More Yutes

Recently, the high schoolers had a Beach Night. They decorate the sanctuary, haul in sand for sand castle contests, and come in (modest) beach attire.


Some of them came dressed as pirates.
It looks like Zach (center) is making a weird face, but actually he's "Arrrrggghh" -ing me. Maybe you're not supposed to smile or laugh in the middle of an Arrrgggghhhh.

I didn't notice until just now that Matt (yellow shirt) had a wooden knife. That may further explain the expression on Zach's face! Oh, and the other guy? Crazy looking? Preacher's kid.

This is another Matt with a much milder Arrrggghh and expression.

This, believe it or not, is a Spanish professor at a local university! Actually, she's a jewel. She came to my house for years to tutor my children in Spanish and Algebra. Te amo mucho, professora Sarita!

Ok, now this is funny. Here's my Kelly with Stephen G. I noticed they were dressed alike, hollered out "Matching!" and demanded a picture. They were less than amused to discover they were dressed the same. . . . again.

See, Kelly had this concert shirt that she adored from a band called Five Iron Frenzy. Every time she would try to wear it to a church function, Stephen was wearing the exact same shirt. It got to where Kelly would bring the shirt in a bag, wait to see what Stephen had on, then put it on if the coast was clear. Where are your pink flowers, Stephen?

I'm not sure why this Zach is smiling. Maybe because he finally pilfered the keys from his Mom, is 16, and therefore close to driving? Perhaps he won the sandcastle contest? Or maybe he sampled every dessert in the baking contest and is on a massive sugar high? Frankly, this is one kid used to having his picture taken. His family returned from a vacation with nearly 5,000 photos!

Hey. . . wait a minute. . . those are MY keys he's holding!!!!

Home to a Mess

I was at a convention on Thursday and Friday, hence the lack of posts. I honestly don't know how some mothers work part time and home school. I brought my girls with me and the first day they did some school, but I don't think either one did school on Friday. I'm also behind in my Bible study and I have 16 papers to grade before Monday.

Still, the keynote speaker was Dr. Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis, so I'm definitely counting it as a school day for both girls! We were in the same room as the keynote sessions and his workshop lectures, so Kelly and Glenna heard it all.

Well, Glenna heard most of it. What she mainly heard was there's a booth with a yard-long stick of gum for free, a booth with breadsticks and pizza for free, and a booth with cookies, cheesecake, and Smartees for free. I made her scrub her teeth several times when she got home.

We also starved the first day. I forgot to bring some protein snacks, but Jan H. had some almonds with her. The goal was to eat a big breakfast, I'd spring for lunch, then we'd eat dinner when we came home. That was before I saw they wanted ten dollars for a burger platter. Ten dollars!!! That did not include a drink! Then they wanted six dollars for a hot dog. A hot dog! Six D-O-L-L-A-R-S!!! We ate like crazy when we got home instead.

I mentioned my Bible study earlier. For Phyllis in Russia, here's a some pictures of the ladies in my Bible study. :-) Notice anyone familiar?

(Jaan, Raia, and Asya's Grandma is in this photo) Sorry it's not a better photo!

This photo contains a pastor's wife, a survivor, an incredible servant, an English woman who is fluent in Hebrew, and a missionary.

Mary Ann B, now recovering from back surgery. Next to her is another crazy home school mom. Next to her, believe it or not, is another grandmother!

Jimmie thought this would be a bad picture of her because she was eating. I took care of the "bad" part for her, don't you think?

Dancing with Kate

For all of you who've asked, I've downloaded AVast anti-virus. It was free and recommended by one I highly respect (Don T). I also downloaded it AFTER I had the Angry Monkey pop up on my computer. I used to have McAffee, but it expired and I didn't want to pay for it again. Sadly, I let too much time go by before replacing it. The firewall was still working, but not the virus scan. It's funny, because every month it would suddenly "work" again, so I'd do a quick scan, but that stopped happening.

On to better subjects!

I love our high school youth. I love spending time with them, playing cards with them, and listening to them. I even love camping with them!

Every other Tuesday, a bunch of them go to a facility to play with children waiting to go into foster care. These are children who have been taken from their homes (hopefully for valid reasons and for their protection) and have not yet been placed into foster care or returned to their parents. We go down there and love on them, play with them, and listen to them.

