Note to self:

When packing for the beach at Galveston, make sure the undergarments you choose belong to you and not your 10-year-old daughter!!!
Other than that, our trip was good. Mike's sister was sick, so we didn't get to visit with her as much as we like, but we went to see his Mom and she was having a good day. Her eyes were open most of the time, and she answered yes/no questions. Then Mike's brother and his family met us at the beach, and we had a blast! Rebecca loved playing in the sand with Callie, and the rest of us loved playing in the waves. We all could have done without the seaweed. Jessica got pinched by a crab, and I saw it in the water! And fish were jumping all around us! It was cool After burgers at The Spot we went to the Strand and walked around a bit, got a salt-water taffy sample. And we got home the next day in time for the girls to go to a birthday party!

Rebecca loved the cherries Uncle Jeff and Aunt Renee brought!

The blue tape line is how high the water was after Hurricane Ike. Those doors are taller than normal doors.

Now I have 3 phone booth pictures!

Get out of the boat!

That was the theme for Joyworks this year. And on Wednesday night, the last night of the camp, my daughters demonstrated it for me.
Mikayla: 
Dress rehearsal started at 9:30.
P.M.
4th-6th graders.
After 3 days of "camp" and swimming and giggling all night.
Everyone was just exhausted. It was supposed to start at 8:30, but worship and the message went long, and how do you complain about that?

I was asked to help watch the doors, because some boys had snuck back to their dorms during talent show the night before. When I thought the boys had given up for the night I went back in and the other chaperones from my church beckoned me over and whispered to me, "Mikayla's having a really hard time." I looked at the stage, and there was my baby, on the front row, singing with all her heart...and crying at the same time. I was told that one of the workers asked if she was okay, and she said she was shaking and felt sick, but she'd be okay. And she stuck it out to the end! She looked miserable, but didn't quit.It broke my heart, but I was so proud of her!
Jessica:
One of the classes the kids rotated through was learning choreography and using "God Rods" to the song, "Voice of Truth." But all 170 kids couldn't do it at the same time on stage, so the leader chose 16 to demonstrate it to the parents at the performance--and Jessica was chosen!! I was really excited for her, and couldn't wait to see her do it. Maybe I took a little too much pride in it, and that's why things turned out the way they did.

After the late night dress rehearal, the kids doing the sticks were asked to stay late and practice their part. They all went up on stage, and Jeff, the leader, started showing them where to stand, when he was reminded that other kids would be standing there. He said he was under the impression that row would leave, and they said no, they wouldn't, yadayada, and he said, "Then we won't all fit. I'm going to have to get rid of some kids. And I don't know how to do that." Long pause. "Do any of you kids want to voluntarily give up your spots?" One boy took his rods to Jeff, then another, then one more. Someone said, "Boys, I'm so proud of you for doing that. That was a very unselfish thing to do." And Jeff said he needed a few more to quit. And I thought, 'Oh great, now Jessica's going to feel like she should do it.' And sure enough she did. I felt sick, I was so disappointed. She came behind me and sat down and put her head on her arms, and my heart broke for the second time that night. And it made me mad. I was proud of her for what she did (sigh), but not as proud as I should have been. I really wanted her to do the sticks, I'm ashamed to say. Even watching the performance the next day, I was wishing she was up there--but she seemed fine. I think it bothered me more than it did her.
I learn a lot from my kids.

Jessica's Got Talent

When Jessica was a newborn, my favorite place to kiss her was the back of her neck, right below her hair. She was long and thin, even then--my little bird, I called her.

Tuesday night at Joyworks, after worship some of the kids put on a talent show. My Jessica accompanied her friend Samantha singing, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross." It was her first time to play in public! The talent show participants sat on the front row, and Jessica had her hair in 2 braids, so all I could see of her was the back of her neck. That same, sweet little neck. It was all I could do to keep from climbing over the seats to give her a kiss.

When Jessica was a pre-schooler she was so shy the only way she would get in front of the church to sing in kids' choir was if her first best friend Jonathan was holding her hand. When she was flower girl in Ann's wedding, maid-of-honor Julie had to scoot her along in front of her to get her down the aisle.

