Post BTI

So since then...

I will spare you (and me) the details of each and every day, and just hit the points that are most memorable.

I cooked liver. It was an accident, I assure you. When James made that trip to Pennsylvania a while back he brought a cooler full of deer meet. We bought a cute little freezer and filled it up. We were all sooooo excited to have some deer meet again, even if it was white tail instead of mule deer. So a few days later I grabbed two packs of steaks (presumably) out of the freezer and thawed them out. I have never seen, touched, or tasted liver before, but I knew that something was wrong with one of the packs! Nothing smelled sour, but the pieces were slimy and smooth with no grain to them. The word "liver" came to mind, but I dismissed it. Who's ever heard of somebody keeping and cooking deer liver?! Apparently James' folks had a few packs of beef liver in with their deer meat and we were lucky enough to have one. I went ahead and cooked it up (it was already thawed out and we didn't have enough of the real steaks to feed everybody), hoping that the kids wouldn't notice. No such luck. They took one bite and started grossing out. "Ewww, Mom! There's something way wrong with this steak!!!" What a horrible let-down when we had all been so excited about finally having deer! Ha! We all had a very small portion of steaks--and quickly threw the liver away. I usually feel guilty about being wasteful and throwing food away, but not this time. I'm pretty sure it's okay to be opposed to eating organs. In fact, I think I'm going to develop a spiritual conviction about it now that I've handled the nasty stuff. :-) ~BLEAGH~

I was awakened one morning by Joe bringing me a booklet that he had put together. The cover page said, "Dismal Times of the Year." Each of the following twelve pages had the name of a month along with an illustration of something horrible that takes place at that time. I really should take pictures of all of them and blog them sometime. That kid cracks me up!

I went to Bath & Body Works. That may not seem noteworthy to most people, but it's a real rarity for me so I thought I'd mention it. Jamey had given me some really great socks as well as a gift card to B&BW as a thank you gift for watching the kids during BTI. Wow!!! It was totally unexpected and completely unnecessary, but I was so excited! I splurged on some sugar scrub and it is soooooo wonderful. Oh, it just feels soooooo good and soothing. I never spend money on stuff like that, but since I had a gift card and since I'd spent two weeks with seven children (ha!) it just felt like it would be okay to spend money on something soothing and relaxing. :-)

We had a VLB birthday party for one of our local kids, Michael. It was at this point that I realized that my auxiliaries are all mixed up. I'm in charge of the VLB services at church right now, as well as being the ABM leader for all of the VLB's. When I planned this VLB birthday party to be held during my Band Meeting, it occurred to me... my VLB services at church are really more ABM oriented (general subjects anyway; nothing particular to young people most of the time) while my ABM meetings are completely centered around young people and subjects and issues that apply to them. Oh well, I guess it's all getting done, even if I've got my letters all jumbled up! Anyway, in our June Band Meeting (just a few days after Michael's 12th birthday) I did a little devotional on using the precious years of youth to serve God with all your strength, then went into party mode. Look! I made a VLB cake! I was happy with how it turned out, and it tasted soooooo good. Michael has a hard time NOT posing for pictures... Ha!

I had invited the Gleaners to join us for this particular ABM/VLB Meeting, hoping to stir some enthusiasm about one day being VLB's themselves.
We played a game where the kids had to pop their balloons (black and red, of course) to discover if they were a winner or not according to the piece of paper inside, but they weren't allowed to use their hands at all.
And then we played Pin-the-Star-on-the-Shield. Judging from the picture, everybody lost. Ha!
And here is Michael making that goofy face again. He just can't help himself. I'm hoping that by the time he EXITS VLBhood he will have learned how to subdue that. Ha!
I can't believe I didn't think to take a picture of the gift itself! It was the VLB logo, his name and birthday along with the VLB Pledge in a black frame. I thought it turned out pretty neat.

