The teacher says.

This is a story from William's teacher...

In preschool yesterday morning, I passed out white paper bags. I asked the kids to color one side of the bag, so later in the morning, they could turn it into a frog puppet! A hand went up..."Mrs. knight? I'm exhausted...I think i need a rest first!" My reply..."Do you think you have a little energy in one arm to ...color?" Reply, "yes...I guess." This was 9:20...preschool had just started at 9:00!

: ) Also, his CBS teacher said that he has grown up so much from last year!

Callie's CBS teacher has told me more than once, "she's such a good girl, she's such a good helper."

: ) I love my kids. They're great!

Drum roll please...

We all came together to spend $10 on Water as our First Gift this season...and the grand total raised in only 24 hours....was OVER $10,000!!!

Providing life-saving, clean water to over 1,000 people for 10 years!! Amazing!

Thank you so much! What a difference one day will make for years to come in the lives of so many!

You can continue giving water via donations all year long on the link in my side bar, or by purchasing gifts (for others or yourself) on Water4Christmas's etsy shop! Lots of fun stuff there!! (PS, I wouldn't mind a white H2Africa decal, hint, hint)

My new coffee mug!

Pardon the interruption

I'm going to interrupt this current blog series to bring you a BIG announcement!

Tomorrow. Friday November 13 is the day.

Water 4 Christmas's day for the First Gift!! Give $10 Friday as your first gift!

Let your first gift this Holiday season be for life! For Water that gives life!

Gifts to dig fresh water wells in Liberia. All donations go straight there!

This is the old water source in Wakesu, Liberia:

And THIS is the new water source thanks to Water 4 Christmas 2008.

Beautiful!! We have affected thousands!!! Lets do it again this year!

You can go here to give. Or click on the First Gift link in my sidebar to the right.

Here's some background...

If you missed it, you can still give at Water4Christmas.com.

Smokey mountains

Another busy day!

Today we again took our time in the morning, did some snuggling.

The kids took a fun bath! Callie already wanted to take another tonight.

Then we headed out to Dollywood. We all had a blast! The kids loved the rides. Callie's favorite was the Scrambler and William liked the bumper cars.

We all went on our first Ferris Wheel ride together.

We were there all day up until the time we headed over to the Dixie Stampede to watch the "horses dancing" as the kids said. They loved this dinner show! William enjoyed cheering for the green team, the "North" and he liked the comedian character "Skeeter" and his dancing chicken. Callie liked everything...horses dancing, pigs, chickens, singin', dirt...the list goes on.

Thank you Dolly, we had a great day!!

Tomorrow, nature calls. Spending the day hiking at the park.

Gatlinburg, TN

I'm going to try blogging as we go here on this vacation.

Yesterday we packed up and drove to Hagerstown, MD where Callie and I attended Bible study while Jon brought William to a dr appointment (asthma) and then brought him back for his class and then ran some errands. After that we headed out for our 8 hour drive to Gatlinburg, TN.

We arrived in Pigeon Forge at night and the Christmas lights were everywhere. This town is quite lit up even without Christmas, but it's really bright now, complete with every one of the 12 days of Christmas items lining the street. William calls it the Christmas town.

Our condo is great. We thought the kids would go to sleep well last night after traveling. Not so, they were too excited to get to sleep together. Tonight, however, is a different story! They fell sound asleep in the car and woke only enough to take care of business before drifting back to sleep. This is our view.

kids sleeping arrangements.

Today we lounged around and did some researching and planning. We headed out for lunch atSonic. My first Sonic meal ever, quite possibly thanks to the influence of Mr Bill Glass. We wonder if we would have gotten a discount if we mentioned that we know the guy in the comercials. Probably not.

After lunch we went to the "Upside Down House" as the kids call it. Wonder Works. A museum of sorts of scientific fun things. Make sense? Things like optical illusions, how hearing works, earthquake exhibits, flight simulators, etc. The kids thought it looked funny, but when they heard the speakers outside the building making creeking and groaning sounds as if it was falling down, they wanted to leave. After a bit, once they forgot we were in an upside down building, they enjoyed themselves, but when we returned to the lobby and they remembered, they were ready to leave. Also funny, they both wondered why the potties weren't upside down too.

laying on a bed of nails

Dancing to make shapes on the screen.