I was so nervous for her that when it was over I thought I was going to faint!  But even though she had a couple little mess-ups and Samantha forgot the words once, she handled it like a pro and just kept on playing. I was so proud of her.

The Best of Times

I spent this week at OBU, my college alma mater, as a sponsor for Joyworks, a "worship camp." Jessica and Mikayla and 8 other girls from our church went (AND another sponsor, thank goodness). The camp was great--the kids have a 1-hour choir rehearsal 3 times a day, plus 2 hours a day of classes they rotate through, learning instruments and drama, among other things. And they still have time for recreation, worship, and trouble free time. I had fun, mostly because I LOVE THAT PLACE!!! I have so many memories--good and bad, but mostly good. I was somewhat of a late bloomer, I guess, and had a lot of firsts on that campus. First time to be asked out on a date, first kiss, first time to share a room (no sisters!), first time to eat Cap'n Crunch, and pizza without scraping everything off, and a hamburger with more than meat and bread. First vacation w/o family (Gulf Shores!), first mission trip (which was also my first time to leave the country), first time to join a church my parents weren't members of, first time to use community showers, first time to be serenaded...I'm smiling just thinking about the friends I made and experiences we had together. Here are some of the sights that brought on my nostalgia:

This is where I broke up with that first boyfriend. He was moving too fast for me, saying he loved me when we'd only dated for 6 weeks. Funny thing is, I didn't mind at all when Mike did the same thing!

This place made the BEST milk shakes. And we used to sing "Down at the Sunset Tiger Grill"

My friends and I hung out here so much-- I think we're the ones who wore down that corner of the railing. We knew we'd see everybody on their way to get their mail...

...from boxes like this. I was 4057, see it! Pre-cell phone/internet days, we would write letters and put sticky notes on each other's boxes.

Cap'n Crunch, where were you all my life! And I'll never forget watching the Beta pledges moo getting their milk. Tee hee.

Sharon Cosh was my campus minister's wife, and I've always wanted to be like her. And I did marry a campus minister! But I'll never have her South African accent, and I stopped at 3 girls while she had 5. I really enjoyed getting to visit with her.

The cafeteria ain't Walt's anymore. I was quite impressed.

(Can't you just hear Mikayla yelling, "Wait up! Wait up!") This bridge was where I used to go when I was blue. I would lean on the rail and look at the ravine...

...which now looks like this! What have they done to my beautiful ravine??

Although I would never go back to that time, I am so thankful for my time at Ouachita. God changed my life and goals, and blessed me with lifelong friends-- and precious memories.

Greater Love Hath No Man

I'm sure you all heard about the deadly flash floods that swept through the campground we stayed at a few weeks ago. I heard a story this week that makes it more personal.
A lady whose cousin goes to my church, and who taught some of our college students in high school, was camping there. When she and her husband saw the flood waters rising, they climbed higher and higher up a tree, until at last they were safe. Then she saw a family struggling in the water, with a child who looked about 2 years old. She climbed back down the tree, grabbed the 2-year-old, handed the child to her husband and was swept downstream along with the child's parents. They were eventually rescued, but she was not.
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

