Recap of the Week

Sunday was pretty much a regular Sunday, except for lunch. We went out to eat with the Clarksons at Poncho's Mexican Buffet. The food was actually pretty good for a buffet, I thought. Far superior to La Hacienda (known not-so-affectionately as La Puke-iola) in Andrews. So the food and the fellowship made for a very enjoyable lunch. But there's a catch. (Isn't there always?) There is a strange little Mexican man who walks around the restaurant with a guitar singing to the poor, innocent patrons. He walks up to your table and hands you a two page list of songs that he can perform and lets you pick which one you'd like to hear. He then performs (it is QUITE a performance) the requested tune and graciously stands around waiting for a "tip" before honing in on the victims at the next table. It wouldn't be so bad really, but the song selection is sooooo bizarre. You'd think in a setting like this it would be nothing but "La Cucaracha" or maybe "La Bamba." Both of those are on page two. But the entire first page is nothing but WHITE music. From the 50's primarily. Sister Shanda requested Johnny B. Goode. FEWJIAEWFHEEHEHIEHEVBVNMCI!!!! I say that only because I have NO IDEA what to say about it! This dude grabs his guitar, bends his knees to 90 degree angles, sways like a drunken sailor in high gear, and dives into a song head first. I've never seen anything quite like it. Actually, I still haven't seen anything like it because I couldn't bear to watch. I was sooooo embarrassed! Even right now--just thinking about it--I'm getting that same queasy feeling in my gut. I did derive great pleasure, however, from watching Joe. He is his mother's son and was at least as embarrassed as I was, so it was quite entertaining to see his reactions to the entire ordeal. As if one song wasn't enough, James then requested, "You Ain't Nothing but a Hound Dog." Again, SADRFKJIEVNWIHDVVIDVIDAVVDKSV!!!!! The guy actually does an Elvis IMPERSONATION--with a hyper-hip thing going that looks like he might hurt himself! It was twice as embarrassing as the first song. I kept my face buried in my napkin throughout most of it so the man wouldn't see me laughing and crying so hard I was about to die. James kept telling me to LOOK at him--that I was "missing it." I simply said, "I CAN'T!!!" through my tears and occasionally stole a glance over at Joe. The guy didn't seem to speak much English and it really didn't sound like he spoke very good Spanish either. It really confused me, then I started looking at him (after he was done singing and I was able to) and realized that I think he's Korean!!! At least partially. They've got a short little Korean dude walking around singing songs in English and Spanish--neither of which he speaks! HA! And you can tell it in his songs, too, because half of what he sings is just a bunch of mushed up growls to cover up the words he doesn't know. And no matter WHAT he's singing, somewhere in the middle of the song he inserts one of those long "r" rolling sounds that you'd hear the Mariachi band do and follow up with an "Aye-yi-yi-yi!" It's crazy!!! And to prove that his English is not the greatest... Today the kids were talking about it and Katie said, "I really liked the second song he did--that one, There Ain't Nothing Like a Groundhog!" Ha! Ha! Ha! I laughed almost as hard as I did that day at the restaurant!

Monday was much less eventful, thank goodness. The kids had done school on Saturday to earn the day off on Monday so we could make a day of it in town. We went to Hobby Lobby first and made good on their 50% sale, coming home with a fall wreath and garland that I really, really like. Also some knick-knacks for scrapbook stuff. I never use 'em, but they were on clearance for just pennies. I like to collect the supplies. ;-)

We went to the thrift store and--possibly for the first time ever--left without buying anything at all. Maybe we've already bought all of the good stuff. Or maybe we've just been so successful there in recent months that we just didn't NEED anything this time. Whatever! We went to the mall and looked at Christopher & Banks. Lots of really cute stuff right now, but nothing I couldn't live without. (At least at those prices--I always wait for the clearance rack!)

We had a gift card for the Olive Garden, so we enjoyed a fantastically spectacular lunch for only about $10. :-) I LOVE THAT!!!

Came home that night and cracked open the boxes of fall decorations and went to work. :-) It's so fun to go seasonal! Along with some things in the main part of the house, I also decorated the mantle in the den (though we're waiting for my mantle clock to come back from the shop to complete it) and I LOVE my new wreath and garland in there. So pretty.