We worked hard throughout the month of June trying to raise money for Camp. Well, actually that's debatable. I really don't think it can be considered "working hard" when you're panhandling! HA! In fact, I had a couple of the girls with me while we were standing out there and they kept wanting to take a break. "A break??? A break from what?! We're doing NOTHING!" Ha! I find myself standing on the corner with my sign and my bucket thinking silently to the passing cars, "We've baked nothing, we're washing nothing, we aren't even here to sell you donuts that we didn't even make ourselves... but we'll complain because you're not filling our bucket fast enough!" Hahahaha! I don't know that I'll ever be totally comfortable with the idea of doing nothing and asking for money (ha!), but I apparently don't feel strongly enough about it to NOT participate. ;-) Between 8:00 and 1:00 or so we had collected over $1,100. It just BLOWS MY MIND. There's no denying the efficiency of this event over all of the other fund raisers I've ever been involved in. Still, if we did it any more than one day a year I think I'd start to have real problems with it! Ha!

But the following week we worked for funds. :-) We had a Car Wash at the church and pulled in over $300. Praise the Lord! It was fun, but way, way, way too hot that day. ~bleagh~ It was close to 100 degrees and too muggy for my taste. It FELT like Alabama that day. Don't get me wrong--I love living in Alabama and I am so thankful that we are right where we are. I just don't like for it to FEEL like Alabama. Ha! Even the water wasn't refreshing. I grew up washing cars with cold water--usually ice cold. Even if it was an incredibly hot day there was relief to be found in the cold water. But the water here is hot and doesn't bring any reprieve at all. No matter though. I spent most of my time out at the road with a sign trying to draw customers. God was good to us and we only had a few lulls here and there. And the folks were VERY generous in their donations. It is sooooo much easier to raise money in the south!

We were soooooo hot and tired and exhausted by the time we got home at 3:00 or so, but we were having yet another Camp Fund Raiser the next day -- a church dinner. So when we got home from the car wash I took a shower (as cold as possible), then crashed for a little while before making a double lasagna, a truly horrible Italian pasta soup (I know better than to try recipes for the first time at pot-lucks--what was I thinking?!), a strawberry cake and some dessert bars. Katie made some Rice Krispy treats, brownies, and snickerdoodles. Actually, she did that two or three Sundays to try to raise money for Camp. So see--we really did work hard. We don't JUST panhandle around here. ;-)

We were awakened early one morning about three weeks ago by a phone call informing us that Aaron Dudley had been in an accident. He had rolled his Jeep and was thrown from the vehicle. We got everybody up and dressed and got to the hospital as quickly as we could. We were unable to see Aaron, but had a couple of good prayers with the family. I was blessed to see how many church folks showed up there to pray and lend support. Aaron is a cousin to the Dudley boys that sometimes attend church, but you certainly would have thought he was a member himself with as much love and attention he received from the church. He was scratched and scraped and bruised and banged up horribly--and he'll be unable to work or function without pain for several weeks yet--but it didn't appear that any of his injuries are life threatening. I KNOW God heard and answered the prayers that were prayed so fervently for that boy that morning. We are still praying for his recovery, as well as his soul. I've always really, really liked Aaron. He's always been so respectful and so nice, but he needs to be saved. We're trusting that this accident would be a wake up call for him and his brothers and cousins--they all need the Lord. Of course, Joshua did give his heart back to the Lord at Camp this past week--praise God! :-)

What else...

I ended up working a total of ONE day upstairs in between BTI and Camp. :-/ That is sooooo not the way things were supposed to go! We just had so many other things going on, trying to get all of the ministers reports tallied and put together (that takes hours upon hours upon hours--usually lasting two or three days, at least) and finishing up on the kids' school stuff and formulating attendance records and contacting their umbrella school or whatever it's called (that stuff was a whole day all by itself!), and Camp prep and who knows what all. There just wasn't time to work on the house. The day that I DID work up there I managed to finish papering Sam's walls. I had done two walls before BTI, so it did feel good to finally get the other two walls completed.

