So thankful...

• that none of the rising waters came into our house.
• for tornado sirens that give ample warning.
• that when the tornado sirens went off while I was taking something to Mike at the BCM and the rain and wind made me feel like I was driving through a swimming pool even at 5 mph, I got there and back home safely.
• that the girls, who were home alone when the tornado sirens went off, knew what to do and were all in the bathroom when I got home.
• that no trees crashed into our house--all that fell over was our good ol' WM scarecrow.
• that we didn't even lose electricity!

Another lesson learned from my kids

Tonight as we were getting in the van to go to the BCM for "worship," I told one of my precious children to do something and she said, whiningly, "But I don't want to!"
It was not the first time today that I had heard those words, nor was it the same child each time.
I yelled said in a firm, slightly loud voice, "I don't want to hear those words again!  When I tell you to do something, you're supposed to obey, not tell me you don't want to!"
Fast forward to Mike's very powerful Bible study tonight about what worship is and isn't.  He was emphasizing that worship isn't something you sing, or somewhere you go.  It's responding to who God is, His amazing love for you, and what He has done, is doing, and will do, with your life.  Day to day, everywhere you go.  "If your roommate asks where you're going tomorrow, you should say, 'I'm going to worship.  In Algebra.'"  Then he asked how we are going to respond to God, and as various things went through my head, I thought, "But I don't want to..."
Ouch.
I'm so sorry, God. You are worthy of so much more.

I won!

A little while ago I left a comment at The Dirty Shame, Meredith's husband John's blog, and won a copy of his book, Touching Wonder:  Recapturing the Awe of Christmas, which you can order here, and a shirt from his friend Xan's company, which you can investigate here. I'm so excited! I've really been wanting to read the book, and Mike can always use a new shirt. John and I went to college together, then he and Mike went to seminary together and we were all 4 in an amazing young married Sunday School class...so long ago!  We were only all there for one year, but were all in the same stage of life and really bonded and had a great time.  Now we're scattered around the world, and John's a famous author!  Thanks, John. :)

Locks of Love

A little while ago I noticed that I had waited so long to cut Rebecca's hair that it was below her hiney!  Since we wanted it short anyway, we decided to donate 10".

See how long it was?

Here's the stylist measuring the ponytail--

(Notice the big sisters reading in the background.)

Snip!

Tada!

The girls always enjoy a good wash & dry at the salon, 'cause we rarely touch the hair dryer at home!

And here's the finished product:

10 on the Tenth

10 Favorite Things about Fall:
1. Cooler weather...eventually. It was 91 Thursday, 51 today!
2. Getting out fall decorations--apples, pumpkins, and scarecrows!
3. College football--Razorbacks, Aggies, and, um, KirkHerbstreetonESPN!
4. Candy corn and apples dipped in caramel and apple cake and apple pancakes and hot chocolate and...
5. Cuddling to keep warm
6. Fall colors--dark green, browns, golds, rusts
7. Fall textures--sweaters, corduroy, wool
8. Wood smoke--mmmm
9. Raking leaves, jumping in leaves, crunching leaves underfoot
10. Trips to the pumpkin patch!

The girls with my great-niece Gabby

And here's Gabby's brother, my great-nephew Garrett

My nephew Thomas with his wife Stacy, my brother Mark with his wife Sally, and Garrett, trying to keep warm

Fear is pretty powerful stuff...

Okay, so I went to the doctor this afternoon to have a couple of "suspicious" moles removed (why am I suddenly thinking of "Alias"?) and I totally wigged out! She gave me several shots, to deaden the area, which wasn't fun, but wasn't unusual, either. Then she tested the deadening, asking if I could feel this, or this, or this, which I did so she gave me more. Then she started doing her thing, and after a second or two she asked, "Do you feel any pain?" to which I faintly replied, "No, but I'm really hot..." The nurse (who's been putting off her own mole removal--I was no help) started fanning me with a magazine, and the doctor asked if I felt better, and I said, "Well, I'm not as hot but I'm still queasy." That's when they had me lay down. And the nurse gave me a piece of gum out of her pocket. And when it was all over they brought me a nice cold water bottle and a star burp (as Mikayla used to call them.) I was sweating so much my clothes got wet! It was so wierd! The only other times I've felt close to that was watching Margo get her epidural and when Mike and my dad came in the house after carrying the dog my dad accidentally shot (long story.) But this was crazy--I couldn't see or feel anything she was doing, so I don't know why I almost passed out! Just fear, I guess. I was smugly pleased when my doctor also said that I had "surgery" today so I need lots of sympathy and the kids to do all the work for the rest of the day. Sounds good to me!

