, "Yep, that makes sense?"

I tried to explain that fact to our oldest son the other day as he was asking me why we had so many "strange" rules... so I explained to him when I was a child we had all kinds of "strange" rules...

1. No using the front door - ever
2. No shoes in the house - ever
3. No food in the living room - ever
4. No rough-housing in the living room - ever
5. 5 min. showers
6. Toss dishwater outside
7. Don't spend any money...etc, etc, etc.

(I add the ever because, these were the strictest of rules imagineable and ones that you wouldn't dare break... unless you were home alone from school and then after breaking said rules you'd clean like mad to hide all evidence... sorry Mom!)

Now, as an adult, I understand all these rules and they make perfect sense... back door saves wear on the nice carpet by front door, shoes are dirty, food always ends up in cushions, couches last longer when not jumped on, water saved, less liquid in septic tank, and good money management.  All logical.

It is my turn to have the "strange" rules and my favorite... No laughing in the bathroom.

Why?  When laughing in the bathroom occurs, accidents happen, water gets spilled or, as was the case a little while ago... toothbrushes end up in the toilet. 

One kid starts getting goofy, the other follows suit, the giggles commence, things start getting thrown and wa-la, the open toilet lid (another rule that was broken in the course of the goofiness) makes a perfect basketball hoop for your brother's toothbrush.  Laughing can take place other places, but not in the bathroom.

"Stranger" rules have been broken, my son... just imagine what rules you'll create someday.

Today, was almost one of those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days.... almost.

It all started with a brilliant idea to go to the beach - 94 degrees out, 105 heat index, perfect beach day.  All loaded and ready to go, I start to pull the van out of the garage... SCREEEEECCCCHHHH, CRAAASSSSSHHH, CHHUUUUNNNCCCK!!!!!!!

That was the sound of me crashing my van into the 1/2 open garage door... needless-to-say, I busted the garage door and scratched up the van something nice too.  The garage door was stuck about 4' open and wouldn't budge.

Slightly daunted, I begin working to fix the broken garage door, hammering out the metal frame, having a child crying/fussing around me because they want to go to the beach, another child running to bring me tools, and another child singing me songs that it is going to be all right.  At this same time, the mail lady comes and the kids rush to get the mail from her and hand it to me while I have a crowbar in one hand and a hammer in the other.  Me, in my brilliance, toss the mail ON TOP OF the van.

The mom responsibility of the fussiness takes priority over fixing the door.  Then, during that, Miriam steps on an old 80's earring of mine and the whole thing goes in her foot and gets stuck.  Then, I have to call our doctor and find out if her tetnus is up to date.  Then, double checking everyone's hearts/attitudes to make sure we're all ok.  Then, we go back to fixing the garage door... it works, dented/askew but works.

For some crazy, next move of brilliance, I decide we should still head to the beach.  After an hour there it strikes me like a bolt of lightning - I left the mail ON TOP OF the van when I pulled out of the driveway. AHHHH!  In our current day of ID theft and knowing we had some important stuff in the stack, I was getting worried, very worried.

To calm down before we left the beach I was praying the mail would be safe, but I also pulled out my bible to read because I needed truth.  It was the story of King Josiah and the final kings before exile to Babylon and then God calling them back to Isreal.  I was comforted by these stories in so many ways but mostly because of how much they display the character of God.

Even with the Word fresh in me, the drive home was long and I still struggled to pray and trust God and to not worry and not freak out, I grunted in frustration at myself, kept asking why... "Why what Mom?"  My humbling... so wrapped up in my worries, I had 6 little eyes and 6 little ears watching and listening to my every move.  We have been working with one chlid in specific in not worrying and trying to equip them but it wasn't quite sinking in yet but now, here was Mom - worrying.  What a perfect time to teach them how to respond in the right way to worry through mom's example - true brilliance, God ordained.

I started by having us all pray for the situation and for us to trust God no matter what.  Then I began reciting outloud verses about trusting God, not worrying, God's goodness in all things and had the kids tell me some of their favorites.  Then, we started singing songs of truth about God being in control.  By the time we got to home, my heart was calmed down and at peace and ready to deal with what should come next and the kids got to watch Mom step by step respond to worry.

