Sweet Cheeks!

Oh to be young and your only care in the world is whether or not your siblings are getting to do something fun that you are missing out on. What a joy to not have to worry about the fact that your swimsuit keeps riding up exposing half of your bum!

The kids and I had a great time at the Lake on Friday! The weather was perfect! Once we were there, I realized that my poor kids had not been to a pool or lake all summer for some real swimming because we have so busy. They made up for lost time! Even Abi decided that she was a little fish and loved the water. She took MANY near spills into the water off of this pier. Perhaps I should have let her fall in just once, because she had no healthy fear of coming too close to the edge and taking a spill. But I didn't.

Abi's swimsuit just would not stay in place, so she walked around most of the day showing off at least one sweet cheek. So, I just had to take a picture - she's gonna hate me when she's a bit older!

Mind overload!

My brain is full! Ever have those days? I was up until 2am last night (well, really this morning) researching microwaves for the new house. I really love the fact that our builder is so open to letting us choose anything we want for our house - no limitations. But, that being said, I am starting to feel overwhelmed by all the choices that have to be made. I have already looked at appliances and have already chosen some - THEN I got the prices. The builder doesn't get as big of a discount as we had hoped. :( So, last night I talked poor dh into looking at appliances. I spent a good part of yesterday afternoon and then again late evening searching for advice on the net. I found some wonderful forums with very knowledgeable folks, but they all have kitchens filled with the best commercial appliances money can buy. *I* on the other hand, live in a different world. A world of four kids who help in the kitchen and budgets. I usually cook 3 meals every day for a family of six. I need appliances that are good, sturdy, dependable, fast, and easy to clean. No matter what type of appliance you are looking at, there are literally hundreds to choose from. I am finding that Consumer Reports only does a mediocre job of covering what is out there.

Once again, I pray to God for WISDOM. I know that I need to give this a rest and let God lead us in each of our choices. Today, the kids and I are traveling to a friend's lake cottage. My whole mom's bible study group and their children are invited. I am looking forward to relaxing and chatting with friends that I haven't gotten to do so with in months (we don't meet in the summer).

Even though the picture above has absolutely nothing to do with today's whiney blog, I added it because a blog without a view seemed kind of boring. This is a picture of my daughter, Anna, holding the lion's head drinking fountain at our local zoo on for my son, Patrick. A snapshot of summer!!!

My daughter, Elizabeth, was inspired to begin her own photo blog. So, I have helped her set one up. She has many favorite photos that she wants to post and perhaps this will keep her motivated to use the camera daily. She has said for years that she wishes to be a professional photographer.

Wanted!

Isn't this fun? I saw this on Carrie Stephen's blog (http://www.carries.typepad.com/) and had to try it for myself.

Make your Own Wanted Poster

After the Storm

I created this page using the same text that I wrote in my blog: After the Storm

I started with a photo of the sky that I took for the background but ended up covering most of it up. The photo of the dominoes is from stock exchange but with the lighting on it tweaked. The photo of the candles is from Mo Jackson's Cottage set and the checkerboards, nails and dominoes are from Mo's Michael set (available from her website www.mojackson.com).

Inspiration: I stumbled upon a link to this photo blog several weeks ago. I find it totally inspiring! Her photos document the simple beauty of her surrounding countryside. Of course, her photo editing is certainly brings it out! Shared this with my wanna-be-a-photographer daughter last night and got her hooked on it, as well. Now, SHE wants her own photo blog!

Can you say "camera envy?" My husband and I went out Saturday night to dinner and then a movie. We had a little time to kill after dinner before the movie, so we decided to pop over to Best Buy and see what kind of digital cameras they have. Oh, and they had our dream camera, the Canon EOS 20D. Although I have read much about these beauties and have seen the amazing photos taken with them, I had never actaully HELD one. Yeah, I want one! But alas, I had to hand it back to the salesperson and walk away. Maybe someday!

Happy Anniversary - to my sweetheart!

"Direct my Footsteps...

