Yesterday was Ryan's birthday, and we had a fun outing to the mall. He thought it was all fun, thankfully, but it was also a bit of last minute stuff for Africa. I had with me my week's massive, detailed list of EVERYTHING I need to buy for Africa and things I need to remember to pack, etc.
Somehow it disappeared after about three stores. We had walked a long way, it was time for Ryan's birthday lunch, and I just couldn't worry about it. And somehow I didn't.
We had lunch, did some more shopping, and on the way out I had one last stop at the Nordstrom lingerie department. A department, mind you, that I hadn't previously been to that day. After checking out I looked very carefully to see that I hadn't dropped my new, just-started, but incomplete list. And down on the employee part of the counter, amongst their papers, was MY ORIGINAL LIST!!!
It probably fell out near the children's shoe department, across the aisle, which had been my first stop. Someone gave it to someone close by. And it just happened to be given to the department where I would be two hours later. And it just happened to be on the same side of the counter where I would be checking out.
I don't believe in coincidences, do you?
God is SO good, and I think this was such a sweet reminder that He is watching over us, and He is in the details, as we embark on our African adventure.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
An Hour in the Life (a.k.a. why it takes so long to make dinner)
I get out the pasta pot, but it looks like either the dogs had licked it and no one had washed it or someone under the age of nine had done the job.
(I put up with this because by the age of ten or so it pays off. I now have three kids who can make a kitchen spotless if need be!)
Lots of gunked on stuff so I had to get out an SOS pad.
Cade is STARVING and wants some yogurt. Okay, I'm thinking, it is kind of late to be just starting dinner and you're a growing boy.
We don't have any sweetened yogurt ready. So I open the new quart of yogurt, add agave and vanilla and stir, making quite a mess with overspill.
(Grr on all the companies that used to make maple yogurt without sugar but still call it maple yogurt even though it's not just maple syrup anymore.)
Now two more kids want yogurt. AND a little whipped cream leftover from Kat's strawberry pie. PLEASE? Okay, if you'll play the quiet game because Kat has the flu and is trying to rest on the couch.
Get the water started to boil.
Courtney is yelling, "Can you get us some coins so we can dive for them?"
Okay, sure! (Get coins, and on the way close the front door which has been left open by little boys taking bubble wrap outside to stomp on it, and remind them that they need to clean it up).
Mom, says Abby, my tummy hurts.
Why don't you take some Zypan?
Okay.
Meatballs into oven.
Now Bode and Cade want me to get them vitamins too.
Stop to clean up Bode, who is covered in yogurt.
Boys try to escape outside. Stop to get at least Cade to clear the yogurt bowls. And remind him to clean up the bubble wrap.
Out to garden to pick some lettuce. Wait, yogurt needs to be put away. Wait, time to add pasta. Turn off the back porch lights. Why are these always on?
Pick lettuce and so many strawberries! (No slugs in the beer trap, but there are two flies. Not bad!)
See Cade. Did you pick up the bubble wrap?
"What is the bubble wrap?"
The stuff you were stomping on the front porch! Please throw it away.
"Oh!"
The light finally comes on.
Coming back in. "Mom, watch me!" Bode is using a 2X4 as a balance beam. "Good Job!" Falls down. "You're okay!"
Stop to chat to sweet hubby who is working on a project outside.
Wash lettuce and berries.
Bode comes back in and is whining because somebody took his yogurt. No, no, it's right here on the counter.
Drain pasta.
"Hey mom, watch this." Some wierd thing I don't understand, and she says it's from the movie we saw last night.
See bubble wrap in a pile in the entry.
"Cade, you need to put the bubble wrap in the trash."
"O-oh!" (like now I get it.)
Heat sauce.
The little boys come in barking like dogs and crawl through the kitchen. Leave the door open. I close it. Turn the porch lights off AGAIN. I don't get this - who would turn them on?
Abby is now in her third outfit since I started this. "Abby, have you put all your clothes away that you have been taking off?" Says something I don't understand but somehow assures me that it's okay.
Rip lettuce.
"Mom, are you coming to watch our dog show?" Sure! Thankfully it was a short rendition of dogs singing "Don't Stop Believing."
Cocoa and friend are STARVING. Help yourself! Kat. Ditto. Serve Dan his "working snack" outside because this is date night! Come back in to serve the littles and Abby has already served all three!!! Good job!
Cade's drink spills all over the table and Bode has a great time splashing it before I get to clean it up.
Big girls try to escape without doing any dinner clean-up. That's a no-go.