The Battle

I've been letting Satan kick me around lately, and I'm tired of it. For the past few weeks I've let him rob me of my joy, making me resentful and frustrated and discouraged. I've been praying and reading my Bible as usual, and that's all been good, but as soon as I get up or put my Bible down, BAM, something's not right and I'm upset about it and taking it out on whoever I feel is to blame or whoever's closest. A lot of it I've held inside, non-confrontational as I am, but I can feel myself not smiling or laughing, if that makes any sense. I feel like a black cloud.
So at BCM tonight, the first song started...I'm trading my sorrows, I'm trading my shame, I'm laying them down for the joy of the Lord...that's what I choose. I choose joy.
Feel free to pray for me!

School stuff

I am really enjoying this school year. We're studying different countries in the Eastern Hemisphere, and the curriculum includes a list of projects for the kids to choose from for each country. What has been fun for me is I've known a missionary in almost every country we've studied, so I've had the girls email them, too, and we've read their blogs and learned more about them. I think it's been fun. Here are some things we've done.
We studied the Pacific Islands first, and Mikayla drew these pictures showing the difference between low islands and high islands.


Jessica planned a luau, and invited her friends, and I was excited about putting pictures of that on here, but things kept happening to make us cancel, so we finally just had a family luau. She made "Tahitian Poe," which was pureed bananas baked with cornstarch and brown sugar, then chilled in the fridge and cut into cubes. Ummm...we all thought it was...well...we won't be making it again. ;)
We enjoyed reading about life on a Pacific Island by reading the Choate's blog, here.

After that we studied Australia. Jessica wrote a story about an aboriginal girl meeting white people for the first time, and Mikayla taught us an Australian game. We emailed some friends from my single days at Wedgwood, Ken and Kathy, and it was good getting caught up with them.

When we studied New Zealand, we got to try another new food because Mikayla made a dessert called "pavlova," and it was DELICIOUS!!

Jessica made a Maori carving out of a bar of soap. She's so much more artistic than I am!


Another thing I love about the curriculum we use is that each year they offer an opportunity to get your kids involved in a mission project. This year we're raising money for The Seed Project, which is part of Wycliffe Bible Translators, in the One Verse project. The money we raise will go towards translating the Bible into Meeto, an tribal language in...Mozambique!!! I thought it was so cool to be able to be involved in this right after going there! The girls sold cookies and lemonade at our yard sale yesterday, and we have over $40 so far. $26 "buys" one verse, and Sonlight will match what we send. They also put fun lessons and videos on line each week teaching about Bible translation and the Meeto people. If you click to make the picture bigger, try to look at some of their drawings--they're priceless!

(Look--it was cool enough for jackets!!! But then it got hot enough for shorts...)
Rebecca, by the way, is loving kindergarten, and so am I! She comes home happy every day, and usually immediately starts playing school! She is learning to read and write in leaps and bounds. I love when they're in the "write what you hear" stage, and the cute things they write about. Here's one of her white board drawings.

I leave you with this glimpse into the life of a homeschool family by Tim Hawkins. (I know you've probably seen it, but it still makes me laugh, and I can't figure out how to show you the one I saw on fb on the difference between homeschoolers and those who are homeschooled. So this will have to do.)

Meet Polly

I hold Vicki Courtney personally responsible for this. At the conference in Oklahoma, she was showing all these cute, funny dog videos, and then when we met her she took Jessica's side, saying we needed to get a puppy...I never actually agreed, but Mike brought her home, so what could I do?

Obedient, isn't she?! Not spoiled a bit!
She's half dachshund, half Jack Russell terrier, about 3 months old. And she is pretty sweet. I guess I'll let her stay.