...according to your Word;
let no sin rule over me." Psalm 119:133

I thought that this photo my daughter, Elizabeth, took was perfect to go along with this verse. I played with the colors a bit in Photoshop to achieve this look on it then combined it with digital papers from Doris Castle's Nature paper stack (www.scrapbook-elements.com). I may frame this and give to my daughter for her new bedroom.

Run to Win!

I was reviewing some memory verses yesterday and when I got to this one, these pictures instantly popped into my mind. So I scrapped them! This verse has special meaning for me which I wrote about here: http://trishs.blogspot.com/2005/05/running-my-race.html
The pictures were taken this past Memorial Day with our family. Yes, we were having races! The main photo is actually two pictures I blended together. On all of the photos, I used Nik Color Effects plug-in. I believe the setting is called Violet Morning.

The little prize graphics under "RUN" are a bottle cap and ribbon (that I trimmed) from Doris Castle's Color Me Happy set. The colors were perfect!

Brag alert! My two oldest daughters and I all entered this photo contest. (See link above). I was just thinking the other day about this and wondering when the winners were to be announced. Yesterday, there was a message on the answering machine from our aunt congratulating the girls. Upon investigating, I discovered that Anna, my 8 year old, placed second and Elizabeth, my oldest, placed third. Me - I didn't place at all . I do wonder what sibling rivalry this will bring about. Elizabeth is the one who is determined to be a photographer while Anna is determined to be an artist. I know I have heard her say that Anna could never outdo her. What a nice helping of humble pie!

A little scrappin'....

Things have felt stressful lately, so for my sanity, I have stolen a few moments here and there to do a little scrappin'.
Since this is 4-H fair week, I did my first 4-H layout of the year about Elizabeth's Foods project.
The journaling reads:
After several attempts at white cake, I suggested that Elizabeth make a chocolate cake for her Foods judging. That way if our quirky oven browned the edges a bit, it wouldn’t show. We found a well rated recipe at http://www.allrecipes.com/ and her first attempt was a keeper. The judge loved it and asked her lots of questions about her baking techniques. She gave her a blue ribbon and may have even set her aside for honors had it not been for the mysterious air bubbles in her cake that no one seems to know how to get rid of. We are so proud of the excellent job she did!

This was created using Mo Jackson's lovely orphans available at her site this week. (www.mojackson.com) In addition to that, I used a few things from her Annie's scrapbox kit, as well. (Cream background, buttons and alpha). I actually scanned my daughter's recipe card that she filled out for the project and placed it in Mo's recipe box. The label text is an exact copy her project label just retyped on Mo's cute label.

Just had to scrap this cute picture! I used Doris Castle's Sun and Sand kit (available at www.scrapbook-elements.com) to create this. Love how he striped paper looks like my MIL's shirt!

Meeting

The beautiful little lady being held on the left is my husband's first cousin once removed, Olivia. (I think - she's my husband's cousin's daughter.) We attended a baby shower in her honor yesterday. She is about 7 weeks old and pretty sweet. If I have this right, that is her Great Grandpa Paul holding her. The handsome young man on the left is my nephew, Henry. He is 3 weeks old and being held by his Grandma Mary (my mother-in-law). Olivia has traveled all the way from Japan this week and is visiting family and friends with her mom and dad. We are so happy that we got this chance to meet her. She and her parents are in the process of moving from Japan to Colorado, so this little lady has already accumulated almost enough frequent flyers miles to earn a free flight!

What a Weekend!