And the mail? Yes, the mail was scattered and run over, all over our very busy street, but we found most of it.  We didn't find the wedding invite I knew we had received, but I am so thankful for what we did find.  And in the mix, I got to share my story of trusting God with my neighbor as the kids and I walked up and down the street.

Though the van, garage door and mail all have their scars of the days drama, the kids came away unscarred and with a honest to goodness example.  So much of parenting is object lessons and the funny thing is that object is generally you.

FYI... for some reason my comments section has not been working lately.  So sorry!  I'll let you know when they are up and running again.  Thanks for emailing me your comments though!  I appreciate them very much!

UPDATE!  Comments fixed!  Yeah!

I am in the process of finalizing all our plans for our upcoming homeschool year.  It is so exciting ordering books and workbooks and planning schedules.  The kids are giddy with anticipation!  (As am I!)

One of the things I did not realize ages ago when we decided to homeschool was the full cost financially.  One of those, "Oh yeah," kind of things.  No matter what the cost, we know that homeschooling is what is best for our children and are willing to make it work to meet the needs BUT I just had a brilliant idea for anyone else who wants to do this in the future that have little ones not ready for "school" yet. 

My advice... Start saving now for your school books.  It could be something little, $5-10/mo but put it in a specical "savings" place marked for school.  Or, you could start thinking now how much you will budget in the future for homeschooling and use that amount.  Whatever the size, it is worth it.

We budget for our books every year and for each homeschooling family this budget varies depending on what curriculum you are using, how many kids you have, formalized curriculums are more expensive than do-it-yourself curriculums, workbooks have to be bought new each year, if you can find books used or only brand new, etc.  The variables are endless but the result is the same, it will cost some $.

If you were to start saving just a bit now, while you cutie(s) are 1 or 2 or 3, when it does come time to start your first year of homeschooling, you will be ever so blessed and prepared.

If you know anything about me, you know two things:

1. I do NOT like bugs
2. I am not a pet person

Our children are another story and I am convinced that they will become zoologist / entomologist / veterinarian geniuses.

I realized lately, that my fear of animals was having a strange reaction on the kids.  All summer Zeke has been reading books on various animals as pets and how to care for them.  Max has been trying to capture any animal he can have within arms reach and immediately bring them home.  Miriam is, well, a little Elmyra, "I'm gonna hug you and kiss you and love you forever!"

Watching Miriam's interactions with a friend's cat made me realize something... even though she is still excited around cats, she is not as over exhuberant as she first was and she is learning to be more gentle.  (Baby steps mind you, she still wants to carry them around like a doll, but she is slowly learning.)  Then, the boys had a rough run in with a friend's frogs.  Then, they had a fair but bit crazy interaction with someone's dog.  Then, I actually let them catch a tadpole and it died within the half hour.  Something had to be done.. and it had to be done by this mama.

What's a non-pet appreciating mama to do?  Go to Grandpa & Grandma's house in the country and bring home some "pets."  Enter Jack, a dark green tree frog, Joe & Joe, twin light green tree frogs, and Toady, a toad.  No bigger than a dime apiece, we made them a home out of a gallon water bottle and duct tape and some holes and wa-la - pets!*

However, after one night, the non-pet appreciating mama was worried the "pets" would escape so they went to the *gasp* pet store to *gasp* get a home and moss and a log and food for these creatures under their care.  Once in their new home, the kids were enjoying watching them jump and play up close, they were learning about animals and animal care and to be gentle and the non-pet appreciating mama was doing ok.

The next morning... 1, 2, 3... where's Jack?

Looking closely at the pets' new home, I spied moss particles on the sides of one thin slit as if a tiny tree frog squeezed his little body to slide right through and wiped off some moss along the way. 

I cleaned the house like mad - no Jack.

Then Max (& Josh) brought home a snail and a slug.  However, non-pet appreciating mama had no isses with these guys since she knew they could not escape.  Before too long, the kids had forgotten about Jack (or was it a Joe?) and were completley enjoying their cornucopia of animals.

Ten days have passed now and the snail and slug met an early demise, as we found out too late how to care for them.  The tree frogs are both dark green now and no longer jump and play and have fun... it's as if they feel like caged animals.  The toad just sits under the log which seems like something a toad would do.  Needless to say, they are going to all be released into the wild soon.