Stepping on a picture on the floor to make it morph.....

but the funny thing is, with flash, it really looked like this...

We also all took a turn in the pitching simulator. Jon's fastest was 54 mph and mine was 38. To which my dear, gracious 90+mph pitcher brother said, "add a few mph to that since you were just warming up". That puts me in the 40s! Aren't I amazing?

Then a little shopping at the Smokey Mountain Knife Works. Interesting...possible Christmas gifts for a couple people. And then off to dinner at Mama's Farmhouse. Mmmmm! Delicious! Then groceries and back for bed. Busy day! But fun. Better sleep now, those kids will be up at the crack of 0630 again I'm sure.

I promised more Thomas

and here it is. It was such a fun day! Rainy, but super fun!

Not so fond of the freaky Sir Toppam Hat

And a quick stop by The Bass Pro Shop on the way home.

You know how you sometimes get mail for other people at your home, sometimes a neighbor, sometimes a former resident, sometimes a wrong name or misspelled name for you? Here is my latest. A refund from the dog's heart guard medicine. The bank almost wouldn't take it.............

Sunset from the window at work.

MInnesota everywhere, but no purple...

Lately I have been seeing and hearing about MN everywhere.

At work a co-worker found out I was from MN and began to tell me about his army buddy from MN and a class mate of his in college. Another co-worker sitting there asked if I had known Lisa (another co-worker) before I moved here. Lisa grew up near Rochester and graduated from Winona State about 7 years earlier than me.

The book I am reading is published in Minneapolis.

The documentary Jon has been watching on National Parks has talked about a man from MN who was instrumental in helping to get the Ntl Park system established.

A book the kids got from the library was written by a woman who now lives in Bloomington, it was also published in Mpls and in her thank you she thanked the Red Balloon Bookstore in St Paul.

HOWEVER. Today William's color of the day at school is purple. He has no purple clothing to speak of! Even Brett has a purple shirt! What is going on here??? We do have some hand-me-downs coming from Liam that are sure to have some item including purple???

Thankfully, we were able to find a hat. A hat he got as a tiny baby, it's even signed. It's still a bit big for him, but he'll grow into it, and we will have it for years to come for moments like this. (Thanks for the hat, Mom.)

You can never go down...

The video on this site has provided much comfort for William. : )

Does God exist?

Enjoyed this video. True story.

This breaks my heart.

Water For Christmas is gearing up!! Be prepared. $20 can give one person clean water for a lifetime!

William's dreams

Recently Wm has been remembering and telling us about his dreams.

The first was scary. He woke up yelling. Boulders were running after him and he was yelling at them to get out of his room.

And last night...."The man from Minnesota came and told me I should go fishing. Can we go fishing?" I'm wondering if this was really a dream or just him recalling some tid bit of wisdom passed on to him from some 'Man from MN'...though I don't seem to recall if I know many men from there who fish... : )

Maybe he'll have to try out some fishing when we're back in Dec.

Own it.

I think I may have changed most in the last year than in the 4 years prior to that. Or maybe just changed for the better, where as I feel like I was changing more for the worse just prior to that. PA has given me some experiences that I never expected. I'm glad for it though. I have become more confident, less insecure. More content, less jealous. This may be largely to do with the amazing group of ladies I meet with on Wednesday evenings. They are incredible! I think they are helping me to become Me just by being Them.

So, just the other night I was watching a show that summed it up for me. One of the main characters, the owner of a clothing store, was trying to encourage one of her employees, a girl who had dreamed of being a model, but just wasn't getting the break she needed. The Owner, we'll call her Kourtney, was trying to encourage this girl, Carrie, to continue to follow her dream. Carrie was complaining about some part of her looks, etc. Kourtney kept encouraging her and also arranged for Carrie to have a spot in a fashion show and told her, "You look amazing, You're you, Own it!"

What I got out of it is this, YOU'RE YOU, OWN IT!

I have recently been so less worried about what other people are thinking, less worried about others looking down on me or judging me. I've gotten better at shrugging off what people say that may have hurt me before. (Not completely there, but better.) I have become more myself lately. I've been discovering who that is. I've been being me and being happy with that. I realize I like Me. I'm not trying to be like them, dress like her, look like that, do what they do. I've been more like Me, dressed like Me, looked like Me, done what I do and have been happier with that than I ever was with all that trying.

