Merry Christmas Dear Friends and Family!

Since we are here, and you are there, we have had a very calm and uneventful day. No family gatherings, no big meals, no places to go. In some ways its nice to lounge around in PJs all day and play with the new toys, or read the new books. In other ways, its a little boring. Consequently, I actually have time to write a blog. Which helps me feel connected to you, and share our Christmas Day.

The festivities started out this week with Glory of Zion's Festival of Lights. For three nights the Garden was lit up with thousands of colored lights, there were singers on two different stages, and lots of tasty food and hot drinks. We went on Wednesday night to just enjoy it as a family-although Sam ran off immediately, which is why you won't see him in the photos. We also went on Friday, and Madeline played Christmas carols on her violin while I helped children do a craft inside the dining hall. Here we are, minus Sam, and also I got a picture with Lisa, who I work with. We share an office, and we got a big kick out of the idea that we should put a framed photo of ourselves on each of our desks. Or, pass them out to the other members of the staff. A bit of overkill.

Last night we went to our Christmas Eve service. We met a couple from New Mexico who had flown in just for the service, and then were flying back today. They brought his mother with them, and I think a brother. They were from East LA and La Puente originally, so that was fun. They have been watching GOZ on the web for a few years, and have attended at least one of the conferences. I was pretty blown away by them being there, just for the service.

It was a good service. They sang "Mary Did You Know?" and thanks to David Shack telling me about "Vader Did You Know?" on youtube, we all had trouble keeping a straight face during that one. Our worship leader, John, sang his traditional "Herod" song where he dresses up and wears a kingly hat and struts around being the bad guy. He has a very good villan laugh. This year four of the college girls danced with him and acted as the chorus and as characters in the song. It's just not a Glory of Zion Christmas without Herod. Everyone was given a candle on the way in so at the end we all lit them off those around us, and held them in the dark for quite a while. I was slightly nervous about all the little kids holding candles; Sam being one of them. He loved it, and kept blowing out his candle and relighting it on our. We made it through that without incident that I know of.

On the way home we thought it would be fun to drive through Wendy's, but it and all the other restaurants were closed. So we came home and made fried tortilla chip nachos. Yum.

This morning we had lots of fun opening presents. William got a 4 ball bowling bag and a baseball mitt, Madeline got a Kindle, Abby got an ipod touch, Sam got a Mario game and baseball equipment, and I got a pretty platter, a trivet and a smaller cast iron enamel pot.

I made cinnamon pull apart bread and a hash brown egg casserole yesterday so this morning I just had to pop them in the oven while we opened our presents. They were done just as we got hungry so we feasted with coffee and sparkling apple cider. It was good. We didn't need another meal until 5 this evening. By that time I was ready to cook again, so I made split pea soup in my cast iron enamel pot, and a cheese ball with veggies. Fun holiday food. We have learned that since EVERYTHING is closed on Christmas its almost like an ice storm. Get ready with plenty of good food beforehand so that the long day at home is extra fun. I bought a lot of fun food this last week and the urge to leave the house and forage for something more interesting has been minimal. On some Christmases past we could be found at Jack in the Box, because it was the ONLY place open. I didn't really want to do that again. So this year, when the urge to get out struck, we just took the dogs on a walk, and then came back feeling refreshed. And so did they.

We love you, miss you, and hope you have had a wonderful day celebrating Jesus' birthday! Thank you for your gifts, cards and photos. We feel blessed and we wish you a very Merry Christmas. XOXO

Halloween

This year is the first in a few that we didn't have a Harvest Festival at church. That was nice for me, since I'm usually involved in making the festival happen. So this time we got to relax and go trick-or-treating with the neighbors.

Madeline and Sam dressed up as a cowgirl and cowboy (mostly because they were given boots by some friends) and Abbie dressed up as a fairy (because she was loaned wings by a friend.) Will wore his favorite pirate hat with his graduation gown...I'm not sure what he was. And I wore my normal mom costume. I also made a great taco soup with ground pork, chicken broth, leeks, hominy, diced tomatoes, black beans, bell pepper, chili and cumin. I wanted to make sure we had some kind of healthy protein in us before the candyfest began.

