Memorial Weekend

1+1 Candles =11

What a full weekend to kick off our summer break!  Friday night, H celebrated his birthday with some of his friends.  As you can see, we now have an excellent photo of him blowing out the candles on his cake.  (Thank you, Honey for always taking the time to read my blog and for taking the picture.  It is perfect!)  All of the boys were wonderful and I hope that we get to spend a lot more time with them this summer. 

Saturday we woke up early for the boys to participate in the annual Boy Scout pancake breakfast.  They sold all of their tickets (Thank you to all who supported the boys!) and then some so their scout accounts have enough to enable them to take part in more activities this year.  That is a huge relief for them.  So far they are looking at camp coming up and possibly taking some other merit badge classes at Koteewi. 

Their lines may not be formed, but their hearts are.

Directly after the pancake breakfast the boys marched in the Memorial Day parade.  The local VFW post held ceremonies on our bridge over Morse Reservoir and the Cicero Cemetery honoring our fallen soldiers and veterans.  I am proud to take part in these ceremonies and I think it is important that our children be taught the sacrifice that these men and women make for us and their assistance of other countries to gain freedom.   God bless our country and God bless the soldiers and our countrymen who recognize what true freedom is and uphold it to the best of their abilities, which is not easy in our current time.

Next we drove to Greencastle for my cousins' graduation open houses.  We missed the first one, but made the second.  It was great seeing family and getting to introduce my husband and new children to aunts and uncles that had not yet met.  We have four high school graduates in our family this year.  Two live too far away for us to visit.  I hate not being able to spend time with my extended family more often.  This is the part of our history that I loathe--our having become so mobile.  The separation weakens the feeling that only time and experience with extended family brings.  On the plus side, we now have the internet, video chats, cell phones and blogs to help us gain some of the time back.

B & JStP on Morse Lake

Yesterday turned out to be a gorgeous day.  Sun and 90 degrees!  A perfect day to be out on the boat.  The kids played outside and then made some PB&J sandwiches and watched a movie in the theater while B, JSt.P and I took the boat out for a spin and then went for lunch at Wolfies at the marina.  The lake was extremely crowded.  We had some older boys working on our big boat while we were gone.  When we got back, all of the guys took the big boat out for a test run.  It is still not running well, so we'll have to do some more work on it, but a cookout on B's new grill (early Father's Day gift) was a great pay day and way to wind up a wonderful day outside. 

Today is officially our first day out of school since we did have classes on Friday and yesterday was a holiday.  Grandma and Grandpa W have been in town since last week and have been visiting with the kids.  The kids will spend the day with them today before the W's head back to Ohio.  No telling what they'll end up finding to do.  Board games, movies and going out to eat seem to be favorite activities.  B talked about taking me to play golf.  I think that I would only cause the groundskeeper grief, but I'm game.  B does have some business stuff to take care of, so it may end up that we just have a quiet day together.  That may just be what the doctor ordered after our busy weekend.

School is Out and Summer Begins

May 24th was H's eleventh birthday.  I uploaded the pictures to the computer this afternoon and discovered there weren't any pictures good enough to include here.  There weren't even any pictures of him blowing out his candles!  There were however, three pictures of B rolling up the sleeping bag that we bought for H.  Next year, I will take the pictures.  H is planning on having some of his friends over tomorrow night so maybe I'll get a second chance at having the party pictures, but I will always know it was a few days later instead of The Day. 

Tomorrow is our last day of school.  I cannot decide if I am looking forward to having the summer off or not.  Of course not having to plan lessons, print off guides, grade papers and having to be on a rigid schedule are tasks I am ready to set aside for a few months, but having children tell me they are bored by ten o'clock in the morning is not something I treasure.  Already this month, I have taken actions to get them to play.  Yes, I sometimes have to force my children to play.  In the picture above, you notice smiling faces, and this was the first day of the required playtime outside.  I have not had to lock the door yet, but I have sent them outside and told them that as much as I love them, I do not want to see their faces until supper time.  One day they came back in after about 30 minutes and they complained of not having something to do, so I gave them chores.  Hopefully they'll learn that playtime does not equate to punishment.  I'm not sure who needs more prayer, them or me. 