The last time we were supposed to go, the place called and said almost all the children had head lice and ringworm! Our youth pastor rightfully nixed the play time, so we gave them two weeks to "clear up."

Instead, we hung out at the church together and waited for prayer time at 6:00. I hope to show some pictures these next few days of our teens! I wanted to start with one so dear to my heart, Kate the Great.

Kate was dancing in the high school room. There was no music, but that didn't matter! I tried to catch her, but alas, my camera is mostly good for taking pictures of rotting stucco and failing paint applications. (Notice I didn't say failing paint? It's rarely the paint's fault, after all.)

All right, hold it, let me test the camera. . . .

. . . arrrgh! Too slow! Let me try again.

Spots on the camera! I should have wiped the lens.

Believe it or not, she didn't have to hold this forever. I was getting the hang of it.

Lovely . . .


. . . and lovelier!

The Angry Monkey

When I claimed Himself's laptop as my own, I put my own wallpaper on the background and selected the "sounds" I wanted for certain activities on the computer. The "Nature" one sounded sweet, so I selected that one.

When I boot up the computer first thing, I'm greeted by the pleasant sound of birds as if they were greeting the sunrise.

When I shut my computer down, I hear the mournful call of the coyote, probably sad because I'm leaving for a while.

When the computer needs to ask me a question like whether to save the changes on my computer or not, I get the wise reminder of a hoot owl.

BUT . . . .

When there's a warning, like an attack on my computer or I've just done something that could have adverse consequences, I get the Angry Monkey.

What a screech! If the computer is turned up loudly (as it is every time the band comes over and they listen to other bands on line) it honestly scares the bejeebers out of me. I couldn't even show you or tell you what a "bejeeber" is because I don't have any left.

The stupid virus, popping up every ten minutes, has this sound. I've dubbed it The Angry Monkey Virus.

I thought if I unplugged the internet from my computer while I was working, it wouldn't keep popping up. Wrong. It's pretty firmly implanted and pops up like clockwork.

I can see I'm going to have to call in the big guns on this one. Have you any idea how annoying it is to have The Angry Monkey pop up in the middle of Dancing With the Stars? The girls and I watch it on line together and it pops up several times.

If anyone out there has any idea what I'm dealing with here, your input is welcome! I'll pay in chocolate, brownies, spaghetti dinners, or whatever suits you!

Grrrr. . . .

Downloaded a new virus scanner. I have this virus that keeps popping up on my computer and there's nothing I can do (so far) to get rid of it! I had Jeremy (from Evangelin) on the case and even he was stumped.

So far, it's only annoying.

It makes me so angry to know there's people in this world who invent these things to rob and annoy others. I want to stick my claws out and scratch them!

On a better note, the school room is almost ready for texture and painting! It could be as early as this weekend! As soon as the walls are painted, I'm moving things in. Himself and I can't wait!

Well, Well, Well . . .

. . . Look who put their second song up?

Paddy, I hope you can hear it this time!

I Guess You Can't Call Me Abby

Abby Normal. (Which movie is that from, all?)

Dear MrsJLW,

We are pleased to inform you that the results of your recent mammography examination are normal.

Signed,
Interpreting Radiologist.

The Lecturn

I know, I know, the picture is in sideways. I can't deal with changing it right now.

I wanted to show off this fantastic lecturn Himself made for me!

My neighbor was having a garage sale several years ago and he had this fantastic wooden box. For two dollars, I snapped it right up. I didn't know WHAT I wanted it for yet, but I wanted it. It was moved around the garage several times by Himself; I prevented him from tossing it several times as well!

When I started teaching classes, he added a board across the top at an angle, with a lip at the bottom of the board so things wouldn't roll off. I loved it. I requested wheels for the bottom of the box so I wouldn't have to lift and drag it each time I needed to move it, which was several times per class.


Last month, he went one better.


Not only did I get wheels, but he added SHELVES! He also made a little frame on the top shelf for my pens so they won't roll around. I now keep all my teacher's manuals in the lecturn, plus reference books. As I sit and grade papers, I wheel my lecturn next to me and EVERYTHING is at my fingertips; paperclips, pens, books, and grade book. Then I use it during class as the lecturn.