Yesterday was library day. We hadn't been there since before the big trip and our books were way past due and our kids were going nuts for new books. So we just took our time there and enjoyed picking out a whole slew of NEW books and being ever so grateful that there are no late fees around here. :-)

We came home to find James dishing up Frito pie for lunch. Yum! After that I got busy changing all of the sheets and putting the new blankets from James' Mom on all of the beds. They're super nice and cushy and everybody loves them. I worked on laundry throughout the afternoon while Sam practiced his alphabet, Katie worked forever writing and re-writing those memory verses she cheated on last week (just two more days of that now) and Joe spent ALL DAY LONG working on his school. No kidding. Bedtime is 8:30. It was 8:32 when he finished up his final page. He's down to just one school book and I had told him he's starting into his new books on October 1st and he had until then to complete the one remaining book. It meant he had to do 13 pages yesterday and 13 today. It sounds like a lot until you remember that he usually does 2 or 3 pages of 5 or 6 different subjects in a day! It's not that the work is too hard for him, it's just that he is soooooo easily distracted and doesn't have the gumption to JUST DO IT. I didn't have time to fight it out with him yesterday and try to "motivate" him, so I just kept him sitting there all day until he finished it with only very minimal breaks--maybe an hour or an hour and a half TOTAL between 1 o'clock and 8:30. WHAT A CRAZY KID!!! And he had all these brand new library books he was DYING to get to, but couldn't until school was done. But he'd taken so long that when he finally did finish it was time to get his pj's on, brush his teeth, and go to bed! It's his own fault, but still... don't tell my Dad. ;-)

Once I got the kids to bed last night I stayed up and I really and truly DID get a-a-a-a-a-all of the ironing done. Wa-Hoo!!! It's about time and SUCH a relief. Actually, I didn't get it ALL done last night because there were two of Katie's dresses that were hanging elsewhere that I had missed. And a couple of pillow cases that I found in the dryer this morning. But I did those first thing this morning so either way, I'M DONE! :-)

The kids have worked on school today and I cleaned up the house some and then spent a good long while cleaning (BLEAGH--I hate it, it's SO NASTY!!!) and taping off the fireplace in the living room and all walls, ceilings, etc. surrounding it so James could paint it tonight. It takes SOOOOO long to tape everything off for a project like that! I don't know that I would call it an impressive tape job... but thorough! ;-)

The reason it has to be taped off so thoroughly is because this particular kind of spray paint creates a dust that travels all throughout the house and settles on everything, even in adjoining rooms. Nasty stuff--and potentially destructive to rugs, carpet, upholstery... So I created a little cocoon for James to crawl into and keep all of the dust and powder and fumes to himself. He was about to DIE after a few minutes and emerged coughing and spewing black dust, so he masked himself before continuing.

In the end (oh, wait, we haven't gotten to the end yet--he ran out of paint and will have to finish up tomorrow!), this is what his "white" shirt looked like. Just from all the powder!!! Crazy.

Joe actually did manage to finish up that school book today so all three kids thought it reason enough to celebrate. They kept inviting me to the party. Once I arrived I was a little surprised. There sat Joe on his throne, barking orders to his secretary Katie and to Sam, his German interpreter.

I never could figure out why the party was being translated into German, but Sam did his best to translate everything and he actually sounded pretty convincing most of the time! Ha! Still, I'd had about all I could take of the whole King Joe thing, so I told them to put all of that silly stuff away and I'd just let them watch a show to celebrate instead. Joe picked Tom & Jerry and they enjoyed their popcorn and cartoons better than the royal party they had tried to have.

After they went to bed I got my desk all cleaned off and things sorted out. That feels good. And now I've rambled on my blog long enough to make up for that itty-bitty post from last night. ;-)

In conclusion, here is a puzzle that Katie and Sam made the other day. Sam drew Larry and Kate drew Pa Grape and Mr. Lunt. I thought it was pretty good! I think it is presently in an envelope on it's way to one of the Smith kids.

Shocker

I'm off to iron! I mean REALLY iron. No matter now long it takes and how gruesome it gets, no matter how cruel and fearsome the struggle... I have determined that I shall emerge victorious TONIGHT. Or in the early hours of tomorrow. I'll still consider that a victory.

That's it.

So what's more of a shocker... that I'm actually going to do the ironing or that I'm posting a blog THIS SHORT???

;-)

The Maddening Drip

Ever had a leaky faucet? The kind that just won’t stop dripping? No matter what you do, it’s a constant “plink… plink… plink… plink-plink-plink... plink... plink... plink... plink-plink... plink..." I’ve been dealing with it all day long today except far, far worse. I only wish I had a leaky faucet.

My leak is in my nose and I’m going a little wacko because of it. I can’t get anything done because I’m having to catch the drip every 5 or 10 seconds. It’s ridiculous and soooooo annoying. I keep wondering how much leakage, shall we say, a person can lose in a day without dehydrating or something. I’ve proven that it’s at least 3 pints. Or at least the bags full of used Kleenex’s would imply something like that. I’ve carried a box of Kleenex around with me all day today and am in need of a fresh tissue every 5 minutes or so. Good thing James bought 2 boxes yesterday. At this rate we’ll need more by tomorrow night. I think maybe we’ll stop at Sam’s Club after church tomorrow and buy a whole case of them.