This week is the county 4-H fair which means that this past weekend was when all of the children's projects were due. Every year, I say that we are not going to procrastinate, but every year, we are down to the very last minutes getting projects completed. My poor 11 year old daughter, Elizabeth (pictured here) was up until 2am both Friday and Saturday nights to get her things done. Just assembling the posters seemed to take forever! It was worth it, though! Elizabeth got Champion for her Child Development project (pictured here) and she gets to take it to the state fair. Can you see that snazzy photoshop work on those pictures on her poster? I taught her how to colorize her photos so they are back and white and only the playdough was in color. I think that may have been what really impressed the judge. She also got Reserve Champion for her Beginner Black and White Photography, Honors for her Beginner Color Photography, and Blue ribbons for both her Basic Craft and Foods projects. We were not able to hang around yesterday for her Cake Decorating to be judged so she doesn't know those results yet. That's because my mother-in-law was throwing a baby shower for an out of town cousin. Besides attending this, Elizabeth and I were commissioned to decorate the double sheet cake for it. Because of our busy schedule this weekend, that cake was not completed until Saturday night at 10pm and then Elizabeth needed to decorate her cake for her 4-H project. Not the ideal timing, but what can you do?

Elizabeth wasn't the only one entering projects this year. My 8 year old, Anna, completed two projects in the Mini division. She entered some artwork in Mini Crafts and some clay sculptures in Mini Models. Mini projects are not judged and merely get a participation ribbon. She can't wait until next year when she is old enough to do some "real" projects. My 3 year old, Patrick, is old enough to be classified as a Cloverbud 4-Her and even entered some of his play dough pieces. Kinda fun!

Now, we can relax a bit and clean up our messy house from all these projects!

Check out this amazing photo taken by the Hubble telescope! It is of the star Fomalhaut which is one of our closest neighboring stars. To quote the article above:

"NASA astronomers unveiled the image June 22, describing it as the most detailed picture ever taken of the nearby star using visible light. The cloud's distinctive cat's-eye shape, astronomers said, is evidence that at least one small planet is orbiting Fomalhaut. Though it can't be seen in the picture, researchers suspect the planet is there because of its gravitational calling card: The oval shape and sharp inner edge of Fomalhaut's halo are signs that a planet is "sweeping" through the dust and gas."

Do you feel like you are being watched? It actually reminds me of the Eye of Sauron in the "Lord of the Rings."

Anna & Patrick

This is a photo of my two middle children, Anna and Patrick. They are sitting on the back porch of our new, under construction home - hence the plywood in the background. Just thought the photo captured a sweet spontaneous moment. Love that!

I used Doris Castle's Garden Bouquet digital quickpage for this. Totally quick and easy! I added their names for the title using Doris' Chalked cards for their initials. (Both available at www.scrapbook-elements.com) The font is Caslon Oldstyle.

Interesting Facts

....about the bible:

Total Chapters in the Bible -- 1189.
Centre Chapter -- Psalms 118.
Chapters before Psalm 118 -- 594 Chapters.
Chapters after Psalm 118 -- 594 Chapters.
Add the Chapters up --1188 (594+594)+1(Centre Chapter)=1189.
Centre Verse -- Psalms 118:8.
Psalm 118:8 -- It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.

BIBLE FACTS:
The system of chapters was introduced in A.D. 1238 by Cardinal Hugo de S. Caro, while the verse notations were added in 1551 by Robertus Stephanus, after the advent of printing.

A Bible in the University of Gottingen is written on 2,470 palm leaves.

According to statistics from Wycliffe International, the Society of Gideons, and the International Bible Society, the number of new Bibles that are sold, given away, or otherwise distributed in the United States is about 168,000 per day.

The Bible can be read aloud in 70 hours.

There are 8,674 different Hebrew words in the Bible, 5,624 different Greek words, and 12,143 different English words in the King James Version.

A number of verses in the Bible (KJV) contain all but 1 letter of the alphabet:
Ezra 7:21 contains all but the letter J
Joshua 7:24, 1 Kings 1:9, 1 Chronicles 12:40, 2 Chronicles 36:10,Ezekiel 28:13, Daniel 4:37, and Haggai 1:1 contain all but q;
2 Kings16:15 and 1 Chronicles 4:10 contain all but ZGalatians 1:14 contains all but K

The 8th, 15th, 21st, and 31st verses of the 107th Psalm are alike.

Each verse of the 136th Psalm ends alike.