Today, I found Jack.

Stretched out flat, the dried up, shell of a tree frog, was laying on the basement floor by the drain.  My only guess is he was hiding in the drain for a while but with no food source, he finally leaped out of the drain, took his last breath, stretched out and died.

Moral of the story?

We do have this "pet" home and so I figure we can continue to collect random creatures here and there and keep for 1 week and then release.  They are then happy to not be held for too long, the kids are happy they got to watch and learn to care for the animal for a while, and the non-pet appreciating mama is happy when the pets leave.

*As for the whole ethical, catching a wild creature debate?  Um... we'll save that for another day... we'll let good kids be good kids today.

I spent a good part of one of the legs of our vacation trying to convince my better half of this fact.  He was not convinced while I continued to maintain that I am an addict not a snob.  He told me I needed to try and convince others, so... what do you think?

Let's get down to brass tacks shall we...

I do not like the taste of coffee... addict or snob?

I never have liked the taste of coffee and don't think I ever will.  It has always smelled delicious to me, but the taste is something I have never actually "enjoyed."  Even flavored coffees, which smell even yummier, the taste simply masks the inevitable bitterness that is coffee that I don't like.  So when I drink coffee it is not for taste... addict or snob?

For me, feeding my addiction is more important than what I feed it with.  It does not matter to me where the coffee came from, cheap or expensive, caff or decaff, dark, cream, black, sugar, flavored, or whatever, I will happily drink any coffee served me... addict or snob? 

There is one place that we have been served by far, the world's worst coffee, which was basically water not coffee, and someone I know won't drink their coffee, while I still do without problems... addict or snob?

I don't always drink coffee with cream.  Sometimes I will get a nasty cup of gas station coffee and drink it black or a really expensive cup and drink it filled with cream.  It simply depends on my mood that day, how I want my addiction to comfort me, etc, etc, etc... addict or snob?

Finally, look at the facts... I own a $5 coffee maker and I only buy cheap coffee beans or what's on sale and I honestly don't know how to make a good pot of coffee and I "wing it" every time... addict or snob?

HOWEVER...

I am a total espresso snob.

I will call any bean junk that makes a cruddy espresso because seriously, if you are going to drink/make espresso, it helps to be a snob. 

I can say that because I honestly used to not be a snob in this area.  With our old espresso maker, I would use whatever and not care.  With our new one I have used whatever and then, we found an amazing source for fresh roasted beans that create delicious espressos and I have been ruined for all other beans, nothing compares.

Mike, owner of Capanna Coffee Company, roasts amazing beans and after using those in our wonderful Gaggia Espresso Machine (that the Cramer Dev employees got us for a gift, so nice!), I am a firm believer on the value of a good roast and good grind in order to get perfect crema.  I am a total espresso snob.

It is not that I won't use other beans now and then when in a pinch but unlike bad coffees, I will care and can totally tell the difference.  I will still drink it (thanks to my addiction) but will really be grossed out the whole time.  Bad coffee I will drink and still not care... addict or snob?

Am I a coffee snob?  There is 1 vote for yes and 1 vote for no.  Every vote counts and no offense taken! 

Honest.

Update:  Josh will be writing up a side on this debate.  Unfortunately for me, he makes some good points, :)!

Oh, how I wish I could scold those bunnies.  Or catch them by their jackets... sigh.

In reality, our garden (and lots of those arounds ours) has been ravaged by bunnies.  They, the bunnies, have had no qualms about eating our edamame (soybeans), beans, peas, broccoli, and the occassional cherry tomatoes.  However, even with this sna-fu, I am still hopeful and still enjoying the fruits of our labors.

Let me show you where we've been...

The above left is our garden upon returning from vacation.  The whole thing looked like a big grass field.  It took 3 days of continual weeding to unearth...

Can you see the difference on the right?  You are looking at cauliflower in the foreground, peppers, broccoli, behind broccoli are beans that I have yet to weed as a possible way to keep the bunnies from finding all the beans.  The broccoli and cauliflower are the final ones left.  Our freezer is full of these two veggies and they look sparce due to the bunnies' tummies.

(Left) L to R, carrots (with chives in between), kohlrabi in front with brussel sprouts behind.  (Right) Ignore the weed, but this is how brussel sprouts grow... who knew!