Each time I sit to grade papers or help the girls with school, I thank God for Himself and this jewel he made! I can't wait (she says again) until the rest of the school room is as organized as my two dollar yard sale box.

Yuppie Produce

Remember Yuppies? I know it's a very 80's thing, but Yuppies were fun. Actually, they were fun for poking fun.

Himself's Aunt MA and Uncle B were/are yuppies. They used to receive gifts like "Yuppie Chow." If there was any trendy new kitchen appliance that only someone with expendable income would purchase, they had it. I'm sure they were the first in the family to have an espresso machine. They were probably the first to have an air-pop popcorn popper. Most likely, they were even the first to "go green."

After the Yuppies came the DINKs (Double Income, No Kids). The key here is you have a married couple, they don't have kids, ergo they must be loaded with all this extra dough. Back when Himself and I were DINKs, we did stuff like go to rock concerts in L.A. or San Diego on the weekends, or we'd go skiing up at My Dad's, or we'd take a trip to New Mexico for a few weeks. We'd buy stereos and CDs. We'd eat out in restaurants where the menu wasn't lit or on the wall.

I've been thinking of Yuppies and DINKs every Thursday morning, because that's when a very Yuppie/DINK thing happens at my house.

Organic produce is delivered. To. My. Door.

It's like Christmas every Thursday! A box arrives by delivery. We rush it into the house to see what the Produce Fairy has delivered this week! Sure, we could check the web site to see what this week's delivery would be, but that would ruin the surprise!

Sometimes we get food we're not so sure of, nor do we know what to do with it. Black Figs, anyone? We love kiwi, but could anyone tell me exactly the proper way to eat them? Until a few weeks ago, I had no idea what a Pluot was!

I've done the math -- the price is comparable to buying organic produce at the grocery store (Publix, yes. Walmart. . . do they even have organic produce? I no longer shop there, anyway). Still, it's such a Yuppie/DINK thing to have it delivered, don't you think? So, the box arrives, and when we open the door, this is what would greet us:

I took these pictures when Hobbs was still visiting. I guess I hadn't had the courage to admit all of this publicly yet, but I'm out with it now!

The delivery guy used to walk quietly to the door, leave the box, then walk quietly away. The only way I knew he was there was because Jack would go and stare at the door. Now the delivery guy sets the box down, knocks loudly to scare the bejeebers out of me, then drives away.

You can bet I wait for him to leave, too; I don't want him to know I'm still in my jammies. After all, it is Thursday, and I don't have any classes to prepare or co-ops to drive to or carpools to meet or anything. Jammies 'til 10! I'll say it again!


So we open up the box and see all the yummy goodness. First thing we do is wash the grapes - they're gone within hours. If I'm on my toes and not distracted, I wash everything immediately and have it ready to grab in the fridge (or on the counter, if it still needs to ripen).

Surprisingly, this is the exact amount of fruit my family will eat in a week. When I used to buy it in the store, I would buy too much and it would go bad before we finished it. Glenna's eating more fruit because she likes the whole delivery thing. I'm eating more fruit, too, unless PopTarts are on sale.

Thanks to my friend D for turning me on to Organic Delivery! You all should google it and see if it applies to your neighborhood! You know you want to!

Awareness!

If you are a woman; first, go and listen to this song:

Everything is Burning


Now, if the guitars sound the loudest to you, and you can (but you can't quite) understand what the vocals are saying, then it's time for you to get a mammogram! If the vocals sound fine to you, then call your Mom and grandmother and make sure they've gone this year.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

I just had mine today, my first, and I'll say that loudly from the blogosphere. It wasn't so bad, really, and I feel fine. Won't know results until tomorrow.

I've heard some places take 6 months for you to schedule an appointment. My Dr. recommended a place that just opened, and they got me in the day after I called! Of course, when I went there at 8 am the power was out in the entire town and I had to come back at 3 pm, but that was no biggie. I'm good to go for another year.

Evangelin!

They put one of their new songs up!

Check it out, everyone!


Everything is Burning

Strange Gen Thangs

So I'm at the grocery store with my daughter, and I begin to notice something:

The guys are checking her out.