After a day of blowing and wiping non-stop, my nose is so red and sore and just screams at me if I get within six inches of it with another tissue. My family told me earlier that the way I look my nose is going to just fall off if I keep wiping it. I sure hope so. That sounds like the greatest thing that could happen about now. A little while ago I went and laid down flat on my back and tilted my head up, just to try to get a few minutes of relief from having to wipe it again. You know you’ve got it bad when you’re in that position and your nose starts welling up and oozing over the edge anyway. (Sorry to be gross, but after the day I’ve had I’m in no mood to be discreet.) It’s absurd. I’d rather have a fever and a headache and be laid up in bed (at least then you can try to sleep it off) than to feel fine otherwise but have a nose that requires a tissued hand attend to it every few seconds while the rest of you feels fine, rendering you a one-handed mother, teacher, ironer, dishwasher… Besides the red and throbbing nose, I’ve noticed over the past two or three hours that it seems to have affected my psychologically as well. (You never would have guessed, I’m sure, by the mere fact that I’ve spent 3 paragraphs on the subject of a runny nose… so far.) I’ve heard myself say, “WHAT???” in a not-as-nice-as-I’d-like-to-be tone to pretty much any question I’ve been asked. Which is A WHOLE LOT (of questions, that is) since Joe is working hard to finish up his Maps & Geography book tonight and is teeming with questions that could easily be avoided if he’d just READ THE STUPID DIRECTIONS AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE!!! ~sigh~ I’m exhausted. He’s a tough one to teach. A little while ago the conversation went like this:

Joe: Mom, what continent is to the west of Asia? I don’t have a map.

[Like he’s not working in a MAPS & GEOGRAPHY book that is packed FULL of maps… dork…)

Mom: Come on, Joe, you know this. Think hard. Close your eyes and look at the map in your brain… Do you see Asia?

Joe: I see mashed potatoes.

HOW ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO TEACH A KID LIKE THAT???

Anyway. Back to my nose… (Aren’t you glad for that?! Ha!)

My husband agreed that, considering my unsanitary condition, I shouldn’t make dinner tonight. So he—wonderful man that he is—made chicken parmesan and spaghetti for the family! WOW!!! And that’s AFTER (now get this!!! – DRUM ROLL, PLEASE…) HE, James Richard Horne, has been PAINTING!!! And (this is even better), I HAVE NOT!!! Wa-Hoo!!!!!! I can’t begin to tell you how grand life is right now! (Aside from my nose condition, of course…) The building that he finished out to be his office never had been painted. We had enough log siding left over from the house to cover the front of it, but the other three sides needed to be painted. So yesterday, while I folded and stapled the regional papers and figured out how to get the mailing list to print the labels correctly (all usually James’ job), HE was outside with a roller and a brush, PAINTING!!! Wa-Hoo!!! I’m SO THRILLED to have traded jobs with him for a day! Ha! He did a great job and the office is ADORABLE, mostly because he painted the door green. :-) All little log cabins should have a green door. James says it looks like a Ranger Station. Ha! I should get a cardboard Smokey the Bear to put on the porch with a little wheel that tells if the fire danger is high, moderate, or low. ;-)

Get this. Katie cheated at school again. Who would have thought it possible with Switched on Schoolhouse?! It’s not like she can look up the answers! But as I’ve been grading her work I’ve noticed two memory verses that she’d typed in perfectly… but I’d never heard her mention or practice before. Katie is not the kind of kid to NOT MENTION… well, anything! Ha! You always know what she’s done, what she’s doing, and what she’s going to do. She’s a master conversationalist. ;-) Anyway, come to find out, when it’s been time to type in her memory verses she’s been getting her Bible out and just copying them over! Ha! Not that it’s funny. ~sigh~ So now she has to write out each verse (there were two she did that with) in its entirety 10 times, 5 in print and 5 in cursive, before she’s allowed to do any of her actual work for that day. I’m thinking we’ll keep it up for a week or so. I’m hoping to hone in on the cure for her cheating at some point before it turns into criminal activity. Ha! (That’s not funny either, is it…) I know I wasn’t totally honest as a kid and I’m sure I cheated occasionally. But the classic difference between Katie and me is CONSCIENCE. I had a very tender one and would feel crummy for doing such things. I’ve always been a confessor. I rarely have to be confronted for something I’ve done wrong; I usually come forward before anybody else even has a chance to figure it out. Katie doesn’t seem to feel any remorse except in her punishment. She’s altogether too confident and self-assured to feel guilt! Ha! (Why do I keep saying that after things that are not funny???) It’s just the difference in personalities, I guess. She’ll just need extra help learning to be honest since she doesn’t seem to have the natural “I can’t believe I just did that—I feel like scum!” gene that I was lucky (???) enough to get. From somewhere… hhmmm… ;-)

Let’s see… What else? Not that it matters. Nobody ever blogs on the weekend. It’s been a crazy kind of a week around here. Wednesday was the day that I was feeling really crummy, then Thursday I felt terrific—just the tiniest bit of a sore throat, but otherwise great and even had lots of energy and was quite productive. Then yesterday I felt sort of in between; not as crummy as Wednesday but not as great as Thursday. And today my nose… okay, I’ll spare you any more. ;-)

I have managed to get a good chunk of ironing done throughout the day, though I’m scared to figure what percentage of it I have left. I think we ought to burn everything but 3 shirts and 2 skirts/pants for each individual in this household. We can’t possibly need all of these clothes, can we???