Pretty Kohlrabi, tastes like a hard cabbage.

(Left) It's not zucchini, but winter squash.  They aren't dead yet and there is one tiny veg. growing.   (Right) Close to far, squash leaves, pepper plants, garlic (the yellowing ones), onions (the tall green ones).

About 4" across, a yellow onion, very happy.  Yup, onions grow out of the ground.  Crazy but true!  Garlic looks similar but grows under the ground.  The garlic's green stems go to yellowish brown when they are done and the onions go to brown when done.  Again, crazy!

(Left) Hiding in the tall grass is my cantaloupe on the left.  For some reason, I have convinced myself that the tall grass will help defend from squash bugs.  Stranger things have happened. 

(Right) All these tomato plants and eggplants and pepper plants are ones I planted wayyyy to early but they are all doing fair.  Smaller than normal, but fair.

(Left) Foreground are my 3 purple cabbages that have finally started to make heads.  The weeds on the top left are hiding what is left of my pepper plants.  Eaten almost entirely by bunnies.  On the upper right are completely demolished edamame/soybean plants.  They have been systematically chopped off at the exact height all the way down the planted line.  The dirt behind them are where there were more plants that got eaten and we dug up to attempt to replant.  *Sigh*

(Right) To the left are more bean plants half eaten by bunnies that I am attempting to hide in grassy weeds.  On the right are happy eggplants.

(Left) Here is the tomato patch I planted later.  It is big and beautiful and doing great!  They are very dense and have much foliage.  I kept picking out the sucker stems and the plants really liked that.  Now, if they would only turn red, :)!

(Right) This is it... the whole lot.  I do indeed believe that this year has been much more difficult than last year.  I am learning a lot, which I will post later.  But in case you were wondering how things were going... there you go.  ;)!

*In the story, The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

Fishing stories, hunting stories, war stories, birth stories... they all are about the same.  They each involve you personally and you could tell them again and again and never feel guilty.

Here is my fish story...

After having the one and only restful morning of our vacation (ie all the boys out doing restful fishing on the boat while Miriam and I drank coffee, read the Word, watched birds, and swung on the air chair), when the boys came back my father-in-law (aka Grandpa, aka Mark) was itching to go do it again, this time with just Miriam and I. 

We were walleye fishing, which I hear, means a lot of waiting.  We had been out for a while and Grandpa kept saying, 10 more minutes.  Miriam had caught some sunnies and was d-o-n-e, done.  She sat on my lap facing me and was hugging me while I continued to sit and hold my 6lb test line with a big ole night crawler on the end.

Since we were fishing for walleyes, Grandpa had coached me how to notice their bite vs. another fish's bite.  Finally, I thought I had something and responded accordingly and Grandpa was quickly telling Miriam to stand up because Mom had a bite.  It took a lot of coaxing since Miriam was d-o-n-e, done.

Standing up, I had to jam the pole into my hip to keep from losing it into the water as I was pulled all around the boat.  Mark coached me through the whole event, which I could not have done without him.  It was a northern (pike) and they have sharp teeth.  They like to bite through lines but since I had him on the side of his mouth, there was no biting my line off, I merely had to hope my 6 lb line would hold with the drag it was previously set on for walleye fishing.  The fish made 5 runs on me, to the left and right, left and right, and finally under the boat, the battle seemed to last forever.  Miriam was bouncing around me, still d-o-n-e, done, and trying to hold my leg.  The fish was not going to give up but neither was I.

Finally, Mark got the fish in the net and set it in the boat and I screamed like a little girl.  I couldn't tell if my screams were from excitement, the size of the fish or (most likely) the fact that I was so afraid it was going to bite Miriam or I with its big teeth.

It took a while for me to calm down and begin fishing again.  Within 10 minutes I snagged my second fish, a 19" walleye.  Not as exciting (though rather unconventional) but still a good catch.  Grandpa could've fished all day after that excitement but like I said before Miriam was d-o-n-e, done.

So here it is, the fish and I with my father-in-law for extra encouragement.  These are slimy fish and again, the teeth.  3 noteable fish caught in my life, 2 attempts at fishing over 5 years, I figure it is ok to be proud this time.  I can't wait to see what I catch in another 5 years...