We leashed up the dogs, gathered three of Sam's friends and one of Abbie's and walked the neighborhood. The kids walked/ran about twice as far as me because they kept running back and forth across the street to all the houses. Madeline finally lost the war against thirst and an ensuing cramp, and staggered back home with her candy. We dropped off the little boys and Abbie's friend, and then Will had the brillant idea of driving to the neighborhood next to ours to see what they could do. Boy, was it worth it! Sam and Abbie came home with twice as much candy as Madeline. We separated all chocolate from the candy, and bagged it up in gallon ziplocks. You can see that we now have five gallons of candy in our home. Madeline was kind of bummed that she didn't push through for that extra gallon of candy, but really didn't want it that bad. Sam was allowed to sleep in Abbie's room so that they could barter with each other for favorite pieces. They love to drive a hard bargain, and we had to shut them down about 45 minutes after they went to bed. Sam ended up with the full sized Crunch bar, and Abbie got 5 smaller pieces for that one. I'm hoping that traded more than that, but they were both happy. I finished up the night eating the only non-candy treats: goldfish crackers and pretzles that Abbie got from someone. That, and some Earl Grey tea finished off the night nicely for me. Happy Halloween!

First Day of School

Its that time of year again! This year we've got one child at each school. Sam's in 4th, Abbie is in 7th, and Madeline's in 9th. The schools start about 30 minutes apart; without the buses I'd be driving all morning! Thankfully the bus stops right around the corner.

Sam wanted me to walk with him and go a bit early so that he could play at the little park for a minute. Abbie didn't want me to come at all, even though I promised to kiss her at home and just hold her hand while we walked. Madeline wanted me to drive her the 2 blocks because her backpack was super heavy and she was a bundle of nerves. So I did the sending off three different ways. To each his own.

Then I went back home to enjoy my Monday alone. First one in three months. I loaded the dishwasher, moved some laundry....and went back to bed. I slept soundly until 11 am, and woke up feeling great! What a luxury.

At noon I left the house to run errands and had a lovely time wandering around Target for a few items. Then, fortified by a large iced tea, I came home and cleaned (including dusting) the livingroom.

Pretty soon everyone began getting home and it was all about snacks and school stories. Will only had 3 kids in his class....Sam's teacher doesn't yell and is strict about the rules....Abbie had a big schedule drama that meant she'd have to eat with the 8th graders (that'll get fixed)....and Madeline was able to visit her locker between classes and didn't have to carry all her books at one. It was a good day; the beginning of a good year.

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Summer Fun

Lots has happened this summer: the kids' big trip to CA for Camp Grandma, two birthday parties so far, and our church's move from our rented facilty to our new purchased building. Also, we've had 37 days of 100+ temps and no rain so far, and the 10 day forcast doesn't offer any hope for a break.

I thought I'd post photos of Sam and Abbie's birthday parties, for fun. Sam's birthday came first, and this year he invited three friends. They even spent the night. It went well; they really wanted to play their nintendos together, and I'd say it was one of the more low maintenance parties we've had. Here they are decorating cakes. We also went swimming in our neighborhood pool, as a way to get cool and drain off some energy. Happy Birthday Sam!

Yesterday we had Abbie's party. She invited 8 friends; it was not a slumber party! Madeline introduced us to a really fun game she played at another party. We divide up into teams and design dresses with newspaper and packing tape. It is really fun, and all the girls get to be creative. At the end we lined them all up and awarded three first place awards in three different categories: Party girl, Classic, Scarlett O'Hara. Maybe you can guess which was which.

We also swam and ate dinner and had a water balloon toss. Much fun was had by all. Happy Birthday Abbie!

On the GOZ front, we moved at the end of July into the 215,000 sq ft building that we are purchasing. Only a portion of it is finished, so right now there is no nursery or children's ministry during service. I am enjoying a break from the weekly pressure of making sure that all the teachers are in place for the babies. But I'm taking this time to pray and plan and recruit for when we open back up with the permanant nurseries. We've got a beautiful garden to wander in, and the dining hall building is up and running. Each week before service we are having "Warrior Practice" where the elementary aged kids come to worship, hear the Lord's voice for themselves, and hear the Lord's voice for a friend. It is such a neat exercise. Today we prayed for each other, and one of the dads who was there too. I'm enjoying getting to go to that, and to service with my kids!

This week we begin pre-registering our kids for school. Madeline will be in High School this year! Ahh! That happened fast. I think she'll enjoy it, if she doesn't stress out too much about her school work. She's been taking violin lessons this summer. I think we'll continue them during school too. They make such a difference in the little things.