The 37th chapter of Isaiah and the 19th chapter of II Kings are alike.

The name of God is not mentioned in the Book of Esther.

BIBLE STATISTICS:
Number of promises given in the Bible: 1,260
Commands: 6,468
Predictions: over 8,000
Fulfilled prophecy: 3,268 verses
Unfulfilled prophecy: 3,140
Number of questions: 3,294
Longest name: Mahershalalhashbaz (Isaiah 8:1)
Longest verse: Esther 8:9 (78 words)
Shortest verse: John 11:35 (2 words: "Jesus wept").
Shortest chapter (by number of words): Psalm 117
Longest book: Psalms (150 chapters)
Shortest book (by number of words): 3 John
Longest chapter: Psalm 119 (176 verses)
Number of times the word "God" appears: 3,358 ((this isn't accountingfor "Adonai", "YHWH", and "Elohim" -- Matt))
Number of times the word "Lord" appears: 7,736 ((same here))
Number of different authors: 40
Number of languages the Bible has been translated into: over 1,200

OLD TESTAMENT STATISTICS:
Number of books: 39
Chapters: 929
Verses: 23,114
Words: 602,585
Letters: 2,278,100
Middle book: Proverbs
Middle chapter: Job 20
Middle verses: 2 Chronicles 20:17,18
Smallest book: Obadiah
Shortest verse: 1 Chronicles 1:25
Longest verse: Esther 8:9
Longest chapter: Psalms 119
Largest book: Psalms

NEW TESTAMENT STATISTICS:
Number of books: 27
Chapters: 260
Verses: 7,957
Words: 180,552
Letters: 838,380
Middle book: 2 Thessalonians
Middle chapters: Romans 8, 9
Middle verse: Acts 27:17
Smallest book: 3 John
Shortest verse: John 11:35
Longest verse: Revelation 20:4
Longest chapter: Luke 1
Largest book: Luke

Beliefs
* In 2005 45% of all adults agreed strongly that the Bible istotally accurate in all of its teachings compared with 42% in 2002 and35% in 1991.
* 11% of born again Christians disagree that "the Bible is totallyaccurate in all of its teachings." (2005)
* A majority of both women (66%) and men (59%) believe that theBible is totally accurate in all of its teachings. (2005)
* Belief that the Bible is totally accurate in all of itsteachings by generation: Mosaics 64%, Busters 62%, Boomers 61%, Elders65%. (2005)
* 54% of those who attended high school or less believe that theBible is totally accurate in all of its teachings compared with 35% ofthose who have graduated from college. (2005)
* 36% of adults living in the Northeast strongly affirm that thebible is accurate in all of its teachings versus 59% of those in theSouth. (2005)
* Blacks (80%) are the group most likely to believe that the Bibleis totally accurate in all of its teachings compared with 67% ofHispanics, 60% of whites and 44% of Asians. (2005)
* A strong majority of Republicans (72%) and Democrats (64%)believe that the bible is totally accurate in all of its teachings.(2004) Knowledge
* Three-quarters of Americans (75%) believe that the Bible teaches that God helps those who help themselves. (2000) Readership
* Bible Reading During A Typical Week By Year 1988- 36%; 1991-45%; 1992- 47%; 1993- 34%; 1994- 37%; 1995-31% ; 1996 34% 1997-36%;1999- 34%; 2000- 40%; 2001 - 37% 2002-42%; 2004-44%; 2005-45%
* 88% of evangelical Christians have read the Bible in the pastseven days. (2005)
* Women (50%) are more likely than are men (39%) to have read theBible in the past week. (2005) Women 2002-46%; 2000- 46%; 1997-38%;1993-40%; Men-2002-37%; 2000-35%; 1997-34%; 1993-28%
* Nearly seven out of ten born again Christians (67%) have readthe Bible in the past week, compared to 34% of those who adhere to anon-Christian faith. (2004)
* 59% of Protestants have read the Bible in the past week versus28% of Catholics (25%) (2004)
* Bible reading during a typical week drops as age drops: 53% ofElders (Builders and Seniors); 47% of Boomers; and 39% of Busters and33% of Mosaics read the Bible in a typical week. (2005)
* An estimated 75 million adults (42%) said that reading the Bibleis very important to them. (1997)
* Blacks (64%) are the ethnic group most likely to have read theBible in the past week, follwed by Hispanics (38%), whites (44%), andAsians (25%). (2005)
* Bible reading by adults during the week by region-Northeast 34%;South 52%; Midwest 42%; West 47%. (2005)
* The percent of adults in California, Oregon, and Washington thatread the Bible during the past week (other than while at church), hasrisen from 29% in 1994 to 44% in 2004. (
from http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=Topic&TopicID=7)