Apparently I have nothing worthwhile to talk about tonight. I’m really just biding my time until the kids go to bed (20 minutes left!) and then I’m going to go soak in a hot, hot bath. A little while ago I plunged my hands into hot, soapy dishwater and instantly realized that that would feel really good all over! (Minus the dishes…) I’ve been so aggravated over my nose today and wearing out and getting edgier by the hour and I think it’s even made my body tense and achy. Pitiful. “Scalpel!!!” You don’t think anybody would notice if I went to church noseless tomorrow, do you? If I ever feel like I need one again I can just buy some of those Groucho glasses and cut the mustache off, right? ;-)

My Turn

I guess it really wasn't fair that everybody else in the family took their turn being sick for a day or two and I opted out. So today I decided to join them. I woke up with a sore throat, all over achiness, and pressure--lots and lots of pressure--in my head. When I stand up my head starts throbbing in a very not pleasant sort of way, so I've spent most of the day doing the kind of work that can be done from a chair. Computer work and phone calls, that is.

Aside from a few minor things to tweak, I finished up on a very short edition of the Western Skies tonight. This was the first time ever that deadline day came and I had received NOTHING--not one single article or boost for publication! Crazy. I sent out an e-mail that night and some folks managed to get some articles and pictures to me by the next day, so we're in business. Eight pages this time instead of the usual twelve. I'm kind of glad, all things considered.

I also spent a considerable amount of time this afternoon trying to secure dates and locations for our Regional Convention and Family Camp next year. It required talking to "the mayor," which is anything but helpful to a person with a headache. Only some folks from our region can possibly understand that. ;-) It didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped (why do I cling to stupid hopes like that--shouldn't I know better by now???), so I called our current ;-) Camp Director and hashed out the options with him. He pretty much confirmed the decision I was already feeling like would be necessary, thus giving me somebody else to blame when people complain about the decision we were forced to make. :-) It helps, too, that we're being forced into the decision. There aren't really sufficient grounds for the gripers if there was no other option to be chosen, right?!

Let's see. That's about it. I keep thinking I'll blog about the Assembly... but why? Most everybody who was interested was able to watch it online! What's left to tell??? And I keep thinking I'll blog about our time in Tennessee the week after the Assembly, but it seems too daunting. Mostly because it would require taking the time to upload a whole bunch of pictures. Ah, why not??? It's not like I'm going to work on the ironing tonight anyway. I'm already sitting here trying hard not to get up, so why not take the time to post pictures? Here they are...

First of all, let me say to all of you parents out there with little ones... HANG IN THERE!!! The Assembly will be sooooo much easier in a few years! Ha! My kids were at a really great age this year as far as being able to endure the long days of sitting still and being quiet. And this was the first year Sam has attended Children's Assembly, so that helped, too. He tried last year, but had to be sent back to his mother. ~ahem~ Actually, he didn't try. He HATES situations like that. He gets it from his Mom. There is no worse place in the world than a room full of people who seem to know each other, but you don't know them. Ooooooh, I hate that. And Sam is built the same way, I guess. But I MADE him go to the Children's Assembly this year because I escorted them there the first day and stuck around for the first 15 minutes and could tell by all of the costumes and props (it was COWBOY and INDIAN stuff, for goodness' sake--right down Sam's alley!) and the people in charge that it was going to be GREAT and Sam would really enjoy it... if only I could make him stay. I reasoned with him sufficiently (okay, I threatened him within an inch of his life) and convinced him that he could and would stay there, have a good time, and not make any trouble at all. I don't know that he pulled of that last part, but at least he wasn't sent back to his mother this time! ANYWAY (rambling, rambling), due to Children's Assembly and just the fact that my youngest is now 5 years old, the Assembly was sooooo much easier and a whole lot less tiring than this year. Wa-Hoo!

So all three kids thoroughly enjoyed the Assembly this year. Sam even confessed to liking Children's Assembly..."jus a little bit." We sat behind or next to the Salazar family from Venezuela throughout the week and Katie fell in love with their daughter, Koana. What a neat family! Brother Salazar cracks me up. He's such a happy, jolly sort of fellow. We don't understand one another's languages, but he communicated just fine showing hand tricks (to look like he was pulling his finger off) to my boys and digging a litte, furry fake mouse out of his pocket to try to scare his daughter with. Ha! He's great!!!