Abbie is not going to do band this year. We decided that Drama and Art are more her style, so she's going to participate in the school plays. I think she's a natural actor, and her lungs are extra large, which we learned when she was able to hold a note on her baritone longer than anyone else in band. I'm not too surprised, and this skill carries over quite nicely to vocal projection, which will serve her well on the stage. :-)

Sam does less, of course...those elementary days were good! But we'll be watching to see where his interests lie. Two more years of elementary for him, and then off to middle school. Last year he got really good at reading, so this year should be good. Although 4th grade can be more challenging.

Will starts his job back up this week, with the first day of training on Tuesday. It feels like this summer has flown so fast. Maybe because we didn't do a month long trip like last year. But I'm looking forward to the structure and cooler weather that fall brings. Maybe I'll even get back into planning menus. Summer kind of throws everything off track.

Monthly Update

Well, whether you're ready or not, I'm doing my monthly blog entry. Actually, what really happens is that I look at blogs on my phone, but can't comment or post very easily.

May is the busiest month for the family. The kids have field trips, practices, performances, special school event etc. And Will has the same for his school. So we're running like crazy. The girls are in The Wizard of Oz at their school tomorrow and Friday. It's their first theatrical debut (outside of church.) Some of our friends are going to come watch with us. I'm looking forward to this production! We also have orchestra and band concerts next week. Poor Sam simply has a school festival next Friday, and we'll see if we make it to that. He wasn't quite as interested when I told him that he'd have to spend his allowance on tickets.

Abigail was in "The Miss Lindy Show" that we do for the children's ministry at our church. It has gone churchwide, so now you can watch on the GOZ website. She plays young Miss Lindy interviewing Joshua, Caleb and Onan the first time they are getting ready to go into the Promised Land. The next show is 40 years later when they are finally going in. Its really cute, and if you want to see it, click here. Then you will need to sign in. The show is on the GOZTV tab in the black bar at the top. I hope you can watch it! The one with Moses is really funny too. Actually, they're all good. You'll see me in the audience of "Angelo, the Angel of Death." Its really silly, but fun.

I'm looking forward to summer, slowing down a bit and relaxing. Meanwhile, we'll take each day as it comes, and try to get enough sleep.

God's provision

Some of you may have seen the garden we made last weekend on Will's blog. It was a lot of hard work, but turned out great. So, we got it all built, put in lots of dirt, and finally planted seeds and small plants. We made a kind of fence with stakes and twine to keep the dogs out. Hooray!

On Monday I got home from grocery shopping to discover Dolce sitting in the garden. She had broken through the fence, and had dug herself a hole. I was so mad! I dragged her out, spanked her with a spatula and so on. Later, Mander did the same thing. So he got spanked too. Ugly. Thank God they didn't take out the 5 tomato plants or Abbie's flowers.

They did the same thing on Tuesday. More spankings. They just can't resist the manure and cool dirt. That night Will and I prayed, and gave the garden to God.

Today at work, Pam informed me that there was firewood to collect at the new church property. We'd gotten some other wood one time, do she knew about our scavenging ways. I told her about the dogs, and she said we should make a stronger fence, and also a dirt patch for them. So we added Home Depot to the list of places to go. But we really didn't want to spend more on this project.

When we got to the land we found the wood in a pile of things to remove. And there, in the pile was a bunch of old chicken wire! And also, there was some old metal strips with stakes that had been used to make raised beds! So instead of wood, we filled the back of the van with stuff for the garden. Now all we need to buy is dirt and everyone will be happy.

What was doubly amazing about all this is that Madeline's violin bow broke yesterday at school. I called the store where we bought it, with warranty, and the guy I spoke to (the manager, it seems) told me to bring it down and they'd exchange it for free. So off we went. When we got to the store someone else was working. He said we'd have to pay $250 for a new bow...it wasn't covered by the warranty...and so on, with the opposite I'd been told. I just kept repeating what I'd been told, including that the new bow was waiting for us behind the counter. He went and looked, and there it was, with instructions to exchange it for free. He was baffled, and said he'd never seen that happen before.

So apparently we had two miracles last night. Worth about 300+ dollars. Thank you God!

A Day in the Life--Ice day 3

We're enjoying our forced vacation while we wait for the ice to melt. Today is the first day that we've had reliable phone and internet access. I've been able to text, and update facebook at times, but that is about it.

Tuesday night brought the storm and an arctic cold front that coated the streets with 2 inches of ice. The temperature dropped, and has held steady at about 15 degrees ever since. So, until we get above freezing, the roads are icy and everyone is staying home.