The kids signed up for the summer reading program at the library a few weeks ago. When we took them back the next week Katie had read enough to get a free ice cream from Chick-Fil-A, a piggy bank (actually a fuzzy dog bank), a free book, and I don't remember what else. It really inspired the boys to get involved the following week, so all three kids have been reading up a storm--even Sam! I am sooooo proud of him!!! He read over 500 pages on day. Some of that was from easy reader books, but lots of it was from real, true-blue chapter books. He just sat and read all day long. Wow!!! Who would've thunk it?! We really need to get the kids back to the library to claim whatever prizes they've earned.

Some neighbors invited us to their Annual Fish Fry. :-) We already had plans (it was the car wash day), but I was just so amazed that we'd received an invitation! I've tried to befriend the neighbors everywhere we've ever lived, but to no avail. I usually go around the neighborhood with baked goods to hand out and introduce myself and the kids... then never see or hear from any of them again! I never did that here (I didn't have a kitchen for the first several months and haven't taken the time for such a thing since then--maybe I'll get around to it at Christmas time), so I was extra excited to have been invited. That morning I got up early and baked some cookies. On our way to the car wash I stopped to drop off the cookies and introduce myself. It's a black family and they are sooooo friendly. When I told the lady my name and where I lived she just almost squealed--and she wrapped me up in a big hug and told me how happy she was to finally meet me. Ha! The whole family seemed super nice and I was so glad to have such pleasant neighbors. :-)

James turned 33 on June the 25th. There wasn't a lot of time to celebrate (wa-a-a-a-a-ay too much going on!), but we did manage to do some shopping (in the midst of our camp shopping) and I got him a pair of jeans and a polo shirt, total: $22. I like shopping like that. Of course, I wouldn't have found that great deal if he hadn't been with me. ;-) We also had to buy stuff for my cabin group, shoes for all in need (our family goes through them way to fast!), swim stuff, shampoos and such, and jeans for Katie. That last part still freaks me out. I've NEVER gone shopping for jeans for Katie! To even SAY it sort of makes my stomach do that "foomp" thing, but to see her TRYING THEM ON was way more than I could handle! It was horrible!!! Ha! They do different clubs at Camp (Survival Club, Sign Language Club, etc.) and in the Sewing Club this year Sister Marie was teaching the girls how to change a pair of jeans into a skirt. What a great thing to learn! Katie was all excited about it (and did a great job, by the way), so she needed a pair of jeans that fit her comfortably to start with. We tried several pairs at two different thrift stores before finding some that would work just right. I'm so proud of my girl! :-)

That day, Monday before Camp, one of my contacts was killing me. It was my very last pair and I knew I'd never be able to make it through Camp like that. We got home late that night, so the next morning I made a couple of calls and was actually able to make myself an appointment for that very day (praise the Lord!) at an eye place about half a mile from my house. Wow! I rushed in for an exam and the guy even threw in TWO sets of trial contacts since I was on my way to Camp, "just in case." What a blessing!!! So, knowing me, I'll wait until the second set of these get torn and I'm totally without once more, and THEN I'll go and actually buy new contacts. It's the way I roll. ;-)

And then it was time for Camp. :-) I was up way, way too late the last several nights before Camp, just trying to get everything done. That, coupled with all of the fund raisers, had me (and everybody else, no doubt) totally wiped out and exhausted before we ever even left. That's a horrible way to go into Camp! Ha! It all worked out just fine though, like it always does. But Camp will have to wait for another post. I'm done for tonight.

I did find a few Car Wash pictures to add though..

Joe drug out his guitar during one of the lulls and put up a sign that said, "Gospel Songs -- 25 Cents." Ha!
The girls decided to set up a lemonade stand. There were a couple of customers who came and bought some and sat in a chair under the car port while their cars were being washed, but mostly we just bought and guzzled a whole lot of lemonade ourselves. :-)
For the western folk who've never seen it, this is the Bessemer church. It is truly beautiful. I wish I could share part of it with all of the churches out there who have no building at all and who struggle each and every month to come up with enough money to pay the rent! We are truly, truly blessed here. And look--even a blue sky!!! :-)
And here are a couple of the hard working girls, Laura and Katie.