Cheaper by the Dozen

It's been a busy summer - as always - but this summer Goose talked me into doing some community theater.  She loves acting and I figured that since she would be going to practice and need a ride, why not stay and act right along with her?  Well, we did accomplish some fun memories and sweet mother/daughter time BUT it was a much bigger time commitment than I bargained for. 

As you can see, Goose was one of the Gilbreth dozen named Lillian.  I was Mrs. Fitzgerald, the cook.  Both were small roles and yet still took as much time at practice as everyone else.  Our only break was in memorizing fewer lines.  Now Goose is asking to be in all kinds of plays and I'm now wiser and much slower to commit. 

be fruitful

This summer the weather has cooperated with our attempts at gardening.  This photo is a couple of weeks old so imagine it a bit more fruitful now but we have truly enjoyed God's bounty.  It's been a family affair to plow, plant and weed the garden and we get excited at the prospects of LOTS of canned salsa and pickles.  So far we've only harvested lettuce, cucumbers, jalapenos and green beans but other things are just about ready.  We even have a huge bounty of grapes waiting to ripen and we can almost taste the grape jelly (Lord willing).

We've also had other fruitfulness to be thankful for.  One of our hens decided she wanted to be a momma and gave us hints for a few weeks about it before we caught on.  Well, as we have no roosters, we had to get some fertilized eggs from a friend.  After slipping 8 little bundles of liquid chicken under the hopeful hen and waiting the standard 21 days, God has given us 7 fluffy, baby chicks.  It's so much fun to watch them together and so much easier than raising chicks under a heat lamp in our basement.  Momma hen does all the work training and protecting her clutch.

As an added blessing, these little ones helped soften the blow as a stray dog found our flock and wrecked havoc with our hens.  Weighing the amount of feathers scattered throughout the yard, we were stunned to have most of our hens survive the ordeal.  Only two of our grown hens were killed and our matriarch (that we've had since the beginning of this adventure) is sporting a bare bottom.  Poor Grandma Cluck has only 1 tail feather left and looks like someone stuck a paintbrush into her bottom like a pin cushion.   "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.  Blessed be the Name of the Lord."    Job 1:21

*Note on 7/14/11

This morning we woke up to find that momma hen and 6 of her chicks were killed by a racoon.  Somehow one lonely chick survived the massacre and it's now cheeping in our basement.  The kids had to grieve again and we had to look for things to praise God for.  Remembering Job and all that he lost, this seems small.  

always welcome

Guests are always welcome at our place and the Davidsons often take us up on that.  We used to live near each other in Bethany, MO and watch our kids grow from babies to pre-schoolers.  That ended over 6 years ago when we both moved away.  Thankfully, God has allowed us the chance to reconnect whenever they travel North through our territory.  I love that our kids still adore each other despite the time and distance and that I can get caught up chatting late into the night.  Now I know I'm WAY overdo to travel their direction.

Good to see you guys!

Jerusalem Day Camp

Our church just finished a 3 day (15 hour) program to outreach the kids attending the public summer schools in the area.  I think I heard over 50 new kids signed up to come.  We all had roles to fill and it came together beautifully as the Body of Christ worked together to show these kids a glimpse of life back in Jerusalem in Jesus' time.  We focused on Jesus final days, from his arrest to his resurrection.  In between Bible character "testimonies", the kids experienced the marketplace - from the baker, potter, seamstress, scribe, shepherds, carpenter, and other areas that applied to the time.  Despite the 95 degree heat all 3 days (whew!), it was amazing!

Here is Goose in soldier training.  The first day was archery but this time they did sword fighting and training in the obstacle course.  Definitely a highlight of the day for most of the kids.

I was the coach for this group of 4th & 5th graders.   4 of them were kids from our church and the other 5 were bused in.  God gave me some neat opportunities to love on these kids and discuss why He came to die for us.  I pray these kids were changed by what they learned.

This was the potters tent.  More than just activities, kids were told how Jesus is the Potter and molds us (the clay) for His special purposes.  It doesn't always feel good as we're being squished and squeezed into the shape He has for us but it's always more fulfilling than staying a lump of dirt. 

Above is Goose using her gift.  She has a flair for the dramatic and loves to act.  She spoke from the temple steps as Mary Magdalene, testifying to how Jesus had transformed her life and how difficult it was to watch Him die on the cross.  Of course she got to deliver the good news that morning that Jesus had risen and she had seen Him at the empty tomb.  She memorized her 5 minute talk and did excellent!  Can you tell I'm a proud momma?