There was the guy in the produce section, then the bag/cart boy. They speak to me, but they're looking at my daughter.

Kelly was oblivious (heh heh). I hope she stays that way. Don't read this, Kelly!


How weird is that?


The new Evangelin CD is amazing. I love listening to it, and since it's on my computer I listen to it often. I've noticed something strange, though.

All the people 40 and up say they can hear the guitar the loudest, and it's hard to understand what the lyrics are. All the people 39 and under say they hear and understand the vocals just fine, and they think the vocals are really loud.

Whoa! When did that happen?

Hmmmph.

One Week Ago

Last week, we celebrated my birthday a day early. I knew by Monday the family would be scattered to various events, so I made sure we had time together when we could. Don't mind the Corona sign behind us! I was craving a juicy steak, so we went to Roadhouse Grill.

I love being with these people so much. They make me laugh, they bring me much joy, they make me feel like the most blessed woman alive.

Himself was hesitant to revisit Roadhouse Grill. We first went to one on Mother's Day almost 10 years ago when we came to Florida.

Now, you have to understand that the day before, the girls and I had gone to the Mother/Daughter Tea at our church. We were surrounded by fine china, delicate cakes and goodies, beautifully decorated tables, and delicious tea.

The very NEXT DAY it was peanut shells on the floor, steak sauce, and "Let's give a YAHOO to Timmy, celebrating his graduation. . . YA-HOOOO!" Himself took his eyes off the ball game on the TV monitor long enough to suddenly realize, "This isn't exactly a Mother's Day place, is it?" We laugh about it now!

After lunch, we headed to Target. I don't have a closet in our bedroom. When we moved in, Himself put in a shelving system along one wall, which works wonderfully for what we need. "Someday" we're going to remodel the downstairs and we'll build a walk-in closet, but for now anyone coming to my room sees all of my clothing in all their glory. I don't have a dresser because I've found I tend to stash stuff in it and then I don't know what I have.

My shoes have been a jumbled mess on the floor. Mom and Dad sent me some birthday money, so I decided to do something about the shoe situation. Thanks, Mom and Dad! I don't care how old you get. . . .getting birthday money is always a treat!

Here I am, looking at this shoe cubby. Did you know Rubbermaid has an entire closet system? We just have the wire shelving, but this is so cool! I'll definitely keep it in mind for when we build a real closet. The shoe cubby can be mounted to any height, as seen here.

Target had a Target brand cubby, but it was twenty dollars more and held three less pair! What's up with that? It looked sturdier, but I wasn't going to be sitting on it or anything. I just wanted my shoes a little more orderly.

Here's Himself, giving his thoughts on the matter. Three things he hates: cheap sheets, bony furniture, and flimsy furniture. The Rubbermaid one did seem more flimsy.

Still. . . we wouldn't have to buy it again when and if we ever remodel and build a real closet! Plus, did I mention it was 20 dollars cheaper?

Sold! We went home and he promptly put it together for me. I didn't get a picture, but I can now easily choose my shoes AND have a neater closet. They all fit except for slippers, flip-flops, and one pair of tennies. My boots went on top. I love it! Thanks again, Mom and Dad!

Egypt/North Africa

Some home school days just don't go as planned. I think the single best argument against home schooling is PMS. Let's face it; sometimes, the teacher just doesn't want to get out of bed and deal with humans.


BA and I planned a co-op to wrap up our geography study of Africa (focus on Egypt). It never fails that when we want to do something special, things don't go as smoothly as we desire. BA had a cranky morning at home. I had a crankier morning in my own home, and now we were supposed to be civil?

This picture of the beginning of our co-op sums it up nicely. The girls are on eggshells, and BA and I are wanting to be anywhere but in that classroom.



Still, we are called to teach our children. BA and I are committed to giving our girls the best home school experience we possibly can. We silently agreed to shake off the crankiness and get over it. When we did, that's when we all started enjoying ourselves and actually learned something!

Here are the Tuareg (pronounced Twa-reg) girls. Unlike other Arab countries, the Tuareg women don't wear veils. They're also highly respected by the men.


Tuareg girls get to wear:

Lots of dark eyeshadow . . . .


. . . and bright red nail polish. Let's hear it for the Tuareg!