We did take an adventure drive on Wednesday. 10 miles per hour to see if we could get a movie at Redbox, which was frozen, of course. But we had fun driving our heavy van for 40 minutes.

The pipes in the kitchen froze, but we remembered to keep the bathroom faucets dripping, so we have water. We just bring it into the kitchen in jugs for dishwashing, tea making etc. The washer and dryer work, so I've been keeping up on the laundry. I'm doing two loads for my neighbor right now, because her pipes to the washer froze. She also got me eggs, milk, butter, and soda at the store yesterday when she ventured out. So we're helping each other.

I have been chuckling to myself at the irony of our lifestyle. We require a direct opposition to nature at all times in order to live "normally." Electricity and communication facilitate a disconnection from the outside world that is really kind of scary when faced with the lack. I saw a headline about how people were so upset about the rolling brownouts we had yesterday. I guess they just don't realize how lucky they are not to lose electricity completely.

Here are photos of things we've been doing lately: video games, movies, blogs, laundry. reading. Dolce seems to be reading Dumbo. And Madeline too. Roosevelt is happiest with Madeline scratching his ears

Will updated Abigail and Sam's blogs, so just click on the new links here.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Seeing mom's blog inspired me to just slap a bunch of photos up with descriptions. Getting the photos ready is the biggest hurdle for me. So I sat down today and downloaded all the photos from my phone, and getting them organized. I also changed my blog format in honor of the new year. I'm always inspired by January and get all excited about cleaning. This year I took photos of the kids in the nursery and made collages for the teachers. Here I am reading a book to Lisa's daughter one Sunday morning.




















Here are some pre-Christmas festivities...We went to the Denton tree-lighting event in early December with friends. Our church does a living nativity every year, so we had to see everyone there. This was the first year it wasn't freezing cold, so it sounded like fun.

I went to Sam's Christmas performance, and watched the kids sing. It was hard to get a photo of him with his class because he was always behind other kids. But I got some good ones afterwards.


I made Aunt Boo Boo's sugared walnuts this year for everyone at the office and friends. I made a total of 50 of these little boxes-they held 1 cup of nuts each. Unfortunately I deleted some of the best photos, but these give you an idea.



The DeHarts came to visit for the week of Christmas. We had a great time, and they left Christmas afternoon. On Christmas Eve we invited three other families over, and had a big feast and a Dollar store white elephant gift exchange. I made pulled pork sandwiches with a huge pork shoulder. Here are the dog's enjoying their Christmas treat: the big bones.


Dan and Jacquie gave Sam an elaborate marble maze thing. It took all Christmas day to build. Thank heavens Dan was here!!

We were given ticket to the Army vs. SMU football game, so we went; It was the first time the kids had been to a live game, which is kind of sad here in Texas. We had a great time, and ate nachos, soda, peanuts and pretzles and cheese. We parked in the neighborhood around SMU, and I loved seeing the beautiful houses. That was worth the drive for me!

On New Year's Eve we went to our church's First Fruits celebration. Everyone was given noise makers, and we had a great time worshiping and celebrating. Robert Heidler gave a very interesting talk about the Jewish month that starts on January 6th. But that ended at 9:00, and what to do next?? For the last few years we've had a big conference over the New Year's holiday, and fit in celebrations with the Petersens when we could. So this year we were at loose ends. However, it worked out that Chuck sent and invitation to all the bowlers to come to the bowling alley where he'd gotten three lanes for the night. It turned out that the bowling alley was sponsering a party, complete with champagne and sparkling cider, and breakfast after midnight. So, that's what we did. The kids and Will bowled, I talked to people, and it was very festive.

Phones shift

Hello family,

I wanted to let you all know that we are thinking about stopping our home land line and home internet service. We'll keep our cell phones--comment if you don't know my number. :-) The home number that will go bye-bye is 940.387.4682.

Not having the internet and netflix will be really different, but we are thinking that it will be good for us to not have that constant instant pull. And we'll keep our email and blog addresses the same. I'll be using my email every day at work, of course.

Bless you all! And talk to you soon. :-)

Wish you were here!

Happy Thanksgiving, all you people we love! I thought I'd make a little video to show you what is going on at our house today. We're waiting for our friends to arrive, and I'm about to start in with the stuffing, creamed corn, and mashed potatos. Bless you this year!