10 on the Tenth

In honor of my 17th wedding anniversary this Saturday, here are 10 wedding memories:
1) My parents woke me up by sitting on my bed to pray with me. It was a perfect start to a wonderful day.
2) We had a lovely bridesmaids brunch at my friend/bridesmaid Amanda's house, and I didn't eat again until supper on our way to Memphis after the wedding. I got exactly one bite of our cake.
3) Alyssa, another friend/bridesmaid, got teary-eyed just watching me put my veil on. I never did! I smiled all day long. Had a blast. Loved everything about it--my puffy sleeved, early-90's dress, my bridesmaid's pale pink lacy dresses, the punch that matched them perfectly, seeing everyone who came, the songs (Listen to Our Hearts, Somewhere in the World, ) and especially leaving with Mike!
4) Another friend/maid-of-honor, couldn't keep her bra straps from showing. So she took it off. Do you remember that, Angie?
5) My dad's blood sugar was going nuts, so somebody brought him a hamburger while we were waiting for things to start.
6) My dad was escorting his Alzheimer's afflicted mother out and stopped to talk to an unexpected guest--left her standing in the aisle bewildered, not knowing what to do.
7) We left the marriage certificate in the car, and when my brother Matt, who officiated, asked for it, and I told Mike to go get it, he said, "I don't know who has the keys!!" In a most exasperated voice. (At our ages, we had pulled plenty of wedding get-away car pranks. And dreaded revenge that day. We got off pretty easy, but thanks for the advice, Ang.)
8)Angie, Dina, Jennifer, and I had our picture made standing in the same order as we had at every other wedding we'd been to, as well as in front of our freshman dorm where we all met.
9) There were hardly any single men there to catch the garter. I'm glad I caught Mike when I did!
10) Our 3-year-old nephew was hidden under piles of wadded-up newspaper in the back seat of our car. He was supposed to pop up right away, but waited until we were several blocks away. So we just kept him while we washed the car, to scare everybody a little bit!
If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing.
Now go to Mer's and do your own 10 on the Tenth!

What's new at the Sandusky house?

Camping!
We had never been camping as a family until we went to Albert Pike a couple weeks ago. The campground was beautiful, although Mike, with his Idaho wilderness experience, was offended at the tent pads, picnic tables, metal poles for lamps, and proximity to other campers. But our site stuck out by itself at the end of the road, with a hill on one side and river on the next, so we did have the illusion of solitude.

This river was the Little Missouri, and it was more like a creek, since where we were it was about 1 to 3 feet deep. It was perfect for tubing!! That was a lot of fun.



We only spent one night, which is good since I remembered at bedtime why I don't camp much. Mike had snorted something as we were buying stuff for the trip about air mattresses being for sissies, so I slept on as many piled-up blankets as I could fit in the van, and the ground still felt hard. It didn't seem to bother Mikayla or Rebecca at all; they were asleep 5 minutes after their heads hit their pillows, just like at home. I think I may have slept 5 minutes total. And I'm so spoiled. I missed my fan! Not the coolness of it, the NOISE of it. I could have perhaps slept to the sound of bugs and frogs if they were all making one continuous, white noise. But there was this one show-off, one bull frog who refused to conform, and would belch out this awkward "Bwraaap" at random, unpredictable moments. All.night.long. Trust me. I was happy when the sun woke up the birds and their singing started to drown him out. Then there's my aging body problems...I cannot go a full night without getting up to potty. I tried. I lay there thinking, "You don't have to pee. You'll wake everybody up. Just go to sleep and forget about it." Didn't work. So I got up, ever so quietly, and went to the tent door: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP. Woke up the whole campground. And if I didn't, our tent neighbor's dog barking at me did. It was a short walk to the bathroom, but I didn't bother to find my glasses, and since I'm blind as a bat I have no idea what critters' red eyes were reflecting my flashlight. I had fun again the next day, but I think we need more equipment before we go again.
Fishing!
We had never been fishing as a family before, either, and the campus minister we met there loves to fish, so he offered to take us to a great fishing spot. He said he'd drive us there in his truck (the first time my girls got to ride in the back of one) and we'd walk a little and then fish. When he stopped the truck, he said we'd have to walk about half a mile. We walked, and walked, and walked, and he finally turned around and said, "I'm not a good judge of distance. It's probably more like a mile and a half. Just half a mile more, and we'll be there." Come to think of it, he said that several times...just half a mile more...half a mile more...It was a pretty hike, though, with the river and rope swings and trees and rocks and bluffs.


If I'd been wearing real shoes instead of water shoes, I would have loved it. It was all worth it once we got there, though. Gorgeous view, and everybody caught a fish!





Kindergarten graduates!

Windows! (and a playset!)
Since we decided not to buy a bigger house, we're doing what we can to improve this one. I love my clean windows and unripped screens!
Doors!
Maybe I'll take another picture after we paint...
Bathroom Decor!
And toilet. That's what started it all--the shower door wouldn't open with the new toilet, so we took it off and replaced it with this shower curtain.Then I saw this bath mat and thought it was perfect for the hall bathroom, so I got it, too!