Crazy busy!

I'm so busy these days I barely have time to breathe! I can tell I need to make a change somehow, because it's bringing me down. Here are some of last week's more fun activities.
In the Sandusky Academy we were studying India. For her project, Mikayla dressed her dolls in traditional Indian clothes and put on a style show. And I didn't take pictures!!:( Jessica's project was cooking a recipe she found online. It said "Indian chicken," and was basically a DELICIOUS fried chicken recipe. We all loved it. We ate it with rice and carrots and home-made ice cream from another Indian recipe we found. It was good, too!
The girls and I had more fun with international food Saturday night at SAU's International banquet.  I used the opportunity to wear my capulana from Mozambique (with shorts under it in case I hadn't tied it right). There were lots of people there, several whom we knew. A huge buffet table with lots of good food...and some not so good...and some very h-o-t! It was fun. All the girls tried some new things, but I was really impressed with Jessica and Rebecca. They even went back for seconds. Mikayla pretty much ate...rice. Lots of rice. I forgot to take pictures there, too.
That's all for now--gotta get some sleep to keep up with the busy-ness!

Just an amateur

The other day a mommy and daddy cardinal were hopping around my empty birdfeeders looking for food, and flying close to my window saying, "HEY! FEED US!" So I told them through my kitchen window that I would try to feed them later that day, and I'm sorry for waiting so long. Rebecca added, "Yeah, she's not a professional, you know."

10 on the 10th

I just read Meredith's 10 great 80's songs--woo hoo! And it reminded me that today is the 10th. So here are 10 movie scenes that always make me cry, no matter how many times I've seen them or if I've watched any of the movie that day. (Don't worry, I'm not depressed. I enjoy a good cry every now and then.)
In no particular order:
1. The Patriot, when the little girl runs after Mel Gibson yelling, "Daddy, don't go! I'll say anything you want, just please don't go!"
2. West Side Story, the very last scene: Te adoro, Anton!
3. Hope Floats, when the little girl is trying to get in her dad's car and he's driving off with her crying and yelling, "Daddy! Don't leave me!" (Don't psychoanalyze me. There may or may not be a theme.)
4. La Bamba, when the mom is hanging out the laundry and finds out Richie died in the plane crash, and falls to her knees crying.
5. Molly, the American Girl movie, when Molly comes home from school and finds her mom making a casserole for their neighbor, Mrs. Gilford.
6. Molly, again, when her dad comes home after her recital, but she can't see him at first because she's not wearing her glasses.
7. My Girl, when she runs in to the doctor saying she's dying, because her friend died.
8. Top Gun, when Goose dies. Even though you can see snot coming out of Tom Cruise's nose.
9. Apollo 13, when they're watching for the lunar module to break through the clouds, and Tom Hanks' daughter is crying.
10. The Christmas Shoes--heck, all I have to do is hear the song on the radio!

And, I might add, practically every episode of Little House on the Prairie!! I love that show so much, and the books even more, that I had friends tell me they were surprised when I didn't name any of my daughters Laura. But my thinking was, I'm the one most like Laura, that would be like naming my kids after me. Why don't kids get named after their mothers? They get named after their fathers...okay, I'm rambling. Time to go to bed--

Good news, bad news

The good news is, our dog Polly LOVES her new squeaky toy.
The bad news is, we have to listen to it all.day.long.

The good news is, our house had a showing this afternoon!
The bad news is, I had to spend all day getting it cleaned up.

The good news is, it's spring, and flowers are blooming everywhere!
The bad news is, there's so much pollen everything is the same shade of yellow-green anyway.
(Actually, we had a pretty good rain shower last night that helped a lot.)

He is risen!