Oil Spill

This week has been very interesting. I realized last Sunday that the date was 10-10-10. 10 is the number for government, and all week at prayer people have been talking about "the new administration." From what I'm seeing, "the new administration" means that the Holy Spirit is doing things differently than before. I had a conversation today with a lady on staff, and she was talking about how the counseling/inner healing/deliverance ministry was starting to look different. The old ways of doing things just didn't work the same, and the change was in a new reliance on the Holy Spirit to tell them what to minister about, rather than following a formula, or questionaaire.

This week I have had a number of powerful counseling type conversations with people that the Lord has brought to me. I never seek these things out, so sometimes I don't "minister" in that way for a long streach. But this week I had 4 significant conversations in one day. And then some others on the other days. The difference is noticeable. I can sense a change in my own life.

So, to the story of the Oil Spill. I came home from work today with my mind full of the interesting conversations I've been having. I had a crock pot of beans and sausage that had been cooking all day, and the plan was to make cornbread to go with it. I went into the pantry to get the flour and cornmeal, and as I lifted them down, I knocked a bottle of olive oil off the shelf. It fell and shattered on the tile floor right at my feet. Olive oil and glass shot like a cascade across the kitchen floor, with glass shards as far away as 15 feet. I had oil on my foot and shoe; it was everywhere. I stood there paralyzed saying "Oh no, oh no!" because the mess was so huge. I took a step and almost slipped. I didn't know where to begin.

William came to my rescue with his Beylik Oil experience, and began unrolling TP onto the biggest puddle of oil. I began sweeping up glass. But this required moving the table and chairs into the livingroom. Madeline vacuumed the carpet on both sides of the kitchen. There was oil all over the floor, and even after Will got it sopped up and swept, I still had to mop everything. And while I did that for 20 minutes with really hot water and soap, I had plenty of time to reflect.

Oil is prophetic of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. I was experiencing a sudden outpouring of the Spirit, and it was a mess. It ruined my timeframe for dinner. I had to do a major clean up that I wasn't planning to do. And it happened when the glass bottle broke. Throughout my growth process over the last 8 years, the Lord gave me a picture of myself as a bird in a glass bottle. The bottle was something that I had constructed to protect myself from pain. I could see out, but I couldn't hear or feel. I have done the work of breaking that glass bottle and coming out. But today a glass bottle broke in my kitchen, and oil poured out. It got on my feet, and messed up my plans. I was really mad to be doing that project right then.

I think that the Lord is speaking to me about His plans for my future. I've entered the "new administration." I'm going to see the Holy Spirit poured out in unexpected ways, and its going to be inconvenient and mess up my schedule. I think this is also a picture for the church in general at this time. God wants to do something new. The Holy Spirit is messy. He doesn't stay convenient for us. He challenges our basic beliefs about how things should be. But what else matters? After fighting through the cleanup, I had a cleaner kitchen. That's exactly how the Holy Spirit works. His ministry messes things up, and then rebuilds them without the false stuff there. So, its worth it! I say, Holy Spirit, do what you want!

GOZ Snapshot

I'm home today on my day off, and I decided to watch the webcast of yesterday's services. I was busy all morning with nursery stuff, so I couldn't participate. I'm so glad I decided to watch! Both services are so powerful. Second service is a perfect picture of all I love about GOZ. Worship as a dance party. I read a quote once, "Never trust a leader who won't dance." Everytime I think of it I smile because at GOZ the leaders regularly dance. This service is a gem. I encourage you to watch. Its only an hour long, and you can get some exercise while you do!

School Supplies

Every year, no matter what, I spend $150 on school supplies. I should qualify that. Every year since I moved to Texas. In California no one was asked to buy school supplies. But here the schools publish a big list and you are expected to bring it all in on Meet the Teacher night and put it in the class. California is a bankrupt state, and Texas isn't. So they are doing something right here. But it still kind of irks me that I have to search high and low for black Expo dry erase markers and bring reams of copy paper to school. If every child brings two boxes of 24 pencils, that should be enough, right?

One benefit of Will being a teacher is that he had a lot of 12X18 packs of manila paper left over from last year. So our kids are bringing the surplus and I didn't have to buy that.

Different stores run specials to get you in, so the last couple of years I've been trying to beat the system by hitting those sales and only buying the deals. Today I bought 5 packs of filler paper at Staples for 1 cent each. The rest were .78 each, but still...I got out of there with 20 items for $17.00. I felt a kind of vindictive glee because I paid less than a dollar for each item on average. I realize that I was resenting this required spending spree and beating the system gave me just a little sense of sticking it to the man. However we spent the rest of the budget at Target getting everything else, including a tacky Transformers backpack for Sam ($9.00) that he loves. The one from last year had holes in the bottom.