I'm me, and I'm Owning It!

PS.....

Guess the show and you'll get 500 points (I've left hints)....Disclaimer....it is not a highly moral show, not one I'd recommend normally, but when you're up at 1 am sewing...there's not much on, and, hey, just shows you can learn a lesson from any show!)

Great day out with Thomas....more pics to come.

My 4 year old...

...has really been surprising me since he turned 5!

(I begged and begged him to stay 4 and he refused.)

He has never really drawn anything that looked much like anything. Just scribles. I've asked and he's done a few things, but won't even cooperate for much of a circle. So, when at his well child dr visit, the dr asked him to draw a man and he started drawing a big circle on the paper, I said, "Is that a man? Are you going to draw a man like he asked?".... and he continued to draw as we talked and he came up with this!!!!

The doc said he was "just looking for 6 identifyable items". I guess what the doctor wants the doctor gets. Oh, and the horizontal lines by the legs are not feet, those are there too at the bottom of the leg, but these lines are the man's "boo boos". We were at the doctor afterall.

And today he was being such a good helper. He helped empty the dish washer.

He put all the silverware away all by himself. And it looked like this!!!

Perfectly alligned. He's amazing! But where did he come from?

And here is his 5 year Birthday interview.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Truck driver with car carrier and a doctor and a car driver and a truck with packages and a loader loading up a truck... that’s it

Favorite food?

Peach and apple, cupcake, and pancake and blueberry and that’s it.

Favorite thing about our family?

Going to Hershey park, the circle ride with the cows that say cheese. (Chocolate World)

What makes you laugh? Silly faces

one thing you would like to get better at? swimming

What is your favorite part of the day? God

If you had to eat the same food for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a week, what would it be? Blueberry pie

What bugs you most? (annoys you?) hitting

How tall do you think you will be one day? Like you

Whose job is harder, Mom’s or Dad’s? Dad’s job

Favorite game? Flying paper airplanes at my party

Favorite candy: chocolate milk and Hershey kisses and it’s M&Ms too

Favorite animal: tiger

Favorite color: black

Best vacation: the one that did not have the waves

Least favorite thing to do: hitting

Saver or spender? Spend my money

My friends are: the people at my party

People bug me that: bugs

What do you think about turning 5? good

William is getting interested in sign language

Today he asked how to sign "hungry" and then....want, dog, and food.

We also looked up the alphabet and practiced the first three letters.

He just told me "Mamma, I'm hungry (sign) for alphabet (sign) soup"

Amazing!! : )

Reading-singing baby baluga with goggles on.

This message has been sent using the picture and Video service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.

Le Cordon Bleu

Hey, a friend of mine is starting classes at Le Cordon Bleu. She is also starting up a "Community Supported Baking" program. If you live in or near the Hudson area, check her out here for good prices on yummy breads and occassionally some fancy deserts as she practices her developing skill. You'll also be getting the first tastes of her delicacies before she even opens the doors of her World Famous Bakery and Pastry Shop!! I so wish I lived closer!!!!!

I was reminded today of the time...

...when Jon fed Wm a container of freezer jam instead of vegetables. Both containers were unlabeled, both orange-ish. And I had used kid type containers to freeze some jam. When we figured it all out Jon said, "Well, no wonder he ate so well and then was a little cranky about an hour later." : ) That was over 4 years ago. I've learned to label and use appropriate containers.

More Than Three Dollars

This article really caught my attention. How far are we willing to go?

I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don’t want enough of God to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation. I want warmth of the womb, not a new birth, I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please. ~ Wilbur Rees

Driving home one afternoon, I heard someone reading The Beatitudes in Matthew 5 on my car radio. As I crossed the Caney River bridge the radio announcer stopped reading at verse 9, leaving out the blessings from persecution in verses 10-12. I felt like I had been robbed. Sometime later my pastor, Joe Colaw, read us a poem written by Wilbur Rees entitled “Three Dollars Worth of God.”