And though it is a little fuzzy, my truthful face while holding the fish...

Our van, "God bless her, her ways, her mysterious ways," has just rolled 220,000 miles!  Phew!

So our van, in it's day of 1993, was the bomb and tripped out with all kinds of novelties, one of which is the gem that is it's gas mileage gauges*. 

It has...

1. A trip meter
2. An average miles per gallon (mpg) meter
3. A second by second mpg meter
4. An average miles left in tank meter

What does this mean? 

It means brilliance!  Josh and I have decided that if all cars made had these gems of features, people would save a ton of money and there would be a lot less speeding.  It means a challenge!  You can moment by moment tell how much gas you are using and work your speed to get more out of each gallon.  It means we love our van!  Didn't see that one coming did ya?  It means that east coast senator isn't smoking crack!  The one who said we need to research making the speed limit 55mph again... yea, that guy, he may be onto something.

Our favorite meter is the one that does the second by second mpg.  When you go up hills it goes way down, 18- mpg, when you go down hills it goes way up 44+ mpg.  Now for the averages...

If I travel 55-60 mph I get 35-40 mpg.  If I travel 65-70 mph I get 25-30 mpg.  If I travel 70-72 I get 22-23 mpg.  If I travel 75+ I get 18- mpg and a possible ticket.  AND If I travel behind a big truck at 70-72 mph (and as proven I hear on Myth Busters) I get 44-49 mpg.

I worked the system our whole 1815 mile trip.  Well... except this one point, after we drove from MN to IA and I was then driving back up to MN.  I started getting grumpy, and well, started driving a bit faster and ruined my average down to 22.8 mpg.  BUT I made up for it on our drive home and by the end of our trip we had a 23.0 mpg average on our cherry of a 1993, 6 cylinder minivan... amazing! 

We also decided that we needed to install an optional paddle boat type of pedal system that is installed into each seat's flooring so that when we are doing things like going up hills we can flip out the pedals for one and all to help out get some additional power going to stop the general decline in mpg that inevitably happens on hills.

We came up with a few other brilliant ideas but they are true brilliance and well, we're gonna save those for another day's business adventure.

All in all, this only truly proves one thing... we love our van!

Again, didn't see that one coming did you?

*Since we just replaced the battery before our trip we know they were all recently reset.  HOWEVER, this all assumes that gauges are accurate which really, who knows... but we're pretty sure they are.  AND, this is still low gas mileage compared to our Camry which got, no joke, 40 mpg on road trips!

Not to be speaking in sweeping, gross generalizations, but if Iowans are known for their tendency to swing wide, then Minnesotans should be known for driving in the left lane when not passing.

Once we entered the great state of Minnesota, I was noticing this trend among interstate/highway drivers.  First, people were driving under the speed limit, in both right and left lanes.  Then, I noticed this continual habit to have a clump of cars and trucks all huddled in both lanes, for no road construction reason.  The amazing frequency of these two eventsmade me ever so curious.

I caught up to the front of one of these clumps and realized that they were caused by a single person, driving the exact speed limit in the left lane, and staying there.  And nothing, I mean, nothing, was going to get them out of that left lane.  Even without anyone in the right lane, they were staying put.  I then started noticing that it was generally the folks from other states that would finally pass the left lane driver. 

Now, in our household, one of our members, continually comments on midwestern behaviours... like, not taking the last piece of food, dessert, main dish, whatever... at least not without a lot of "no you take it's."  The tendency then to allow someone to drive in the left lane on the interstate when they are not passing must be another midwest trait.  However, I have only seen the intense appeal to do this happening in MN and since I have listened to way too many Prairie Home Companions, it could be truth.

Whenever I have listened to GK and his news from Lake Whoa-be-gone(sp), ignoring the obvious negative implications he adds, he paints MN (and a lot of times specifically MN Lutherans) in very considerate, sacrificing images.  I can only imagine how the act of allowing someone to drive in the left lane would be a not-wanting-to-hurt-feelings activity and those who do this random act of driving in the left lane being the why-keep-switching-lanes-and-confusing-people activity.  Both acts for the betterment/love of others.