I'm glad to be done with this. Maybe next year I'll start earlier and hit all those weekly sales and maybe only spend $100, or even $80. I really feel that it should be possible. We'll see.

Just like that

Just like that, we're home. If you want to see a really consistent journal of the trip, see Will's blog. He's really good at it.

I'm glad to be home, but I never really got homesick. It's good to be in one place, and enjoy the peace of not moving. We had a great time on our five-legged trip: The DeHarts, The Cox's, Santa Rosa, Yosemite, and Flagstaff. We visited Disneyland, The Korbel Champagne winery, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, and one of our favorites, Slide Rock Park in Arizona.

This was our third visit to Slide Rock Park and I had the best time I've ever had. The rocks are covered with a tiny algae so they are very slippery. The first time we went we didn't have water shoes so we continually slipped. Not fun. The second time, the water was numbing and I had flip flops that kind of worked. This time we all got water shoes. Also, the kids were old enough to take care of themselves, which I realized was a huge factor in my enjoyment of the place. Imagine carrying a toddler and trying not to slip in the current! No wonder I didn't have fun! This time the water wasn't so cold, I wasn't slipping, and no one was scared. Wow. I got to do some water slides myself, and loved swimming in the deeper areas. I felt a personal victory in the fun.

We had a great time connecting with a majority of our family; we got good family photos with both the DeHart and Cox families. Something new for our wall.

The kids had countless new experiences. Sam went on his first rollercoaster (Space Mountain) and loved it. He proceeded on to Matterhorn and Thunder Mountain. The kids were just the right age to really take it all in and enjoy the trip. What a blessing!

On the Road Again

We're four days into our month in California, and each day has been eventful. The kids are getting to have lots of new experiences. Or, at least Sam is. The girls are remembering things. Days one and two were all about the drive, and we pulled into Whitter at 4:30pm on Saturday. The thing I forget about is how green and beachy Whittier is. Where you live there, you get used to the smell. But coming from Texas, and through the desert, the smell of the sea is so noticeable as soon as you get over the mountains from the Mojave desert.

We had a nice time with mom and dad, and went with them to Granada on Sunday morning. I loved getting to talk to Grandpa with his Cochlear implant for the first time. What a difference! Dad took us to lunch at El Pollo Loco after church and we stuffed ourselves on the special El Pollo Loco marinated chicken. And Horchata, which I miss. You can see dad and my containers of salsa, cilantro, and lemons for our tacos.

After a short nap we went down to Will's uncle Jim, Jock, and JR's house for the big block 4th celebration. It was an immersion into our Whittier past....tattooed gang-bangers, loud music, a pinata, nachos with runny cheese sauce, homemade carne asada, ceviche, and the best salsa I've ever tasted. Unfortunately I was still full from lunch, so I had to wait a while to eat. But I probably ate about a cup of the salsa. It had avocados in it, along with all the other stuff its supposed to. Mi Casita's salsa is the closest thing I can find to the real stuff in Denton, so this was a huge treat. In this photo you can see Abigail deep in the fray, soon to emerge with a treat bag filled to the brim with candy, a lot of which was her very favorite--Mexican lucas candy. Sam didn't try so hard, and only got half a bag. They spent some very pleasant time on the driveway trading with each other.

One of my favorite events was the arrival of the ice cream truck. First, we don't have those in our neighborhood. Second, this one had the most elaborate paint job I've ever seen. Someone's brother/cousin/uncle was a professional, and it looked it. The kids were sliding down a bounce house water slide on the front lawn, so we had to get cones in honor of vacation, Whittier, their childhood, and summer.

As the evening wore on the fire crackers came out. Everyone had lots of illegal ones, and the sheriff down the street had the other stash. Apparently he confiscates them, and blows them off at his own party with a bunch of his other cop friends. The key was to keep the illegals in the houses, and so the homeowners kept going back and forth bringing out more as needed. If the police come, and you don't have a big pile on your lawn waiting to shot off, he can't do much. So we had a Disneyland style show for about and 1 1/2 hours-most people sitting on the lawn, the brave principles lighting them in the street with blowtorches. Effective. Madeline got hit with a sooty something on the lip, and Abby got some flecks of something in her eye, but other than that all was fine. The kids got to blow off some Roman candles, and sparklers of course. I've never done the 4th like this and neither have they, so it was a great experience.