Joe had a truly great Assembly this year. He was just DYING to meet somebody from Africa and would ask about every black person that we saw, wanting to know where they were from. He was shocked beyond belief with I told him that Brother Booker T. Smith (that is his name, right???) is from North Carolina. HA! Joe was all excited one day because he'd been talking with some girl from "Poe-toe-Ree-koe." (Puerto Rico, that is.) And he got his picture taken with Brother Mbogo, which thrilled him to no end.

The other great honor that Joe experienced was being able to finally meet Donnie Estep. He's been dying to do that ever since he heard that Brother Donnie used to be scared of the dark when he was a kid! Ha! He had confessed to such on my blog a year or two ago and it truly helped Joe to know that a great big, burly, manly sort of fellow like Donnie Estep (from our description of him, that is! Ha!) was afraid of the dark, too. It really did help him to work through it. Thanks, Brother Donnie, if you're out there! And thanks for the politician's pose. You made my son's day. :-)
And that's about it for Assembly pictures. Jenna got all of the good ones. ;-)

The week after the Assembly was spent at Mom and Dad's house. We had a good, relaxing week, but James and all of the kids took turns being sick with serious fever and headaches and such. They're all doing better now, though they're all still coughing that nasty cough and Joe is still acting groggy. Of course, with Joe it's hard to tell his groggy from his not groggy! Ha! Here he is at Mom and Dad's house, "relaxing" (?) in the hammock.

And Dad shoving the kids off for a little ride. Not really. He took them, not sent them. ;-)
And the dogs taking in all the action. :-) I just love these puppies. They are so friendly and lovable and fun to watch. And it's just the coolest thing in the world how they roam freely all through the woods and all over Mom & Dad's property, almost always a foursome. I've never seen a pack of dogs before, but these guys certainly keep to the pack!
They do have some bad habits, however. Here's Mom discovering one of her coffee mugs in the yard. They're quite the adorable little thieves. One day Jon came in the door with one of Joe's tennis shoes that he had caught a dog carrying off. We looked for the other shoe for days before accidentally discovering it down the hill behind the house next to a tree stump.
Who could do such a thing??? Surely not these innocent little darlings! Just look at them!
And look at that face! Not him!!! ;-) This is Ralph. He's my favorite. He's got lots of personality and lo-o-o-o-o-oves attention. And I just love all of his extra skin that wrinkles up like that!
Granddad took the kids fishing on the pond for quite a while one day. I think they caught 8 or 9 fish altogether. Josiah is a great little fisherman. He loves it and will spend hours and hours casting and reeling and casting and reeling. He caught a giant catfish this day, but the line broke just as he got it up to the boat. No matter, he's got a great fisherman's story to tell now. ;-) Here he is with his best fishing face. And Sam with his best... Sam face, I guess!
Dad's fishing face...
And Joe's I-just-landed-another-big-one face. Makes me very happy. :-)
And here's Katie's best my-day-to-be-sick face. She slept most of the day.
Granddad and Sam shooting some hoops. I love their form--both of 'em!
And Joe...
And the two puzzles Mom and I put together that week. :-)

~sigh~ I love these pictures. Everything about them says, "This boy needs a dog!!!"

Here he is with Maxie, the mama dog. I was taking these shots through the window and couldn't get a good angle, but I still love the pictures.
And Katie teaching Granddad and Uncle Jon how to do it right. Ha! Her method is HILARIOUS, but she's actually pretty good! I was amazed. And proud. ;-)

Dad doesn't just do granny shots... but they're always my favorite to watch!
And one last picture of the puppies. :-) The love to wrestle, any time and anywhere, but their favorite spot seems to be Mom's front porch. Here they are knocking a chair over... I'll never understand her. She didn't even think it was cute or funny or anything!
We left Mom & Dad's house on Friday after left-over Thanksgiving dinner. Ah yes, we've begun a new tradition. Since it appears we may never again be together for Thanksgiving, we're going to try to have a pseudo Thanksgiving dinner together each year after the Assembly. We did pretty good this year for it being a spur of the moment idea, but I'm sure we'll be able to make it even better next year!

Anyway, we stayed around for lunch on Friday then loaded up the van and headed west. We stopped and ate at Casey Jones' for dinner. The food there is soooooooo good. Wow. We drove on to... Hhmmm... Forrest City, Arkansas??? I think that's where we stayed.

The next day we ended up in the right place at the right time to meet with Ray & Tammi Adams for dinner. Fun! We shopped around Mardel in turbo speed, then had a nice visit with them over some Mazzio's pizza before heading out again. We took a detour so we could stay in Borger, Texas, that night, enabling us to visit the cemetery in Stinnett the next morning. My grandparents are buried there and it had been way too long since I'd been back to visit. We replaced the church flag on their grave with a fresh new one and spent a while just sitting and thinking and talking and crying. The kids never knew them, but Joe sat and cried with me. He's just that kind of a kid. It's so hard to go back there, but somehow it feels so good. I'm so thankful to have had and known such amazing grandparents for as long as the Lord left them with us. It makes me miss them so much more when I go to the cemetery, but I'm glad to do it. It's better than forgetting.