Upon speaking of this phenomenom with my MN native husband, he confirmed it going way back to his youth and memories of his mother, driving slower on purpose to avoid the clumps, while his father would drive in the clumps and manuver his way in and out.  I surveyed MN relatives and they said it was because the right lane is more bumpy than the left, which I would agree with however, does that truly justify the act?

For all the kindness AND because I am not a MN native AND since I have recently been reformed on not (always) swinging wide, I can't help but think this is another inappropriate driving act that should be avoided and needs it's own driving law diagrahms to support.

I'll get right on that after I recover from this vacation.

(*Oh, and this is Dana, logged in as Josh, :)!)

Many of us have been mourning the loss of our dear friend and sister, Brittney.

In the beautiful words of her father, she is home with Jesus.  In the sweet words of my son, she has her new body.  In the words of a good friend, she has received her reward.  In the words of our Lord, she has literally crossed over from death to life.

I know that she is in heaven kickin' it with the Lord.  I know that she is no longer in any pain and has her new body that can dance forever and never tire.  I know that God works all things for good for those who love God.  I know that heaven is like no place on earth.  I know that she would rather have us rejoicing and not experiencing the pain of mourning.  I know it is a time for celebration of her life but right now- it hurts.

I know that God weeps with us...

John 11:30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him. 31 Then the Jews who were with her [Mary] in the house, and consoling her [over the death of her brother Lazarus], when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."

33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, 34 and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." 35 Jesus wept.  36 So the Jews were saying, "See how He loved him!" 37 But some of them said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?" 38 So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb.

Say all the jokes about the shortest verse in the Bible, but knowing that Jesus wept has comforted me as I continue to do so.  Jesus, who knew what He was going to do next, had compassion on Mary's loss of her brother.  He knows our sorrows and grieves with us.

I was also struck by something that JW said at church on Sunday that reminded me of the first part of the story when Jesus meets Martha, Mary & Lazarus's sister on the road...

John 11:17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four  days. 18 Now Bethany  was near Jerusalem, about two  miles off; 19 and many of the  Jews had come to Martha  and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. 20 Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. 21 Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 "Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." 23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" 27 She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world." 28 When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister...

Led by the Holy Spirit, Jesus always knew how to appropriately respond to everyone.  He responded perfectly to meet Martha's needs.  He responded perfectly to meet Mary's needs.  He responds perfectly to meet our needs.  And oh, how we need the Holy Spirit to show us how to respond to the needs of those around us during this time of loss on this earth.

May you continually be being filled with the Holy Spirit as you mourn the loss of our friend.  May her legacy speak of the hope that you share.

(And if all this "mumbo-jumbo, Christian-ese" drives someone crazy, may God use even that for good, :).)

Friday night, Josh and I decided to enjoy 1 dinner date while the kids were out of town and went to Jade Sisters (the rest of the time we were enjoying volunteer foods). Then we headed out to the Marriott to help build sand bag walls on the backside of the building until late. That night (and the next) Josh and I slept at the office. (After having watched other businesses around us wake up the next morning and have 3'+ of water in their buildings, we were ready for anything.)

Saturday, the Bovey's let us shower and fed us yummy coffee, we took care of a few loose ends and made our way back to the office, and heard word that our building was set to be sandbagged Monday. I continued to work in the back room and front office, lifting up more things above 3', clearing out drawers, anything, to get it up and safe. Friends came to help in the heaviest lifting part and the office was as ready as it was going to be (and the employees still able to work in case nothing happened). Then, I worked late into the night migrating info from one server to another, a mundane task but important, never the less.

Sunday, we did more migrating and prep work and then we worked to figure out if it was ok to leave (a huge storm was moving in) to go get our cuties, it was so we left (the storms center thankfully went south of IC).  We got our cuties and enjoyed a wonderful Father's Day brunch and oh, how we missed them... *sigh*

True, I didn't get much done on my list; however, the things I DID do on my list, flood activities and helping others, were by far the most rewarding things. All the other stuff, eh, it'll get done, the kids will be a part and it'll be good, goofy, fun and, I'm sure, character building for all of us.

(While driving I had heard Culver say that the damage to farmlands were in the billions and driving 80, I could totally see that... on the news they said the flood has destroyed 20% of Iowa's corn and soybean production... wow.)