The grand finale was shot off, and then the police showed up. A few young guys slunk off and made a quick getaway with their under-aged beer when they saw him, and when he left they were back, case on shoulder.The police threatened to search the houses if he came back and found them doing illegal fireworks-that was going to expose them to a whole lot of trouble, so the show was over. We left for the 90 mile drive to Palmdale, pulling in at about 12:30am. The kids fell asleep in the car, and didn't wake up until 9am today.

Here come the Dollars

The Dollars are about 45 minutes away as I write this. Everyone was on pins and needles waiting, so I took a nap, and Will and the kids watched Rocky #1. They've watched the others....it seems that this is the time in their lives for an introduction to that venerable series. They already knew "Eye of the Tiger" because of Wii Rock Band with the Petersens last summer. Before that, Will took the kids swimming, and I made Sam's Bday cake for Monday, and some banana bread for breakfast tomorrow.

I have also been doing cleaning projects around the house. I even hung the pictures differently above the piano, and in the living room. That project precipitated a spot painting project around the house, so now those little ratty white spots where things have bumped the walls are all better. Thank you Will.

I'm enjoying my summer schedule, which is work T-Th 9-4, instead of T-F 9-2. I'm able to stay later because Will is home, but then I have the benefit of an extra day with the fam. It's worth powering through that late afternoon nap time.

So, we're looking forward to taking the Dollars to church with us tomorrow, going to Rudy's BBQ, swimming, talking, playing. It will be fun.

Saturday

Well, we've made it through this week. Thursday was the last day of school for the kid; Will's last day was Friday. The last week of school is usually pretty busy-with class parties, lugging home books, stuff like that.

On top of that, we also had a fun Memorial Day party with the Petersens-we BBQ'd, swam, and took pictures. We continued the good-bye process, culminating in a group hug of crying children at the end. We were blessed with the Petersens' piano, and we traded refrigerators because they were leaving theirs with the house, and I had the brain wave of trading and leaving my not so nice one with their house instead. That was Thursday-we rented a Uhaul, and got two strong guys from church to do the loading and unloading of the piano and fridge. It was scary to watch the ramp flex and bend under all that weight. God bless John and Aaron (and Will and Darren) for their feats of strength.

I'm so excited to have the piano. Madeline has already been sight reading music from some books we have. The gift of that piano is going to have a big impact on us. I want to find a friend who can give us a group piano lesson or two so that we can at least learn how to position our hands correctly.

Friday was D-day. The kids and I went over to the Petersens' house and helped Jenn clean and pack. Her goal was the leave at noon, and they pulled out close to 1:00, so I'd say that was a success. More tears, but by this time we'd sort of worn ourselves out, so it wasn't too bad. We waved them off, and promptly went to Wendy's for frostys. That helped. By the time we'd made a few stops, we felt better.

So now, we have the summer before us. The Dollars are arriving in one week-today the kids worked on their rooms. Then, two weeks after they leave, we go to church summer camp, and then California right after that. The Lord knew we needed a fun summer to look forward to, and here it comes!

Stirrings

There have been a lot of stirrings lately...but the most intense has been the impending departure of the Petersens to Oregon. Their decision to move has happened over about a month, or maybe less; Jenn and the kids have been planning to visit family there for the summer all year, but actually moving is a newer idea. You may remember my other blog in which I introduced them, and that doesn't feel so long ago. In fact, this last Christmas we celebrated our second "anniversary" of discovering them.

The move feels like the right thing, and we can clearly see the Lord's leading as they go. However, the loss of our best friends here is painful. Today at church they were blessed and prophesied over during the second service. Most people didn't know they were leaving, so there was a collective intake of breath as Keith announced it. We also had a party in the Jr High department, with a slide show set to---I'll bet you already can guess this---but you might be surprised it's still kicking---drum roll please---"Friends Are Friends Forever." Sigh. But wait. It was Stryper's version. Yes, Darren told me it was, but I thought he was joking, because Stryper covering MWS seemed so....I don't know....like Darren's cynical humor. However, before I blogged in my ignorance I googled it and found the MWS cover album by Stryper. Wow.