10 Old Testament Books Most Referred to in the New Testament
* Isaiah, referred to 419 times in 23 New Testament books
* Psalms, 414 times in 23 books
* Genesis, 260 times in 21 books
* Exodus, 250 times in 19 books
* Deuteronomy, 208 times in 21 books
* Ezekiel, 141 times in 15 books
* Daniel, 133 times in 17 books
* Jeremiah, 125 times in 17 books
* Leviticus, 107 times in 15 books
* Numbers, 73 times in 4 books

10 New Testament Books Containing Material from the Greatest Number of Old Testament Books
* Revelation, material from 32 Old Testament Books
* Luke, 31
* John, 26
* Acts, 25
* Mark, 24
* Romans, 23
* Hebrews, 21
* 1 Corinthians, 18
* James, 17
* 1 Peter,

15 Most Mentioned Men in the Bible
* David, mentioned 1118 times
* Moses, 740
* Aaron, 339
* Saul, 338
* Abraham, 306
* Soloman, 295
* Jacob, 270
* Joseph, 208
* Joshua, 197
* Paul, 185
* Peter, 166
* Joab, 137
* Jeremiah, 136
* Samuel, 135
* Isaac, 127
* Jesus, of course, is mentioned more than anyone else in the Scriptures

10 Old Testament Verses Most Frequently Cited in the New Testament
* Psalm 110:1 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my righthand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. - quoted 18 times
* Matt. 22:44, 26:64, Mark 12:36, 14:62, 16:19, Luke 20:42-43,22:69, Acts 2:34-35, Rom. 8:34, 1 Cor. 15:25, Eph. 1:20, Col. 3:1,Heb.1:3, 13, 8:1, 10:12-13, 12:2
* Ezekiel 1:26-28 And above the firmament that was over theirheads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphirestone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as theappearance of a man above upon it. 27 And I saw as the colour ofamber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from theappearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of hisloins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and ithad brightness round about. 28 As the appearance of the bow that is inthe cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightnessround about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory ofthe LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voiceof one that spake. - quoted 12 times
* Rev. 4:2-3, 9-10; 5:1, 7, 13; 6:16, 7:10, 15, 19:14, 21:5
* Daniel 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the greatprince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shallbe a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation evento that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered,every one that shall be found written in the book. - quoted 11 times
* Matt. 24:21, Mark 13:19, Phil. 4:3, Jude 9, Rev. 3:5, 7:14,12:7, 13:8, 16:18, 17:18, 20:12
* Isaiah 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lordsitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled thetemple. - quoted 11 times
* Rev. 4:2, 9-10, 5:1, 7, 13, 6:16, 7:10, 15, 19:4, 21:5
* 2 Chronicles 18:18 Again he said, Therefore hear the word of theLORD; I saw the LORD sitting upon his throne, and all the host ofheaven standing on his right hand and on his left.; Psalms 47:8 Godreigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of hisholiness. ; and 1 Kings 22:19 And he said, Hear thou therefore theword of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all thehost of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. -each quoted 11 times * Rev. 4:2, 9-10, 5:1, 7, 13, 6:16, 7:10, 15, 19:4, 21:5
* Psalms 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said untome, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. - quoted 10 times
* Matt. 3:17, 17:5, Mark 1:11, 9:7, Luke 1:49, Acts 13:33,Heb.1:5, 5:5
* Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet heopened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and asa sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. -quoted 10 times
* Matt. 26:63, Mark 27:12, 14, Mark 14:60-61, 15:4-5, 1Cor. 5:7, 1Peter 2:23, Rev. 5:6, 12, 13:8
* Amos 3:13 Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith theLord GOD, the God of hosts, - quoted 10 times
* Rev. 1:8, 4:8, 13, 11:17, 15:3, 16:7, 14, 19:6, 15, 21:22
* Amos 4:13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createththe wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh themorning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, TheLORD, The God of hosts, is his name. - quoted 10 times
* 2 Cor. 6:18, Rev. 1:8, 4:8, 11:17, 15:3, 16:7, 14, 19:6, 15, 21:22
* Leviticus 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudgeagainst the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbouras thyself: I am the LORD. - quoted 10 times
* Matt. 5:43, 19:19, 22:39, Mark 12.31, 33, Luke 10:27, Rom.12:19, 13:19, Gal. 5:14, James 2:8 (from http://www.havenfwbchurch.org/biblstat.htm)