If the Sweater Fits...



Ta-Da!

I finished it!  Finally!  I started knitting again in November of 2010 after another refresher course, this time from my niece, Jellybean.  Originally, my great-grandmother taught me.  I think that I was around 7 or 8 years old.  She bought me a crochet hook and knitting needles and some yarn and taught me how to use both one summer in my backyard when we lived on Locust Street.  I think these were for my birthday, but I think that we were all together to listen to the Indy 500--this was before it was televised to our area.  I let both crochet and knitting go not long after. 

I was an active girl and preferred to do my needle work high in the branches of a tree as opposed to sitting nicely in a chair inside.  It never occured to me that this wasn't the best situation.  I simply saw it as combining the best of being feminine and embracing the outdoors.  Sometimes I would leave the ball of yarn and needles in the tree to come back to after lunch or whatever interrupted me.  The last time I did that and probably about the same time I put the yarn down was because of the neighborhood boys.  They had seen me knitting and purling away and leaving my supplies in the tree.  Later I came back to discover that they had unwound my ball of yarn, twirling it around the branches as if it were garland on a huge Christmas tree.  Needless to say, Dad was angry.  I felt terrible.  I remember he chased those boys through the backyards of our neighborhood with a wiffle ball bat yelling at them to, "Run for the hills, boys!"

Fast forward to me at twenty-six and hearing the wonderful news that I was going to be an aunt.  Yipee!  I decided it was time to reacquaint myself with crocheting and I popped out two little blankets.  They were identical except in color.  One was pink and the other bright red.  I have been "hooked" ever since.  (Thanks again, Jellybean!)

As much as I've enjoyed crocheting, there comes a point when everyone you know owns one of your blankets, you have an abundance of scarves and the sweaters are too bulky.  Let's remember that no one wants to add bulkiness!  I recognized that knitted sweaters looked more svelte, but try as I might, I couldn't get the hand of knitting.  Mom knits like crazy--socks anyway.  I tried to have her teach me, and I completed a couple of projects that were so basic that they only used knitting and not purling.  I gave up--again.  When Jellybean came of the age and she started knitting I was jealous and just bound and determined to get it right this time.  Well, as you can see by the picture, I finally did.  I completed my first sweater for myself.  I knit one for KR, but that is another story and it now sits in a Goodwill somewhere in central Indiana. 

I feel triumphant and just wanted to share my latest project with you.  Maybe I'll actually be able to wear it this weekend seeing as though tomorrow's high is only in the 50s!



Peri-Monster

 A recent self-portrait

I am exhausted.  Body and mind.  As a woman I feel overwhelmed with the volume of information I must digest just to take care of myself.  I believe I am reaching "that time" of my life and the loss of sleep does not do much in the way of helping me keeping clear of the cobwebs in the brain.  In fact the loss of sleep only adds to the extreme mood swings. 

I have tried some lotion loaded with plant hormones.  I exercise at least 3 times a week.  For the most part I have a healthy diet.  I drink water.  Now I read that perhaps I should be increasing my serotonin levels by eating complex carbohydrates found in peas and beans  and eating more frequent meals and  drinking hot milk.  Of course losing weight is at the top of the list, but that is confusing when I read in one place that by regulating my hormones everything will balance itself out in my body, but that means very low carb intake and excluding all sugars--even natural sugars and  then include plenty of natural fats.  Other diets to lose weight, including the latest my doctor recommended, says that I should eat pastas and exclude all fats.  What is a girl to do?

Can I phone a friend and ask Oprah if I can use her personal trainer?  Anyone have a cook I can hire?  How about a body double, can that happen in real life and not just in the movies?  How about the science fiction approach and have a brain/mood dump? 