Lots of chat about what movie they are going to watch.
Jack and Ryan are gone for the night or we would have a lot more dictation of arguments and discussion of sports scores.
Mom, I think Bode needs a diaper change.
Ah.
But.
Seriously.
I couldn't be more blessed.
(I put up with this because by the age of ten or so it pays off. I now have three kids who can make a kitchen spotless if need be!)
Lots of gunked on stuff so I had to get out an SOS pad.
Cade is STARVING and wants some yogurt. Okay, I'm thinking, it is kind of late to be just starting dinner and you're a growing boy.
We don't have any sweetened yogurt ready. So I open the new quart of yogurt, add agave and vanilla and stir, making quite a mess with overspill.
(Grr on all the companies that used to make maple yogurt without sugar but still call it maple yogurt even though it's not just maple syrup anymore.)
Now two more kids want yogurt. AND a little whipped cream leftover from Kat's strawberry pie. PLEASE? Okay, if you'll play the quiet game because Kat has the flu and is trying to rest on the couch.
Get the water started to boil.
Courtney is yelling, "Can you get us some coins so we can dive for them?"
Okay, sure! (Get coins, and on the way close the front door which has been left open by little boys taking bubble wrap outside to stomp on it, and remind them that they need to clean it up).
Mom, says Abby, my tummy hurts.
Why don't you take some Zypan?
Okay.
Meatballs into oven.
Now Bode and Cade want me to get them vitamins too.
Stop to clean up Bode, who is covered in yogurt.
Boys try to escape outside. Stop to get at least Cade to clear the yogurt bowls. And remind him to clean up the bubble wrap.
Out to garden to pick some lettuce. Wait, yogurt needs to be put away. Wait, time to add pasta. Turn off the back porch lights. Why are these always on?
Pick lettuce and so many strawberries! (No slugs in the beer trap, but there are two flies. Not bad!)
See Cade. Did you pick up the bubble wrap?
"What is the bubble wrap?"
The stuff you were stomping on the front porch! Please throw it away.
"Oh!"
The light finally comes on.
Coming back in. "Mom, watch me!" Bode is using a 2X4 as a balance beam. "Good Job!" Falls down. "You're okay!"
Stop to chat to sweet hubby who is working on a project outside.
Wash lettuce and berries.
Bode comes back in and is whining because somebody took his yogurt. No, no, it's right here on the counter.
Drain pasta.
"Hey mom, watch this." Some wierd thing I don't understand, and she says it's from the movie we saw last night.
See bubble wrap in a pile in the entry.
"Cade, you need to put the bubble wrap in the trash."
"O-oh!" (like now I get it.)
Heat sauce.
The little boys come in barking like dogs and crawl through the kitchen. Leave the door open. I close it. Turn the porch lights off AGAIN. I don't get this - who would turn them on?
Abby is now in her third outfit since I started this. "Abby, have you put all your clothes away that you have been taking off?" Says something I don't understand but somehow assures me that it's okay.
Rip lettuce.
"Mom, are you coming to watch our dog show?" Sure! Thankfully it was a short rendition of dogs singing "Don't Stop Believing."
Cocoa and friend are STARVING. Help yourself! Kat. Ditto. Serve Dan his "working snack" outside because this is date night! Come back in to serve the littles and Abby has already served all three!!! Good job!
Cade's drink spills all over the table and Bode has a great time splashing it before I get to clean it up.
Big girls try to escape without doing any dinner clean-up. That's a no-go.
Lots of chat about what movie they are going to watch.
Jack and Ryan are gone for the night or we would have a lot more dictation of arguments and discussion of sports scores.
Mom, I think Bode needs a diaper change.
Ah.
But.
Seriously.
I couldn't be more blessed.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Sweet Spring
Hilarious picture of Bode during a twilight game of family baseball.
I took this picture after they took their helmets off, of course. No one would be crazy enough to ride around on an ATV without helmets. Of course.
Our chickens and bunnies are living together harmoniously... so far!
These guys are seriously spoiled with all of our food scraps and buckets full of weeds. I especially love giving them all of the slugs I find.
I never seem to put up any picture of my older girls. I sort of feel like I'm invading their privacy; that they're too old for me to blog about. I don't know... what do you think? I guess I'll have to ask them what THEY think!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Organization
This is not the most beautiful room in the house, but I am very happy with it right now. Dan seems to be on an organizational kick. Maybe he's trying to pick up the slack around here since I always seem to be outdoors... hmm...