Easter
Watching the sun come up over the trees wrapped in blankets on the porch swing
Easter baskets--egg gummmm
Church-He is risen indeed!
Good, long-time friends
Hear the Bells Ringing
Pictures under the red-bud tree
Yummy lunch with family--why didn't I bring coconut cake home like Mom offered?
Dirty Bunny?!?! :)
Egg hunt by spring beauties among the spring beauties
Girls flying a kite...hula hooping...playing catch...swinging
Hugs good-bye
3-hour short drive home listening to "Voyage of the Dawn Treader"...pulling into driveway to hear, "Aww, can we just sit in the car and finish it?" :)
Girls to bed almost on time before testing tomorrow

Dear God, thank you for this day...no, REALLY!!

facebook status updates I never posted

Kecia...
watched last week's episode of "Lost" this week, and (this shouldn't spoil anything for those of  you who live in Africa and have to watch everything late, and hopefully will still make sense to those of you who don't watch it) throughout the show I kept thinking, "Oh, I wish I could tell Richard about Jesus! He needs to know the truth about God's grace!" Then I felt like God said, "If you want to tell a fictional character about me so bad, why aren't you telling any real people about me?" To which I replied in my mind, "Well, they don't tell me everything about their past and their hurts like the TV show does." So He said, "They would if you'd get to know them."
Yikes.

loves that everything turns green this time of year...except my red van!!

Come on, cowboys!! (after watching Amazing Race)

is pooped!! But survived Rebecca's birthday party at the park.

is pregnant! April Fool's--

Rebecca's story (a re-run)

In the summer of 2003, Mike's brother and his wife and two kids flew up to Idaho for a visit. We borrowed a Suburban and drove up to Canada--Banff, Lake Louise, Radium Hot Springs, Kootenai and Yoho National Parks, Wapta Falls, Emerald Lake, and even Whistler Mountain in Jasper, which is way up there close to the Arctic Circle. Well, closer than I'd ever been, anyway. We had a great time, and saw bears, big horn sheep, elk, glaciers. Jessica and Mikayla were 5 and 3, and as we hiked and climbed, one of them usually ended up on my shoulders. On our last day, driving home, we found one more waterfall with rocks we just had to climb on. But as I got out of the car, I started cramping like I was either about to be sick or start my period, so I stayed down close to the car (and the porta-potty) while everyone else climbed, and it went away. I spotted a little, and figured my friend "Martha" was about to come for her monthly visit. But she never did, and I took a pregnancy test, which came out positive. Mike and I were happy about it, but at the same time...this was exactly how our last pregancy had started. The one I lost at 11 weeks. Because of the spotting, and the cramping, I was certain the baby was dead. I don't know how to put into words how little hope I had. I only told those closest to me, and set up a doctor's appointment for when I was about 9 weeks along. I knew my Dr. would do an ultrasound, and I prepared myself to see no little flash of heartbeat on the screen. Thankfully, my big brother Mark had faith for me, and told me all along that he knew this baby was going to be alright. I wanted to believe him, but didn't. He kept praying and believing, and that day at the dr's office, I watched the screen with dread, then was amazed to see something flashing!! I asked, "Is that a heartbeat?!" and my dr (the same one who had seen me through before) joyfully answered yes!! Oh, how I cried. For joy, for relief, for shock, for shame that I hadn't believed, and for gratitude for those who had. It turned out that the spotting was because I had partial previa, which meant I had to stop carrying Mikayla (remember that trip to Canada!) and Mike got to take over vacuuming (yaay), and by February, that was gone! But also in February, after fasting and drinking that sucrose water stuff, I was driving myself to the hospital to have blood drawn, on snowy and icy-but-I-didn't-know-it roads, and got in an accident. Thank the Lord, again the baby and I were okay! Finally, on March 30, 2004, little Rebecca Ann was born. It was the least dramatic/traumatic birth of all! Mostly because the hospital we used FINALLY invested in a continual drip epidural thingy--again, thank You Lord! ;) The next day one of our students was holding Rebecca as I was taking a shower with my Mom's help, when she suddenly yelled, "Grandma!!" Mom went to see what was going on and Rebecca was blue. They ran her to the nurse's station, and the nurse grabbed her and ran down the hall to some machine that pumped her stomach. It happened 4 times before we went home from the hospital. I was more nervous to take her home than I had been with my first-born! But it never happened again. Every time I look at my Rebecca, I marvel at God's grace, His protection, and His healing hand. I could so easily not have her...but I do. I get to hear her say she wants skabetti for supper, and ham and an apple for breakfast. (?) I get to see her brown eyes just like her Gran's, and curly hair like me. I get her kisses and hugs and cuddles. I don't deserve it...but God is so good to me. Thank You, Father!

Age 1

Age 2

Age 3

Age 4

Age 5

Age 6

Happy Birthday, Rebecca!