Life in my house is not pretty and it is all my fault.  I apologize and in the same breath can hurl insults.  I am surprised that my body can produce that many tears.  It is a good thing that I keep up on my water intake.  Maybe I should plan monthly vacations to exotic ports around the globe.  Perhaps I should just relocate to some small South American country and change my name.  I could become a hermit.  If I keep this up, my husband may soon be searching for small islands with furnished cabanas.  Anyone have one of those?  If so, please contact B. 

Prissy Girls Grow Up to Be Prissy Women

The school year is coming to a close and the summer camping season is quickly approaching.  Yesterday Miss K had American Heritage Girls (AHG).  It's kind of a Christian Girl Scouts.  I really like this organization.  This is not a boy-haters/girl power club, but centers around God and Country, a group to learn leadership and volunteerism.  This particular group is fairly new, within the last 10 years, and has not had much experience with real camping as a group and from what I could tell of the parent meeting yesterday afternoon, not many have had personal experience camping either. 

Every year AHG plans what they call Camporee.  Essentially it is a weekend campout.  In the years past our group has gone and set up tents, always arriving after dark, always suffering through rain at some point in the weekend, but being fed in a dining hall and having flush toilets and enjoying many inside activities.  Hiking consisted of walking to and from the dining hall from what I can tell. 

This year, Camporee will be held at a different campground and our group will be responsible for their own meals and have to use pit toilets.  They are accustomed to using tents, so this is nothing new for them, and the leaders have finally decided that they should arrive before the girls and oversee the tents being set up.  Some of the older girls will be required to "sleep under the stars" one night to receive one of their badges.  At this point in the meeting, I am having fond memories of my years at Girl Scout and various church camps.  Then the meeting took an ugly turn...

After having to sit through demonstrations of how to pack a tote (they have learned from their soggy past campouts to use a plastic tote rather than a suitcase), and seeing items in the tote and on the provided packing list and the leaders still trying to decide if the girls should be responsible for having their own toilet paper or if the leaders should provide it, I'm starting to lose interest.  I'm hungry, bored and would really just like some sort of waiver stating I'll accept full responsibility for my daughter's toiletries and a final draft of the packing list after they are finished bickering over what is standard.  Next was a discussion about what kind of shoes to wear.  Yawn.

In an effort not to rehash the over hour long meeting, I'll just highlight some of my favorite comments from the parents.

I'm going to take those little paper cover-thingys to put on the seat.  ~ This comment after finding out they were going to use latrines.  Can I ask what difference a seat cover is going to make?  After all, if there are seats in both types of facilities, what is a seat cover going to protect you from any further in an outside toilet?

Will there be a refrigerator?~Really?!?!  First, the leaders had already explained that there was a need for coolers.  Second, they said there was no electricity.  Third, it's a weekend Camping trip!!  Wow!

I'm glad that the girls and the leaders are learning from their past camping experiences together.  There is hope!  Thankfully the young girls are getting many of their own fun camping memories.  Many of my fondest memories are of disaterous camping experiences, but none of them were due to being unprepared.  (Thanks Dad)  I pray that these girls continue to camp and learn to love it as much as I do.  I hope that there are plenty of mudpies, tents with zippers that stick, strange shadows and noises in the middle of the night and flash lights dropped in the latrine.  Afterall, aren't these the things memories are made of?

Yellowstone--June 2009  It rained the whole time we were there and the avereage temp was 50!

Tax(ing) Day Devotions

As you all know, I have spent the better part of the last 2 weeks without the companionship of my best friend and half-bearer of the parental load.  To say that it was all very taxing (pun intended ;D) is fair.  The warmer weather is finally making its way to our neighborhood and we all feel the itch to end a school day even just a little earlier to be able to play.  Unfortunately, the work is still there and after dragging part of the outside in with us, a bit more work of keeping floors clean can be challenging. 