Anyway, I love these Costco shelves he put in the schoolroom. Now it's a schoolroom/pantry. We never really did school in there anyway, but it's great storage and nice to have a craft table.
And then this morning I woke up to this.
The picture doesn't really do it justice, but it's a charging station and memo board. Dan and Ryan were up til midnight working on it so that no cord shows!!! How great is that?! And of course he wrote "I love Heather" as the first memo but the flash ruined that for the picture. How did I get so blessed as to have a husband who orders from Pottery Barn without even consulting me?
Monday, June 1, 2009
Feed the Forgotten
From Brandi's blog.
FEED THE FORGOTTEN
Too often we hear heartbreaking stories like this (that I posted on Saturday) and do nothing. We feel helpless. . . and so we move on. Not this time. There are people DYING in Uganda right now. There are children who's bellies are hungry and aching. There are mamas who are too weak to stand and babies begging to be held. There are people trapping termites hoping for food and eating dung in helplessness. DO NOT CAVE TO DESPAIR. YOU CAN DO SOMETHING.
Join us and Children's HopeChest to FEED THE FORGOTTEN!!! (CLICK HERE TO GIVE NOW) (note: please write FEED THE FORGOTTEN in the notes section)
For $0.14, we can (and WILL) feed someone a meal of posho and beans. (posho is cornmeal, which is filling and beans are protein). Take that in for a moment. . .
$0.14 a meal
$2.86 for 20 days
$1 per FAMILY
$20 feed a family for 20 days.
How much was my Chick Fil A yesterday? How much is your Starbucks? The bigger question is how much am I willing to give up SO THAT OTHERS MIGHT EAT?
Remember Jesus story of the Good Samaritan? Remember how his very neighbors walked right by him? They probably looked at him with pity. . .probably thought "oh poor guy, that breaks my heart" but the fact is THEY DID NOTHING.
What will you do? These children are starving. . .
these actual children. . .
will you help? The money raised will feed those precious children. There are 3 - 4 villages that we are targeting (I'm hoping for more after we see how much we can raise!) to bring food relief to asap. These people are literally starving. . and waiting for you to act. Will you help? Even with paypal fees (2-3%) even $1 will feed 6 people! You CAN make a difference.
Spread the word, blog about it, facebook it, twitter it, ask your church or school or business to give, post the blog badge anything. Truly, we are begging you. . .on behalf of these children not to forget this post and move on to the next in your google reader list. Stop, pray, act.
GIVE TO FEED THE FORGOTTEN CHILDREN!!!!!
(note: please write FEED THE FORGOTTEN in the notes section when you give)
FEED THE FORGOTTEN
Too often we hear heartbreaking stories like this (that I posted on Saturday) and do nothing. We feel helpless. . . and so we move on. Not this time. There are people DYING in Uganda right now. There are children who's bellies are hungry and aching. There are mamas who are too weak to stand and babies begging to be held. There are people trapping termites hoping for food and eating dung in helplessness. DO NOT CAVE TO DESPAIR. YOU CAN DO SOMETHING.
Join us and Children's HopeChest to FEED THE FORGOTTEN!!! (CLICK HERE TO GIVE NOW) (note: please write FEED THE FORGOTTEN in the notes section)
For $0.14, we can (and WILL) feed someone a meal of posho and beans. (posho is cornmeal, which is filling and beans are protein). Take that in for a moment. . .
$0.14 a meal
$2.86 for 20 days
$1 per FAMILY
$20 feed a family for 20 days.
How much was my Chick Fil A yesterday? How much is your Starbucks? The bigger question is how much am I willing to give up SO THAT OTHERS MIGHT EAT?
Remember Jesus story of the Good Samaritan? Remember how his very neighbors walked right by him? They probably looked at him with pity. . .probably thought "oh poor guy, that breaks my heart" but the fact is THEY DID NOTHING.
What will you do? These children are starving. . .
these actual children. . .
will you help? The money raised will feed those precious children. There are 3 - 4 villages that we are targeting (I'm hoping for more after we see how much we can raise!) to bring food relief to asap. These people are literally starving. . and waiting for you to act. Will you help? Even with paypal fees (2-3%) even $1 will feed 6 people! You CAN make a difference.
Spread the word, blog about it, facebook it, twitter it, ask your church or school or business to give, post the blog badge anything. Truly, we are begging you. . .on behalf of these children not to forget this post and move on to the next in your google reader list. Stop, pray, act.
GIVE TO FEED THE FORGOTTEN CHILDREN!!!!!
(note: please write FEED THE FORGOTTEN in the notes section when you give)
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