Here was another highlight.  My man and his buddy, Aaron, were the Roman soliders we met every day.  They witnessed Jesus arrest in the garden, his crucifixion and were guarding his tomb at the resurrection (above).   The kids were in awe of these larger than life soldiers and their skeptics testimony of Jesus' final hours was powerful.  Not to mention, I've never seen him in a skirt!  :)  A very good week.

More Susie Surprises - MA

My last full day with my sis we left early to drive to Massachusetts.  This was definitely a different kind of adventure.  Who knew about this hidden treat - ziplining?

It sounded like great fun, though I'll admit that in reading and signing the liability release,I did hesitate for a second.  Mentions of injury or death, 60 MPH and even extra fees if you chickened out and made someone escort you down the mountain on foot.  Gulp... why not?  After a ski lift to the top of the mountain, they started us off on some smaller lines.  Good to figure out what was going on.  It really was fun and not nearly as daring as repelling off a mountain is (I have my stories to tell from my "youth" on that).  There were 7 lines total that we went on, in a group of 15 people.  The last two were the most impressive - up to 50 & 60 MPH respectively.

Here we are getting ready to ride on one of the longer ones - we got to race against each other here.

These were our "guides" through the canopy.  It was obvious they enjoy their jobs and they made the day plenty of fun for all of us.  Below you can experience the 50 MPH ride on the 2,300 foot line (not the longest one of the day).  It was AMAZING!!!

  

Thanks so much to my man and my sis, Susie, for making my birthday EXTRA special this year.  I love you guys!

Susie's Surprises - NYC

To celebrate my 40th birthday this year, my man bought me a ticket to fly out East and see my big sis - Susie.  Sweet huh?  Well we finally found a time that would work and I flew to CT this month.  Susie picked up the birthday surprises by planning a full and exciting weekend for the two of us.   The very next day, she wisked me off to New York City for the day!  Now I have no desire to live in the city but visiting is another story.  We took the train and the subway and walked all over the place (mostly in Chinatown).  What an adventure....

Here I am standing next to some dragonfruit.  I have no idea what it tastes like but it was some of the coolest stuff I'd ever seen.  We went to Jing Fong Restaurant where they brought a continuous selection of dumplings and such.  Delicious!  Then we had a pedicure - my first ever.

The coolest thing about this place was the massage chairs.  We were pampered from neck to foot.  And check out those daring colors we chose....

By the end of the day, we went to see The Addams Family musical on Broadway.  Third row seats!  It was a pretty funny play and they did a great job.  I guess that's why they get paid to do this. :)

We got back to Susie's place at 2:30 am after a very full day.  That's cool though since I was able to sleep in as late as I wanted - that never happens at home!  That evening she took me to The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant that was scrumptious.  Who knew?  I really ate well that weekend.

Transformation

I've been quiet here but plenty busy at home.  Our house has gone through a transformation this past month and we LOVE it!  Always on the wish list and finally on the to-do list was replacing our kitchen cabinets and refinishing our hardwood floors.  Though the photos don't convey just how bad they were, the particle board cabinets were warped, sagging and falling apart.  We decided to put our tax return to good use and fix some things and by the time we were done, we also rearranged things as well.  This is the before shot of our little (crowded) galley kitchen.....

Not only was it dilapidated, but as we found when things were torn out, there were some other serious problems going on "under there".  It so nice to know that the wall, floor, pipes, etc are all in tip top shape now BEHIND the new kitchen.  There was lots to fix.

And here is the before photo of our old wood floor (unfortunately it was down to bare wood in many places).  It's been needing refinishing since we moved in 6 years ago but the timing wasn't right until now.

And the amazing effects after....

The hardest part of doing the floors and kitchen together was having to move EVERYTHING out of the two rooms we use the most.  All my bookshelves, homeschooling stuff, dining furniture and kitchen needs all had to find a temporary home for the remodeling efforts.  I'm so glad it's over with!

And the big finale....

Ta Da!  The custom, all wood cabinets should last us forever (hypothetically speaking) and were built and installed by a local carpenter, Bob Korff.  I highly recommend him if you're in need.   Nothing in our kitchen was "flush" or straight and customizing was a must.  We love the look of the rustic hickory and I just couldn't change my apple green color scheme so I didn't. :)  There is more space in the higher cabinets but the biggest improvement is the layout.  I have much more usable counter space since we moved the fridge and I can now open my oven door without gouging the wall.  Other than getting used to where everything is located in the new kitchen, it's such a breeze to work there now, even with room for the kids to help.  What a huge blessing this has been!  My favorite Mother's Day gift EVER.....