Recap of This Week

Let's see... Tuesday night we got home from Arizona and got mostly unpacked, then crashed.

Wednesday was the big Post Trip Recovery Day. You know, getting everything back in order and all of the laundry done and whatnot. We had a full day of school and I got the past week and a half (before AZ) of school work graded. Then I made a nice, hot dinner: meatloaf, baked potatoes, corn, peas, and buttered carrots. Had to do it 'cuz I don't know how much opportunity I'll have to cook in the coming days and weeks! We had a really, really good ABM service that night. I love those. :-) Afterward I stayed up until 2:00am finishing up on all of the ironing. I haven't decided if church trips double the amount of ironing to be done or actually triple it... Either way, it makes for a lot more work!

Thursday we did school. Just as I suspected, Sam has been doing great learning his letters by force. :-) He got "D" down and switched his badge to a "V" next, so we made an itty-bitty v-v-volcano... (Although Sam has always pronounced them "wackanoes," further confusing himself on the "V" vs. "W" issue! Ha!)




He now remembers "V" by sight and can tell me several things that start with that letter (even if several of them still SOUND like they start with a "W"!), so he is now Mr. T, sporting his new letter every day and having to rehearse things like t-t-t-train and t-t-t-turtle.

After school on Thursday I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the dirty, filthy, nasty, grotesque former garage. It was soooooooo gross!!!! And it took HOURS. But now the ceilings, walls, and skylight are free from the dirt, grime, spiderwebs, dead bugs, hornet nests, and all other manner of putrescence that formerly made their abode there. I don't have any "after" pictures, but here's one "before" shot.



James took care of the meals that day: chili dogs for lunch and fish sticks for dinner!

It was also a red letter day for Katie and Joe. James made them a one-time offer. If they would use their birthday money to start a savings account, he would match whatever amount they put in, therefore doubling their money! Wow!!! They're not allowed to touch any of it for at least 3 months, but they're cool with that. So Katie offered her $25 and now has a $50 savings account and Joe gave his $50 and now has $100! They're thrilled. Of course, Joe has already figured out what date in March will be the day he can get his money out and close his account--"I only did it for the $100!" Ha! Says the kid who will never be able to make himself SPEND any of it anyway!

Friday morning we had devotions, then the kids got the day off from school so I could go PAINT in the now cleaned up garage! Wa-Hoo!!! It took another hour or more to get everything properly taped off, then I fought with Maurice for an hour or two before finally determining that... ~sniffle~ Well, I think it's time he had a proper burial. ~sigh~ So sad. I did dearly love him. But he hasn't worked properly the past few times we've needed him and I'm afraid we'd have to get into ordering extra parts and other expensive things. So I called James (he was in town anyway) and he brought home extra rollers and such and he and I spent the rest of the day painting all of the ceilings and walls the old fashioned way. A paint sprayer is sooooo much faster... but only if it works! I finished up the last of the painting at about 9:00 that night, I think. Then I spent the rest of the night and most of the next morning looking online for the perfect wallpaper border (or other western something to use for a border) in the boys' room. Haven't found it yet.

Yesterday was good and productive. We had a good day of school (had to make up for Friday's school that we'd missed!) and I was able to get both bathrooms cleaned, the whole house vacuumed (thanks to Sam's help!), and the wood floors shined up. :-) I made fried chicken with rice for dinner. Always a big hit here. Then I stayed up until 2:30 working on my VLB service. It's not that I waited until the last minute (I've been working on it all week), but there was just so much to research! And it was stuff I really enjoy. :-)

We had good services today. Good Sunday School, good worship, and good message. Oh, and Aaron Placencio was at church with his family today for the first time in months! Praise the Lord!!! Keep praying for him, all of you Family Camp people. :-) He asked about Camp and acts excited about going again this year. That's sooooo good!

We went to lunch with Sister Galaviz and had a really nice visit, as always. She is such a neat lady--and she cracks me up! Ha! Gotta love her! :-)

We came home and had time for a nice afternoon nap while the kids ran wild outside for a couple of hours. Then we went to my LONGEST SERVICE EVER!!! It lasted a whole hour and a half!!! WHOA!!! Do I get a ribbon or a trophy or something?! I'm usually fighting hard to make a service last a whole 30 or 40 minutes. I covered a topic tonight though that has always been one of my favorites: Creation vs. Evolution. I talked minimally about that issue itself and more about the effects that accepting evolution has on the young people of our day. If evolution is true, then who cares what they do or how they lives their lives? They are just the product of chance random processes, originated from slime or a rock or aliens' "seeds" or whatever. The past and the future are unknown and unknowable, as well a irrelevent. Besides, if evolution is true, who makes the rules? Why not mutilate your body with piercings and tattoos? Why not destroy it with drugs and alcohol and cigarettes? And who says you have to obey the law? The people who made it came from the same primordial soup you did a billion years ago--what authority do they have? No wonder kids nowdays are such a mess and are involved in so many horrible things! It's so much simpler for those who just accept the fact that God created this world and everything in it. He's the Creator; He makes the rules; we are obligated to live by them. How comforting to KNOW that and have PURPOSE in this life! Anyway, I think the service went okay and there was lots of good input and discussion there at the end.

Anyway, now the week is over and a new one has begun. Tomorrow I start on the purty painting out in the garage. Won't it be cool when I stop calling it the garage and start calling it the den and the boys' room?! I'm soooooo excited!!! Once I get it all painted the way I like it I'll have a little bit of wallpapering to do, then I'm going to start the same thing in our bedroom while James builds doors and works on finishing out the garage. Then... (drumroll, please)... we'll be ready to have the carpet laid and MOVE IN! Wa-Hoo!!!! I have no idea how long it will take to get to that point and I'm scared to make any predictions, but it's thrilling to be as close as we are. :-)

Okay, that's it. But here are some random pictures of the kids from the past few days.

Katie playing with her Raggedy Ann that Grandma Vicki made for her...

Sam, Mr. Work-em, helping out with the vacuuming. He really gets into it! :-)

And Joe designing who-knows-what. And doing his very best not to smile.