After we left there we drove on to Amarillo. James saw enough billboards in the 300 miles leading to it that he made up his mind we were going to stop at this place for lunch...

I LOVE all of those Texas flags blowing in the wind against that great blue sky!

To save me from explaining it, here is the restaraunt's claim to fame...
And a picture of the display steak just inside the door. You can't really tell the size from the picture, but it pretty well covers up a nice sized plate. James didn't try it, in case you're wondering. ;-) We just ordered nice little regular steaks.

We drove the rest of the day and made it home at 4:00 Sunday afternoon. We unloaded the van faster than I ever would have dreamed possible, everybody threw fresh shirts on, I washed my face and pulled my hair and Katie's hair back anew, we jumped in the van, zoomed into town and made it at 5:00 on the dot--just in time for church! Wa-Hoo! It was ABM service and, as always, was great. I especially enjoyed the part about us being salt. Other churches may have food to offer, but The Church of God just tastes different! Food with no salt is bland, but when it's seasoned just right you find yourself coming back for more. There's a "salty" spirit about God's Church that just makes the Word taste so much better, don't you think???

Since that time I've been doing laundry, scowling at the mountain of ironing yet to be touched, and working on the regional paper. School with the kids. Oh, and yesterday it was COLD here so I found myself making our first big pot of that delicious corn chowder this year--and cinnamon rolls for dessert! Yum! I'm SOOOOO glad I did. It was terrific last night, but it was extra nice to have it today when I wasn't feeling well. ~sigh~ Life is grand. I think the high a day or two ago was 53 and the low was 26 or something like that. I love our weather!

Just a Short One

Because I refuse to take the time to TRULY blog while I'm at my parent's house. :-)

I sooooo enjoyed the Assembly. It was so great to see everybody and I was so blessed by... oh, so many things! God is working and moving in The Church of God and it is exciting to be a part of it all. I was thrilled with the quality of the media this year. The pictures that Jenna took and edited for "ads" on the big screens were SO COOL. James even got Amy Jernigan's autograph after her picture appeared! Ha! I can't wait to get the DVD's of the Assembly. I don't know why I'm built this way, but I always get so much more out of messages the second time around. Particularly if I'm cleaning the house or stitching or something while I'm listening to them. They just seem to sink in and stick with me better that way!

It was GREAT to have Emilee at the Assembly this year! And it's strange... I get so excited about seeing all of the church folks from all over the place and we stand around and visit with them, but when it's time to go out and eat we always seem to end up with the people from our own region! We spent lots of time with our NEW VLB COORDINATOR and family (I'm so excited about that appointment, but I feel sooooo sorry for Sister Jamey! Ha!) and we went out with a great big crowd after the last session on Sunday. That was great, too.

That night Sam was feeling rather sick and feverish. We prayed for him and put him to bed, but he had a terrible time sleeping (consequently, me too!) and woke up crying and just burning up several times. We kept the prayers going up all throughout the night and when he woke up yesterday he was fine, just a little tired. We were all pretty wiped out yesterday and pretty much just hung out and relaxed. Of course, Dad and James were at meetings and didn't get home until sometime in the afternoon.

Today Katie woke up not feeling well. She had some juice, got dressed, then promptly went back to bed! She had a headache and fever and slept most of the morning. After lunch (which she skipped), we set up the card table and opened the new puzzle James bought me in Pennsylvania. :-) We brought Katie downstairs so she could watch The Sound of Music with us while Mom and I worked on the puzzle and the boys watched or played. It's been rainy today, so the boys haven't been outside much. Katie was pretty hot a few hours ago and has thrown up two times today, but about an hour ago she woke up feeling (and I must say LOOKING) a lot better. Praise the Lord! He is good to take care of us.

Brother Grant brought over some salmon yesterday, so we'll be having fish for dinner tonight. Yum! That's something I never get to enjoy. I don't like restaurant fish, just trout straight from the stream cooked up Grandmother-style, or Alaskan salmon cooked by the right individuals. (Mom's one of 'em who can do it right!) We were going to meet Dad for lunch today, but Katie wasn't feeling up to it. I'm so glad she's feeling better now. It's terrible to have to spend the day sick in bed while you're at Granddad's house!

That's it for now. I'd add pictures, but that would require me going and finding my camera. I have no idea what pictures I have. I took hardly any at the Assembly itself because I saw photographers far superior to me with cameras far superior to mine running all over the place getting pictures that I would never be able to get. So we just waited until the end and James made arrangements to get copies of all of those pictures instead. A grand and glorious plan. :-) I can't wait to see them all!

