Poor Kerzon... Curzon.... whatever...

Somehow he hurt his tail! So now it's limp from the middle on out... I still have to make an appointment for him to check it out. He looks so pathetic, but it has mellowed him out quite a bit. Kinda nice, but don't tell him I said so...

Kiera and Ziva

Just a little overwhelmed...

The rental is almost done. I feel good about it... what I don't feel good about is the fact that when we spend all our free time up there, we don't get to work on our house at all. Even though I confessed to being a messy a couple of weeks ago, I have yet to make any significant progress because I'm so busy up there!

There. I let it out. So, if you come over, please comment on how great the rental looks and ignore how many weeds there are and the jungle they are creating. And how I haven't yet picked my corn... And all the crowded shelf space... At least I'm not terribly behind on the laundry.

But we listed it today. Finally. Now just prayers for wisdom and the right neighbors for us. :-) One day at a time. And sometimes, 5 minutes at a time.

A Sweet Revelation...

Do you know what Isaac means? Do you know what kind of baby we have?

I have known that Isaac means "he laughs" or "laughing one" forever... I mean, it's right there in scripture! But the sudden revelation that we named our happy little laughing baby "he laughs" just hit me yesterday, and brought tears to my eyes...

He is such a blessing :-)

Clarification!!!

I've really enjoyed reading your comments and thoughts on Facebook vs. Blogs. The funny thing is that I never intended to give up my blog! I agree that there is just way too much I can do here that I can't do on Facebook, especially personalizing it. I never did like MySpace, so that wasn't an issue. It was way too hard to read people's pages with all the interference and distractions.

My desire is to be able to talk to more people... mainly the group who isn't going to take the time to visit here... like old highschool friends, youth group kids, and others from church or work.

So don't worry! I'm not going anywhere :-)

So I like my blog... but

How many of you think I should get on Facebook?

If I do, the requirement I put before you is to make sure you tell me if you think I am on there too much. I don't want it to be a distraction and further temptation to steal time away from my kids. But I do like how you can network so much more than waiting for people to comment...! I need accountability partners here people... any volunteers? The bad part is that you have to be on there too if you're gonna keep tabs on me!

Edited to add: And I have to make sure it's ok with Gabe. I know he has some security concerns on there.. that's why his name is a little "off." Mine might be too... :-)

Just a few pics from summer camp...

These were from another person's camera, sorry they're so blue, but I thought they were too cute not to share!

Kiera coloring with Helen (our pastor's wife)
Beautiful Girls

Momma and Isaac

More to come, I promise, but it takes so long :-) So you just get a few at a time....

So Relieved...

I am so glad tonight is done. It was inventory tonight at work, and this makes three days working in a row. Warning... TMI... That's a lot of pumping...

But cool news- the gal I had the priviledge of praying for THANKED ME for yesterday. This is huge news because she's the type of person who will just rebuild the shell and hide the emotions away. Plus I left her a letter last night with some stuff I felt she needed to know- like not to be afraid of the pain of letting Him heal her heart, and not to be embarassed because we all have stuff that hurts, so I understand! I am thrilled that she didn't put up a wall yet :-) I am PRAYING that she will come to church tomorrow. I told her I was saving her a seat!

Breathing a sigh of relief that today is done... and praying for strength for tomorrow.

Awesome afternoon at work...

I don't know if I've mentioned it here or not, and I'm not going to take the time to look :-) Often my prayer is that God will just make me into someone He can use for His glory, because I feel like I mess up what I'm trying to say, or don't say anything at all... all around don't fit in well with His plans.

But today I definitely had the blessed opportunity to minister to someone. The crazy thing is that it wasn't even the person that I've felt led to pray for for the last several months. But we were talking, and got onto spiritual stuff (she's saved), and she really shared some deep, raw pain that she struggles with. I was so honored that she would share with me. I prayed for her (right there at work! Can you believe it?) and did my best to speak truth and be encouraging. I am excited for her because when you invite Him to work, HE NEVER FAILS! His name is FAITHFUL and TRUE, and I can't wait to see what He does in her heart.

Thank you Father, for answering my prayer to be used for Your Glory, and for the amazing opportunity to speak Your Truth into Your daughter's life. I pray that she stays open for what You have for her, and that she doesn't run from growth but walks in obedience. You are Awesome Father. I thank you for allowing us to be involved in Your Kingdom work. Amen.

Co-op!