So, I was doing all my usual Sunday duties with the Shreve nose in full bloom. Jennifer at least looked good when she wasn't crying. I carried the vestiges all day. It was so poignant to realize that this was the last day they'd be in church. That I won't be seeing them as part of the landscape is kind of shocking. In a way, I feel like we are moving too. Life without them will be like striking out afresh.

We've had 2 1/2 years of unprecedented friendship as couples. I've never known two people with whom Will and I are both able to connect like this. All the relational combos work between the four of us. Outside of Nathan and David, I've not experienced a guy like Darren. He feels like the brother I didn't have-Our childhoods had so many similarities it's crazy. And Jennifer feels like the best combo of my Aunt Luanne and my mom in the 70's. Things like wiping the kids' noses with their clothes, and heartlessly perscribing carrots when they're hungry. I've lived it. Of course there's more, but you get the point.

I'm excited for Darren and Jenn to move into the next place of blessing that the Lord has for them. And I know that He has blessings of us to as this place in our hearts and our schedule is opened up for new people and things. I know there is good ahead for both of our families. But this week is the hard part.

Reality Hits the Bus

The kids ride the bus home from school each day. I'm delighted to have free transportation, but lately the bus has been pretty unruly; kids have been saying inappropriate things, and acting up. I called the Denton ISD transportation department, lodged a complaint one day after an especially trying ride. I was irritated with the driver because he was not maintaining order. I know it's possible to have a calm, orderly bus because the lady who drove last year did a great job, and all the kids respected her. The bus people called back and said that they have to maintain safety, but can't regulate language on the bus. I understand that, but my bigger complaint was with the driver's inability to maintain order.

Last year, a boy on Madeline's bus said the F word on the way home, and the Good Driver got off the freeway, turned the bus around, and took them back to the school. When they got there, she took the foul-mouthed offender and marched him in to the principal's office and left him there. Then she drove the rest of the kids home. I was very pleased.

Today was not so good. There is a boy with emotional problems who decided to start spitting on another boy. They regularly are "fighting" on the bus, so that wasn't new. The bus driver, a former military man, told the boy to stop it. He didn't, so the driver stopped the bus, came back, and told him again-telling him that he wasn't going to ride the bus again for the rest of the year. The kid spit on him, and the bus driver slapped him on the face. The kid began screaming cuss words at him, and he slapped him again!

The spitter went and sat down, and the driver brought them home. Everyone was shocked, of course. Madeline came bursting in with the dramatic news, and I called to make a report. I was the second parent to do so, and probably not the last.

So, I was right in my first assessment that the driver doesn't know how to maintain order. I certainly understand his anger at being disrespected and spit on, but the whole event should never have happened. That child should have been banished from the bus for his behavior a long time ago. Hindsight.

Later, I got a call from the transportation department as they called every parent with children on the bus, and they're scrambling to alert all the authorities-child protective services included. And I know from neighborhood gossip that the police were at the boy's house this afternoon.

Man, I'm so glad I'm not that driver. He must have realized it was all over the minute he sat down in his seat. I can just feel that sinking stone feeling he must have now. The consequences of losing his temper are going to be with him for a long time.

And I'm hoping that the boy will have some repercussions too. It was time some reality caught up with him. Tomorrow, the bus will be a new place. And for the sake of my children, I'm glad.

Five Day Weekend and Disneyland tickets

I love living in Texas. We had snow on Thursday, and below freezing temps on Friday, so the kids and I were home both days. If it were to snow in California, the reaction would be the same...no snow plows, so no one wants to drive. Here, it actually does snow, so we get to have a holiday or two. Here is a movie from our little crafting event on Thursday, thanks to the candy making kit that Grandma DeHart sent us. It took us about 20 minutes, and the rest of the day the kids played outside, watched movies, ate, read and relax. We also got a good one of the dogs freaking out about the snow.




We're planning a road trip to California this July, and I really wanted to take the kids to Disneyland. However, when Will sensibly pointed out that we'd be using a third of our budget in one day, I agreed that it didn't make much sense. However, I went to the Disney website to see if they had any deals, and I discovered the "Give a Day, Get a Day" program. You volunteer for a day, and earn a ticket to either Disneyland, or Disney World.

Last weekend, we went down to Fort Worth to volunteer. We worked with Project Linus, a charity that makes and gives blankets to kids in traumatic situations. I brought my sewing machine so I was able to put together about 7 blankets. We worked for four hours, and walah! Disney tickets are ours. It was fun for our family to volunteer together, and definitely worth the tickets.