Not sure what our plans are now. Probably another day or two here, then we'll be headed out West where we belong. It will be sad to leave, but great to be back home after the big trip. I miss our church folks there and am anxious to see what God has in store for us this coming year! You probably won't hear from me again before we leave Tennessee (I can pretty well guarantee it!), so until next time... :-)

The Pennsylvania Part

I tried to blog while we were there, but the connection was soooooo slow! It just wasn't worth it. And now it's all a blur. But really, it was the same as every other trip we take there. The kids ran wild all over the acreage, fished in the creek, drove the tractor with Grandpa Norman, rode bikes up and down the hill, splashed around in the little pool, and all other manner of fun. We visited with lots of family--James' crazy cousin Amy being the highlight, as always. (I just love her--she's NUTS!) The other highlight was shooting the guns, of course. There's nothing more pleasing than hearing my boys say, "Wow, Mom!!! You're as good as Davy Crockett!" Ha! I shoot once a year and am amazed each time at how FUN it is. I'm not very good with the pistol (frankly, I stink), but the .22 rifle seems to work just right for me and I can make that milk jug hop down the hill pretty quick. :-) The new thing we did this year was a hay ride! It was just James' folks and the 5 of us, but it was fun! When we were done shooting James threw a few bales of hay in the back of the trailer and hooked it up to the tractor, then Grandpa Norman drove us all around the perimeter of the property (a pretty good ride!)--so that was great fun! I had my camera with me, but unfortunately the card was in the laptop back at the house so we missed out on pictures that night! Anyway, pictures are always more exciting (and remind me of what all we did!), so let's get into that!

On our final day driving to Pennsylvania (1800+ miles--it's a doosie of a trip!) we decided to take a 30 minute break from the van (those seats get pretty uncomfortable by day three!) and walk around a Cabela's that we passed somewhere. In my opinion, it far surpassed the Bass Pro Shop that we went into last year. This was sooooo cool! I took a ton of pictures, but I have way too many to share of the rest of our trip to post very many. Here are a few, anyway.

(I love the moose--I think he's my favorite!!!)

Here's James' Dad mowing the lawn while James was busy vacuuming out the van and scrubbing the stains on the carpets. (He didn't want me to post this picture. "Every time you take a picture of me I'm wearing this shirt--then you post it on the blog and everybody in the world must think I never change my clothes!" Ha!)

The kids spend countless hours riding the bikes up and down the hill. Katie and Joe learned to ride without training wheels while we were in Pennsylvania last year and now Sam can ride right along with them. Fun!





Ah, yes. Though Sam can ride a bike just fine, he still hasn't figured out how to use the brakes!!! That fact escaped me temporarily... until after he had started down the long gravel road that curves around the hill behind the house. It's not a steep hill, but long enough that you pick up speed the entire way. Before long he was going full blast and I was running across the grass in an effort to be there to pick up the pieces when he inevitably bit the dust (after he took off I recalled that he doesn't know how to use the brakes), but there was really no chance of catching him. Sure enough, he hit a big bump, the front tire turned sideways and he was thrown over the handlebars and came to a long, screeching halt on the gravel. He did a fair share of crying, but I was shocked to find that his hands weren't all scraped up and bloody like I had expected--nor his belly. Those were the places I expected to find the most severe injuries, judging from my view of the mighty crash. His elbow was barely scraped through his sweatshirt and his belly, too, but his head seemed to get the worst of it. I'm sooooooo glad he was wearing a hat! It stayed on during the crash and the bump, bruise, and scrapes he received were THROUGH the hat--it would have been pretty ugly if he'd not had it on! Pictures never really show the full glory of a bruise (and this one was taken a day or two later), but you can kind of see where he landed.

Another shot... You can still sort of see the little bump just above his temple where he cracked his head on the countertop at the Adams' house over a week ago. I told him to knock it off--Joe is the head injury kid around our house and I don't think I can bear having TWO of them!

Here are some pictures of James' birds. This is Sugar. I love how it looks like she's wearing a hat. Ha!

And Paco.

Here's James enjoying his 5 EARS OF CORN for lunch, followed by his 1/4 of an apple pie. Later that night we had pork chops and potatoes for dinner, then James ended the evening by devouring two pieces of Danny's Pizza from the night before and half a bag of Middleswarth potato chips--his favorites, that are only found at "home." So, as is customary, he spent the entire next day sick and laying around or running to the bathroom. The only thing that ever surprises me is that HE always seems surprised! I could write a book of how our visit will go each time. Wednesday is the day we'll go to Belleville, the final night there will be spent at the top of the hill shooting guns, the first day we're there James will eat like a horse and gorge himself on all of the things he's so excited to have, the second day he'll lay around complaining about how sick he is... Ha! Some people never learn. He told me to remind him of this next time. Ri-i-i-i-i-ight. Like it would really change anything! (Hey... he's in that shirt AGAIN! Ha!)

Here is Joe with one of his big catches from the creek! (I think he caught that same poor little fish over and over again! Ha!)