Each of the girls prepared a speech about the biography of their choice. Here Rachel tells us about David Livingstone. In our class, they're allowed to look at their paper as long as they need to, but when they speak they must look at their audience. Rachel is gathering her thoughts on what to say next.

Glenna talked to us about Mary Slessor, a wee Scottish missionary to Africa.

Since the Tuaregs are nomadic, we told the girls to go outside and construct a shelter from blankets. BA and I were sitting in the air conditioned classroom, watching their attempts from the window. We did NOT interfere! When they finished, we stepped outside to discuss their results.

Shade, yes, but where are you going to lay down? Where will you sit to eat?

Ok, so the two of you can fit in your shelter, but will you take turns being comfortable?

We talked about what a real shelter should look like, then they tried again. They were nomads, after all, and nomads move around! Round two taught another valuable lesson in tent building . . .

. . . look for ant piles before you begin to build. This led to another valuable home school moment . . . .

. . . . why is baking soda able to take the sting out of an ant bite?

Every good co-op ends with food. The Tuareg traded with others in their travels, and we decided trading had been pretty good this year. The teachers were smiling by this time, because food was present!

Hummus, pitas, feta cheese, couscous, dried apricots, raisins, roasted meat, and artichoke hearts. We used pitas for plates and made sure we only ate with our right hands.

We also had rooibos (roy-bus) tea traded from South Africa. With honey, of course!

Home School Days

As we get closer and closer to having our school room done, we eagerly anticipate the day when all the "stuff" will be in one place and not scattered all over the house!

Here are a few pictures of a typical day. Glenna sets up an experiment on the effects of weight on speed.

Two matchbox cars, both weighed, one weighted down.

Science is pretty serious stuff. Here she has on her "scientist face."

Go! The weighted car is the blue blur. Feel free to donate to my camera fund so you don't have to look at blurry pictures like this.

She concluded that weight does affect speed, but then she read about Galilleo's experiments. Conclusion: Gravity is a harsh mistress.

These are Kelly's sculptures for History of the World. We try to do unit studies, so as many academic topics as possible are related. For History of the World, she's also getting a literature credit, an Art credit, and an English credit.

Aren't they cute? The camera doesn't do justice to their cute little hineys.

I wonder where they are now? I wonder if she saved them, or if she named them and invented an entire habitat for them as Glenna would have done?

In other news, I have permission to say that Ty's band has recorded a new 2-song EP. They just received the finished product via email yesterday! May I just say, WOW? Their four days recording have produced some incredible results! I'll have to let you know when it's available to the general public.

Happy Birthday, Bagel Two!

I'm still clinging to the position of being two days older than you. Do you think you'll ever catch up? Two days older, and about 45% more gray. Sigh.

Hope you have a fantastic day! Welcome to the land of the Forty-onederful!

Help at the zoo?

DDHZRJ, it won't let me comment on your blog. Says I'm not a "team" member!

Honestly, I want to be a team player. I understand there's no "I" in "Team" and all that.

May I comment? Pretty please? B's quilt is so fabulous!

Thank you!

Thank you to all friends and family for the birthday wishes, Starbucks cards, ginormous muffins, flowers and love! Today was truly forty-wonderful!

It's the First Day of Fall . . .

. . . and I'm still sweatin', y'all! I know the tables will soon turn when we're in our mild winter while the rest of the "true fall" states are freezing. I know that day is coming, but how I long for coolness in the breeze!

Thursday night we went to a soccer game and it was a beautiful evening with a breeze. There was even a hint of coolness to it, but not much.

I look back over my journal and I know October will be the worst. Cool one day, roasting the next, it's hardest in October when every day should be fall!

Happy Birthday . . .

. . . Grandma Cruz!

We hope you have a fabulous day celebrating! We hope your son and daughters on the west coast take you out for dinner, too.

And here's a special hope that you've finally found some lime-green sunglasses to go with your fabulous outfit! ;-)

Don't let the smile fool you, folks. This lady's tough as nails. She skydives, goes whitewater rafting, and has been known to grace the back of a motorcycle on occasion. She's lived in a teepee for an entire year with five children under age 14, plus a huge dog named Pete.

Best of all, she gave birth to Himself so I could have him.

Thanks, Mom!