Yesterday was B's first full day back home.  Yay!  He spent it doing our taxes since the accountant we hired didn't complete them.  In an effort to help him with all of the upacking so he could concentrate on the paperwork, I took it upon myself to tackle the cooler he had taken with some food.  It was in need of a good washing with bleach before storing it away.  I sent H downstairs to retrieve the bleach.  C came running up the stairs to let me know that H had dropped and spilled the bleach.  I raced downstairs, introduced my two boys to some new vocabulary, and immediately grabbed towels and H and I blotted and dabbed until we couldn't get anything else up.  There had been one puddle the size of a dinner plate, but the hard part was that it had splashed the entire length of the hall, up the walls and then ran down along the baseboard.  Thank goodness we have a steam cleaner and I diluted most of it.  There is much fading in those places, but because my kids are so good at dirtying the carpets, hopefully these areas will all be blended within a week.

I have really felt like I have spent a lot of time repeating myself.  "Wash your hands.  Comb your hair.  Use a washcloth.  Wipe your feet.  Clear the dishwasher.  I could use some help."  Now, I want to say two things.  First, my kids actually are great at helping around the house--even without being asked some of the times.  Second, I am NOT a neat freak.  I really think that it is the warmer weather and the end of the school year that is pulling our attentions to being carefree.  So, I planned to take the day off of school today and take advantage of a longer weekend. 

All of this brings me to the devotions I had this morning.  I read from "My Utmost for His Highest".  (I saw my cousin photograph a page of the Bible from a scripture that she wanted to share and I'd dearly love to do that except that B is sound asleep and I'd have to disturb him to get the camera.  I'll have to key this in for you.) 

"But the high places were not taken away out of Israel; nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days."  2 Chronicles 15:17. 

Chambers then goes on to talk about how Asa was right and obedient in the main but not entirely right.  God, he said, doesn't take things lightly as we do.  He says, "Nothing is a light matter with a child of God.  How much longer are some of us goin to keep God trying to teach us one thing?  He never loses patience."  Homerun!  God was speaking to me.  I have to ask myself if there are things that I have doubts about and leave them at the foot of the cross.  I have to keep myself spriritually fit.  Thankfully Chambers ends the devotional with this, "Some of us expect to "clear the numberless ascensions" in about two minutes."  What encouragement to me.

I am proud to say that I rarely lost my cool over the last couple of weeks with the kids while B was gone.  I need to remember that they are not going to "clear the numberless chores" in two minutes.  Lord, help me to not just see the outcomes, but their efforts. 



Attack the Killer of Tomatoes

Puny Plants

Has anyone seen my green thumb?  I know I used to have one, but it seems to have disappeared with some of my other things in the last few moves.  Because of the embarrassment, I will not mention the exact number of plants I started off with, but it was more than twice the amount shown in the picture above.  Admittedly it has been a few years since I tried to plant tomatoes from seed, but I assumed that it would be akin to riding a bike and success would be sure.  Boy, was I wrong.  If I have to practice some more before I get this right it will be September before I get anything growing in a pot and clearly too late to put anything in the ground, so perhaps I will "cheat" and purchase some plants from the store.  (sigh)  The title today is a play on the title of the movie, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. I've been singing my version in my head for a week now.  I'm not quite clear why the tomatoes have not yet had their revenge on me. 

I had a good visit with my mom last weekend.  She came over on Thursday and stayed until after church on Sunday.  We had lots of quiet fun--puzzles, knitting, movie, school, and time with Mom II (my mother-in-law). 

B will be home this week.  He called last night to say that he thought he would head home tomorrow, which means that Thursday the kids will see him.  He has had many adventures--buying parts for the wells from a man named of all things, Opossum; driving through barren spaces; getting the van stuck and puncturing a tire after a heavy rain and subsequently needing to be rescued by a backhoe; off-road driving the minivan through cactus; and killing spiders (please note that everything IS bigger in Texas).  All kidding aside, we have learned much from this trip, but not what we expected.  We are also learning to be Spirit-led even when it doesn't make sense to us.