Tonight I went with Brooke to register the kiddos for CCHC- in short, Christian homeschool co-op! I am very excited for them, as well as for myself, as this will be a great way to network with other homeschool families. It's hard to believe the summer is winding down, and I am learning that the new Thurs-Fri work schedule is cutting into more activities than I had anticipated. But that's ok. Hopefully Gabe and Rennea can take care of AWANA, and since Gabe and I were considering leading a bible study anyway, I wasn't planning on participating in the women's group at church. It's feels odd though, thinking about our new routine. Almost a little panicky, I'll admit. But I'm sure it will all be fine. Positive thinking, right??? :-)

Not even kidding....

It's almost 9:30pm... I am sitting here at the computer, with a little worm in my arms. Is worm the right description? Maybe more nlike a monkey, and I ms am just going to stop correcting my mistakes. Every one of his limbs i s moving 90 miles an hour, in addition to his head. He 's' cooing ath t at the computer... and i'm wondeirn g whe n this little fal fella is going to fall asleep! and now my hadn is wet with dorolll... oi. I lov ehim so much. his little voice, sometimes his beig bvoivce he's like a litle dinosausr. :-)and his nonstop moving when he's awa,ke. plya hard sleep hard, nad make momma not be able to tyep worht beans. :-)

our little isaac
what a blesising he is.

Back to Life...

Things just never slow down! Now that the jam-packed weekend is over, we are back to trying to get the rental finished up and ready for new tenants.

Good news- Yesterday Melia and I went to the Dr to get her hearing checked and stuttering considered. They think she is just fine, although because of her "easily distracted" personality, we may get her rechecked in 6-12 months.

After the appointment, since it took much less time that I had planned, Melia and I made a quick run to Albies to utitilize the doublers that came in this weekend's paper :-) We did amazingly well- In three transactions, we spent $33.45 oop, got back $8 in catalinas, and will receive back $30 in rebates! So, we basically got all this food and more for free! (The cold stuff was already put away when Gabe decided to make a tower...Yes, it ended up being 17 boxes of cereal!!!)

Oh, and don't tell them, but the sugary cereal is for mom and dad! They love their frosted shredded wheat!

Profound Quote from Church yesterday...

"It's not how long you live for the Lord,

but how you long to live for Him."

Ken Anderson

Valley Community Church

August 16, 2009

We're Back!

Lots to share, along with some fabulous pics... I love summer camp. God never fails, especially when you invite Him to work in your life, open to what He has in store. He really suprised me this year.

More later :-)

Off To Summer Camp!

Adios for a week or so! We are so very blessed to be able to help work at our church's youth summer camp. Please keep us in your prayers- for health, safety, traveling mercies, patience, and most of all for God to work a MIGHTY work in All our lives, showing His Glory and transforming our lives into vessels to further advance His Kingdom! The theme is "Unveiled: Revealing the Glory of Christ."


In the meantime, here's more fun pics :-)

Isaac's New Best Friend

He's a thumbsucker, just like his momma :-)

Ok, You Tell ME!

Would you take your family swimming in a river that people are drowning in almost yearly?
Hmmm?

This afternoon I went up to pick up the girls from camping, and I drove up Tumwater Canyon. The Wenatchee river as it flows down Tumwater is very dangerous- and literally almost every year something so tragic happens... I also happened to notice that a certain area that is normally very calm was rushing and scary looking... so there's a lot of water running through.

And YET! I saw at least 5 groups of people in their bathing suits, and some even had tubes. How many kids have to die? What kind of enforcement do we need up there to keep people from losing their life? What do you think? How do you remind people that "Hey, a teen died here last year, and a couple the year before that, and a toddler before that...." and maybe you shouldn't swim here with your children!!!

I'm a Messy

Last night, as I was painting trim and Gabe was laying sticky tiles, we were listening to Positive Life radio... I don't know why, as I think we both prefer KLOVE, but I digress.... I do miss that Focus on the Family and Family Life Today are on PLR but not KLOVE....

Anyway, Focus on the Family was on, and the guest was Sandra Felton. She was talking about Cleanies and Messies, and lights were blazing on all over my brain. I finally felt freedom to call myself a messy and not have to apologize for it! I knew Gabe was, but I had always felt that inside I was a cleany because I always am trying to get somewhere with the mess and have that constant additional pressure because our house is cluttered. But she used lovely words like "perfectionist," and "drowning" and "overwhelmed" that I so completely identified with! And I loved that she said that a messy wife who is married to a messy husband is harder than a messy wife married to a cleany husband! That the problem is still there, it's just compounded! Amen!!! HA!

Somehow, I am going to read her book, or two or three... and we are going to make progress so my internal stress level goes down and I won't be embarassed everytime someone comes to our house.
(And yes, Brooke, I think her methods are similar to FlyLady... But this time I have a husband behind me who listened to the broadcast too, so he will be encouraging me!)