All of the men folk, fishing from the bridge.

Like I said, Wednesday is the day we go to Belleville for the flea market. Most of it is like any other flea market, but several Amish people go and set up produce booths or sell baked goods or what have you. I know everybody always enjoys those pictures, so here are a few.

Not the greatest shot, but that's what happens when you're shooting from the hip! I know people say that the Amish people aren't really scared of having their picture taken like has been rumored, but I've seen how they look at the camera dangling from my neck and their quick jumpy behavior if I actually reach for it! So I try not to make them uncomfortable--no flash and no picking it up--just reach down and push the button real quick, hoping nobody notices!

Don't these look good?!

And the corn boy.

Katie came away with a parasol this year, Joe with yet another cap gun, and Sammy with a little wallet with an elk on it. All of them were very pleased with their purchases and have loved showing them off to anybody who will take the time to look at them.

Here's James letting Sam "drive" the truck.

The kids always love climbing on the hay in the barn.

James took Katie & Joe for a walk through the woods over to Aunt Betty's house one night.

And here's Sam coming down the cruel hill, but this time on a petal car... that he knows how to use the breaks on!

One thing that we did very different this time was drive in the wrong direction when we left James' folks' house! But we did it on purpose. :-) James wanted to take the kids to Hershey, Pennsylvania. They have an actual amusement park (Hershey Park) with rides and all sorts of stuff like that, but we just wanted to take them to the chocolate factory. I'm so glad we did! It made for a VERY long day and we were sooooo tired when we finally made it to Mom and Dad's house late last night, but it was worth it. Here are some pictures.

The "tour" consists of riding in a car on a track of some kind while cows sing to you, screens display video clips, and equipment demonstrates while speakers in the car tell you all about the process of making chocolate. Unfortunately, I learned nothing and my knowledge of the procedure is precisely what it was before the tour. It was all very "busy" (so many sights and sounds and different things to look at as you drove by and tried to get pictures and all that!) and I couldn't keep up with it all. No matter--it was fun! And if I'm ever that interested, the Internet holds the key to learning about how to make chocolate. I'm just sure of it. ;-) Here are some miscellaneous shots of the ride/tour.





And the kids enjoying the gift shop after the tour!

I was excited to see such a fantastic Reese's display and apparently Joe was impressed by whatever he was looking at as well!

Ooooh! The kids are doing GREAT on their search for license plates. The only states they are missing are Hawaii (might be a tough one! Ha!), Colorado (can you believe that?!), Wyoming, South Dakota... and maybe one other one--I can't remember. But look what we found while leaving the Hershey parking lot! Wa-Hoo! That was a toughie, too!

Mom is at IYC right now, so we won't see her until tomorrow. Dad preached up there last night, but came home afterwards. He actually got to the house just moments after we did. He was able to spend most all day with us today--something I never would have imagined possible just days before the Assembly! The day started out playing with the puppies, of course. I've been dying to meet them! After they climb all over you vying for attention, they calm down and crash... all over Mom's porch furniture! I love it!!! :-) They are ADORABLE and I'm in love with them all. I didn't get a picture of Ralph, the brown one--and my favorite, but here are the other three. Aren't they just too cute?!

The kids played outside most of the morning. Joe is our family fisherman. He'll stand out there for hours on end, waiting for the big one! Here's Sam fishing with Granddad.

And Joe with the little bass he caught.

James did his own running around today, so the kids and I hung out with Granddad. He took us out for brunch at IHOP, then we went to Headquarters to check out all of the amazing changes there--and it truly is amazing! WOW. It's beautiful!!! I can't wait for everybody else to get here and see it! It is just so EXCITING after all of these years to actually SEE things happening there! Wa-Hoo!

We went and washed the van, only to have it start raining immediately afterwards. Gotta love that! We came home and Dad and I were able to nap while the kids played outside, then we went out and did some more fishing with them. James met up with us and we all went to dinner at Catie's Kitchen where you can get a meal for $2.19 on up to about $3.50--and we're talking chicken fried steak and such! Ha! Makes you feel like it's 1962 or something. :-) Came home and got the kids all showered up and put to bed. And here we are! Tomorrow is church, Monday is Presbytery stuff, then Tuesday is Fields of the Wood and the beginning of the Assembly! How exciting!!! I don't know how often I'll blog. It's sooooo hard to do while I'm here! In fact, the only reason I'm doing it right now is because Dad is an early-to-bed sort of a guy and Mom is gone! But she'll be home tomorrow, so if I happen to have time to blog... it will probably be spent hanging out with her instead of blogging! But you just never know. For anybody who can't make it to the Assembly, be sure to keep your eye on the church website: thechurchofgod.org. Although it doesn't say anything about it, you will be able to watch it live again this year. It's not the same as being there, of course... but it has to be the next best thing! God bless!!!