Of the 6,809 languages on earth… (as of December 2003)
405 Languages with adequate whole Bible
1034 Languages with adequate New Testament
864 Languages with at least one book of Scripture
1,410 Translation programs in progress
4,147 Languages with no Scriptures
(from http://www.wycliffe.org/language/statistics.htm)

Probably more than you ever wanted to know! These were posted on the Bible Principles e-mail list by Dana, although she went back to say the the first part did not work in her bible and that she found out that it only works on one version. Just thought this was kinda interesting!

My Babies with their Babies

Baby DOLLS that is. Perhaps someday, I will have the joys of taking a similar photos of all my babies with their real babies, but for now they are in the baby DOLL season of life! I walked through the living room and the children begged for me to take their picture because each one of them had a baby doll in hand, even little Abi. It was a quick snapshot and not of the best quality, so I played with it a bit in Photoshop and used Dave's Midnight Sepia action on it. All the digital scrapbook elements here are from Doris Castle (www.castle-creations.com). I started with her Smile quickpage, but then wanted to add more goodies to it. Those are from her Posin' Pretty kit which matches it.

Water Shy

Here are some pictures of my littlest lady at the zoo last week. The journaling pretty much tells the story and it reads:
Traditionally, we end our weekly visit to the zoo at the frog pond where the kids can splash around and cool off. Although, her siblings didn’t hesitate a bit, Abi wasn’t too sure about getting in. When her big sister, Elizabeth tried to pick her up and stand her in the water, she lifted her feet as high as she could to avoid the water. Abigail did take one daring run through the water, but finally settled in along the side where she could just gingerly place her hands in.

I used Doris Castle's Sweet Bubble Gum digital scrapbook set to create this . Love the colors! The letters for "SHY" are from Doris' Hand Cut alpha with a pink color overlay applied to them. All of her items can be found at www.scrapbook-elements.com. The word "water" was created by me using the font called CK Letter Home with a bevel and emboss layer style applied to it in Photoshop.

Here's my "sparkling" Elizabeth a year ago! She is sparkling with her sparkler and her smile sparkles in more ways than one. Just because she is filled with genuine joy and because she is sporting her relatively new braces. I just love this photo and when I snagged these lovely Independence Day graphics from my friend, Mo's website (www.mojackson.com) called July orphans Part I, I couldn't wait to use them. So, last week I broke out last year's pictures from the 4th!

Happy Independence Day!!!

Here's a scrapbook page I did today celebrating the spirit of independence! The photos are from a couple months ago of my baby at the zoo discovering the joy of independence. We let her out of the wagon and she was off and didn't look back for a moment! When I took the top photo, I was thinking that it needed to be titled "Independence."

Although, it makes more work for me, I do enjoy seeing my daughter's independent spirit emerge.