Wilbur Rees’ line, “not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep,” reminds me of an e-mail we received from a reader, disturbed that his children had seen the photo on our newsletter cover of Namrata, the Indian girl whose face was burned by Hindu radicals. Although we also showed her healed face and printed her victorious story, this reader wrote, “I have two small children at home who see the mail and they do not understand this … it will be difficult for me to continue to support you if this is what I can expect. ...We do not need this kind of cheap, graphic, emotionally-driven visual ploy to get us involved … If you do not want my support, then simply let me know you plan to continue with this kind of marketing.”

The same day we received an e-mail from another family whose children were affected differently by the same photograph.

“We received the April edition in the mail today. Our five-year-old son, Gideon, saw the little girl on the front of the magazine with her many burns…Gideon had an eventful night because of seeing it laying on our table top. He and Benjamin (our three-year-old) brought it to us and asked us what had happened to her. So I told him, ‘Well, … (big sigh) … this little girl is 10 years old. And she loves Jesus. But where she lives in her country they don’t think it is ok to love Jesus. So when the other people found out that she was a “Christian” (and I told him what that means) they tried to hurt her.’ We later on prayed before bed … and he said, ‘I think God still wants me to be a missionary doctor … because I could go help these people who love him and get punished for it!”

“We reassured him that if God does want him to do this it would be very important … and even if God didn’t want him to do this … his job would still be important because he could pray for the persecuted (and we told him what that meant too). He was very open to the idea of praying, for them … and praying for his future, too, regarding what he feels God wants him to do!

“We hope this blesses your day! Thank you for all you do for those who are persecuted, and for those of us who are praying and listening to God’s will for our lives … even at the age of five!”

Our newsletter is for adults. (We have a children’s version published quarterly.) It is up to each family to decide how, if at all, to share portions of our monthly newsletter with their children.

Perhaps how we view published images of persecuted Christians – some consider them to be too graphic, in poor taste or sensational journalism, while others see an opportunity for fellowship and love – could depend upon how much of the cross we have been taught to carry. Three dollars worth of the cross does not include the sharp emotions of grief and pain. We can starve ourselves, our congregation and our Christian denominations if our sackful of God is too small.

I thank God for my mother who taught me about suffering for Christ through stories and illustrations before I went to junior high. I realized that our faith does not guarantee us a pain-free world. I learned at an early age that our faith will carry us through bad things which will someday work together for our good.

Tom White, Director of Voice of the Martyrs, August 2009

Right now...

Callie is in the bathroom, admiring herself in the mirror and reciting, "I praise God .... because .... He .... made .... me .... WONDERFUL!".

William is, in his own words, using a deep man voice, "I'm setting these up, these are the tiles, and they'll be over here, and this will be your new house."....been watching some "building shows" I take it. The "tiles" are many of his cars and trucks lined up on the coffee table.

Callie's new beauty routine

Callie's new thing is to go in the bathroom, fill the sink with water, splash some on her hair (and the floor) and dry it (her hair not the floor) with a towel. She then walks around with her wet scraggly uncombed hair and says, "Look at me, I'm beaauutiful". Today, William got in on it and after she said, "Look at me" he said, "You're beautiful". Good brother. Also, today, she put on a princess dress. She is beautiful.

With this post, start down at the third dog pic and work your way up.

Wm blissfully playing in the sprinkler

Cal not liking the stink.

Oh no good dog is joining the stink

Our crazy dog wanting to escape after rolling in the stink that the pool created.

Our sweet good dog resting in the shade

Chhh....Callie is cooking hibachi for us.

Callie hung her flip flops on the boot dryer. Must be their new home.

Trapped

Today at our church was the funeral for a young man who died after a 6 year battle with cancer. He was only 38. When I care for cancer patients, particularly young ones, I often wonder how it would feel to live every moment in a body that is literally fighting against itself, slowly destroying itself, and to have no power to do anything about it except wait. Here is what Rod, the man now cancer free and residing in heaven, told Vernon, our visitation pastor, last week. He told him that he felt trapped in his own body. I praise God that now Rod is free. Not trapped in his deteriorating body. He fought a very good fight. He never looked run down or weak or discouraged when I saw him at church. Just joyful and energetic. Enjoying every moment. I know he had his rough moments (I cared for him during one), but he was an inspirational example even then. My heart breaks for his wife and two young girls.

Beebe medical center pic just for you, debby. We passed it but we haven't had to visit it yet.