Journaling reads:
On Abigail’s first trip to the zoo of the season at 16 months old - her first trip walking, she loved the adventure. She began our visit sitting contented in the wagon, but once we let her out to stretch her legs, there was no stopping her. She was truly one INDEPENDENT little lady!

All the goodies and doo dads used to create this are from my friend, Mo. The are available for free from her website, www.mojackson.com. They are too cute to pass up!

My Nephew

Here is an announcement slide that I created for my church to announce the birth of my nephew. Knowing the PowerPoint lady has its perks - you get your picture as well as your name on the big screen!

All of the lovely doo dads here were created by my friend Mo (www.mojackson.com).

"I wanna get the kitty."

THAT is what my 18 month old daughter just said to me. Just the other day I was feeling concerned about her still very limited vocabulary. This morning she pulled her little rocking chair up to the playpen that is set up here in the dining room and was trying to climb in. I told her not to do it and she said, "I wanna get the kitty." I turned around with a "What?!?" to discover that there is our little white kitty, Rosey, sleeping in the playpen. I'm blown away! Now, I am wondering how many other things she is really telling me that I just don't understand!

Obviously. I have been web surfing today - here's another link to prove it. This is a great page from Cindy Rushton, a wonderful Christian author and encourager. She has gathered here several links to encouraging articles. I just read through several and really enjoyed them so I thought that I would post this here.

Cloning Gone Wrong!

My husband just sent me this link and I got a kick out of it. Ya' gotta check it out! I suppose for me, not only is it amusing, but I have to look at it and wonder if I could do this in Photoshop, well. Perhaps I will try on a day where I don't have anything to do. Teehee - don't expect to see one of hese anytime soon! Ü

After the Storm

Last night as I was outside grilling our dinner, a storm started brewing. I snagged my meat off the grill just as the rain began. Normally, we love to watch storms from the comfort of my back porch, but this one was a doosey! Everything, on my porch was starting to blow away from the incredable winds. Because we are right next door to our new home that is being built, I watched helplessly as construction debris started to fly. I came inside to discover water streaming down the INSIDE of my big picture window as the rain and now hail was hitting it horizontally. I decided I had better shut down the computer, and missed watching the worst of the storm. I heard some terrible crashes, though.

When, the storm finally passed over, I stepped out to the view you see above. This lovely rainbow presided over my damaged barn and the toppled port-a-potty that USED to sit to the right of the barn. The kids' Step Two slide had been blown about 200 feet and had come apart, we lost a few limbs, and we had oodles of construction trash out our dumpster everywhere. The wind had amazingly picked up large sheets 4' X 8' sheets of plywood and tossed them way across our property. One piece was even ripped in two. One of our overhead power lines is not quite connected properly and is hanging down lower than it should. WE were lucky. My in-laws who live next door, lost most of the limbs out of two very large trees. It almost looks as if there was some type of wind shear that came through. The corn in the field across the road is literally flattened.

Our new home faired pretty well, although it did get pretty wet. There doesn't appear to be any structural damage, but a lot of rain blew in under the eaves so there was standing water on every floor. Our basment is equipped with sump pits to deal with ground water, but no pumps yet. So, after the rain settled into the ground our basement began to fill up. It was only a couple of inches, but our brand new furnace that was just delivered that day, was sitting in it. Barry put it up on some wood blocks and ran out to by a pump. He was gone nearly two hours.

Meanwhile, we lost power just as the sun was setting and the light was fading. We ate dinner, that fortunately was done just in time, by the light of one candle and then the kids and I trekked out to the barn to find our oil lamp. Then the two older girls went on a candle hunt in our basement and returned with my stash of scented jar candles. Our home was bathed in a soft warm glow of candlelight!

When the storm hit, Barry and the girls had run to town to rent a movie. They were really disappointed that movie night had to be cancelled due to our lack of power, so I promised them a game. We put a grumpy Abigail to bed and set the oil lamp on a low table and played dominoes until late in the evening. I think the kids consider our power outage a fun adventure.